By Tara Gupta
Parsons The New School For Design is set to unveil a new student exhibit called Align, whose aim is to connect design students directly to potential employers. Challenged by their instructor, Rob Trostle (of Mother) to come up with a new way to promote themselves and their work to the industry, the class decided on a student-run interactive design exhibit to infuse the hiring process with a social component.
All students are required to be present at the show, which provides them with an opportunity to engage with potential employers in a dialogue about their work and ideas as they move from academia into a professional design practice.
“Align will show work,” Trostle says. “But it is curated to show only work that breaks the rules, much in the same spirit the students are breaking the rules of engagement with potential employers. This experience will teach the students that there are many ways to engage people in the work they are making.”
As the student-written website states:
We are taking our opportunities into our own hands. By juxtaposing design students, their best work, and potential employers, we are forging our own way without asking permission. We are putting our work into their hands and breaking our way into the design industry. We are inviting emerging rebels and rule breakers to come together and expose their point of view to the world.
Align begins at 7 p.m. on April 30th at Gallery Bar, and the student work includes:
Jenni Mallinen
Amel Afzal
Amel Afzal
Yana Bannikova
James Czyz
James Czyz
For more information, visit
Tara Gupta is a designer and critic who aims to inspire discourse, thoughtfulness, or laughs sprinkled with puns and good typography. Based in New York City, she’s currently finishing her M.F.A. in the SVA Design Criticism Program. Check out her blog for other recent work.
#Mother