COLOR & MATERIALS DESIGN
BIOmix
Emily Marquette, 2021
“Encounter”
In the CCS Color & Materials Design program, students explore the latest advances in materials, and their color and finish applications, through hands-on experimentation and use of state-of-the-art prototyping facilities. Using this knowledge to solve design problems, students collaborate within the design team structure to develop narratives that offer creative concept and design executions. As they learn how to look for patterns—in markets, cultures, and geographic regions—they gain insight into consumer behaviors.
Both a technical and aesthetic understanding of CMF design is applied in the studio courses across a range of applications and domains., ultimately this approach enables students to advance in their careers according to their own interests and objectives.
CAREER CHOICES
CMF Designer
Color and Trim Designer
Color Designer
Materials Designer
Trend Strategist
Color and Materials Mastering Designer
Materials Development Specialist
Color & Materials Design Classroom
Color & Materials Process
Color & Materials Design Studio
Color & Materials Design Studio
Material samples
Materials
Materials
When CCS launched the MFA Program in Color and Materials Design in 2014 is was the first and remains the only graduate program in the United States dedicated to this relatively young design practice.
Our location in Michigan with the highest concentration of industrial design jobs in the United States ( US Bureau of Labor Statistics) enables access to excellent design talent,as well as experiential learning resources across the region.
We look for work that demonstrates:
- A strong interest in color, materials and finish [CMF] design in conjunction with providing insight into your individual work
- The use of CMF design to make aesthetic selections that express the functional and emotional attributes of products, artifacts or experiences
- Both research and making practices e.g. hand skills including drawing, model-making and prototyping, evidence of construction and making
- Good organization and design in presenting ideas and concepts
- Engagement with sustainability and human-centered design methods in developing relevant ideas
- Material based innovation
- Portfolios should show use of Adobe Creative Suite, specifically Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and additionally other rendering software if those skills are established.
Lin Yuru (Gigi), CMF Tray, 3M Sponsored Studio: Detroit Spaces 2020
The curriculum invites students to discover new and innovative color and material research to create meaning between products and experiences and their user or audience. Graduates of the College’s MFA program in Color & Materials Design program work in both physical and digital spaces to advance ideas through color and materials innovation, technology, and storytelling.
We have welcomed students from a broad range of disciplines, including Product or Industrial Design, the Fine Arts and Art Practice, Craft and Material Studies, Interior Design, Entertainment Arts or Animation Design, Furniture Design, Communication or Graphic Design, Transportation Design, Architecture, Textile Design or Fiber. Often, students in the two-year full or part-time program seek to build their skills across a wider area, incorporating CMF design into their existing knowledge base.
Joseph Cardenas, Digital Color Study
Featured Alumni
Sepideh Shahrokh
Color & Materials Designer
Faurecia
Emma Dawda
Creative Designer - GMC Color & Trim
General Motors
Stacy Evans
Senior CMF Designer
Electrolux
Hee Won Jeon
Color & Materials Designer
HP
Chance Lauver
Component Graphic Designer
Ford Motor Company
Fan Huang
Ind. Designer - CMF & Decorative Product
Kohler Co.
Alexa Ulbrich
Color & Material Designer
Ford Motor Company
Brianna Williams
CMF Designer
Newell Brands
JOIN THE EVOLUTION
CCS prepares students to enter a global economy in which creativity shapes better communities and societies. Here, creative minds can both explore and thrive. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world.
