COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES LAUNCHES PRACTICING DESIGN CENTER, DEDICATING RESOURCES TO NONPROFITS AND SMALL BUSINESSES

Detroit, MI, Oct. 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The College for Creative Studies (CCS) is pleased to announce the launch of its Practicing Design Center, partnering nonprofit and community organizations with CCS students and faculty to tackle community challenges using the transformative power of art and design.

“At CCS, our focus on experiential learning and working within our community is of the utmost importance,” said Don Tuski, President, College for Creative Studies. “The Practicing Design Center brings these two initiatives together by pairing the innovative art, design and strategy work students are doing with non-profits and community organizations that offer exciting and challenging opportunities. This expands CCS’ impact in the community.”  

CCS has worked with over 200 organizations through its existing Educational Partnerships program between 2017 and 2024. However, the current partnership model poses financial and capacity barriers for nonprofits and small businesses to participate. Thanks to support from Ford Philanthropy, Gilbert Family Foundation, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, and Detroit Public Library Foundation, CCS has been able to work with nonprofit organizations like C.L.A.S.S. Agency, COTS Detroit, Forgotten Harvest, InsideOut Literary Arts, Life Remodeled, and others.

Learning from those experiences, CCS is organizing its social impact work with students and faculty via the new Practicing Design Center. The center will offer three benefits: 

• A streamlined process for nonprofits and small businesses to collaborate with CCS students and faculty through classroom projects, design sprints and internship opportunities.
• Accessible way for funders and civic leaders to connect their interests to the creative and problem-solving skillsets offered by CCS faculty and students. 
• Enhanced interdisciplinary opportunities for students to develop comprehensive skill sets through real-world experiences working with nonprofit and entrepreneurial partners.

With support from Ford Philanthropy, the Practicing Design Center launched its first call for interest for Winter 2025 projects on September 26, 2024. Interested organizations can complete a brief application form on the College’s Practicing Design Center website. Submitted proposals will be reviewed by a CCS committee and selected based on their alignment with the following criteria: experiential learning and educational value, project impact, project feasibility and scope, partner capacity for support and collaboration, and alignment with College’s mission and principles. Recent examples of CCS’s prior social impact work include the following partnerships: 

• C.L.A.S.S Agency:  In the Winter 2024 semester,  Undergraduate Interior Design and Graduate-level Color & Materials Design students worked together to develop a comprehensive design for a vacant building that C.L.A.S.S. wants to repurpose for a safe house and resilience hub for youth and young adults. The students created visual assets to help the organization demonstrate a vision for its future.
• Life Remodeled and Durfee Innovation Center: In the fall 2020 semester, Communication Design students created brand identity strategies that could function across multiple media platforms in order to meet Life Remodeled’s diverse communication needs and to support the multifaceted nature of the Durfee Innovation Center’s role in Detroit’s west-side neighborhood. Through the Practicing Design Center, CCS will place two students this fall at Life Remodeled to help strengthen their brand as they expand into new programming.

“Since our founding in 2010, Life Remodeled’s neighborhood revitalization work has evolved significantly over our first decade. However, a number of branding challenges remained, and we were unable to afford professional assistance,” said Chris Lambert, CEO of Life Remodeled, a CCS nonprofit partner. “Our partnership with CCS Communication Design students was not only a fun process for our team, but the final outcomes were just what we needed.”

“I am ecstatic about the possibilities uncovered by the youth. I am also proud to know that CCS is a gem in the city that anchors an incredible amount of creative genius,” said Dr. Karla Mitchell, Executive Director of C.L.A.S.S. “What the students were able to envision and reimagine after connecting to our mission gives our staff and youth great hope for the kind of community this project will create. The passion and connection to the work that C.L.A.S.S. does was evident at every encounter, every design review and we loved it.”

ABOUT THE COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES

The College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a nonprofit, private college accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and authorized by the Michigan Education Department to grant Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. CCS, located in midtown Detroit, strives to provide students with the tools needed for successful careers in the dynamic and growing creative industries. CCS fosters students’ resolve to pursue excellence, act ethically, engage their responsibilities as citizens, and learn throughout their lives. With world-class faculty and unsurpassed facilities, students learn to be visual communicators who actively use art and design toward the betterment of society. The College is a major supplier of talent to numerous industries, such as transportation, film and animation, advertising and communications, consumer electronics, athletic apparel, and many more. Its graduates are exhibiting artists and teachers, design problem solvers and innovators, as well as creative leaders in business.

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