Putting a Spotlight on Digital Animation and Design

Two years of hard work by master’s candidates in computer graphics at NYIT College of Arts and Sciences culminated at Innovators: M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition. Twenty-three students concentrating in animation, fine arts and technology, or graphic design demonstrated a variety of multimedia projects including books that the students illustrated and printed to live-action videos.

An opening reception on May 10 kicked off the exhibition, which is on display at NYIT-Manhattan on the 11th floor of 16 W. 61st St. through May 25 and was a highlight of the Creative Tech Week Conference at NYIT Auditorium on Broadway. “It’s an exciting moment for the students because everything comes to fruition. This is the final show of everything they’ve worked for,” said Christine Kerigan, coordinator for Digital Art and Design, who taught the Thesis Exhibition and Paper class. The students either completed their programs entirely at NYIT or spent their first year at Communications University of China and second year at NYIT.

The projects covered a wide range of topics and media:

Yuhan Song and Min Yuan created a virtual reality exhibition of Qing Dynasty costumes in the Palace Museum of the Forbidden City. The two students had to do extensive research, obtain photos of the clothing and the building from the museum, and teach themselves how to code. Asked why they took on such a labor-intensive project, Song said, “I’m really interested in history, and I’m interested in clothes. These clothes are very old, so they’re hard to exhibit in real life. Virtual reality allows everyone to see them.”

Ziyi Wang made a two-dimensional animation about parallel worlds: the black-and-white real world and the colorful dream world. “This story is for me and for everybody. I want to share warmth and happiness with people,” she said.

Jazmyn Duncan designed a concept for a branding and event planning company for nonprofit organizations. She created branded promotional items such as wildflower seed packets (“Because we want to help grow your business”) and bottle openers (“Because we want to help you open doors”). Duncan hopes to develop the concept into a real company.

View a complete listing of projects.

Innovators: M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition is open Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.