Everyone is invited to the launch event of the Spring 2026 issue of Queens College’s undergraduate literary journal, Utopia Parkway. Physical copies will be available to browse, and student editors and faculty advisors will be on hand to answer questions. This year’s editors include Design majors Randy Abel Vilchis (editor in chief) and Catherine Cavallo, Design minor Lucila Gonzalez, and recent Design BFA graduate Joshua Young. Faculty advisors are Ryan Black (English) and Kristy Caldwell (Design). Read about the current editors here.
The Spring 2026 issue includes visual art contributions from design students Ching Laam Lo, Yubin Kim, Catherine Cavallo, Lucila Gonzalez, Verna Fong, Patsy Escotto, Sharon Whinston, Elena Leung, Jigdrel Dhendup, Randy Vilchis, Benjamin Cruz Sanchez, Jeanette Manmohan, Fatematuz Jahura, Michelle Huh, and Bonnie Chen.
The event will include a slideshow of all visual art from the issue and feature readings from several creative writing contributors. It’s a great opportunity to see what the journal is all about and meet students from other creative disciplines.
Look out for these among your Fall 2026 course offerings! This post will be updated with more information as it becomes available.
City Myth by Seoyoung Lee (used with permission).
Visual Worldbuilding (new course!)
Course Title: DESN 370 (003) / VT: Special Topics in Design — Visual Worldbuilding Day & Time: Wednesdays 1:40pm–5:30pm Course Code: 28955 Classroom: KP263 Instructor: Kristy Caldwell (questions? [email protected])
What makes a fictional place feel real? In this course, we explore how imagined worlds take shape through visual details—environments, objects, signage, materials, and other evidence of everyday life. These details can form the foundation for a variety of visual storytelling and communication design projects.
A world can be a whole universe or a single room. Through visual research, exercises including sketching and short reflective writing, and applied projects, you’ll develop a purposeful approach to building worlds informed by place, culture, and social life.
By the end of the course, you’ll create a blueprint for your own fictional world along with a set of finished pieces that show how it works in practice. Final pieces can connect to illustration, animation, or other communication design work, and you’ll be encouraged to tailor your approach to your own interests and strengths.
Animation Hotline
Course Title: DESN 370 (005) / VT: Special Topics in Design — Animation Hotline Day & Time: Tuesdays 2:00pm–5:50pm Course Code: 40306 Classroom: KP263 / Hybrid Instructor: Dustin Grella No prerequisites – All majors welcome – Permission of instructor required
Animation Hotline is a web-based series of micro-animations that use crowd-sourced voicemail messages for content. People call an open phone line and leave a message on any topic — a story, an observation, a poem, whatever they want. Those messages get selected and animated, usually in a single day, using whatever experimental technique best fits the story. The project has screened at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, MoMA, and has been featured in the New York Times.
In this course, students work as a production team to build their own branded project using the Animation Hotline model. The class will develop an original identity, select messages from the voicemail archive, and produce 12–16 short animations over the course of the semester. The full arc is covered — concept development, brand building, animation production, sound design, post-production, and public release.
This is not a traditional animation class. The production needs designers, illustrators, programmers, sound artists, writers, editors, social media strategists, and project managers. You don’t need to be an animator to have a real role on the team.
The course is offered as a hybrid class — QC students work in person in KP263, students from other CUNY colleges can participate remotely. This is a working production studio, not a lecture. Expect to collaborate, make creative decisions, and ship finished work.
The course is led by Professor Dustin Grella, whose animated work has screened internationally and who has collaborated with Lars Von Trier, Amazon Studios, and the Intrepid Museum.
To request permission, email [email protected] with a brief note about who you are, your major, and what you’d bring to the team. Students from other CUNY colleges may enroll through ePermit via CUNYfirst. The Fall 2026 ePermit deadline is August 21, 2026.
“Voices of Harlem” by Alliima Belton, Spring 2025Calligraphy by Oliver Siedlik, Fall 2025
Lettering & Calligraphy
Course Title: DESN 370 (004) / VT: Special Topics in Design— Introduction to Lettering & Calligraphy Day & Time: Thursdays, 10am–1:50pm Course Number: 28954 Classroom: KP481 Instructor: Amy Kim Delahanty
New to typography, or already love letters? Unique and beautifully crafted lettering makes for stand-out portfolio pieces and is a useful asset for a multitude of projects. In a digitally saturated field, handskills are becoming increasingly rare and valuable. Calligraphy is perfect if you’re looking for a break from the screen, and interested in learning a meditative practice to enhance your design process.
This is a beginner-friendly course for letter enthusiasts that are looking to express themselves through hand-crafted letterforms. This is not a type design course that results in a digital font, but rather explores the artistry and bespoke qualities of hand-drawn lettering and calligraphy. We will study them separately, and you will leave the course with a solid understanding of the difference between calligraphy, lettering, and typefaces.
You can expect a variety of exercises and projects that progressively build hand skills with various tools and mediums. Lettering projects will combine analog and digital techniques, whereas calligraphy work will all be completed by hand. Supplies are provided for in-class work (pens, ink, paper, iPads).
AI x Design
Course Title: DESN 370 (006) / VT: Special Topics in Design — AI x Design Day & Time: Mondays 1:40pm–5:30pm Course Code: 40308 Classroom: In person Instructor: Danne Woo
In the rapidly evolving landscape of design, generative AI stands at the forefront, offering groundbreaking possibilities and posing new challenges. This course is designed for design students seeking to explore the potential of AI in the creative process. Students will delve into a comprehensive exploration of various AI tools, including Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT, DALL-E, MidJourney, Stable Diffusion, Eleven Labs AI, Runway ML, and others, learning to integrate them into design workflows.
The course combines theoretical learning with hands-on projects, enabling students to not only grasp the functionalities of these tools but also understand their practical applications in real-world design scenarios. As they progress, students will be encouraged to develop a critical perspective on the use of AI in design, particularly focusing on the ethical considerations such as bias, authorship, and the societal impact of AI-generated content.
Through lectures, workshops, guest speaker sessions, and collaborative projects, students will gain a nuanced understanding of how AI can augment, transform, and sometimes challenge traditional design methodologies. The course culminates in a final project where students will apply their learned skills to create comprehensive design works that reflect their mastery of AI tools and their thoughtful engagement with the ethical dimensions of AI in design.
Excerpts from the Spring 2025 issue. Clockwise from top left: art by Farhin Puspita, Aryan Manas, Joshua Wong, Shaday Anderson, and Thais Mendez.
The student-led undergraduate literary journal Utopia Parkway is accepting submissions for the Spring 2026 issue through end of day Monday, March 9. Accepted contributions will be published in the printed journal and on the journal’s website.
The journal accepts a wide range of visual art, including photography, illustration, animation, comics, and more. If you’re excited about it then please submit it!
Queens College Design Presents DESN 395/321 Senior Capstone/Animation Production’s 2022 Spring ANIMATIONS Join us for an online screening of this semester’s animated student films. Wednesday, May 18, 2-3PM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81500127848
Films by: Ryan Badripersaud Brian Carew Lisseth Castillo Abel Gonell Walilul Islam Michael Keyes Seounghyun Lee Kaini Malik Cyan Martinez Abimbola Olatunbosun Elizabet Plumaj Sara Restrepo Joshua Sabbagh Mabel Zapata-Jaquez
We are looking for enterprising students to join our New York office as part of our media team. Our studio predominantly focuses on digital interfaces and immersive media-driven projects. The backbone of the work that we do consists of exhibition design and museums, having recently opened projects such as the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee, and U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado. See some of our Digital work here: http://www.gallagherdesign.com/projects/services/digital-media/ As an intern you are an excited designer, open to learning and creative dialogue with the ability to work collaboratively in a fluid studio environment. The internships will be composed of time working with our multidisciplinary teams in the office in order to get a sense of our overall process.
Visual Design Intern
Qualified candidates should have:
A strong visual background with great sensitivity to typography and robust graphic design skills
An understanding of and interest in interaction design
Proficiency in the Adobe Creative Suite programs
Motion and animation skills are a plus
Working knowledge of Adobe XD, prototyping tools such as Invision, Framer is a plus
Roles and Responsibilities include:
Participating in studio brainstorms and creative conversations
Helping to refine and further develop visual concepts with the team
The ability to multi-task in a fast-paced studio environment
Being an accountable and contributing member of the studio
As a Motion Graphics Design intern at G&A, you are passionate about pushing the limits of storytelling through visuals, pace, and motion for a wide range of projects and formats. You have some solid foundations in After Effects and/ or C4D, and keep yourself informed with motion trends, tools, and plug-ins on a daily basis. Our work in the studio spans from mood-board creation, motion samples for interactive, style frames for films, and large-scale immersive environments using projection mapping. You are eager to learn the multi-faceted aspect of our work and open to a learning and creative dialogue with the ability to work collaboratively in a fluid studio environment. You will have the unique opportunity to work and learn from our multi-disciplinary teams in NYC, PDX, and DC, by contributing actively to our projects under other designers mentorship and creative supervision. Qualified candidates should have:
Experience working with After Effects and/or Cinema 4d.
A strong visual background with great sensitivity to typography and graphic design skills
Proficiency in the Adobe Creative Suite programs
Working knowledge of other 3d softwares, creative coding, prototyping tools and projection mapping is a plus.
Motivation to expand your skills in the intersection of physical and digital.
Roles and Responsibilities include:
Participating in studio brainstorms and creative conversations
Helping to refine and further develop visual and animation concepts with the team
The ability to multi-task in a fast-paced studio environment
Being an accountable and contributing member of the studio
Pushing personal creative growth and discovery
Our internships are paid, and you will need work authorization for all positions: You need to be able to work legally in the US:
For current international students, you are able to use CPT in order to legally work at Gallagher and Associates.
For all others, you should have an approved OPT in order to work at Gallagher and Associates.
As a UX design intern, you are an excited designer, open to learning and creative dialogue with the ability to work collaboratively in a fluid environment. You will be working on different projects with exhibit designers, visual designers, content developers , and creative technologists. Qualified candidates should have:
Proficiency in user research, user experience design and interaction design
Human-centered design practices
Proficiency in Figma or Sketch, and the Adobe Creative Suite
3D modeling, storyboarding and motion are a plus
Prototyping skills in tools such as Invision, Framer, between others.
Roles and Responsibilities include:
Research audience, comparable experiences
Sketching concepts quickly
Participating in brainstorms and creative conversations
Wireframes
The ability to multi-task in a fast-paced studio environment
Being an accountable and contributing member of the team
10:10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – All Things Animation Mike Belzer, Animator, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” Kendal Cronkhite Shaindlin, Assistant Art Director, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” Sandra Equihua, Character Designer, “The Book of Life” Jackie Koehler, Lead Animator, “The Book of Life” Jennifer Kluska, Director/Story Artist, “Hotel Transylvania” films Michelle Murdocca, Producer/Exec. Producer, “Hotel Transylvania” films Moderator: Randy Haberkamp, Senior Vice President, Preservation and Foundation Programming, Academy See Full Panel Biographies
11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Music in Horror Films John Carpenter, Writer/Director/Producer/Composer, “Halloween” Moderator: Mike Muse, host of Sirius XM’s “The Mike Muse Show” See Full Panel Biographies
1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Lunch Break
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Lights, Camera, Action…Production! Maxime Alexandre, Cinematographer, “The Nun” Rick Baker, Special Make-Up Effects Creator, “The Wolfman” Luis Sequeira, Costume Designers Branch, “It Chapter Two” Jennifer Spence, Production Designer, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” Checco Varese, ASC, Cinematographer, “It Chapter Two” Moderator: Audrey Cleo Yap, Multimedia Journalist See Full Panel Biographies
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Working Above-the-Line Tobin Bell, Actor, the “Saw” movies Gerard Bush & Christopher Renz, Co-Writer/Director/Producer, “Antebellum” Ian Cooper, Producer, “Candyman” Gerard McMurray, Director/Producer, “The First Purge” Terri Taylor, Casting Director, “Get Out” Moderator: Mike Muse, host of Sirius XM’s “The Mike Muse Show” See Full Panel Biographies
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