Amber Zundel, Author at ��ר��

Winter 2025 Sponsored Projects at the ��ר��

Amber Zundel — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 10:00:55 +0000

During the Winter semester, the ��ר�� hosted 14 sponsored projects, including a diverse range of sponsored projects and competitions that engaged a variety of academic departments. Students partnered with local and global brands to work on a specific project tailored to meet the needs of our industry sponsors. Educational partnerships at ��ר�� are highly conceptual and allow ��ר�� students the opportunity to participate in creative, research-based assignments, interacting with designers and staff from the collaborating company. Highlighted collaborations during the Winter semester include:

- Augmented Reality Center (ARC) in partnership with Oakland University x Communication Design and Strategy, MFA User Experience Design and Entertainment Arts
- Crain Communications – Automotive News x Illustration
- 313 Presents x Illustration
- BorgWarner x Product Design
- Covestro x MFA Transportation Design
- Detroit Grand Prix x Illustration
- GM x BFA Transportation Design & MFA User Experience Design
- GODNII x MA/MFA Color and Materials Design
- Hagopian Rug Competition x All Departments
- Office of Future Mobility and Electrification with support from the Global Epicenter of Mobility x Transportation Design
- MAWBY Sparkling Wines x Illustration
- Trek Bikes x Product Design
- University of Michigan Dearborn – Environmental Interpretive Center x Communication Design and Strategy & Interior Design
- Zumiez and Somerset Collection x Illustration

Display of ��ר�� and Zumiez collab in glass showcase at Somerset Collective

��ר�� x Trek

Communication Design students and faculty posing at the University of Michigan Environmental Interpretive Center

Rendering for GM-sponsored studio by ��ר�� undergrad Transportation Design students Lex Michael, Jean Pierre Ledderman, and graduate Transportation Design student Prithvi Vetrivel.

��ר�� Immersive Tech Certificate x OU Arc

Glasses frame prototypes from the GODNII sponsored studio with graduate studies Color & Materials Design students

Winner of the Hagopian Rug Competition posing with their design alongside ��ר�� President and Edmond Hagopian

“This project was pure inspiration,” said Ali Evans, Founder and Creative Director of GODNII. “Collaborating with ��ר�� has been a longtime hope of ours, and it lived up to everything we imagined. The students brought forward deep research, bold ideas, and a clear vision for the future of sustainable fashion. Their work affirmed what we already believed—creativity with purpose can shift the industry. At GODNII, we’re excited to carry these insights forward as we continue designing not just for style, but for impact.”

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Alumna Bo Shepherd ’12 Transportation Design Featured on Proven Not Perfect Podcast

Amber Zundel — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 14:44:34 +0000

From Car Interiors to Vintage Finds and Home Design, a story in progress with Woodward Throwback's co-founder and head of design, and ��ר�� alum, Bo Shepard.

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Tim Flattery, ��ר�� Provost & Renowned Concept Designer, Retires

Amber Zundel — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 14:11:00 +0000

Tim Flattery, Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer for the ��ר�� (��ר��), is retiring, effective June 30, 2025. The renowned Hollywood concept artist, designer and educator provided 10 years of leadership at the College, including prior roles as Co-Leader of Academic Affairs, Chair of the Entertainment Arts department and Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

Leader

“The atmosphere here is electric. There’s a creative fuel that just pumps through every room and every hallway of this institution that’s really infectious and inspiring. I’ll miss being around that constantly.”

– Tim Flattery

Flattery’s retirement marks the end of a fulfilling academic career at ��ר��, where his story began as a student. He graduated from the Transportation Design program in 1987 and credits the program for providing the transferable skills needed to have a successful film career in the Hollywood film industry. “��ר�� gave me all the tools that I could have imagined needing for success,” Flattery says. “It gave me the tools to think outside the box in regards to solving design problems, which makes the ��ר�� grad very unique. And that was something that was noticed in Hollywood.”

Creative

Not only did Flattery break into Hollywood film, he thrived in it, nurturing a nearly 40-year career in the industry and racking up more than 100 film credits. He has conceptualized and designed for some of the most popular films of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including “Back to the Future II,” the “Men in Black” movies, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Dune,” and several Marvel movies including “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Captain Marvel,” “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

Flattery developed some of the most recognizable prop designs, like the Infinity Gauntlet for “Avengers: Infinity War,” the Batmobile for “Batman Forever” and the Fantasticar for “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.” Flattery has also been nominated for two Art Directors Guild awards and won its Excellence in Production Design Award for his work on “Avengers: Endgame.”

No matter how far Flattery went or how successful his career was, he never lost sight of where his roots were sown. That’s why in 2015, when former ��ר�� President Richard L. Rogers tapped him to serve as Chair of Entertainment Arts, Flattery moved back to Detroit from Los Angeles, ready to “live the rest of my life back home where my DNA is.”

Mentor

As Chair of Entertainment Arts, Flattery created the Concept Design program, a competitive program that teaches students conceptual skills, 2D and 3D execution, and designing hardware, architecture, characters and environments. While developing this program, Flattery drew upon his experience in the film industry as well as his time creating a similar concept design program as Chair of the Entertainment Design program at ArtCenter College of Design in California.

��ר�� President Don Tuski credits Flattery’s leadership, hiring and execution for making Entertainment Arts a nationally recognized department.

“In talking with Tim during my first couple of years [as president of ��ר��], I realized that he had a rare mix of high-level industry experience. That mix of accomplishments in the industry, paired with great academic leadership at ��ר�� and ArtCenter, were things that got my attention and led to Tim becoming Provost.”

– Don Tuski, ��ר�� President

David Gazdowicz is one of the many ��ר�� faculty members Flattery has profoundly impacted. With a background in animating, filmmaking, audio producing and game/interaction design, Gazdowicz currently serves as the Chair of Entertainment Arts, overseeing the Animation, Game Design and Concept Design programs. A fellow ��ר�� alum, he was a visiting artist and assistant professor at the College when Flattery became the Chair. Within Flattery’s first year in the role, he hired Gazdowicz as full-time assistant professor.

During his time working with Flattery, Gazdowicz admired Flattery’s “collaborative personality” and his ability to quickly assess what the Entertainment Arts department needed. He says Flattery gave faculty the agency to make decisions, and he kept the student experience at the forefront of his own decision-making.

“When he came in, every decision that he was making was all about, ‘How do we make it good for the students?’ or ‘How do we improve the students’ experience?’ or ‘How do we bring something to the students that is going to help them become better artists and storytellers, and give them a leg up in the industry?’” Gazdowicz says. “I was really blown away by how much he really did care.”

When Gazdowicz was made Chair of Entertainment Arts – Animation, Game Design and Concept Design, he recalls Flattery empowering him to take on the role. Gazdowicz tries to give that same encouragement and autonomy to his faculty, just like Flattery did before him.

“I feel like [these are] some of the best years that I’ve been at ��ר�� and some of the most progress we’ve made,” he says. “We’re trying to make the curriculum as best as it can be, helping the students as much as we can, really being flexible with the students — and that all comes from Tim.”

Innovating processes to intentionally enhance the student, faculty and staff experience has always been a priority for Flattery. When he became Co-Leader of Academic Affairs in 2020, Flattery quickly found ways to adapt to remote learning during the pandemic, working with the College’s faculty to create online and asynchronous learning solutions. When he became Dean of Undergraduate Studies in 2021, Flattery worked with faculty to redesign the Foundations program. Rather than all first-year students taking the same Foundations courses, the program was organized to be discipline-specific to better support students’ individual career paths. He also oversaw the creation of the Interdisciplinary Art + Design program to support students interested in pursuing multiple disciplines rather than just one.

Flattery created the Chairs Council to encourage shared governance with department chairs. Through this council, academic department chairs could hold meetings, without the Dean, in order to discuss their concerns in a comfortable setting, create formal recommendations for consideration and be more effective leaders. “He empowered the Chairs to meet on their own and work on problems together,” Tuski says. “It was a very positive experience for the Chairs, for Academic Affairs and the College.”

All of Flattery’s industry and academic experience came to the helm when he was appointed Provost, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer in 2022. Flattery oversaw Academic Affairs and later Student Affairs, when it was brought under Academic Affairs to create a more holistic approach. From student organizations and residence life to resources for first-generation and international students, Flattery uplifted ��ר��’s goals to cultivate an exceptional environment for students, faculty and staff.

“Having a clear vision and a plan for implementing that vision is key,” Flattery says of being a provost. “Being a good communicator and overcommunicating is key.”

As Provost, Flattery continued his work of increasing shared governance and streamlining academic programs to make them more efficient. He combined the Fine Arts and Crafts departments to form the new Studio Art & Craft department as well as the Advertising and Communication Design departments to make the new Communication Design & Strategy department. He has also overseen the development of new reduced credit Bachelor of Arts programs that are currently awaiting accreditation.

Flattery’s passion for student success led to important student retention initiatives during his time as Provost. This intentional work brought ��ר��’s retention rate to its goal within the 80th percentile.

Flattery made ��ר�� a leading example by instituting an artificial intelligence (AI) policy across the College in 2023, making ��ר�� the first Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD) college in the country to do so. The four-point policy allowed for ��ר�� students to show curiosity in the ever-evolving landscape of AI while remaining ethical and honoring intellectual property.

At the heart of all the policies, programs and committees, and no matter his job title, it has always been about giving everything he can to the students, faculty and staff. During his time at ��ר��, Flattery has taught students who have gone on to have their own fulfilling careers in their dream industries. “We have many successful alumni who are doing really fantastic work, in animation, film and game design. And many of them were students of Tim’s,” Tuski says. “It’s amazing just the number of alumni that Tim has taught who have gone on to work on their own television shows and work in movies like Tim has.”

“He’s a phenomenal concept designer, teacher and communicator, able to get to the core of the issue and provide kind, helpful and directly actionable critiques. Tim helped me develop my skills, craft and design sensibilities. He’s someone I look up to; he’s approachable, humble and down to earth despite his great success. He was, and is, a mentor to me.”

– Alex Nakhleh ’24

One of those students Flattery taught and mentored is Alex Nakhleh, who graduated from the Concept Design program in 2024. As a student in Flattery’s Concept Industrial Design course, Nakhleh says Flattery provided helpful feedback on his graduation portfolio during Senior Studio, a two-semester course that helps students create a portfolio of work to share while job searching. Nakhleh now does environment, architecture, hardware and prop design primarily for virtual reality video games.

��ר�� doesn’t have to say goodbye entirely to Flattery — he will serve as ��ר��’s first Provost Emeritus and do consulting for the College. And you might see his name in an upcoming movie credit; he worked on the new “Superman” movie directed by James Gunn, coming out this July! (Although Flattery retired from the film industry in February, he says he’ll still do some work here and there.)

“The atmosphere here is electric,” Flattery says of what he’ll miss most about ��ר��. There’s a creative fuel that just pumps through every room and every hallway of this institution that’s really infectious and inspiring. I’ll miss being around that constantly.”

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��ר�� Student Named as Semi-Finalist in Louis Vuitton Design Challenge

Amber Zundel — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 10:00:21 +0000

This year, ��ר�� was selected as one of just 33 leading European and American educational institutions of fashion, design, and art to participate in the Louis Vuitton Accessories Design Graduate Initiative. This prestigious honor opened the door for all final-year undergraduate and graduate students at ��ר�� to submit designs, with the initiative’s winner receiving the chance to relocate to Paris and secure a position with Louis Vuitton.

Among applicants globally, ��ר��’s own Omkar Jadhav, ‘25 MFA Graduate Transportation Design, made it to the semi-finals. His exceptional ideation and designs distinguished him from the competition, securing one of a few semi-finalist spots.

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A Creative Journey in Motion: Mark Allen’s Road from ��ר�� to Jeep Icon

Amber Zundel — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 19:44:59 +0000

Sometimes, the most powerful moments unfold in the simplest of places. For Mark Allen ’94, Transportation design, it happened in a parking lot—an impromptu conversation with a tough instructor that would send him down a road paved with creative milestones, career-defining decisions, and iconic designs.

Before he became known as “Mr. Jeep,” Mark’s journey was one of searching and self-discovery. High school hadn’t been a place where he thrived, and after graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Though it wasn’t a perfect fit, the experience gave him structure, time to reflect, and eventually, the drive to pursue a more creative path. That path led him to an art college in Seattle, where he initially studied product design.

It was there that fate—and a frank professor—intervened. “He was hard on me, really hard,” Mark recalled. But after one class, that same professor stopped him in the parking lot and asked a question that shifted everything: “What do you really want to do?” When Mark admitted he dreamed of becoming a car designer, but didn’t think he had the talent, the instructor didn’t laugh. Instead, he pointed Mark toward schools like ArtCenter or the ��ר��, calling them the “Harvard” of design education. That vote of confidence gave Mark the direction he’d been missing.

During a holiday trip to Detroit with his girlfriend—now wife—he toured ��ר��. He was both inspired and intimidated by what he saw: students sculpting clay models, producing stunning sketches, and breathing life into automotive visions. Back in Seattle, he poured himself into building a portfolio, and when a ��ר�� admissions rep visited Portland, he took a leap of faith. He was accepted.

In 1990, Mark made the cross-country move to Detroit in a U-Haul, ready to begin the next chapter. At 26 years old and a military veteran, he didn’t exactly fit the mold of a “typical” ��ר�� student. Most of his classmates were fresh out of high school. But Mark brought with him a deep well of life experience, discipline, and hands-on skills that helped him stand out. He was determined not to waste the opportunity. “I wasn’t going to be the one who failed,” he said.

Over time, he found that ��ר�� was the right fit—not just creatively, but personally. He built lasting friendships, honed his abilities, and finally felt like he was on the right path.

At the time, Chrysler was headed for a product renaissance. Mark landed an internship there, and when he graduated, he was the only designer hired into Chrysler’s studios that year. Over time, he contributed to Dodge, Chrysler, Ram, and Jeep projects. Though he initially gravitated toward sleek, fast cars, a visit to the Moab Easter Jeep Safari in 2001 changed everything.

“I came back hooked,” he said. The rugged terrain, the Jeep community, the spirit of off-road adventure—it all clicked. He began focusing more on Jeep design and eventually rose to become its head designer. Under his watch, Jeep evolved dramatically—most notably with the launch of the four-door Wrangler, a vehicle that shifted the brand’s place in everyday life. Once considered a fun, secondary vehicle, Jeep became a primary car for families and adventurers alike. “It was like going from a speedboat to a station wagon,” he joked. Even Mark wasn’t sure the four-door would succeed—but it became a defining success story for the brand.

He also brought a sense of fun and storytelling to design, championing the now-famous Jeep “Easter eggs”—small hidden details designed to delight customers and surprise them long after purchase. One fan-favorite example? A tiny silhouette of a vintage Willys Jeep scaling a hill, hidden in the corner of a Wrangler windshield. “They cost the company nothing,” Mark said, “but they meant everything in terms of connection.” These whimsical features became a hallmark of the brand and a reflection of Mark’s belief that design should have heart and humor.

That blend of story and style showed up even earlier in his career, when Mark designed the 1999 Dodge Power Wagon Concept, unveiled at the North American International Auto Show. Inspired by the original Dodge Power Wagon, it featured a bold, modern design and a Caterpillar turbodiesel engine. Though the concept truck never made it to production, it found an unexpected second life: as a Hot Wheels car. The casting became a collectible, even receiving a tooling update in 2009. For Mark, seeing his design shrink down to fit in the palm of someone’s hand was surreal—and incredibly fun. “It was real, it was tangible, and it was something I could show my kids,” he said.

Mentorship and leadership became natural extensions of his work. Though he didn’t have formal mentors, Mark looked up to industry figures like Tom Gale and sought to emulate their integrity and passion. He believed in strong ideas over flashy sketches and often hired designers based not on polish, but on bold storytelling and conceptual clarity.

After decades at Jeep—and helping shape it into the global brand it is today—Mark retired with deep gratitude for the journey. He speaks with pride about those who came after him, particularly Vince Galante ‘05, who succeeded him at Jeep, and the many young designers he mentored along the way. He still keeps in touch with his former team. The bonds forged in clay studios and design reviews endure, just like the timeless vehicles he helped create.

For Mark Allen, it all started with a conversation. A moment of honesty and encouragement that steered him toward ��ר��, toward Chrysler, toward a career that would influence an entire generation of design. His story reminds us that creativity isn’t just about talent—it’s about curiosity, courage, and the willingness to chase a dream, even if it takes a couple of U-Hauls and a few thousand miles to get there.

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Amber Zundel, Author at ����ר��

Winter 2025 Sponsored Projects at the ����ר��