We are proud to say that IDM Alumni Alexis Zerafa was featured on TRASH, a budding startup company co-founded by another IDM alum Anton Marini (also inventor of Syphon app).
Alexis was featured for her Instagram Spark AR work and collaborating with TRASH to create 3 AR filters for TRASH. Follow Zerafa and click these links to unlock her HALO series: the basic halo, the glitch halo and the drippy halo.
Diana Castro an NYU IDM 2015 Alum has been doing amazing work in design, music, and tech. Her idea for Ser Paraiso came about when she created a music box for meditation as her thesis at IDM. That’s when she started Ser Paraíso — formerly known as Magic Objects (2013) — as a project to make sound objects for spiritual purposes.
She works in digital spaces where she designs web apps for music making with the MusEDLab (NYU Music Experience Design Lab) as well as physical ones, for example with the electronic textile synthesizers she creates for her project Mágico Real, which explores shamanism, ritual, and identity through performance, new media and technology.
Her project Magico Real was recently featured in a remezcla article where they discuss her history with art, music, and design. Her work threads along multiple mediums but always centers around her own embrace of healing, spirituality, and a desire to help people connect with their higher selves.
She has installation, album covers, and mixtapes that she uses to explore her creativity. You can find those works and more on her at her website: https://panali.cc/. or on her instagram.
IDM grad, Melody Loveless, was mentioned in this vice article as a participant in the live coding scene in America. She’s using her programming and musical skills to create soundscapes using iterative code and technologies like Max/MSP/Jitter and hardware like sonic pi.
If you wanna explore the scene of live coding mixed with music and hardware definitely check out synchrony an organizer of demoparties in NYC.
Also feel free to check out some soundscapes from Melody Loveless.
UI/UX and Graphic Designer who enjoys creating clear and intuitive experiences for users.
Website: corinnavong.myportfolio.com
What’s your hometown?
Cupertino, CA
Why did you choose IDM as a major?
Initially, I had an interest in video post-production. During my work on various video projects I began to explore different areas of digital media, which I found to be fascinating. IDM gave me the opportunity to pursue specific topics in the field of digital media while offering a unique balance of technology and creativity. This was important as it allowed me to develop my technical abilities as I explored my artistic side. In addition, the ability to learn and live in one of the most stimulating and exciting cities in the world, made the IDM program the right choice for me.
What’s your favorite thing about IDM & why?
Honestly, my favorite thing about the IDM program is the group of instructors. They continuously encourage creativity while offering coursework and meaningful projects that prepare students for work in the real world. They are always available, and working with them has allowed me to explore and discover new subjects I’ve since become passionate about.
How do you describe IDM to others?
I describe IDM as a great opportunity to take a wide variety of courses in media and technology. Once you have found an interest to focus on, you can take advanced level courses in those subjects to further develop the skills necessary to succeed.
What is your favorite IDM class so far and why?
My favorite IDM class is Visual Foundation Studio because it was where I first developed my interest in graphic design. I was able to use design tools, principles and skills learned from the course, combined with feedback from the instructor to create a meaningful end-product for a small business.
What companies have you done internships with?
Interaction Design Intern at Verizon, Counselor at Tech Kids Unlimited
What are your career goals?
UX/UI Designer
What’s your favorite spot in Brooklyn?
Who are the artists / designers / creative technologists that inspire your work?
Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Susan Kare, Josef Müller-Brockmann, Steve Jobs, and Jonathan Ive
What is your favorite media title? (i.e. book, website, game, music, performance, etc.)
All around maker with specialties in web apps, audio, fabrication, VR, motion capture, physical computing and funky digital pipelines/workflows connected by OSC.
Website: spencercappiello.com
What’s your hometown?
Venice Beach, CA
Why did you choose IDM as a major?
It’s the most innovative tech-art major in the world.
What’s your favorite thing about IDM & why?
We have amazing professors, resources and innovative classes with bright people.
How do you describe IDM to others?
Wherever art and technology intersects, IDM is there and pushing boundaries.
What is your favorite IDM class so far and why?
Bodies in Motion – to collaborate with ITP students and learn cutting edge software while using the expensive motion capture lab is unparalleled.
What companies have you done internships with?
Locus (part of Summer 2017 I-Corps), interned with the Guggenheim museum, interned with Monohm Inc.
What projects are you currently working on?
SONANCY was a project that came out of Mark Skwarek’s AR class with Jeremy Bailey co-teaching. The project is an immersive and spatialized binaural audio installation that uses motion capture to provide interactivity. See documentation here: http://www.spencercappiello.com/#projectSonancy
What are your career goals?
Work for startups, make a startup, turn the startup into a company, open an incubator, help others.
What’s your favorite spot in Brooklyn?
Who are the artists / designers / creative technologists that inspire your work?
Luke Dubois, Trevor Paglen, Jon Rafman, David Carson, Benjamin Patterson, Wassily Kandinsky, Salvador Dali, Golan Levin, Carlos Cruz Diaz, Dan Flavin, James Turrell, Mad Zach, Rafael Rozendaal
What is your favorite media title? (i.e. book, website, game, music, performance, etc.)
Her (movie)
Digital producer, front end programmer, AR designer, and marketer just trying to bridge the gap between the technical and creative disciplines.
Website: alexiszerafa.com | LinkedIn
What’s your hometown?
Oakland County Michigan
Why did you choose IDM as a major?
When applying to colleges my choices were split between art schools and engineering schools. Finding such a perfect intersection of these two disciplines was an amazing and encompassing compromise.
What’s your favorite thing about IDM & why?
I’ve always loved how close-knit the IDM community is. I quickly got to know most of the faculty on a personal level, and I feel like I could reach out to any of my fellow students for help when needed. If one person is good with cameras and the other knows VR, they help each other trade disciplines and grow together.
How do you describe IDM to others?
An intersection of technology thinking and computer science, and the design thinking and the digital arts. IDM is an exploration of the future through existing and emerging media.
What is your favorite IDM class so far and why?
Visual Foundation Studio set an amazing precedent for me. I loved the collaborative environment it created and I learned a lot through critiques and working closely with my classmates to improve my own work.
What companies have you done internships with?
I have had a number of internships across many verticals during my time at NYU. I worked for the following companies: J. Walter Thompson, Updater, IW Group, Soapbox strategists, General Assembly, and many more.
What projects are you currently working on?
I took the graduate Augmented Reality class through IDM, and for my project, I did a spatial exploratory of well-known public facets. Please see the video titled Park Perspective, for more information on this project at http://sites.bxmc.poly.edu/~alexiszerafa/portfolio/AR_VR.html
Also if you type in officeworld in the iOS App Store you can download my sticker pack!
What are your career goals?
My long-term career goal would be to be a CCO at either my own or an existing company. For now, I’m trying to become a creative director after spending some time as a digital producer.
What’s your favorite spot in Brooklyn?
This may sound odd but the storefront of James Weir Floral is so beautiful every time I pass it. My friends and I would walk by after a long day of lecture on our way to Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Who are the artists / designers / creative technologists that inspire your work?
My work is an amalgamation of inspiration from the onslaught of media presented to me every day (due to living in New York). But lately, Henrique Oliveira as his breathtaking large-scale installation work has inspired me to think bigger.
What is your favorite media title? (i.e. book, website, game, music, performance, etc.)
I definitely don’t have a favorite, but I think Hyper-Reality is breathtakingly made