Come to our Bachelors in Design 2016 Exhibition at FIDM Museum

Our Bachelors in Design students have been at work putting together pieces for an exhibition to remember. The "Bachelor in Design 2016 Student Exhibition," running from Nov. 4 to Dec. 17, is a showcase organized by Graduating Design Student Akanksha Mirchandi to debut art, textiles and fashion created by her fellow students. She put together the exhibit because she was given an opportunity by the FIDM Museum to showcase her program. We had the opportunity to learn more about the process of organizing the event in our exclusive interview with Mirchandi.

(Design by Sucoyia Granderson)

1. What made you want to create this Design exhibition?

"I've spent the last few years working on different events - both corporate and private. I've always wanted my focus to be more on design. When FIDM gave me the opportunity to do 'anything I wanted,' I jumped on it. I then decided to curate the museum space for all the designers in my program. I also wanted to make sure we had an opening ceremony. Who doesn't love a party?"

2. What was your main inspiration for this exhibition?

"With this exhibition, I was really inspired by light and clear geometric shapes. Initially, I really wanted to recreate an installation similar to the photo room at this years Met Gala. My concepts had large illuminated acrylic shapes suspended from the ceiling, to each designer's pieces. After fine tuning these ideas to fit the budget and a few other museum constraints, I was very happy with the overall success. In the end, I was fortunate enough to still have my geometric shapes and accent illuminated walls."

3. What was your creative process like behind putting this exhibit together?

"My creative process is very chaotic - every piece of paper I turn into is a mood board. I've always been a creative person with a constant carnival in my head and I thrive off of that kind of chaos. It was a blessing to have Anne Bennion and Peter Lam around. They both told me to come up with my dream concept and that they would help make it realistic."

(Jewelry by Yi Ling Chen)

4. Why did you choose to go to FIDM?

"I was actually in Los Angeles on vacation when I first visited FIDM. I was so inspired, I decided to switch from a Fine Arts major in India to Visual Communications. Upon returning home, I packed my bags and moved to LA. Six months later, I haven't looked back since!"

5. What made you want to pursue a BA in Design?

"In 2012, I graduated with my AA in Visual Communications. I had an overwhelming feeling that I had so much more to learn. I had so many aspects of the fashion world that I was exposed to, so I came back for a BA. In fact, I still don't feel like I'm done learning. I am looking forward to what my next chapter in life brings!"

6. What are you career goals?

"My career goals, starting with short term, are venturing out of the cocktail parties and corporate events to curating spaces for luxury fashion brands. I'm working towards being featured in Forbes' "30 Under 30." Long term, I want to own my own event production company, something along the lines of, Bureau Betak"

7. How do you see yourself evolving creatively in the future?

"I think I'm already in the evolving phase. I already have plenty of professional experience curating events. I think doing this showcase is my stepping stone into expanding my horizons as an event designer. Hopefully this will lead to a lot more fashion projects. Also, I definitely do want to go back to school. It probably won't be right away but it's definitely on my mind. I'm actually considering going to school in Italy or London this time."

Check out student work, which will be displayed in the exhibit below: