Ronald McDonald Picnic Project

A group of NYSID students recently got the opportunity to design a one-of-a-kind picnic basket display for the Ronald McDonald Picnic Project, a designer-curated event benefiting the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island, a home-away-from-home for families of seriously ill children. NYSID alumni Yiannos Vrousgos & Brooke Lichtenstein of Input Creative Studio hosted the event, which also featured a display from NYSID alumna Paris Grant. “We chose the Ronald McDonald House to host Project Picnic because it is such a pure charity that is completely transparent on how and where their funding is utilized," said  Vrousgos  and Lichtenstein, "They have a great spirit that is focused on fun and positivity and we felt Project Picnic would be a great opportunity for the house to host a more casual fundraiser that could appeal to a younger audience.”

MFA-2 students Shruti Marathe, Yu-Hsiang Fu, Sri Keerthi Rayala and MFA-1 student Tsai-Hsin Yu created a Lego-inspired picnic display dubbed “Inside Every Adult is the Heart of a Child,” representing the youthful spirit of play and the excitement of opening gifts. Speaking for the group, Yu-Hsiang Fu said, “We believe in taking inspiration from everywhere. Design is a journey of an idea to finally be executed as a product. We took part in the picnic basket competition to get a different perspective on design. You never know when you're going to be inspired!”