Meet the Ventures!
MICA UP/Start Ventures:
AudioStone
An education technology tool that answers the question: how might we reimagine the way students tackle the workload of higher education so they can manage their time more efficiently? Still in the beginning stages of development, the tool was created by a Social Design MA student who used her MICA education on human-centered design to meet an important need of most students: saving time. The soon-to-be-developed app helps students create more time in their day through multi-tasking, promoting a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
Founder: Olivia Lindsey ‘16 MA in Social Design
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
An education technology tool that answers the question: how might we reimagine the way students tackle the workload of higher education so they can manage their time more efficiently? Still in the beginning stages of development, the tool was created by a Social Design MA student who used her MICA education on human-centered design to meet an important need of most students: saving time. The soon-to-be-developed app helps students create more time in their day through multi-tasking, promoting a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
Founder: Olivia Lindsey ‘16 MA in Social Design
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
DANAE PROSTHETICS
Changing lives through art and innovation: DANAE PROSTHETICS will use CAD software and a 3-D printing design process to create prosthetic hands and legs. After seeing many amputees while visiting São Tomé, an African island country, founder Winston knew he wanted to help citizens around the world who lack access to prosthetics. 3-D printed prosthetics are less expensive than traditional injection molding and more flexible in design, allowing for better comfort. His MICA Degree in Painting will come into play as he also enhances existing prosthetics through design—adding art to make the limbs look more interesting and aesthetically pleasing, with superhero designs and flowers, for example.
Founder: Winston Frazier ‘16 Painting
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
Changing lives through art and innovation: DANAE PROSTHETICS will use CAD software and a 3-D printing design process to create prosthetic hands and legs. After seeing many amputees while visiting São Tomé, an African island country, founder Winston knew he wanted to help citizens around the world who lack access to prosthetics. 3-D printed prosthetics are less expensive than traditional injection molding and more flexible in design, allowing for better comfort. His MICA Degree in Painting will come into play as he also enhances existing prosthetics through design—adding art to make the limbs look more interesting and aesthetically pleasing, with superhero designs and flowers, for example.
Founder: Winston Frazier ‘16 Painting
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
Joint Youth Movement
In the Baltimore area, too few outlets exist for artists to display, perform and sell their work. The Joint Youth Movement (also called the JYM) is an interactive space, gallery and retail vehicle started by MICA graduates Renz Balagtas and Sam Reitenbach and Juansebastian Serrano, a senior painting major. The goal of JYM is to unite and promote emerging artists, by curating their work and finding spaces for them to get exposure for their talents. JYM is planning to renovate an old warehouse through Baltimore City’s Vacants to Value program as permanent retail and exhibition space, but will partner with willing businesses, corporations and other locations until then.
Founders: Juansebastian Serrano ‘16 General Fine Arts, Renz Balagtas ‘14 Painting, & Sam Reitenbach ‘16 General Fine Arts
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
In the Baltimore area, too few outlets exist for artists to display, perform and sell their work. The Joint Youth Movement (also called the JYM) is an interactive space, gallery and retail vehicle started by MICA graduates Renz Balagtas and Sam Reitenbach and Juansebastian Serrano, a senior painting major. The goal of JYM is to unite and promote emerging artists, by curating their work and finding spaces for them to get exposure for their talents. JYM is planning to renovate an old warehouse through Baltimore City’s Vacants to Value program as permanent retail and exhibition space, but will partner with willing businesses, corporations and other locations until then.
Founders: Juansebastian Serrano ‘16 General Fine Arts, Renz Balagtas ‘14 Painting, & Sam Reitenbach ‘16 General Fine Arts
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
Klink Mobile
Started by MICA general fine arts graduate and current Design Leadership graduate student Amadeus Guchhait, Klink Mobile is a cloud-based mobile wallet system that allows users to send money to friends, family and businesses using only a mobile device. The beautiful and user-friendly interface makes it easy for people to securely and inexpensively transfer funds, even internationally. Guchhait is working with partner Jessica Bishop, and Brent Aguilar, also Design Leadership graduate students.
Founders: Amadeus Guchhait ‘15, ‘17 General Fine Arts & Humanistic Studies / MA/MBA Design Leadership, Jessica Bishop ‘17 MA/MBA Design Leadership & Brent Aguilar ‘17 MA/MBA Design Leadership
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
Started by MICA general fine arts graduate and current Design Leadership graduate student Amadeus Guchhait, Klink Mobile is a cloud-based mobile wallet system that allows users to send money to friends, family and businesses using only a mobile device. The beautiful and user-friendly interface makes it easy for people to securely and inexpensively transfer funds, even internationally. Guchhait is working with partner Jessica Bishop, and Brent Aguilar, also Design Leadership graduate students.
Founders: Amadeus Guchhait ‘15, ‘17 General Fine Arts & Humanistic Studies / MA/MBA Design Leadership, Jessica Bishop ‘17 MA/MBA Design Leadership & Brent Aguilar ‘17 MA/MBA Design Leadership
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
MODERNature
Design leadership meets urban agriculture: As a Johns Hopkins/MICA Design Leadership MBA/MA student, Julie, one of the MODERNature founders learned to put the human experience at the forefront of her design and developed a microgreen business in Baltimore. Julie and her co-founder are using a trailer as an urban agriculture grow room that fits 40 microgreen trays, which equals 480 servings every two weeks (year-round) of tiny produce that contains four to 32 times as many nutrients as its fully grown counterpart. The partners will sell the gorgeously hued, early-harvested produce to local restaurants. After learning from MICA to look at the big picture of the design process, the founders also ensured they were reducing their environmental impact by growing local, reusing water and using biodegradable inputs.
Founders: Julie Buisson ‘15 MA/MBA Design Leadership & Mark Verdecia
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
Design leadership meets urban agriculture: As a Johns Hopkins/MICA Design Leadership MBA/MA student, Julie, one of the MODERNature founders learned to put the human experience at the forefront of her design and developed a microgreen business in Baltimore. Julie and her co-founder are using a trailer as an urban agriculture grow room that fits 40 microgreen trays, which equals 480 servings every two weeks (year-round) of tiny produce that contains four to 32 times as many nutrients as its fully grown counterpart. The partners will sell the gorgeously hued, early-harvested produce to local restaurants. After learning from MICA to look at the big picture of the design process, the founders also ensured they were reducing their environmental impact by growing local, reusing water and using biodegradable inputs.
Founders: Julie Buisson ‘15 MA/MBA Design Leadership & Mark Verdecia
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
Pi
Without blocks, grids or other anxiety-causing features, Pi is a productivity app with a health and wellness focus. The app combines the usefulness of a calendar or note/list-making planner with a sensitivity toward daily balance. The interface provides users with a beautifully designed visual representation of how their days are spent, and can alert them when adding “to-dos” will interfere with sleep, recreation time, exercise or time to create. The app is created by Jordan Bradley, a senior in MICA’s interactive arts program.
Founder: Jordan Bradley ‘16 Interactive Arts
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
Without blocks, grids or other anxiety-causing features, Pi is a productivity app with a health and wellness focus. The app combines the usefulness of a calendar or note/list-making planner with a sensitivity toward daily balance. The interface provides users with a beautifully designed visual representation of how their days are spent, and can alert them when adding “to-dos” will interfere with sleep, recreation time, exercise or time to create. The app is created by Jordan Bradley, a senior in MICA’s interactive arts program.
Founder: Jordan Bradley ‘16 Interactive Arts
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
TNP Studios
Home of the “Nerdpocalypse” podcast series: This media company started with a few friends coming together in 2011 and has grown to over 100,000 downloads per month. TNP Studios provides four to five shows per week about niche, often artistic topics—from black films to Japanese animation. One of the founders, Jay will be receiving his MPS in the Business of Art + Design this year from MICA and hopes to launch a community project for the people of Baltimore that would improve healthy dialogue in the city.
Founders: Jay Jackson ‘16 MPS in the Business of Art + Design, Micah Payne, Jack Rous, & Terrence Carpenter
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
Home of the “Nerdpocalypse” podcast series: This media company started with a few friends coming together in 2011 and has grown to over 100,000 downloads per month. TNP Studios provides four to five shows per week about niche, often artistic topics—from black films to Japanese animation. One of the founders, Jay will be receiving his MPS in the Business of Art + Design this year from MICA and hopes to launch a community project for the people of Baltimore that would improve healthy dialogue in the city.
Founders: Jay Jackson ‘16 MPS in the Business of Art + Design, Micah Payne, Jack Rous, & Terrence Carpenter
Photo credit: Bruce Weller
Two Bolt Studios
Two Bolts is an artist run fabrication studio whose foundation is in furniture making but offers custom fabricating and design. MICA graduate Sam Acuff started the company to make handcrafted furniture with an industrial minimalist appeal out of reclaimed metal and wood. One of the company’s goals is to combat the overabundance of disposable and cheap goods with exquisitely made custom creations.
Founders: Sam Acuff ‘15 General Fine Arts, Ian Murphy ‘15 Painting, & Brendan Choi ‘16 Interdisciplinary Sculpture
Photo credit: Beren Mally
Two Bolts is an artist run fabrication studio whose foundation is in furniture making but offers custom fabricating and design. MICA graduate Sam Acuff started the company to make handcrafted furniture with an industrial minimalist appeal out of reclaimed metal and wood. One of the company’s goals is to combat the overabundance of disposable and cheap goods with exquisitely made custom creations.
Founders: Sam Acuff ‘15 General Fine Arts, Ian Murphy ‘15 Painting, & Brendan Choi ‘16 Interdisciplinary Sculpture
Photo credit: Beren Mally