Frequently asked questions

The Rhoda Lubalin Fellowship is awarded annually to a selected senior student (or seniors graduating in December) within The Cooper Union School of Art, who has excelled in the field of graphic design.

Endowed in 1987 by Rhoda Lubalin in honor of her husband, Herb Lubalin, the Fellowship is a research-based project that uses the Lubalin Study Center collection as an entry point. Students will be granted special access to the Center while they work with the Curator and Archive Coordinator to execute a unique project that will make a lasting commitment to the collection.
Eligibility
Who can apply?
Applicants must be rising Seniors currently enrolled at The Cooper Union who must have taken, or are currently taking, at least one advanced-level graphic design course and be in good academic standing to be eligible to apply for the Rhoda Lubalin Fellowship.

Applicants may be individuals or small groups (2-4), as long as everyone meets the above eligibility criteria.
Award
What's the award?
The award is an honor. It distinguishes recipients as approaching design at an elevated level and committing the time to take into consideration the collection of the Lubalin Study Center, discerning what the project could highlight or enhance in the archive.

The Fellowship award is $2,000.
Timeline
What's the timeline?
The application process begins in the Spring semester of a student's Junior year. Work on the Fellowship is conducted during the coming academic year and is completed by the end of that academic year.

February 1 - March 31
Eligible rising Seniors will be notified and one info session will be scheduled. We encourage you to visit the archive.
April 1 (Applications Due!)
Online application forms due.
Must include a description of the project, a timeline for its completion, and a budget.
April 1 - April 15
Online applications are reviewed by Lubalin Study Center.
May 1
Awardee(s) chosen and announced publicly (dean, faculty, etc.). Initial planning meeting with awardee(s) is scheduled.
May 1 - August 31
As needed, access to Lubalin Study Center and optional meetings with awardee(s) scheduled.
September 1 - September 30
You will meet every other week with curator to discuss project progress. By the end of September, a final scope of your project and budget should be presented to reflect changes and revisions to writing and budget. Remember to cite sources, acknowledge resources that you used, and thank those who helped make the project possible or who you want to remember.
October 1 - May 1
Undertake your work on the project and participate in meetings bi-monthly with curator and possibly graphic design faculty.
May 1 (Project Completed!)
Your fellowship project is completed.
May 31
Provide documentation of your project for inclusion in the website.
Proposal
What's required?
Name of Applicant
List your name.
If you are working in a group list all group members’ names.
Working Title
Give your project a name.
A rough version of the project title will do if you don’t have a fixed version of it in mind.
Project Description
What items are touchstones for this project? How do you plan to undertake the research?

What do you hope to accomplish?

What are the aims of the project as a contribution to the Lubalin Study Center?

What will you leave in the archive as an artifact of your project?


You may still be working out some of these details but provide as much information as you can. A good proposal is clearly written and descriptive. A full page or two should allow you to answer all or most of these questions.
Format
Many different formats have been used in the past: exhibitions, zines, publications, forums, digital animations, performance, and so on. Maybe there's a format that no one has thought or or attempted before and it's suitable for your project. Describe what you think might fit and why.
Visuals
Include visual materials or references in your proposal that will help illustrate the project.
Timeline for Completion
How long will the project take?
Block out the weeks that you plan to work on it and make sure you leave room for the other responsibilities in your life when you map it out.
Estimated Budget
Consider what you need to bring the project to completion. Will there be costs associated with it, like materials, printing, fabrication, etc? Create a budget that reflects what you estimate the costs might be, even if it's a ballpark amount. You can factor in the Fellowship award amount into the project's budget.
Documentation of Process
Upon completion of the project, a physical or digital object that will serve as an artifact will be submitted for inclusion in the archive. Additionally, plan to provide documentation of hte process if relevant. Submit at least 10 TIFF (300 DPI) images to the center. These will be posted on the website with your permission.
Submission
How to apply?
You will submit your complete Proposal as a PDF file using our online application portal.
Selection
How are fellows chosen?
Fellowship awards are based on the quality and depth of the projects proposed. Projects awarded are serious undertakings that make a lasting contribution visually, theoretically, or historically to the collection. Projects that correlate to the collection and are ambitious in scope are given preference in selection.

Proposals are reviewed by the Lubalin Study Center staff in consultation with Cooper Union graphic design faculty. A request for an in-person interview may be made of applicants to expand on their proposals.

Prior to proposal submission, students are welcome and encouraged to discuss project ideas with Lubalin Study Center staff and/or graphic design faculty.

Fellowship projects are not subject to evaluation for grades.
Prompts
What are some prompts?
What do you think about graphic design?

What do you think the role of design is?

What objects would you like to interact with and consult with in the ubalin study center? Why?

Whose work influences your own? In what ways?

What media do you gravitate towards? In what format?
Is it printed matter like books and posters that excite you
Animated graphics?
Maps and wayfinding?
Advertising?
Type and lettering?
Movies?

How can a format that you already prefer overlap with a designer’s work or a typeface or time period?

You don’t have to pack everything you can think of into a project proposal. Maybe there’s one small thing that will prompt you to investigate a topic.

An Idea like:
“What’s an ampersand and why is it graphically important?”
could start bubbling around in your brain. Maybe you could look up its history, see where it sits in the worlds of type and Design, find out when it was first used, share its many iterations, attempt to see how the symbol adapted and is used today.

Is it interesting enough for you to make a book about it? An Exhibit?
Does thinking about it make you itchy to find every representation of ampersands ever designed? Would you as a viewer want to see it in some special format that could be exciting?

The goal is for you to make something that will contribute to the purpose of the lUbalin study center but also for you to be excited to make a creative act!

Maybe it’s something in current events or culture, maybe it’s something that seems very fixed and finite that we take for granted. If you’re curious, then figure out why and tell us in your application!