What happens after graduation? The inevitable, daunting, and often intimidating job market looms over students entering the workforce. But the 2025 seniors of Parsons School of Design’s undergraduate communication design program aren’t shying away from that reality; they are facing it head-on with their thesis exhibition titled Open2Work. 

Held Friday, April 18, on the second floor of 39 W. 13th Street, this year’s showcase marked a series of firsts: a fully developed exhibition identity, a dedicated exhibition space, and an entirely student-led organizing team. 

Leading the effort was fourth-year communication design student Theingi Thann, who worked as a student specialist for the communication design department. After helping organize last year’s show, which came together quickly without a formal organizing team, Thann set out to start earlier and create a more cohesive, student-led experience. 

She began assembling a team of more than 15 classmates in September. Together, they handled everything from logistics to branding. Their goal this year was to improve presentation conditions for more than 130 graduating seniors and turn the show into a more individualized, celebratory experience. 

A major change was how space was allocated, and that students were informed of their setups in advance.  

“We prioritized what people would need space-wise and then tried to plot them there and section it off that way instead of trying to group people per section [thesis advisor],” Thann said. 

Film screenings had their own projection-ready spaces, interactive installations were given floor areas with seating, and print works, textiles, websites, books, zines, and sound pieces were all arranged with careful attention to each medium’s needs. 

Open2Work also featured a visual identity for the first time. Drawing inspiration from AppleTV+’s series Severance and the “office core” aesthetic that leans into corporate tropes, the organizing team built a playful design that pokes fun at LinkedIn’s familiar “Open to Work” banner. 

“We’re almost entering this workforce,” Drithi Kandoor, a fourth-year student and design member of the organizing committee, said. “We were thinking about how to position ourselves as someone who’s ready to work, but also not so serious.” 

From the logo to the website, the showcase’s identity embraced a corporate look. The student-designed site features interactive filing folders and Post-it notes in a signature manila yellow color. 

“We wanted to create a system that would compliment everyone’s work without being too distracting from the work itself … it’s a canvas or a sticky note on top of their work rather than forcing their work to stick into our system,” Kandoor said. 

The exhibition drew a steady stream of friends, mentors, faculty, and curious visitors from morning to late afternoon. “We sold out in eight hours,” Dev Makker, a fourth-year communication design student and design member of the organizing team, said, referring to the Humanitix RSVP page for non-New School guests.  

Elaine Lopez, associate program director and assistant professor, praised the student-led effort this year. “It just feels more true to the students because they all know each other and know what the work is. I think we’re better able to utilize the space this year … we know what’s possible and we’ll see where it goes next year, we hope to do it every year in this space.”

It’s no surprise that this class isn’t just “open to work,” they’re more than ready.