A5 // Design Awards Gala and Exhibition

With over 500 members in the Kansas City Metro, AIGA Kansas City will be hosting their annual Design Awards Gala and Exhibition on Saturday January 24th. A5 will celebrate the best KC designers, firms, students, and teachers of 2008. This event is designed to appeal to all 5 senses, the 5 senses we use every day: sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste.

This year, the innumerable entries were judged by some tough critics, including Stanley Hainsworth (former Creative Director for Lego, Nike, and Starbucks, and Founder of Tether, Inc. in Seattle, WA), Pum Lefebure (Co-founder and Design Director at Design Army in Washington D.C., and Alan Leusink (of Duffy & Partners in Minneapolis, MN).

The cool, refreshing cocktail. The savory, delectable hors d’oeuvre. The sweetness of the well-deserved victory. It’s time to taste it all — at this year's A5 Gala and Exhibition. Come join us!

HomeGrown, Part 2

Since Josh put the pressure on me to post more on this event (ha ha, just kidding Josh), here some of my thoughts and pics from the event.

We (the AIGA KC board) have had this "homegrown" idea in mind for some time. Our Programming Chair, Anne-Marie, finally gave the idea wings, and worked her magic to make it fly (forgive the cheesy comparison, but that is what it felt like when it finally came together). The timing seemed right for this idea when we learned some surprising statics from and recent U.S. Census data study. Kansas City currently ranks 6th in the nation for over all concentration of Graphic Designers. We are also 8th in overall concentration of Visual Artists, and 3rd in the nation for overall concentration of Architects. Now these are stats that need to be celebrated!

This first edition of HomeGrown was set up as a dialogue (as just mentioned) between two small, local design firms who have received national recognition and awards for their work. These firms could have chosen to put their roots in any city, but selected KC as their place to start, to thrive, and to grow, maybe not in size, but in stature. Future HomeGrown evens will include Studio Tours and more Dialogues. The next HomeGrown is set for mid-December, and will be a studio tour of Barkley, a KC-based ad agency.

And now, without further ado, the photo-recap of HomeGrown: Hammerpress + Design Ranch.

Limited Edition posters designed for the event.

A crowd begins to gather at Rush Wade 2 Studio, who graciously donated their space for the event.

Lindsay L., creator and owner of Fresher than Fresh sold tasty homemade (and all natural) frozen treats.

A big crowd gathers to participate in the Design Ranch & Hammerpress dialogue.

The dialogue begins with Ingred Sidie (not pictured) presenting Design Ranch's portfolio while Michelle Sonderegger (left, Design Ranch), Erin Mills (middle, the dialogue moderator), and Brady Vest (right, Hammerpress) discuss.
Special thanks to Lorraine R. of LorraineDesign for the photos. [Note: Lo just started on the AIGA KC board as our new Event Photographer. All of her AIGA KC event photos can be seen on Flickr].

KC HomeGrown

Tonight, AIGA held an event at Rush Wade Photography showcasing some of Kansas City's own. Known nationally for their impact on the design community came Brady Vest from Hammerpress, and Ingred Sidie and Michelle Sonderegger of Design Ranch. The greatest impact to me was the sheer honesty and willingness to share how they really felt. There was an unexpected contrast between Brady, who still believes in a very "indie" outlook on his business (even with the significant growth of this company in the last few years), and Ingred and Michelle's corporate dealings with fun high-profile companies like Buckle and HR Block. What both companies definitely had in common was they clearly have a love for this city, and would only like to see the best things come from it. Each of them from the Midwest, they all seem eager to "expand the bubble" of the "truly" great things happening here.
Over all, it was an inspiring talk from three totally rad people, especially for the younger designers in the audience; sharing some of their triumphs and pitfalls of being in the "big-times". Not to mention "Fresher than Fresh" brought snow cones! This could be the first of many in this series so keep an ear out, it could well be worth your time.

I'm sure Erin would like to add a little more about this event (and maybe some pictures, if you are lucky), so stay tuned.

-Josh

COLOR WEEK 2008

Today, Sean Adams, partner of AdamsMorioka and the national president of AIGA came to Hallmark to do a presentation on "There Is No Such Thing As Too Bright."

Sean follows these three principals:
1. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO BRIGHT
"Fluorescents are the heroin of the color world," he said. At AdamsMorioka they run lots of fluorescent magenta and yellow on the print process to get bright and intense color.

2. THE DESIGN OF REASSURANCE
Colors are cheerful or could trick the audience into viewing something that could be controversial. Sean says, "it's better to seduce than to repulse."

3. COLOR AS A BRAND
An example is that Tiffany's has made their brand with a shade of blue that everyone refers to as Tiffany blue.

In addition Sean says, "it's okay to like what you like." That is what makes you unique. You don't have to like the hottest trend that is out there. What you like may bring something different or a new view to the table.

And... "don't be timid." Use color!

Sean is also the co-author of Logo Design Workbook, Color Design Workbook and Masters of Design.

ISU College of Design Career Day

Hey from San Jose, CA! I'm on the road this week in sunny, warm California at San Jose State University. It's much warmer here (72 today!) than Iowa was last week (15!), but I wanted to give a shout out to all of the ISU students and faculty who stopped by to chat with Hallmark and/or came to our presentation at the College of Design Career Day last week. Here are a few photos from the event of our (Hallmark)RED booth. Thanks for coming to see what we're up to at Hallmark, and remember: the Hallmark Creative Summer Internship deadline is only 14 days away (March 17th)!

Left side of the booth. See the black and white books in the front of the photo? Those were all the goods we handed out! White books: Award-winning (A4, Kansas City AIGA Awards Show 2007), stitched booklet with an embossed cover chock full of info on Hallmark Creative and Kansas City (plus some of the top-selling cards from our RED line. Black books: Award-winning (Communication Arts annual, 2006) spiral bound book focused on typography and various paper stocks, all about Hallmark's Design Studios.

Right side of the booth, "See How Far a Card Can Go" posters designed by our Environmental Graphic Design Studio for Hallmark Gold Crown front-of-store (Jan-Feb 08). Similar signage was on a billboard in Times Square, NYC in December 07 and January 08!

Gift Presentation product (bags, tissue, boxes, gift wrap, hang tags) and a few cards and stationery (boxed cards)

Some of the RED cards and some print collateral from the Marketing Design Studio, our internal ad agency.

Me and Meg B., a Hallmark Designer (check out her blog, so fun! link under "Hallmarkers Who Blog" on the right)

(Hallmark)RED booth in full

Bess = Guest Blogger

Hello to all the readers of Erin's great recruiting blog. I'm going to pop in randomly and dust a few tidbits of knowledge, random thoughts, mindless what-nots and whatever else I feel like sprinkling over here at cre•a•tiv•i•ty.

First and foremost, let me introduce myself. My name is Bess and I have been a greetings designer at Hallmark since October of 2004. I received my BFA in graphic design from Iowa State University and studied abroad in Rome while I was a student there.

In my free time I enjoy long walks on the beach... ha ha. Not really. Well, a beach does sound pretty good right now. I have traveled with Erin from time to time, Iowa State University, the AIGA conference in Denver, and most recently to John Brown University. Recruiting trips, while a ton of work, are really rewarding as well. Hopefully I will have more opportunities to do that in the future. (*Ahem, Erin.)

So that's that. I'll try and spice things up a bit when I post. And I'll try to be pretty regular about it... because I welcome any opportunity to do things a bit off task. (This is work related though, right!?) And a big PS- it's my BIRTHDAY today!

JBWho?

Sunday, 01/27: heading out on another recruiting trip. Flying right now actually, heading east to Cincinnati then south to Savannah, GA, where Savannah College of Art and Design lives and thrives.

Rewind. Friday, 01/25: our final day at JBU.

Just finished up lunch at President and Mrs. Pollard’s house. The perfect experience to wrap up an amazing trip. Bess and I start the drive home. We’re rockin’ out to Alex’s “Make me Artsy” CD and Derek's chill mix, and for the first time in a few days, we’re not talking a mile a minute. We’re both sitting quietly, rural hills, rocky cliffs, and winding rivers rolling by, thinking about the past few days. The quiet gave me some time to figure out how to best sum up the JBU trip… Here are my thoughts.

During travel season, I’m often asked by friends and colleagues, “Where are you headed next, Erin?” Usually that question is followed by them trying to guess, “Philadelphia? Atlanta? San Jose? Sarasota?” I have to confess that nobody has ever guessed “Siloam Springs, Arkansas.” And when I told them where I was headed on my first recruiting trip of 2008, most of them responded with a facial expression that said, “Arkansas? JBWho?”

I have to admit, when I first met Todd Goehner and several JBU students in March of 2007 at AIGA Kansas City’s Student Portfolio Day, I was a bit surprised myself. I had never heard of John Brown University, and I had to ask several students to repeat themselves so that I could remember what it was called and where it was located.

Arkansas… rural, southern, small (tiny), small-minded, lacking diversity, Bible belt, small towns, no towns, nothing to do, limited perspectives, religious, not at all unique, boring, never changing… All of these are ideas that people may have in their minds about a place like Arkansas, though most have never been there. It's the same thing as when people associate Kansas City with cattle sales barns and a poor baseball team, though they have never visited KC.

Though it is hard for me to admit, I know I had some of these Arkansas-stereotypes in my own mind prior to my visit (and I had only visited Siloam Springs once, and for less than 48 hours). But, isn’t it amazing how a person’s perspective can change if they invest a little time and energy into something they know nothing about?

My mind (and my heart) have changed after visiting JBU and spending time some time on the campus. Bess too, shares my perspective on this: What we found in a small city in Northwest Arkansas was far different than we ever expected.

We found passion and compassion for people. We experienced it firsthand when Jeran took us to lunch and she smiled and said hello to every person she saw; when Dave, Todd, Neal, Neil, Peter, Joel, and Charles opened up their classrooms and students to us, allowing us the opportunity to get to know so many passion-led, talented people; when Chip and Carey Pollard opened their home and their table to us on our final day, genuinely interested in hearing about our visit to JBU, asking about our experience, and hearing about the growing partnership between JBU and Hallmark.

We found creativity and talent. In the Art Building itself was an atmosphere that breathes creativity: the gallery, the classrooms, the offices, the art and quotes on the walls; In the faculty: their creativity and talent was evident, both in what they teach, and in their personal artwork or hobbies; In the students: their teachability and excitement for creative expression, their sponge-like ability to absorb everything around them; their individuality coupled with their acceptance of others who are unlike them.

We found a campus rich with diversity. We learned that most students had either lived abroad or had traveled abroad. We met students who grew up in all parts of the world as children of missionaries: Bolivia, Brazil, Korea, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Russia, Germany. Most of them are bilingual. We met students who had studied abroad in England, Ireland, France, Jordan. We learned of students who come to JBU on 4-year scholarships from countries throughout South America. We learned that nearly 20% of JBU’s student body is made up of students from outside of the U.S. -- cool!

I could go on and on with this list. I'm not really sure how to sum up this blog entry, because my mind is still so full of "hard to type" thoughts, memories, and ideas. So, I'll close by saying thank you -- to all of you. For a wonderful experience, and for broadening my perspective and my creativity.

Pierced ears, Barbies & Marian Bantjes

Mornin' all -- I am cleaning my office today. Woohoo! For any of you who have seen my office, you realize what an amazing feat it will be to finally have it clean. I usually thrive in the chaos of my unclean (though remarkably organized) office, but recently people have been walking by and looking through my open door with terrified looks on their faces. So, I think it's time.... I thought today I would go through my notes, to-dos, and ideas from the last few conferences and events I have been to and somehow make sense of them all so they don't get lost in the clutter. In the last hour, I haven't gotten very far...

As a child, my room was always messy. The rule in my family was that we had to keep our rooms clean for six weeks before we could get our ears pierced (I have three sisters, so all of us went through this ordeal at some point during our 'tween years). Anyway, I would spend hours cleaning my room -- not because I was OCD or because I was a neat freak, but because I am easily distracted. I would start "cleaning" my Barbie dreamhouse, only to find that three hours later, I had made no progress on my room, but WOW! Barbie and Skipper sure had beautiful outfits and hair-dos!

In my adult life, I find the same thing happening during my everyday activities. I find things that distract me and pull me away from my main goal of a clean office, a clean house, a trip to the store, my morning workouts at the gym. I have realized that these "distractions" aren't always bad, and certainly my distraction today isn't: Marian Bantjes.

During her presentation during the AIGA: Next conference in Denver earlier this month, Marian spoke about "unexpected nextness" which she described as "unforseen events, chance encounters, unimagined, unarranged nextness." I took a million notes in my little notebook during that conference, but as Marian's story unfolded, I scribbled as fast as I ever have to get her amazing story down.

Marian talked about the artistic influences in her life, and about how along the way, she didn't even realize the impact of these influences. Had she selectively ignored certain influences? Was her past influencing her present or was her present influencing what she selected to remember from the past? Marian started her career in design as a typesetter for a publishing company after seeing an advertisement for "help needed" in a local coffeeshop. She was not classically trained as a designer, but interviewed for the job anyway, and got it. She worked in that job for several years, and then opened a design firm, and spent several years developing logos, identity systems, brochures, and direct mail collateral. She began to think about what she really loved to do, which was hand lettering and typography. Marian gave herself one year to do what she loved, and made no money. So, she took out a loan, kept working, and gave herself six months --

her design career took off.

Marian's story is as beautiful as her work. It's about risk and the unexpected nextness of life. She revealed to the audience that she is still worried about what's next for her as a designer. She is worried that her work will eventually lose it's uniqueness. She knows that she'll have to take another creative risk, not knowing how things will turn out. But, she also knows that her quest for "next" distracts her from the "now."

I have spent the last thirty minutes of my office-cleaning endeavor deciphering my scribbled handwriting to find a small bit of inspiration to get me back to work: at the end of her presentation (following some slides of her amazing work-see below), Marian advised, "We must find the balance between constructing our future and accepting that we cannot construct it." You never know what might be next for you, so live in the now and the next will follow.

Click images to enlarge -- amazing!

An update from AIGA -- Post Conference!

Ok, so, I neglected to update my blog while I was at AIGA in Denver last week (as I promised in one of last week's entries). I'm still trying to figure out "how much blogging is too much" and "how much is enough to keep everyone reading -- and thirsting for more!" I need some input from all of you. Comment below, or take my survey (see right) to vote for the number that best describes your blog posts in a week. I'd love to have your feedback!

Now, as for Denver. The AIGA:Next conference was an amazing experience, and I can't wait to share about all of the things I learned while there. I'm travelling for work again this week (in D.C. for a recruiting conference honing my skillz), but I have my notes from AIGA with me and free time in the evenings, so there will be lots to read in the next three days! For now, I want to talk a bit about what I was busy doing in Denver when I wasn't attending sessions.

At conferences like these, there is always an exhibition floor with booths from many different companies that are fascinating to we designers: Neenah Paper , Adobe, Veer, and Sappi. I always spend time browsing the booths (which the exhibitors/sponsors pay big bucks to get, and I did so at this conference (I picked up lots of free paper samples, books, t-shirts and trinkets (so much designerly stuff that I had to check my carry-on bag on my way home because it was too heavy!).

Anyway, prior to the conference, I was brainstorming with a couple of designers: How can we (Hallmark) network at a conference and get our name out there without paying a lot of money for a booth? How can we get creative with networking? Here's an example of what happens when you "network" the common way. I usually end up with so many business cards after networking at a conference that they end up getting mixed into my underwear compartment in my suitcase. Then, when I get home an unpack, I find them a few weeks later and wonder... why is the business card of Chip Kidd in my underwear drawer?? I have found business cards in other random places as well -- in the back of my notebook, mixed in with my receipts for lunch, in my shoes... you get the idea.

You are probably thinking, is she simply disorganized? Does she just not care about the cards people give her? On the contrary: I am so organized that I am practically considered OCD (ask my boyfriend Eric - it drives him nuts), and I get business cards that I definitely want to follow up on from people who are amazingly talented and interesting (Chip Kidd for one)... The issue is quantity.

So, back to my brainstorm with the designers I was talking about.

The images below are what we used as our "business cards" during the conference. We handed them out, along with buttons that matched each of our campaigns. And the result: we handed out over 600 of them, and around 60 people came to a Happy Hour we sponsored. It was a lot of hard work, but really fun -- much more fun than handing out a 3.5" x 2" piece of paper with 6pt. type on it! We met some very cool people from all over the country: Santa Fe, NM; NYC, NY; Brookings, SD; Atlanta, GA; Minneapolis, MN; and now we have a whole network of people to keep in touch with regarding careers in creativity!






Left: front of card, Right: back of card. Copyright 2007 Hallmark Cards, Inc. For those who haven't met me, I'm the one in the third photo. We did a photo shoot with Hallmark's Photography Studio to get these fun pics! Note: Click on each card to enlarge and read each of our info. Enjoy!

Hey to all from the AIGA Conference in DENVER!

I'm going to be giving conference updates on my blog while I am here. And if YOU who are reading happen to be here, I'm sure you'll see me at some point...Watch close, and you'll find me and two other designers from Hallmark! Hint hint! More soon!