Happy 100th!

Photo from: The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star has a wonderful photo gallery of Hallmark through the years. As well as timeline of Hallmark History.

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Along with our centennial website (as Erin mentioned), there's a Centennial blog called Signatures - it's a behind the scenes look at the year long celebration. The contributors are 11 Hallmarkers (I'm one of them!) Check it out!

visiting lecture series

Today Baron Wolman, the first chief photographer of Rolling Stone magazine, came to do a lecture at Hallmark.

It was really cool to hear his stories and see his images of musicians during the 1960's and 1970's. It was amazing to hear how up close and personal he got with the artists and built relationships to capture that unique photo during the defining moments of Woodstock. Nowadays there are layers of security before you can get to a musician!

Wolman, said he "saw" the music with his eyes through his lens because he was always taking photos of the performance and not having the change to hear the music.

One of the life lessons I took from Wolman was to say "yes to everything." He was a freelance photographer in San Francisco when he ran across the opportunity to take photos for a music magazine. That magazine became the Rolling Stone. Wolman said if you say no to something you don't know what you're saying no to. If you say yes and it doesn't work out you say no next time.

After three years at Rolling Stone Wolman learned how to fly an airplane so he could do ariel photography. He flies his plane, opens the window and takes his photos all at the same time! He was the first photographer allowed in the locker rooms before a pro NFL game. And he's shot may Super Bowl games from the air.

With all of those accomplishments Wolman was overwhelmed with the "cloud of creativity" he felt when he walked through our Hallmark doors. Wow...

Here are some of the images Wolman showed and told stories about in his lecture.

• Johnny Cash, backstage at the Circle Star Theatre, Redwood City, Dec 1967


• Mick Jagger, on the set of Performance, London, Sep 1968 (Shepperton Studios)


• Miles and Betty Davis, at home in New York. Oct 1969

A story to make you smile.

I read this story today, about the lovely ladies below, who were photographed in 2007 and featured on their very own Hallmark card in 2009. Hope it brings a smile to your day!

Now get out there and enjoy this beautiful KC weather:
[weather courtesy of KCTV5.com]

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].