AIGA Baltimore, Author at AIGA Baltimore

BMORE Inspired by The Painted Ladies of Charles Village

Posted on August 9, 2016May 24, 2018 by AIGA Baltimore

When you hear the term “painted ladies”, do you think of Baltimore architecture? Inspired by the brightly colored homes of San Francisco, the Victorian style row homes of Baltimore’s own Charles Village neighborhood certainly live up to the name.

In the late 90s, the neighborhood of Charles Village had a contest, challenging residents to paint and decorate the fronts of their rowhomes in order to revitalize and show pride in their neighborhood. With cash prizes for best door, porch and front facade, residents took the challenge and ran with it. With an array of colors and styles ranging from vibrant pinks, greens, and yellows, stripes and solids, even almost 20 years later these rowhomes show how bold and spunky the city of Baltimore can be. Although the last contest took place in 2003, some of the houses have been repainted in the past few years, and there are efforts to bring back the competition. For a taste of some true Baltimore charm, the painted ladies of Charles Village are well worth driving—or walking—by to see.

Credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/question_everything/">Let Ideas Compete</a> — Credit: Let Ideas Compete

Credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guilford.jpg">Wikipedia</a> — Credit: Wikipedia

Credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sidereal/">Jack Lyons</a> — Credit: Jack Lyons

Credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ms_sarahbgibson/">cinderellasg</a> — Credit: cinderellasg

This post is part 5 of our “Bmore Inspired in Baltimore” series. See part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 here.

Image Credit: Zack Weinberg

Shannon Crabill is an HTML Email Developer at T. Rowe Price. Outside of the Internet you can find her riding her motorcycle and binge-watching home improvement shows on HGTV. Tweet her at @shannon_crabill.

BMORE Inspired at Bromo-Seltzer Tower & Arts District

Posted on August 2, 2016May 24, 2018 by AIGA Baltimore

Many of Baltimore’s neighborhoods make great places for designers to visit. The Bromo Tower Arts District is a relatively new addition to Baltimore. Established in 2012, Bromo Tower Arts District occupies a space just north of the Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower for which it was named. The district was established as a way for the area to become a fully realized downtown arts neighborhood. The area contains a plethora of venues to entice the artistically minded visitor, from numerous galleries to performance spaces and theaters.

Credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ebmorse/">Brandon Morse</a> — Credit: Brandon Morse

The Bromo Tower Arts District is home to almost too many organizations and venues to name, but there’s something for just about everyone there. Notable galleries include Gallery Four, which encourages artists to create large-scale works and installations; Arte Factory, which features many pieces made from discarded and recycled objects and materials; and XOL, which is dedicated to providing a place for young Middle Eastern artists to create and display their work. The district contains several performance spaces, including the Annex Theater, Everyman Theatre, and even the historic Hippodrome Theatre. If you’re looking for historical inspiration, the Maryland Historical Society can be found here. Even the shops in the Bromo Tower Arts District lean towards the artistic, such as Neighborhood Fiber Co. yarn shop, AT Jones & Sons Costume Shop, and Pipes Dreamz Clothing.

The district’s namesake, the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, is itself an iconic Baltimore landmark. The tower was constructed in 1911 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built by Captain Isaac Emerson, inventor of Bromo Seltzer, it was modeled after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. The tower’s most distinguishing feature, and most recognizable sight in the district, is the still-functioning tower clock, which shows the words BROMO SELTZER instead of numbers. In 2007, the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts began renovations on the tower, turning the 15-story building into 33 artists’ studios. The tower regularly holds open houses of the studios for visitors.

Whether you’re looking for art galleries or theaters, shops or historic landmarks, the Bromo Arts Tower District has something for everyone!

This post is part 4 of our “Bmore Inspired in Baltimore” series. See part 1, part 2 and part 3 here.

Image Credit: BKL

Mitch is a volunteer copywriter for AIGA Baltimore. In the real world, he’s usually indulging in
gaming of some kind, controller or dice in hand. Find him on Twitter at @mc_mittens.

BMORE Inspired at Station North Arts District

Posted on July 26, 2016May 24, 2018 by AIGA Baltimore

If you’re looking for an art-centric destination that is more than a one-stop shop then consider spending your day in the Station North Arts District. Located in the heart of the city, Station North has something for everyone—even the non-designer in your life.

Founded in 2002, Station North is the home of the first State designated Arts & Entertainment District in Baltimore. One of 22 in the State of Maryland, the five block radius that is Station North is home to dozens of projects, installations, local galleries and cafes. While it’s hard to pick just one, here are a few of the highlights.

Open Walls
For the street art fan, the neighborhood is scattered with large, vibrant wall murals as part of the Open Walls project. Kicking off in 2012, Station North joined forces with local artist Gaia to produce the project, which features nearly two dozen murals and art installations.

Tapping the talents of local and global artists of all backgrounds and nationalities, the project succeeded at and surpassed its goal of invigorating the city and bringing art into a community that would otherwise have just another exposed brick wall. Over two months, Open Walls earned several “Best Of” awards from the Baltimore City Paper as well as features in the Washington Post and New York Times.

Credit: <a href="http://stationnorth.org/" target="_blank">stationnorth.org</a> — Credit: stationnorth.org

More than three years after its inception, the murals can still be found and admired by the public. Spanning several blocks surrounding North Avenue, Open Walls makes for a great self-guided tour. A catalog of the project is also available from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) bookstore.

The Charles
For the movie fan, consider seeing a show at The Charles Theater. The 1150-seat historic, multi-screen theater shows new releases as well as classics, as part of its revival series. The building itself was designed in 1892 by architect Jackson C. Gott and went through many purposes in its life, including a streetcar barn, library and ballroom. Even through its 100+ year lifespan, the integrity of the main auditorium remains mostly untouched since it was originally dubbed the Times Theatre in 1939. The Charles is also home to family friendly anime and movie nights.

Credit: <a href="http://thecharles.com/">The Charles</a> — Credit: The Charles

Red Emma’s
The Station North Arts District is also home to several local eateries too. If you are in the mood for house roasted coffee and an all vegetarian menu, consider stopping by Red Emma’s.

Credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicknormal/">Nick Normal</a> — Credit: Nick Normal

On the corner of Maryland and North Avenues, Red Emma is not just a coffee shop. Owned by its employees, Red Emma’s houses a bookshop, complete with radical, small press books, as well as regular schedule of community fueled talks, workshops and author events. Promoting a “no-hate, everyone is welcome” environment as one of their core values, Red Emma’s makes for a relaxing stop within the Arts District.

This post is part 3 of our “Bmore Inspired in Baltimore” series. See part 1 and part 2 here.

Image Credit: stationnorth.org

Two AIGA Innovate Awards Granted to AIGA Baltimore

Posted on July 22, 2016February 7, 2019 by AIGA Baltimore

Every great success story starts at the first chapter, and we are thrilled to be starting two books at once.

AIGA Baltimore is proud to announce that we have received not one but two AIGA Innovate grants for special projects that are poised to have a lasting impact on the design community in Baltimore and at large.

Within the next year board members and a committee of volunteers will work to produce an EntreprenU Design Business Toolkit, a collection of tools and content aimed at helping designers and AIGA chapters become more business savvy, and a Design Legislation Wiki, an online resource for established and in-progress legislation related to design and design education across the United States.

Read more about these two projects and about AIGA Innovate below.

AIGA Innovate

AIGA Innovate is a grant program developed to encourage and empower chapters to boldly face the future. The program funds game-changing projects at AIGA chapters across the country, which improve the AIGA member experience, impact the wider community, are scalable to other chapters, and are sustainable after the initial grant period.

AIGA Innovate is a four-year fund with up to $250,000 to be awarded each year. AIGA members, in collaboration with their chapter board leaders, can apply for AIGA Innovate funds by submitting a formal application detailing their project. To ensure that projects meet the high standards set for all AIGA Innovate projects, there is an eight-person selection committee that reviews the projects through a rigorous two-round review process before awarding the finalists.

The first group of projects was funded in 2015. In 2016, three projects were funded; AIGA Baltimore received two grants: the EntreprenU Design Business Toolkit and the Design Legislation Wiki, and AIGA Arizona received a grant for their project, Empowering the Underserved DesignKit.

Read more about AIGA Innovate on AIGA.org.

AIGA Baltimore’s Innovate projects

EntreprenU Design Business Toolkit

This toolkit will consist of articles, templates, tutorial videos, and other content to help designers start their own business. Content will relate to business plan development, tax filing, how to talk about the value of design to non-designers, and variety of administrative considerations.

The toolkit will also cover on soft-skills and research-assisted data, giving design entrepreneurs a primer in making a pitch, business writing, effectively presenting work, and managing clients.

Design Legislation Wiki

The value of design and design thinking is more important than ever for businesses and communities. However, there is a disconnect between local design policy and legislation and the communities they are meant to serve.

This online resource will be a searchable, visual database of established and in-process legislation for design at the professional level, and in education, especially K-12. Searchable by zip code or state, users will be able to see not only what is going on in their community, but what other communities across the country have implemented.

Additionally, the website will include a toolkit with examples of good design legislation and STEAM education policy that communities can use as templates for their own proposals. It will also include forms that can be customized to contact local representatives about the importance of, and interest in, specific design legislation.

Project Progress and Next Steps

AIGA Baltimore board members are currently nailing down project details, milestones, and timelines so that these projects are set up for success and can be fully developed within the next year.

Our next steps will be to to develop RFPs for the design and development of each project and assemble a committee of volunteers to drive execution.

A talented project manager, web developer, and content expert is needed for each project—these volunteers will be critical for the success of the initiatives, and for our board to be able to continue producing and improving our ongoing events and design programming.

Know anyone who wants to make an impact and might be a good fit for one of these roles? Sit tight! We’ll have more project details, committee position descriptions, and a link for you to apply your talent (or nominate someone else’s) to these special projects. In the meantime, you can contact us at socialdesign@baltimore.aiga.org if you have questions or comments.

We look forward to bringing these initiatives to the Baltimore community, and beyond.

SEEKING Talented Designers and Creatives in Baltimore

Posted on July 21, 2016February 7, 2019 by AIGA Baltimore

YOU: a creative Baltimore artist, architect, designer (of graphics, fashion, interiors, typography, web, or other), doodler, illustrator, hand letterer, and/or maker of things who photographs and shares your work on social media outlets.

US: a collective of professional designers interested in sharing your work across our social streams in order to highlight and amplify the creativity of Baltimore and inspire fellow community creatives.

If the Baltimore creative community is expansive (and we know it is), then it follows that creative work produced in Baltimore is doubly so. AIGA Baltimore wants to share your work far and wide so we can, together as a community, put Baltimore on the map as a hub where creativity thrives.

YOU can help in this effort by sharing your doodles, sketches, illustrations, work in progress, personal projects, and any other creative work with us.

1. Tag @aigabaltimore in your post, in your image, or even in a comment when sharing images of your creative work on social media.
2. Send your images to socialmedia@baltimore.aiga.org. At a minimum, include a brief description of the work, your name, and any social handles you have. You can also include a brief profile info, such as:
– your employment status, your employer and/or if you’re looking for a job(!)
– your job title and/or what creative area(s) you focus on at work or on the side
– where you went to school and/or your graduation date

Once we receive the tag or images we’ll repost your work on our Instagram and/or Twitter, tagging you as the creator and amplifying your name as a creative voice in our community.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Email us at socialmedia@baltimore.aiga.org!

Want to get more involved with AIGA and give even more back to the creative community?

Become a Guest Blogger
In addition to amplifying Baltimore’s creativity on social media, we want to publish YOUR blog posts on your design work, personal design career experiences, case studies, thought articles, and more. Send your pitch to us at communications@baltimore.aiga.org.

Volunteer with or join our board
AIGA Baltimore seeks talented professionals for a variety of positions (e.g., copywriting, project management, photography, design, video/animation, marketing, programming, web development, etc.) and involvement levels (i.e., one-time/ad-hoc volunteers, volunteer committee members, and board members). For more information, visit our volunteer page and get in touch with us at info@baltimore.aiga.org.

Sponsor or host an event
AIGA Baltimore produces over 20 events every year, from happy hours to workshops to our large annual events like Ink & Pixels student design conference and Design Week. Becoming an AIGA Baltimore sponsor or host means that you’ll give back to the creative community while also gaining visibility among the members of the local design community. Interested in learning more? Drop us a line at info@baltimore.aiga.org.

Speak at an event
Have some industry knowledge you want to share with AIGA Baltimore members and the design community at large? Drop it on us! To learn how you can be part of AIGA Baltimore’s programming, send us a note at info@baltimore.aiga.org.

BMORE Inspired at the AVAM

Posted on July 19, 2016May 24, 2018 by AIGA Baltimore

If you’re looking for somewhere to go in Baltimore to satisfy your desire for the unconventional, look no further than the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM). The AVAM, located at 800 Key Highway in Federal Hill, is the place to go to see art that you might not see anywhere else.

The museum was established in 1995 as a place to display and preserve outsider art and has been designated by Congress as the national museum for self taught art. Even a cursory glance will tell you that this is no ordinary museum, as visitors are greeted with a stunning mirror mosaic on the exterior walls. The AVAM’s other permanent installations include the Giant Whirligig, a massive, wind powered, outdoor sculpture; the World’s First Family of Robots, a collection of robots made from salvaged parts of old electronics; and Baltimore Painted Screens and Row home Theater, a historical tradition and folk art born right here in Baltimore.

3687600761_f0c8f30994_z — Image Credit: Erica

Each year, the museum holds one main exhibition embodying a particular theme, ranging anywhere from We Are Not Alone Angels and Other Aliens to The Marriage of Art, Science, and Philosophy to The Art of Storytelling: Lies, Enchantment, Humor, and Truth. The AVAM describes its current exhibit, The BigHope Show, as:

“An original and unabashedly idealistic art exhibition that champions the radiant and transformative power of hope. Over twenty five visionary artists, among them many “super survivors” of enormous personal traumas, exhibit soulful creations reflecting their personal transcendence, and, often, a heightened or newfound creativity and sense of humor.”

The Big Hope Show runs until September 4, 2016. In addition to their regular exhibits, the AVAM is regularly involved in community efforts, often sponsoring local artistic events, such art car events and the annual East Coast Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race.

8712934144_cd204ee27e_z — Image Credit: callison-burch

The AVAM’s dedication to unconventional art makes it a quintessential Baltimore landmark. Anyone with an artistic side would do themselves a disservice to not visit this one of a kind museum.

This post is part 2 of our “Bmore Inspired in Baltimore” series. See part 1 here.

Image Credit: Andrew Hazlett

Mitch is a volunteer copywriter for AIGA Baltimore. In the real world, he’s usually indulging in
gaming of some kind, controller or dice in hand. Find him on Twitter at @mc_mittens.

BMORE Inspired by Local Arts Events

Posted on July 14, 2016May 24, 2018 by AIGA Baltimore

Designers and creatives of all kinds visiting Baltimore will find that the city has a long tradition of supporting
the arts and so regularly hold events in that vein. The warmer months in particular allow visitors to take in
these events and festivals while wandering our beautiful city. Three such events are the Maryland Film
Festival, Artscape, and the Kinetic Sculpture Race. (But, we’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention the
newcomer festival in Baltimore, Light City.)

Artscape
Artscape is an annual festival that takes place in the areas surrounding Baltimore’s centrally located Penn
Station. It is the country’s largest free arts festival, hosting hundreds of artists of just about every variety.
Visual arts exhibitions can be found throughout the festival, at specific locations or even in the streets,
featuring fine art, fashion, crafts, sculpture, art cars, photography, and more.

4243323436_1f21d11aff_z — Credit: Chris Dilts

Artscape also features plenty of
performance art, including theater, opera, dance, film, live music concerts, and even performances from the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. The festival is one of the highlights of the summer for Baltimore residents
and visitors alike. Artscape 2016 will be held from July 15–17, and you check their website for details on
specific events.

MD Film Festival
Going into it’s 19th year, the Maryland Film Festival has continually fostered local
and international film and video work of all lengths and genres. There are screenings over five days every
year in the first week of May at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA),
and the soontoberestored Parkway Theater. Baltimore’s most legendary filmmaker John Waters picks a
favorite film every year to introduce, too, and he’s as hilarious, uncouth, and as witty as you’d imagine.

Kinetic Sculpture Race
Although already past for this year, the Kinetic Sculpture Race is one of Baltimore’s most distinctive events.
Hosted by the American Visionary Art Museum, the race challenges entrants to custom build amphibious
humanpowered vehicles to race through the city. The races takes eight hours and covers 14 miles, leading
racers through several Baltimore neighborhoods, parks, and even into the Inner Harbor itself.

The first ever Kinetic Sculpture Race took place in 1969 in Ferndale, California, though the races now take place is several places across the country. The first Baltimore race took place in 1999, when AVAM founder Rebecca Hoffberger heard about the California race on television. Since then, the AVAM has not only sponsored the event, but also participated, racing Fifi the giant pink poodle every year since 2001. Fifi has become the race’s mascot and is on permanent display at the museum. Vehicles are built to resemble
anything from a giant crocodile to a Rube Goldberg mousetrap. Words don’t really do justice to the creativity
that racers have in building their vehicles. You can find pictures of vehicles from each year’s race on their
website.

Though these are three of the most distinguished largescale Baltimore events, they are only a very small
sample of what our city has to offer visiting designers. AIGA Baltimore’s own Annual Design Week, held the
3rd week of October each year, is sure to entice visiting and local designers alike. And you can always
check out the city’s events calendar to find something to suit your tastes. Baltimore is a city that has something
for everyone!

This post is part 1 of our “Bmore Inspired in Baltimore” series.

Image Credit: kineticbaltimore.com

Mitch is a volunteer copywriter for AIGA Baltimore. In the real world, he’s usually indulging in
gaming of some kind, controller or dice in hand. Find him on Twitter at @mc_mittens.

A recent transplant from Texas by way of NYC, Andrea Chen is happy to call Baltimore her home. She’s a
graphic designer at T. Rowe Price, owns her own company the codex club, and loves to knit, cook, and
garden. Tweet her @andreachen3d.

5 Questions with Orange Element

Posted on May 23, 2016October 5, 2020 by AIGA Baltimore

Design agency selected as the official branding sponsor for Design Week 2016

AIGA Baltimore is excited to announce that Orange Element (OE) has agreed to be the official Design Week branding sponsor for this year’s fifth annual Baltimore Design Week. Held every third week of October, Baltimore Design Week is a week-long series of events geared towards educating and inspiring the design community.

One of the most important components of communicating Design Week to our membership (430+ and growing!) is a strong brand identity. Since 2013, we have reached out to a local design agency to partner with us and bring Design Week alive visually. Past partners have included Gilah Press + Design, Eye Byte Solutions, and Exit10.

AIGA Baltimore is thrilled for the partnership with OE this year, not only because they’re a group of uber-talented creative professionals, but also because their agency has made a really awesome commitment to focus on the Baltimore community and be proactive in helping make our city a better place. To learn more, we asked Aaron Moore, Creative Director and Principal of OE, five questions:

How did OE’s mission come about?

When we established our agency in 2003, we started in the beginning with a focus on developing strong partnerships. For us, earning trust has always been as important as the design work we do, and we take that to the broader community level by making a commitment to use design and branding to help our local communities, and organizations focused on making sure our city remains a great place to live, work and play.

How is OE currently involved?

We allocate an annual percentage of our revenue to support local and regional organizations focused on improving the quality of people and places. We’re currently honing our areas of focus and where we feel our mission most closely aligns with giving back, but we have supported organizations including Parks and People, The Creative Alliance, The Girl Scouts of Maryland, The Brick Companies, Thread, The Production Club of Baltimore, The American Advertising Federation, AIGA, The Foundery, the Industrial Arts Collective, and more.

We also support local organizations by choosing one or two each year to provide either pro-bono work or reduced pricing with the intention of moving their brands and missions forward. Philanthropy is one of our core beliefs and we continue to make it a priority, both as a team and as individuals.

Tell us about the coolest thing you did last year.

The Parks and People Foundation welcomed visitors to their new Auchentoroly Terrace in 2015. The new campus will welcome community families, educators, students and leaders focused on improving our City’s green spaces and the opportunities to make each an active addition for outdoor use.

Orange Element has been involved both personally and as a company to help advance the Foundation’s mission. We were thrilled to be included and involved on groundbreaking activities, as well as engaged with helping participate in environmental graphics—from the interior entrance signage to the donor wall. We are currently working on wayfinding and outdoor signage for campus visitors. It’s so cool to think about a new community campus that will help engage our youth and provide communities the opportunities to enjoy the city’s parks.

If you could describe the OE team and work philosophy in 5 words, what would they be?

Integrity, Civility, Precision, Curiosity and Creativity. Along with philanthropy, these round out our core beliefs at Orange Element.

What’s OE’s vision for the Baltimore creative community?

Baltimore has nearly 500 non-profits working towards their respective missions. Each organization, in some way, shares a collective desire to believe in our great city. At OE, we are constantly looking for opportunities to share these stories with hope that we can connect our creative thinkers to organizations that would benefit from new insight.

With so many organizations working towards this common goal, we challenge everyone to find time to give back. Whether it’s a commitment to a board, committee, volunteer effort or donation, please use your creativity to lend hand. And stay here, in Baltimore, because it IS the Greatest City in America.

Photo credit: John Davis Photography

Revised AIGA Baltimore Chapter Bylaws: For Your Vote

Posted on May 22, 2016February 7, 2019 by AIGA Baltimore

Wait, I know what you’re thinking—most creatives don’t want to read a blog post with “bylaws” in the title. We know that this is not necessarily the kind of thing that gets the engines running for creatives. But as an non-profit organization that strives to support, inspire, inform, and connect the creative community of Baltimore—and especially one that wants to be transparent about how the association you support is managed—this post is necessary.

As fellow professionals, we want you to know that we welcome and encourage our membership to be involved with how AIGA Baltimore is run just as much as any board member.

The Baltimore chapter of AIGA is a non-profit organization that is supported and funded by our members and managed by volunteer board members who each commit to their role for two years. The chapter’s goals are to strengthen the value our organization brings to the Baltimore design community by:

Creating opportunities for learning and career development,
Sharing resources to advance the conversation of design, and
Making connections with leaders and members in the design community of Baltimore and at large.

As with many professional groups, we are regulated by our chapter bylaws, a formal document that dictates how we govern ourselves. It is a common practice for non-profits to revise their bylaws to be able to reflect the changing landscape and realities of our expanding and dynamic organization.

The AIGA Baltimore Board of Directors approved revisions to our chapter bylaws and are submitting them for approval by our membership. A two-thirds majority of all chapter members is required for the changes to the bylaws to be enacted. A non-vote is counted as affirmative. Voting will begin on Thursday, May 19, 2016, and end on Thursday, June 2, 2016, at 8 p.m. EST. Chapter members will receive an email invitation for this vote along with our annual AIGA Baltimore Board Member Slate vote. All votes are confidential.

Download and review the revised AIGA Baltimore bylaws.

While reviewing, we ask that you consider that bylaws are a framework that outline the rules and regulations of an organization, and are not intended to dictate policy or detail procedures. We welcome any and all comments via info@aigabaltimore.org.

We appreciate your support of our chapter and welcome you to be more involved. We hope to see you around our creative community of Charm City.

AIGA Innovate

AIGA Baltimore’s Innovate projects

EntreprenU Design Business Toolkit

Design Legislation Wiki

Project Progress and Next Steps

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