Reconnected: January 2021 Community Meeting Recap

Posted on by Frances Miller

In January, AIGA Baltimore held a virtual Community Meeting to bring more voices into our plans for the year. Community Meetings like this were a bi-monthly occurrence pre-2020, and we plan to bring them back quarterly in 2021. Stay tuned for the next meeting in April and in the meantime, here’s a recap of what happened in January’s meeting.

AIGA Baltimore’s mission, goal, and motto

To kick things off, we shared the main vision, goal, and motto that was shaped by past boards and has driven our chapter over the past few years. No matter what 2021 brings, we will provide value to the Baltimore design community by making new connections between individuals, groups, and ideas. Our goal is to act as cheerleaders for our community and to be a platform for members to take advantage of to lift their skill level, visibility, and voice. Our motto, coined by President Emeritus Joseph Carter-Brown, is that we’re not “AIGA Baltimore,” we’re Baltimore’s AIGA.

AIGA Baltimore's Mission, Goal, and Motto

2020 Year in Review

Valerie Anderson, chapter President, gave a rundown of what AIGA Baltimore accomplished in 2020. Like all of you, the year looked nothing like we had envisioned, and it was a challenging year for a fully volunteer-run group. Nevertheless, we still managed to host 15 virtual events—on top of the 5 in-person events from Q1. One week before the shutdown, some of our board participated in a Bias Training workshop with the AIGA DC board. We partnered with wonderful organizations like Society of Design Arts, Ladies, Wine & Design, Baltimore Womxn in Tech, and the Asheville and Saint Louis AIGA Chapters to combine our powers on collaborative events, and we spread the word about other opportunities and events through our email newsletter.

2020 Q1 AIGA Baltimore events

AIGA Baltimore 2021 Preview

We shared the 3 main goals our board set for the year during our January virtual board retreat sessions:

  • Innovation: Break the barrier of our virtual world to create connections with and among our Baltimore design community.
  • Partnership: Streamline an official process to utilize strategic partnerships to reach new and diverse audiences and bring value to our community.
  • Inclusion: Integrate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives to better represent and be inclusive of the Baltimore community.

We then split up into breakout rooms and used Google Jamboard to discuss these topics and brainstorm specific ideas for the year. Our attendees shared that they joined the meeting to connect with other creatives in the area. We left feeling confident with our goal to foster connections, and we are already working on several activities for the Spring.

What type of virtual or socially distanced events do people want

Want to help? Get involved!

We need people like you to make these things happen. We’re currently looking to fill several open board positions, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chairs; Treasurer; Programming Chairs; Community Partnerships Chair; Communications Chairs; and General Volunteers and Committee Members. If you’re passionate about bringing people together and using design to improve our world, we want to talk with you!

Pantone Blues Drink Recipes

Posted on by Krystal Carpintieri

This Thursday, December 10th at 7:30 PM EST, get ready to say “Bye, Bye, Bye” to this interesting year and welcome in a new color to represent 2021! Show up to our virtual event with your take on a Classic Blue look (a blue shirt, a virtual background, or a blue profile picture) or simply come as you are. Join us for an evening with music, mixing drinks, fun activities, and casual networking. Here are the recipes for the evening:

Smashing Blue

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup blueberries
  • 2 ounces of whiskey or favorite alcohol*
  • ½ – ¾ ounce of juice from lemon (depending on the tartness you like)*
  • ½ ounce of simple syrup (can go less if you like more tart than sweet)
  • 2-3 dashes of floral or fruit bitters like lavender or orange (optional)
  • 1 sprig of mint
  • Club soda or carbonated water to top
  • 5-6 cubes of ice

Instructions

  1. In a cocktail shaker or separate bowl, muddle together blueberries and mint. Add to cocktail shaker if muddled separate.
  2. Add whiskey, lemon juice, simple and bitters to shaker.
  3. Add 2-3 cubes of ice to the shaker. Shake until mixture is chilled (not all ice needs to be melted or it could get too watered down, just shake to chill).
  4. Strain into low ball whiskey glass (pro tip: If you don’t want any of the blueberry or mint remnants, add a second strainer over the glass when pouring).
  5. Add 3 cubes of ice and top off with club soda. Stir to mix the soda in.
*can sub tequila or mezcal (or a mix of the two) for liquor and substitute lime for lemon to make it margarita style. Add a pinch of salt to that for a little punch!

 

Non-Alcohol:

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup blueberries
  • 1 sprig of mint
  • 1.5 ounce of juice from lemon
  • ¾ ounce of simple syrup
  • 2-3 dashes of floral or fruit bitters like lavender or orange (optional)
  • 2-3 oz Club soda or carbonated water
  • 5-6 cubes of ice

Instructions

Use steps above minus alcohol and shake your mixture thoroughly through with the ice.


Blue Dreams

Ingredients

  • 4 oz Blue Cream Soda
  • 1 ½ oz vodka or white rum
  • ¼ oz juice from lime
  • 2 dashes orange bitters (optional)
  • 3-4 cubes of ice

Served on ice – Easy Version
Add all ingredients except ice to your favorite cocktail glass and stir to blend. Add ice and stir. Note: Drink will chill faster if soda is chilled first.

Served up – Martini style
Make sure you chill soda first. Shake together all ingredients except soda thoroughly with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Top off with Blue Cream soda. Stir gently.

Non-Alcohol:

Ingredients

  • 5 oz Chilled Blue Cream Soda
  • ½ oz juice from lime
  • 1-2 dashes orange bitters (optional)
  • 3-4 cubes of ice

Follow directions of Easy or Martini style.

19+ Unique Gifts for Creatives | Gift Guide

Posted on by Krystal Carpintieri

Need a gift for the graphic designer or creative friend in your life? We can help! We’ve compiled an amazing list of 19+ unique gifts. Everything on this list is under $40 dollars. We’ve included some Baltimore makers too. Check them out below!

  1. Draplin Design | Co. Handheld Decimal Equivalent Chart | $9.99
  2. Studio Cult | Stock Photo Pin & WordArt Pin | $12.99-$14.99
  3. Piecework | 1000 Piece Puzzle, Tchotchke | $36.00
  4. Archer & Olive | Acrylograph Pens Tropical Selection | $35.00
  5. BettieConfetti | Designer Gift Set | $29.40
  6. Pantone | Postcard Box | $16.88
  7. The Ivy Bookshop | The Secret Lives of Color (Hardcover) | $20.00*
    The Ivy Bookshop
    The Ivy Bookshop
  8. UI PROGO | UI Steel Stencil Kit | $14.95
  9. honshoney | Mini Bundle | $18.00*
  10. Moleskine | Classic Large Notebook | $19.95
  11. Baltimore Print Studios | Riso Wave Print | $25.00*
    Baltimore Print Studios Riso Wave Print
    Baltimore Print Studios
  12. Rifle Paper Co. | Sticky Note Folio | $14.00
  13. Su & Lou | Bmore Kind Crewneck Sweatshirt | $38.00*
  14. Maryland Mercantile | Crabcake Recipe – Kitchen Towel | $15.00*
  15. The Bmore Brand | Bawduhmore Not Baltimore Tee | $25.00*
    The Bmore Brand
    The Bmore Brand
  16. Ama Scents | Relax Relate Release – Aromatherapy Spray | $15.00*
  17. Greedy Reads | Curated Bags | $30.00*
  18. Mess in a Bottle | Create Dope T-Shirt | $26.95*
  19. good neighbor | good neighbor tote bag | $32.00*
    good neighbor | tote bag
    good neighbor

*Baltimore Locals & Makers!

Need more gift ideas? AIGA Eye on Design just posted another fantastic gift list! Don’t forget an AIGA Membership is great too! Memberships start at just $50 dollars.

 

 

 

14+ Events to Attend Around the World!

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

9/15-10/15

Hispanic Heritage Talks

AIGA Unidos was created for Everyone!
We highlight Hispanic and Latinx creatives, so we can share their stories and work with the world—that’s you! Our first ever event is a series of talks called Hispanic Heritage Talks, which will take place during Hispanic Heritage Month. It is a series of virtual talks featuring Latinx and Hispanic creatives from different backgrounds and disciplines. ¡Acompañanos!

Join the AIGA Unidos familia, and hear from all the amazing creatives our heritage has to offer. From us to you, with love and a little sazón… who are we kidding? A lot of sazón! We are Unidos for Everyone!

Hosted by: AIGA Unidos
→ Register Here
FREE

10/1-31

Doors Open Baltimore

Doors Open Baltimore is going virtual-only in 2020 with a month’s worth of programming throughout October. Organized by the Baltimore Architecture Foundation (BAF), Doors Open Baltimore is the free citywide festival of architecture and neighborhoods that invites thousands of people to explore the city and make meaningful connections to the built environment. Replacing a weekend of open houses and in-person tours will be a month’s worth of virtual programs. Every week of October will include a new theme and new ways to virtually engage with Baltimore’s architecture and neighborhoods. 

Hosted by: Doors Open Baltimore
→ Register Here
FREE 

10/2-10/9

Phoenix Design Week – PHXDW

Phoenix Design Week (PHXDW) is a week-long celebration of design organized by AIGA Arizona to unite our state’s creative community and provide a forum for sharing best practices, showcasing exceptional work, and gaining inspiration.

Hosted by: AIGA Phoenix
→ Register Here
$25-$49 Tickets

10/5-10/10

St. Louis Design Week

St. Louis Design Week is a seven-day celebration of our local design community, featuring a variety of panel discussions, workshops, presentations, open houses, and other community growth-oriented events. Our mission is to grow design and breakdown design silos through making St. Louis design week all-inclusive, to all designers.

Hosted by: AIGA St. Louis
→ Register Here
FREE

10/5-10/9

Salt Lake Design Week – Dimensional Design

What is “Dimensional Design?” It is the idea that we, as designers and creatives, have to be multifaceted in our disciplines. Becoming a dimensional designer includes exposing oneself to creatives of other disciplines and perspectives to be able to see the broader context of their own work. Experience dimensional design in action during this year’s SLDW.

Salt Lake Design Week celebrates and promotes the impact of all design in Utah. By providing a forum for designers, business professionals, students, and the general public to interact, collaborate, and learn from each other, we build a stronger creative community. We are inclusive of all people and disciplines including; graphic, digital, product, fashion, photography, architecture, interior, and more. From October 5-10, 2020 we will host the first-ever virtual SLDW to celebrate Utah creatives and promote the impact of design throughout the state and beyond.

Hosted by: AIGA Salt Lake City
→ Register Here
FREE

10/7 | 6:30–8pm EDT

And She Could Be Next Virtual Screening

This film follows the grassroots campaigns of six women of color running for political office during the contentious 2018 United States midterm elections. Produced by female filmmakers of color, the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of these women leaders whose personal motivations, political coalitions, and ground-level activism steamroll the expectations of their opponents and of the broader public — defying traditional notions of what it means to be a U.S. politician in the process. 

A co-production of POV and ITVS. A co-presentation of Black Public Media and the Center for Asian American Media.  Film running time is 40 mins. Watch the trailer for And She Could be Next.

The screening will be hosted through Zoom. Zoom information will be sent to attendees prior to start time. Event will start at 6:30 PM EST and screening will start at 6:45 PM EST to allow attendees time to log on. 

After the screening, there will be a discussion based on prompts created for the film. Attendees will be grouped into break rooms for open discussion. Discussion time will be 15 mins.

This event is part of Design for Democracy, an AIGA initiative to increase civic participation through design. This event is a collaboration with POV, the award-winning independent non-fiction film series on PBS www.pbs.org/pov

Hosted by: AIGA Pittsburgh
→ Get Your Ticket Here
FREE

10/9

Baltimore Innovation Week

A one-day virtual event series celebrating good news stories and innovation in Baltimore.

Baltimore Innovation Week 2020 is a one-day virtual Innovation Celebration featuring multiple sessions that are focused on showcasing local companies and good news stories that have emerged during these continuously changing and trying times. Save your seat at spotlight discussions with industry experts, workshops from top companies, and networking with local businesses. You’ll have an insider look at the positive effect this city is having on the U.S. and World markets with premier access to the latest products and ideas. 

This annual event series is a unique collaborative effort from industry leaders across seven defined sectors. This is where technology meets science, creatives, students, entrepreneurs, sales representatives, marketing executives, economic developers, social activists and everyone in-between.  The best part? It’s all FREE.

Hosted by: ETC (EMERGING TECHNOLOGY CENTERS)
→ Get Your Ticket Here
FREE

10/14 | 6:30 PM–8:00 PM EDT

Changing the Face of Voting with UX

Join us for a conversation with Kathryn Summers about making voting inclusive and accessible through design. Design has the ability to include or exclude people. Join us for a conversation with Kathryn Summers about making voting inclusive and accessible through design. We will be discussing the implication of bad design and its implication on the voting process in the wake of the 2016 election and the coming 2020 election. In addition, Kathryn will be showing us the benefits of using eye-tracking machine and how it helps to analyze the visual behavior of your user.

Hosted by: Ladies Wine and Design Baltimore
→ Register Here
FREE

10/14 | 7–9 PM EDT

Talking Strategy with Douglas Davis

Join us on October 15th as Douglas shares how to turn the rational language of business into the emotional language of design. Douglas’ inspiring journey has taken him from designer to strategist, to now teaching other creatives the business of design. Wherever he shares, he helps provide a framework for the design industry. A framework that can be applied to concept pitches or to how to think about your career. Strategy has been something design schools haven’t focused on, and it’s more important than ever we understand it. After stepping into Harvard Business school, Douglas realized how big the disconnect was for designers. Since then, he’s taught at NYU, HOW Design University, Manhattan Early College School for Advertising, and the City College of New York, all while running The Davis Group LLC. Douglas took it upon himself to fill the void between design and business and teaches left-brain business skills to right-brain creative thinkers with his book, Creative Strategy and the Business of Design. He’s helped creatives across the country better understand business goals, how to set them up, but most importantly, how to measure their success for clients. There is a need to understand more than what looks good for your career to blossom. Join us on October 15th as Douglas shares how to turn the rational language of business into the emotional language of design. You already have the creativity, now it’s time to gain the business insights.

Hosted by: AIGA Charlotte
→ Register Here
$10

10/19-23

AIGA Colorado Presents Colorado Creatives

Colorado’s creative community thrives when its members are able to come together to share stories and experiences, however, the pandemic has moved these communities online and made it more difficult for people to come together in person. That’s where AIGA Colorado Creatives comes in.

The best part? Our project is all about YOU, the AIGA Colorado Creatives. It’s your chance to share your stories, advice, experiences and inspiration in a short video. Selected videos will be featured on an event site and combined with others in a storytelling reel which will be shown to thousands of people.

→ Participate Here
Submit your Video by October 12

10/20-22

Adobe MAX—The Creativity Conference

Make plans to join Adobe MAX for a uniquely immersive and engaging digital experience, guaranteed to inspire. Three full days of luminary speakers, celebrity appearances, musical performances, global collaborative art projects, and 350+ sessions — and all at no cost.

Hosted by: Adobe MAX
→ Register Here
FREE (with Adobe Account ID)

10/30

Creative Mornings Talk – Speaker Lola B. Pierson

Your Home! (part of a series on Stress)

Lola B. Pierson is a highly collaborative artist who was born and raised in Baltimore City. She is a playwright, writer, and director. Her work challenges theatrical form, incorporating elements of social media, performance art, visual art, switcheroos, and boredom. Other words she has used to describe her work in bios include: presence, explore, dynamic, and representation. A graduate of Baltimore School for the Arts, Bard College, and Towson University, she is passionate about the intersections of language, time, presence, and philosophy. She writes new work and messes with classics (that deserve it). She is the co-founding Artistic Director of The Acme Corporation.

Hosted by: Creative Mornings
→ Register Here
FREE

10/31 | 6 PM EDT

Counter Narratives Show: Black Liberation & Queer Resistance

The purpose of the show is to provide a critical examination of society and culture through the intersectional lens of race, gender, and class, more specifically it seeks to provide a COUNTER-NARRATIVE. The Show encourages a reflective assessment and critique of unique standpoints and their potential contribution to popular discourse.

What you can expect from the COUNTER-NARRATIVE:
Quality conversations about critical issues in communities of color, with guests who don’t just talk about the problem they are active in finding solutions.  Guests share their lived-experiences, insights, information, opinions, and personal narratives.

Hosted by: Rasheem
→ Register Here
FREE

AIGA Get Out The Vote

Every four years since 2000, AIGA has activated its community of designers across the U.S. and beyond to Get Out the Vote. The campaign is part of Design for Democracy, an AIGA initiative to increase civic participation through design.

In 2020, AIGA recognizes the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote in 1920 with a special edition of Get Out the Vote: Empowering the Women’s Vote. It commemorates the first legislation for women’s voting rights. Not until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 were voting rights of all women protected and enforced.

AIGA members–submit your posters today until election day, Tuesday, November 3, 2020, and help us get out the vote! Posters received by National Voter Registration Day (September 22, 2020) and Vote Early Day (October 24, 2020) will have the greatest impact.

Hosted by: AIGA

There are two opportunities. Please see below for the submission portals and galleries:

Black Lives Matter.

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

AIGA Baltimore stands in solidarity with Black designers, creative business owners, educators, students—as well as their families, cultures, and communities—in the condemnation of racism, intersectional discrimination, fear, and acts of violence, including murder.

In Baltimore, we felt the impact of injustice five years ago when we lost Freddie Carlos Gray Jr. We’re committed to continuing the work of our past boards to build up and listen to the voices of those in our community, acknowledging that we still have so much more work to do.

As a board of volunteers, we don’t have all the answers, but our chapter is committed to doing what we can to support and uplift Black lives in our creative community and beyond. We pledge to help with our time, resources, voices, and creativity. To start, we are making two $250 donations to two local nonprofits.

  • Out 4 Justice (OFJ), an organization comprised of individuals who are both directly and indirectly impacted by the criminal justice system advocating for the reform of policies and practices that adversely affect successful reintegration into society.
  • Baltimore Youth Arts, a creative entrepreneurship and job training program that provides artistic and professional opportunities to young people, ages 14-22, with a focus on those involved in the justice system. Their mission is to assist young people in gaining the creative, personal, and educational skills that will enable them to become leaders in their communities.

We would also like to take this time to amplify the causes of local organizations BALT (Baltimore Action Legal Team) and Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, and recommend that we all take an active role in supporting people of color. That could mean purchasing or reposting work by an artist you admire, ordering dinner from one of the currently open Black-owned restaurants in Maryland, using your design skills for a good cause, and perhaps most importantly, checking in on your Black friends, family, and colleagues.

Our commitment extends beyond this message. We will hold ourselves accountable, and we welcome you to hold us and each other accountable as well. Our inboxes are open.

Donate Locally

Donate Nationally

Resources for Education and Support


Have a resource to add?

We want to hear how you’re joining us in our commitment to support Black lives in the Baltimore area. Email us at info@baltimore.aiga.org to add your resources to our list.

I&P Panel: Your Questions Answered!

Posted on by Krystal Carpintieri

If you missed the Ink & Pixels Designer Panel last week, we highly recommend you go back and watch the replay. “If I Knew Then What I Know Now” focused on honest, practical advice for new designers as well as those of us in a career transition, on how to navigate the job market during these uncertain times.

We had a vibrant community-led discussion with three experienced designers, who shared unique insights and tips from different perspectives across the design field. Our panelists opened up and gave us a raw and authentic view into their professional lives, as did members of our community who came together to share resources and provide emotional support.

For those who did make it, thank you for your incredible energy and engaging questions. We wish we could’ve answered them all before our brief time ran out. For those of you hungry for more, here’s the next best thing. Our three expert panelists are back to answer a few more of your most burning questions.

Emilee Beeson, Designer, and Illustrator

emileebeeson.com
Etsy | Instagram

Emilee Beeson is a graphic designer and illustrator with a broad creative skill set, contagious enthusiasm, and relentless drive for growth and learning.

What’s one non-design job you had that taught you something important? What did it teach you?
In the summers before I graduated from college I would work as much as I could to pay for my apartment and other expenses during the school year. At one point I was working three jobs. I started at 4 am at a gym smoothie stand, then had a shift at Chipotle, and in the evenings I worked at Coldstone Creamery. While it’s not a unique experience it makes me so grateful to have found a place in the design world. Having a good-paying job that aligns with your passions is such a privilege and it really helps me to find joy in my work when things get tough.

How can we use design for advocacy and social justice initiatives?
I am sure there is a bigger picture answer to this but I want to speak to the actionable side of it. Design is incredibly expensive so your skills can be a huge asset to organizations that can’t afford it. Social justice organizations and advocacy groups need logos, T-shirts, posters, print materials, websites, and social media assets just like any other group or business. A small and actionable way to use design is to volunteer your time and skills to these groups. Reach out to them and see how you can help. There are also a few events locally that you can participate in like the MICA Grassroots Design Fest and Make-A-Mark Baltimore.

As a job candidate, what is the appropriate amount of follow up, and how can you stand out and stay memorable among other applicants?
Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for the amount of follow up you should do. It’s awkward no matter what and each job situation is different. The reality is that your entire world might be hinging on that response and theirs probably isn’t. I personally think a phone call is a bad idea but a quick email doesn’t hurt if a considerable amount of time has passed.

I have found a good way to stand out is to have a leave behind for your interview. For me, that means a small package with my business card, resume, art prints, zines, and stickers. You are usually being interviewed by other designers/creatives that geek out about the same stuff you do. Giving them something physical that might hang around the office is a good way to stand out. I have also been on the receiving end of these leave-behinds and they are always a total delight. Make sure you bring extra in case someone wasn’t able to make it to your interview.

Perry Sweeper, Design Strategist

www.psweeper.com

Perry Sweeper is a 2020 doctoral candidate at the University of Baltimore, studying Information and Interaction Design.

What was your first step after graduation?
My first step after graduation was to take a comprehensive look at the classes that I completed and inventory the knowledge/skill-set that I gained during matriculation. I wanted to get a good understanding of the skills I acquired and the work that I produced. Then I could effectively communicate my experience to seek out the right next career steps. It was very important to me to be able to view my career in a multidimensional way: past, present, and then future.

What’s one non-design job you had that taught you something important? What did it teach you?
The non-design job that taught me something important was working as a shoe salesman. There was a mother that came into the store with her son who was looking for new shoes to wear to an important job interview. To help them I had to deal with many competing needs. The mother primarily sought a presentable shoe, at a good price point, that would make him look professional and would work for him later once he got the job.  But for the son, his main concern was to find shoes that were cool and that his friends would like. Because I knew the product well, I helped them find the right shoe in a sea of options and provided them with complimentary items like the right belt, socks, and shoe care. I also met my sales goals for the day and followed the company standards. When you do your job well in sales,  you increase the possibility that a customer will come back for a second, third, or fourth pair. It is also possible that their family will become lifetime customers and ambassadors for your brand. If you do enough of this, you could get even get a company bonus.

Design jobs require the uncanny ability to please multiple stakeholders, be detail-oriented, use effective communication, creativity, and sometimes serve angry customers. Much like retail and customer service jobs. Retail can be tough, especially during the holiday season. At the least, it can be a motivator to one day quit and move into that coveted design job you desire 😉

What kind of professional development should I be pursuing while in graduate school? Is it better to just focus on grad school until graduation?
In my opinion, it is important to focus on school while you are enrolled. School can require an incredible investment of time, energy, and money. It is in one’s best interest to do well. However, I believe in the value of experiential learning opportunities during academic breaks. They provide a way to apply all that one has learned during the semester in a real-life scenario. The right combination of theory and practice can lead to growth and career progression.

Alex Reynolds, Sr. Recruiter

cargocollective.com/alexanderreynolds
Instagram

Alexander is a Sr. Recruiter with Robert Half and Specializes in placing candidates that concentrate in the technology and creative fields.

What kind of professional development should I be pursuing while in graduate school? Is it better to just focus on grad school until graduation?
It entirely depends on the type of position you are looking to pursue. The easiest way to find out what kind of professional development that can assist in your job search is to look at job descriptions from industries/companies you would want to work for. They list the various software, certifications, or applications they find desirable in their candidates. – I would also seek to develop your professional network by going to Meet-Up Groups, Webinars, or Social Events. If you are more unsure about the kind of positions you are interested especially in the design/marketing space the main focuses (in a more general sense) tend to be Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign, Social Media Management Tools, Email Management Tools, and Microsoft Office/Google Suite.

As a job candidate, what is the appropriate amount of follow up, and how can you stand out and stay memorable among other applicants?
The appropriate amount of follow up for a position you applied for is generally around 1 week if you haven’t heard any feedback – unless they have told you a specific time/date. The best way to stand out is to make sure your resume is able to speak to your skillset and experience and tie it back to a metric or result. Keep your resume to the point (bullet points tend to work best) because recruiters and hiring managers have to sort through a lot of resumes (sometimes in the hundreds) A lot of times hiring managers will just CTRL-F (Find Keywords highlighted in your resume). Make sure you are able to talk about how you have used a software, programming language, or tool and provide an example. A simple list at the bottom of the software you’ve used with no context is not enough.

How important do you feel a Masters’s degree is in the design field these days? Should I pursue it after graduation, or should I focus on looking for jobs and/or clients?
I think a Masters’s Degree tends to be more important if you are interested in teaching – or if you are looking at a specific field that requires one. Most design positions tend to look at a Bachelor’s degree or years of equivalent experience along with a solid portfolio and experience.

Finding Your Creative Communities

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

National and Local Professional Organizations

 

AIGA The Professional Association for Design logo
AIGA: The Professional Association for Design | National
AIGA Baltimore | @aigabaltimore
AIGA advances design as a professional craft, strategic advantage, and vital cultural force. As the largest community of design advocates, we bring together practitioners, enthusiasts, and patrons to amplify the voice of design and create the vision for a collective future. We define global standards and ethical practices, guide design education, enhance professional development, and make powerful tools and resources accessible to all.

AAFB: American Advertising Federation Baltimore logo
AAF: American Advertising Federation | National
AAF Baltimore | @aafbaltimore
The American Advertising Federation of Baltimore (AAFB) traces its roots back to 1918, originally established as the women’s auxiliary to the men’s Advertising Club. In 1920, the women formed their own organization, naming it the Women’s Advertising Club of Baltimore. It was affiliated with the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World, the predecessor to the modern-day American Advertising Federation.

AGI Alliance Graphique Internationale
AGI: Alliance Graphique Internationale | @agigraphic
Alliance Graphique Internationale [AGI] is, as its name suggests, a member-based association of professionals, united by working in the field of graphic design and drawn from across the globe.

AMA American Marketing Association logo
AMA: American Marketing Association | National
AMA Baltimore | @amabaltimore
The American Marketing Association Baltimore Chapter is Maryland’s leading provider of networking, educational programming, and resources for marketing professionals. AMA Baltimore provides extensive opportunities for marketers to expand their networks, grow professionally, and learn about current industry trends.

Creative Mornings logo
Creative Mornings | National
Creative Mornings Baltimore | @CreativeMorningsBaltimore
CreativeMornings/Baltimore is a FREE monthly breakfast lecture series based on the two core principles that everyone is creative and everyone is invited. CM/Bal is one of over 200 chapters around the world meeting each month. Every month, all chapters organize talks based on the same theme. CreativeMornings is fueled by an engine of generosity and is 100% volunteer-run, partnering with great local businesses and organizations. If you’re interested in volunteering, please complete this form.

Baltimore Creative Community

BOPA: Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts
@promoandarts
As Baltimore City’s arts council, The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts provides resources and opportunities to artists and artist organizations to continue to make Baltimore a city for the arts.

BCAN
@baltimorecreates
The Baltimore Creatives Acceleration Network (BCAN) is a 10-year, city-wide initiative providing both strategic and as-needed, just-in-time entrepreneurship support for Baltimore creatives of all disciplines and backgrounds. At BCAN, we define artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs the same way: visionaries who create something new from raw and often limited resources.

Through our Programs—Founder Fellowship, Connect, Help Desk, Mobile, and Pilot (launching in 2020), we’re on a mission to foster a stronger, more equitable creative ecosystem and economy in Baltimore by empowering artists as entrepreneurs!

bfc: Baltimore Freelancers Collective
IG: @bmore_freelancers
FB: @baltimorefreelancers
Whether you own your own business, freelance on the side, work remotely for a large company, or just want to learn more about entrepreneurship—we would love for you to join us at our next event.

Elevate & Cultivate with Illiah
@elevate.cultivate
Nothing combats fear or intimidation like bravery and empathy, so reach out to your competition, ask for a chat—it could change your life! Also, pay attention to when inspiration hits you like a truck, it could be your next big thing. And finally, keep a list of competitors, not to watch, but to reach out to invite them to be your friends and join our community.

The Bmore Creatives
@thebmorecreatives
Hi, welcome to The Bmore Creatives! We are a community platform and a social media brand that celebrates the creatives, the makers, the get sh*t done-ers, the people that make Charm City charming! We promote and connect local artists, small businesses, and avid IGers throughout the city. We want to prove that everyone can be creative when they are open to being inspired by everyday life in our city.

Ladies, Wine & Design
Ladies, Wine and Design Baltimore holds monthly events which are limited to eight creative ladies. We’ll have drinks and casual conversations on a wide variety of topics relating to creativity, business, and life. If you’re a female student or creative and would like to join, please email us. It’s free and reservations are first-come, first-serve. You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and if you’d like to host us in your space, teach a workshop, or lead a discussion, please do get in touch.

Made With Love In Baltimore
If you want your product or organization listed, drop a “Made with ♥ in Baltimore” link on your site, and send us an email to hello@madewithloveinbaltimore.org.

Open Works
@open_works_bmore
Our mission is to make tools, technology, and the knowledge to use them accessible to all. We connect you to manufacturing equipment, space, education, and Baltimore’s largest community of maker professionals. With programs for ages eight and up, we can help you make just about anything!

Production Club of Baltimore
@ProductionClub
THE PCB PRINT, PAPER & PRODUCTION SHOW 2020 (Scheduled for October 1)
Join the Production Club of Baltimore, along with hundreds of other local creative and marketing professionals, for an evening of networking and fresh production ideas from the mid-atlantic’s very best printers, paper suppliers, image producers, and technologists. Grow your swatch book collection and samples library. Cultivate new vendor partnerships. Seed your future project timelines with new media. Dig into deeper relationships with fellow creatives by face-to-face networking. This is a time to flourish! Register now!

SoDA | Society of Design Arts
@sodabaltimore
The Society of Design Arts (SoDA) presents a monthly program in Baltimore, Maryland to further attendees’ knowledge of the history of the design arts including graphic design, illustration, architecture, book arts, and photography. Programs are free and open to anyone.

SoDA consists of a planning committee that meets quarterly to discuss future programs. Formerly known as Society for History and Graphics (SHAG), the all-volunteer group has been active since 2007 providing more than 100 programs which have explored such diverse subjects as Bauhaus methodology and practice, Patent Medicine labels, The Real Mad Men of Advertising, Science Fiction illustration, and many others.

Baltimore Cake & Whiskey
Fresh, authentic, purposeful networking events for the modern businesswoman.

Baltimore Graphic Designers
This group is for Baltimore area based graphic designers to create community, ask questions, get advice, share jobs, and plan meet-ups.

Monument Women’s Creative Alliance
@monumentwomen
Our mission is to support women creatives by cultivating a community that enables connection, inspiration, and education.

Baltimore Tech Community

Baltimore Women Techmakers
Calling all Baltimore women that use tech! Whether you are a Product Manager, Designer, Developer, or a tech hobbyist, this group welcomes you! This is the local chapter of Google’s Women Techmakers.

Baltimore Womxn in Tech
@BmoreWomenTech
Through networking, mentorship, and collaboration, we aim to empower womxn in our community. No matter your role in our ecosystem, we want you to thrive.

Baltimore UX Meetup
@BaltimoreUX
Calling all those who create excellent user experiences for sites, systems, applications, software, and hardware! From the startup to the enterprise. From user research to implementation. If you’re designing and building great experiences in the Baltimore area, please join us.

Code for Baltimore
@CodeForBaltimore
We are a community of volunteers who develop open-source projects as a Code for America Brigade by focusing on open government, open data, great design, and social good in Baltimore.

Code in the Schools
@CodeintheSchool
We empower Baltimore City youth to thrive in the 21st-century economy by expanding access to quality computer science education and building pathways from school to jobs and higher education. By focusing on youth traditionally under-represented in technology fields, we work to eliminate structural barriers and inequities in education and industry.

Hack Baltimore
@hack Baltimore
Baltimore is a unique and vibrant city, and though there are many reasons why we’re called Charm City, we tend to make the news for our flaws rather than our strengths. And hackathons are a great way to engage the broader community to explore technology as a way to help solve them.

Technical.ly Baltimore
@TechnicallyBMR
Technical.ly Baltimore is a local technology news organization dedicated to how innovation is impacting the region.

Creative Job Boards

AIGA
designjobs.aiga.org

Creative Hot List
www.creativehotlist.com

The Creative Group (TLC) | A Robert Half Company
www.roberthalf.com/employers/creativegroup

Creative Mornings
creativemornings.com/jobs

Working Not Working
workingnotworking.com/search/jobs

Behance
www.behance.net/joblist

If You Could
ifyoucouldjobs.com

Krop
www.krop.com

Talent Zoo
www.talentzoo.com

Media Bistro
www.mediabistro.com

Authentic
authenticjobs.com

Coroflot
www.coroflot.com

Smash
jobs.smashingmagazine.com/jobs

Futurism(s): An Inclusive History of Graphic Design

Posted on by Frances Miller

It is always an honor and a pleasure to have Ellen Lupton present. A huge thank you to Ellen for her generosity in delivering the recent talk on Futurism(s) as well as writing this article, for those who weren’t able to listen live.

On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, Baltimore’s stalwart design history group launched its new identity. Formerly known as SHAG (Society for History and Graphics), the group is now called SoDA, Society of Design Arts. It was my pleasure to deliver a talk called “Futurism(s)” as SoDA’s first event, in collaboration with AIGA Baltimore and Stevenson University. This online event attracted over 200 guests from the Baltimore region and beyond. Thanks to SoDA’s energetic new member Raquel Castedo, many designers from Brazil logged on to hear the talk and participate, as well as people from Utah, Tennessee, and elsewhere.

Below is my short summary of the talk, which was not recorded. —Ellen Lupton

“Futurism(s)” represents an approach to teaching Graphic Design History. At MICA, my colleague Brockett Horne and I are striving to tell a more inclusive history of design than the chronology we learned back when we were students. Most GD History courses include an ode to Italian Futurism. This canonical all-male art movement can be a leaping-off point for discussing other forms of future-leaning art and creativity. “Futurism(s)” is a talk with three chapters: Italian Futurism, Afrofuturism, and the Cyborg Manifesto.

Italian Futurism

Italian Futurism was launched by F. T. Marinetti in 1909. Frankly, it’s hard to find a more patriarchal, exclusionary, white-dominated movement in the history of design-isms. Marinetti expanded our view of the printed page with his innovative typography, but he infused his ideas with hatred and violence. He wrote, “We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom.” He wanted to destroy museums, libraries, and schools in order to make way for a factory-born future.

Futurismo-filippo-tommaso-marinetti

Although Italian Futurism scorned women and embraced fascist ideology, the Futurists explored liberated styles of masculinity. The Futurist painter Giacomo Balla, who published his “Futurist Manifesto of Men’s Clothing” in 1913, dreamed of menswear tailored with interactive fabrics that could be changed at will to represent a man’s shifting moods: “Loving, Arrogant, Persuasive, Diplomatic, Unitonal, Multitonal, Shaded, Polychrome, Perfumed.” Italian Futurism took place in a particular place and time, and many of us reject its politics while admiring its revolutionary aesthetics.

Afrofuturism

Afrofuturism is a movement in music, art, and literature that arose in the 1950s and continues today. (The term was invented by critic Mark Dery in 1994.) Afrofuturism embraces world-building, a creative methodology arising from science-fiction and gaming. World-building emphasizes mythic time rather than historical time. It employs storytelling across many genres, from novels, comic books, and toys to fashion, movies, music, and fan fiction. World-building actively engages an audience in experiencing a world that is both real and imagined.

Afrofuturist artists include the musician Sun Ra (1914–1993), an American jazz composer, bandleader, and poet who claimed to be an alien from Saturn—and always dressed appropriately for his role, building a mythic world around his persona. George Clinton’s funk band Parliament created their own “P-Funk mythology,” generating an elaborate backstory to the music. The Afrofuturist album covers of the 1960s and 70s featured space ships, Egyptian pyramids, and other symbols of cosmic knowledge. Today, a new generation has brought feminist identities to Afrofuturism. Artists including Solange Knowles, Rihanna, and Janelle Monae use sound, performance, fashion, and storytelling to build vivid worlds ruled by warrior queens and rebellious androids.

Billy Graham was the first black art director in the comics industry. In addition to creating a character called Luke Cage, based on Blaxploitation action films, Graham was the main comic artist to work on the Black Panther comic book series, from 1969 through 1976. These comics continue to be published today, with storylines created by renowned Black authors including Ta-Nehisi Coates and Roxane Gay. In 2018 Ryan Coogler directed the international blockbuster film The Black Panther, featuring production design by Hannah Beachler and costumes by Ruth E. Carter. Together, this creative team designed a high-tech civilization that combines aspects of contemporary African urbanism, architecture, and fashion with futuristic details.

Each of these exercises in Afrocentric world-building questions culturally dominant readings of technology. Mainstream representations of the future—whether utopian or dystopian—have pictured technology as a primarily white, male instrument of power, in contrast with subjugated human bodies that are seen as female and/or non-white. These artists have transformed how technology is represented and understood across cultures.

The Cyborg Manifesto

Donna Haraway’s essay “Cyborg Manifesto” (1985) represents a third vein of futurist design and philosophy. Haraway questions the binaries that privilege white, male, human creatures while “othering” countless alternative modes of life. The cyborg is a being who is both biological and mechanical. The cyborg challenges cultural binaries such as male/female, animal/human, and human/machine. According to Haraway, cyborgs don’t appear only in science fiction. The cyborgs have arrived! They are here among us! Examples of cyborg life include A.I., virtual reality, bioengineering, psychoactive drugs, and countless medical technologies, from fertility treatments to cloning and transgender medicine. Fashion has always altered the body, while people with physical differences use wheelchairs, prosthetics, glasses, and hearing aids to expand their mobility and change their sense perceptions.

Designers working in the field of speculative design use techniques such as illustration, model-making, animation, and photo-illustration to imagine new, often dystopian futures. In their project Life Support: Respiratory Dog (2008), Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen explored whether a dog could breathe for a human being. Living “service animals” help humans overcome many sensory and emotional challenges; the designers ask, why not have service animals augment our essential biological functions as well? The project is intended to be fictional and provocative, not realistic.

revital-cohen-respiratory-dog-design-futurism

Despite its fictional aims, Respiratory Dog has assumed new relevance today, a time when thousands of patients with severe Covid-19 require artificial life support. Every intubated Covid patient is a cyborg. Devices for respiratory life support are landmarks in the history of design and medicine. The Negative Pressure Ventilator—also known as the “iron lung”—was used to artificially ventilate patients who were paralyzed by polio. An iron lung encloses the user’s body in a negative-pressure chamber. Rhythmic pressure changes inside the chamber cause the person’s lungs to expand and contract. Thousands of these machines were mass-produced for use in homes and care facilities before the discovery of the polio vaccine in 1955. Iron lungs were eventually replaced with positive-pressure ventilators, which force air in and out of the patient’s lungs through the airway rather than exerting pressure against the chest. These modern ventilators require heavy sedation and put tremendous strain on the body. Today, modern versions of the iron lung are being reconsidered as a technology that is less expensive and more humane than a standard ventilator. One such prototype, Exovent, is being developed in the UK (as of April 2020). According to the developers of this old/new medical technology, the Exovent is a simpler, cheaper, and less invasive technology; it allows patients to remain awake, to eat, drink, and take medications on their own, and to talk on their phones.

What is “futurism”? All futurist movements, from Italian Futurism to Afrofuturism and speculative design, are opportunities to challenge the present by picturing what comes next. Designers are imagining the future whenever they question how things look, work, or signify in the current moment. Sometimes, the future arrives on the wings of catastrophe. Sometimes, the future must be created by excavating the past. Design history doesn’t have to be chronological. Like world-building, design history can pursue ideas across simultaneous and overlapping dimensions.

Bibliography

 

  • Reynaldo Anderson, “Afrofuturism 2.0 & the Black Speculative Arts Movement: Notes on a Manifesto,” Obsidian, Vol. 42, No. 1/2, (2016), pp. 228-236
  • Yytasha L. Womack, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture (Chicago Review Press, 2013).
  • Ruth la Ferla, “Afrofuturism: The Next Generation,” New York Times, December 12, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/fashion/afrofuturism-the-next-generation.html
  • Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2014).
  • Donna J. Haraway, Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (New York: Routledge, 1991).
  • Dan Hassler-Forest, “The Politics of World Building: Heteroglossia in Janelle Monáe’s Afrofuturist WondaLand,” World Building, ed. Marta Boni (Amsterdam University Press, 2017).

 

About the Author

Ellen Lupton | Senior Curator of Contemporary Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City. Her exhibitions include “How Posters Work,” “Beautiful Users,” and “The Senses: Design Beyond Vision.” Lupton is founding director of the Graphic Design MFA Program at MICA in Baltimore, where she has authored numerous books on design processes, including “Thinking with Type,” “Graphic Design Thinking,” and “Graphic Design: The New Basics.” Her recent books “Design Is Storytelling” and “Health Design Thinking” were published by Cooper Hewitt. She is an AIGA Gold Medalist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Ink & Pixels 2020: Going Virtual!

Posted on by Bryan Burke

Ink & Pixels Goes Virtual!

Take The Next Step Towards Your Design Career

Thinking about the job market during these uncertain times can be daunting for designers at all levels of experience.  Whether you want to make a good impression in interviews, need a new perspective on your portfolio, or want fresh eyes on a current project, we’re here to help. Ink & Pixels is one of AIGA Baltimore’s largest events focused on helping designers prepare for a career or career shift. Due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and our current Stay-At-Home mandate, AIGA is transitioning our in-person event, (originally scheduled to be held at Morgan State University on April 18) online! Now more than ever, we believe in the importance of finding alternative ways to come together in the community and share the knowledge and resources we have with each other. All events are free to attend!

Virtual Ink and Pixels (VIP) is now a series of events hosted online:

1. If I Knew Then What I Knew Now – Designer Panel

Saturday, April 18, 12:30–1:30pm

Join us via Zoom for an informative virtual discussion between AIGA Baltimore’s programming chair, Vaibhav Sharma (moderator), The Creative Group (TCG), and two experienced designers representing different aspects of the design field.

Our panelists include: 

Alexander Reynolds, Senior Creative Recruiter at TCG

Perry Sweeper, Design Strategist

Emilee Beeson, Designer and Illustrator

→ Register Today

2. Roundtable Workshops

Saturday, May 2, 10am–12pm

Here’s your chance to get (virtual) face-to-face answers to those questions you’ve been Googling. Join our Zoom roundtable discussions with experts on a variety of topics such as Freelancer Finance, Finding Your Creative Community, How to Get Hired, and Building Your Social Media Following.

→ Register Today

3. Portfolio Reviews

Portfolio reviews are designed to give you advice and insight that will improve the way you present yourself and your work. AIGA Baltimore will match you with three reviewers and provide contact information so you can meet virtually on your own time for portfolio critiques. Practice your interview skills and receive honest feedback about your work and resumé through Google Chat, Zoom, or whatever online platform you choose. More details will be coming soon!

Virtual Events to Help You Stay Connected & Creative this Spring

Posted on by Frances Miller

If one thing’s certain, it’s that we are all getting really good at video conferencing this year. From workout classes to happy hours, the world is finding creative ways to stay connected while socially distancing. AIGA chapter leaders across the country are connecting and working on ways to continue our programming online. We’ve collected a few interesting digital experiences that have crossed our screens here, and plan to continue updating this list as more events surface.

Do you know of an event or opportunity that belongs on this list? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at promotions@baltimore.aiga.org with your event or campaign information.

Virtual Events

 

Jump to:
MARCHAPRILMAY

3/17–3/24 | Watch Helvetica for Free

Filmmaker Gary Hustwit is streaming his documentaries free worldwide during the global COVID crisis, and you can find them on the website Oh You Pretty Things. Helvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives.

→ Watch at your leisure

 

3/23 | AIGA Nebraska Shift+Cmd+Join

Hosted by: AIGA Nebraska

Kelsey Janda, VP of Design at Hudl will share what it means to work remotely; designing remote, managing remote, and leading remote teams. After surveying the design team, they (the design team) have compiled their data on remote work and will present their findings to us in this Zoom-based event.

→ Register

 

Multiple dates available) | Online Yoga with Baltimore Yoga Village

Adding movement into our days spent mostly on the computer is another big topic of conversation, now more than ever. Join Shelly Boggs (formerly the owner of Design B&B, Design Manager at Proctor & Gamble, MICA grad, and longtime member of the Baltimore design community) for live streamed classes at a variety of times this week.

→ Sign up

 

3/23–3/27 | Free Online Procreate Event

Hosted by: Design Cuts
Over the next few days, you’ll be able to take advantage of some of the biggest names in the Procreate industry! This series of 7 free sessions will teach you all the best tips and tricks for lettering, illustrating, and animating in Procreate, all from the comfort of your home.

→ Find out more

 

3/26 | Webinar: Teach Your College Class Online

Hosted by: Adobe
As more faculty are shifting their courses online, they are looking for simple, easy to implement best practices that can keep interactions with students engaging, personal, and supportive.

Dr. Shannon Pufahl is a lecturer in creative writing at Stanford University and a celebrated novelist and writer. For the past few years, Shannon has been running creative writing classes using videoconferencing, digital office hours, and leveraging Canvas, her institution’s LMS.

In this talk, Shannon will share her insights, best practices, and how she’s learned to teach creativity effectively using distance learning tools and approaches. At the end of the talk, the host, Brian Johnsrud (Adobe’s Education Curriculum Lead), will share more information about this series, Adobe’s Distance Learning Resources, and Adobe’s integration with Canvas.

→ Register now!

 

3/31 | Adobe Summit

Hosted by: Adobe
Each year, Adobe hosts customers, partners, and employees from around the world at Adobe Summit and Magento Imagine to “talk about the future of customer experience, unveil the latest product and platform innovations, and get inspired together as a community.”

This year, Adobe’s conference will be held online and registration is free. The show starts on March 31st, but more content will be added continuously.

→ Sign up for free

4/4 | Virtual Icon Design Workshop

Hosted by: Scott Fuller

This is the rescheduled workshop with Studio Temporary, which is now happening virtually!

In this 3-hour workshop, we’ll be focusing on a very interesting subject…you! We’ll start with a walk through Scott’s personal work process, exploring the research, inspiration, and execution of a few of his icon design projects. Then comes the fun part: sketching and ideation of your own personal icon set!

This will be a special virtual experience where we are helping you hone your craft at the comfort of wherever you are. Some things you’ll need ready are the Zoom app, a free DropBox account, and Adobe Illustrator.

→ Get your ticket

 

4/4 & 4/5 | Canceled Con

Hosted by: HOCH
Canceled Con is a free online creative event to bring together the community of creatives. They’ll be live-streaming all day with special guests, fun games, and other assorted shenanigans. Come hang out on April 4-5 from 8AMpst until 8PMpst at CanceledCon.com.

→ RSVP!

 

4/6 | AIGA Boston Book Group: The Brand Gap

Hosted by: AIGA Boston
AIGA Boston’s monthly book group is moving online for the time being, which means you can join them in reading Marty Neumeier’s concise brand-building guide, The Brand Gap. In this business classic, Neumeier outlines the five disciplines that comprise his “unified theory of branding”.

→ Get in on the discussion

 

4/8 | Baltimore Women in Tech Virtual Happy Hour

Hosted by: Baltimore Women in Tech
Baltimore Womxn in Tech is doing a bi-weekly casual happy hour for our tech community. Feeling like you need to have an adult conversation or just chat with some humans who get it?

→ Grab a drink and join on Zoom

 

4/14 | Storytelling in User Experience

Hosted by: Baltimore UX Meetup
Basic UX practice knowledge and skills are important, but storytelling is the skill that will make the greatest impact — both in the work you do every day and on the trajectory of your career.

Storytelling gets you and the value of your work noticed; it has tremendous power to get buy-in and agreement when there’s objection to UX work; it can help you secure funding and resources for a project. And maybe most importantly, good storytelling can put your portfolio head and shoulders above the rest and advance your earning potential.

Joe Natoli has been practicing UX for nearly three decades, training and helping UX practitioners and leaders tell meaningful, compelling stories: tales that clearly communicate and demonstrate the importance and impact of UX on product design — and on the success of users, UXers and the companies and clients they work for.

→ Attend for free

 

4/18 | AIGA Baltimore Ink & Pixels Part 1: Designer Panel

Hosted by: Yours truly, AIGA Baltimore
We’ll be changing up the format for our annual Ink & Pixels portfolio reviews & professional development day, which will occur digitally across multiple dates this April and May. First up, an informative discussion with experienced designers representing different aspects of the design field, covering the topic of, “If I Knew Then What I Know Now.”

Our panelists include:
Alexander Reynolds, Senior Creative Recruiter at TCG
Perry Sweeper, Design Strategist
Emilee Beeson, Senior Designer at Mission Media
Moderated by Vaibhav Sharma, Freelance Motion Graphics Designer, AIGA Baltimore Programming Chair

→ Register for free

 

4/22 | Futurism(S) | Online Talk By Ellen Lupton

Hosted by: Society of Design Arts (SoDA)
Join the Society of Design Arts, AIGA Baltimore, and Stevenson University for an online talk on Futurism(s) by the curator, educator, and writer Ellen Lupton.

In 1909 the Futurist Manifesto triggered a series of avant-garde design movements that used design and typography to disrupt tradition. This talk takes a tour from Italian Futurism—with its Fascist bent and anti-feminist ideology—to alternative modes of techno rebellion, from Afrofuturism to the Cyborg Manifesto. It’s 2020, folks! The future is here, and it’s not pretty.

→ Register for free

 

5/5 | Make it Remote: Virtual Meetings Don’t Have to Suck

Hosted by: AIGA
Nobody wants to stare at a screen all day…, so how can we make our virtual meetings more interesting? In this webinar, workshop design specialist Matthew Manos will share best practices for making your next virtual meeting more productive and engaging. We’ll explore the nuances of virtual meetings, and discuss a range of fun activities and helpful strategies to help you get the most out of all that dreaded screen time.

→ Register to receive the Zoom link

 

5/6 | Early Light Media COVID-19 Marketing Webinar

Hosted by: Early Light Media
Early Light Media is hosting a special live event on Zoom Wednesday, May 6 at 12:30pm EST moderated by ELM Co-founder and Creative director David Larson. Join us and top agency thinkers for a virtual panel on how businesses, marketers, and communication experts are planning the transition to reopen from COVID-19.

→ Learn more & register

 

5/9 | Registration Deadline: Ink & Pixels Portfolio Reviews

Hosted by: AIGA Baltimore
Portfolio reviews will begin on May 16 and run through June 13, hopefully allowing everyone adequate time to schedule and hold their review sessions. We will partner reviewees (creatives needing professional guidance) with two or three reviewers (professionals who can provide advice and resources). Communication will be conducted on a virtual basis via the platform that works best for you: email, phone, video, etc.

→ Reviewers and reviewees, sign up here

 

5/27 | Digital Accessibility: The What, Who, Why, When and How

Hosted by: Baltimore Techies for Good
Technology has changed the way people interact with the world around them. In many ways, the technology boom has enabled people to do more than they ever thought possible. People are more in touch, able to connect faster and be more productive than ever before.

This is the case for many people, but what about the people who don’t experience technology as a convenient default? What about those whose experiences are limited due to the inaccessibility of the very technologies that could enable them to experience life in a whole new way?

Digital Accessibility is about the inclusion of our diverse population. Join Tracey Long on the journey to learn more about what Digital Accessibility is, who is impacted, why it is important, when to consider it and how to get started on your Digital Accessibility journey.

→ Learn more & register

 

Ongoing Campaigns

AIGA Wisconsin Positive Quotes
To uplift spirits while we all practice social distancing, AIGA Wisconsin would love to see what quotes are helping you to stay positive. Design a favorite positive quote or message you’d like to share with your extended design community from a few states away!
→ Share the love

AIGA Miami Dare to Design
Dare to Design aims to keep our skills sharp and our creativity expanding. Every month, AIGA Miami selects a design discipline (branding, web, fashion..) and a theme (polar bears, atlantis, outerspace…). Your job is to have fun with design. Break the rules a little and let your imagination roll. Share your design through Instagram DM or tag @aigamiami, and they will feature it on IG stories.
March Dare to Design: Come up with a name and design a logo for an 80’s rock band.
→ Dare to design

Free Movie of the Week
Filmmaker Gary Hustwit is streaming his documentaries free worldwide during the global COVID-19 crisis. Each Tuesday we’ll be posting another film here.
→ Watch

Got an event you think belongs on this list?

We’d love to hear about it! Email us at promotions@baltimore.aiga.org with your event information.