MD Food Bank Volunteer Day

AIGA Baltimore volunteered at the Maryland Food Bank on Saturday, September 21, and spent a few hours lending a hand to help end hunger. Who knew sorting cans of kidney beans from jars of peanut butter could be a fun time? We even got to go behind-the-scenes to see the mega freezer, which has a daytime temperature of -10 degrees! In just a few hours volunteers assisted in packing 10,785 pounds of food which equates to 8,296 meals!

Salvaged, donated food comes by the trailer-full into the warehouse, and all of it needs properly sorted and boxed before it can go back out to those in need. The cartons and cans are loaded onto the conveyor belt where daily volunteers help categorize it and pack it up.

Volunteers are critical to the Maryland Food Bank and its mission. Last year, volunteers contributed over 30,000 hours of service, saving the Maryland Food Bank $600,000.

Don’t wait for another AIGA volunteer day to give back—you can schedule a visit on your own. Better yet, bring your coworkers or friends. Check out www.mdfoodbank.org/volunteer or contact the volunteer program manager at 410.737.8282 x232 for more information on volunteer opportunities.

 

Enter the Designer

Designers live in a world of challenges requiring unprecedented solutions, fostering the sort of individuals who want to lecture on or write about the details of their quests to teach those who will listen. These individuals who share their hard-earned secrets are, to other designers, what the Kung Fu master is to a student in a martial arts movie. Deke McClelland is known to practitioners of Illustrator and Chris Georgenes holds down the Flash animation dojo. Terry White is omnipresent in many areas of digital photography while digital painters follow Serge Birault.

This spring, AIGA Baltimore brought local design masters to the Ink & Pixels event at Towson University so they might impart their sage advice. Since the attendees reported hearing some very Zen-like wisdom that day, we couldn’t resist comparing their mastery to Kung Fu movies.

Our Design Masters were:

(For the sake of consistency, we’ll stick with the time-honored, generic title of “Kung Fu”, though the martial arts styles themselves vary according to the story being told.)

Your Style is Your Legend

“Your reputation precedes you,” says the lord to the old man, “You are said to be the Master of the Five-Element Fist. You believe you can defeat my oppressor?”

The old man’s style is what makes him worthy of the lord’s attention and has gotten him in for an interview. Were he not known for his mastery of the Five-Element Fist, a style explained to be an influence of the Ancestor System of Wuzuquan, the lord’s guards might have just locked down the fortress and lobbed fireballs at the old man until he went away.

Why do you design? Knowing the answer defines where you stand among other designers: understanding why you design is paramount to understanding how you design. Does your attitude towards what you do read like a technical manual, coldly stating, “I am a graphic designer”? Having a vague mantra represents a vague style, a style that is easily defeated by professionals who have a well-defined service to offer. Instead, consider  what it is you do, such as “I’m a print designer because I’m obsessed with color and its effect on everything” or “It’s 2013! Why do websites still look like this? That’s why I became a web designer: to make some decent sites”.  It’s the difference between saying “I know how to fight” or “I’m devoted to the Way of  the Thundering Mantis and will emerge victorious because of it”.

Presenting Worthiness

Before each Kung Fu movie challenge, the participants each give a preliminary demonstration, a quick succession of impressive moves which acts as a display of their respective knowledge of the art.

Demonstrating who you are and what you can do is vital to finding jobs. Effective networking is the ability to make meaningful connections with strangers combined with an online presence for your new connection to reference. Make yourself look good by creating a designer’s resume, using your tools of the trade instead of a Word template to create something that looks like experience. Have people look at it and give specific feedback. Choose appropriate typefaces and stay away from those free fonts: the measurements on those are often not professionally calculated. Bad type is the Egg Fist of the design world, a sure sign of an amateur.

In the movies, the Kung Fu student will face opponents possessing abilities the student is unaccustomed to. Upon defeating the opponent, an understanding of how to defeat a future adversary, through gain of skill, is achieved. In other words, the student learns something.

Apply for every job with an intention to learn a valuable lesson. Whether that lesson is a how to calculate web layout grids or why you should thoroughly explain your contract agreements, these experiences are necessary for achieving Design Mastery: no job is without merit. It’s important to step outside of known abilities in order to discover unknown ones, the ones that can only be resolved through battles fought with CTRL+Z and Google search dead-ends. Without accepting possibilities of conflict, there can be no understanding of resolution. And without an understanding of resolution, you will end up with disastrous image enlargement results.

The Non-Photo Blue Pencil is Mightier than the Sword

“Your weapons,” said Yoda with grim certainty, “you will not need them.”

Not heeding this advice, Luke hung onto them out of fear of being without. His weapons were a crutch. He didn’t need them to face his future that day (in fact, he freaked out a little), they didn’t help him later in Cloud City (when he got his hand cut off), and it wasn’t weapons that finally turned his father on the Emperor (that was the result of Vader’s heart growing three sizes that day).

Star Wars isn’t a Kung Fu movie proper, understood, but the point is similarly illustrated.

Build the use of tools into your workflow. Opt to draw out ideas on paper instead of in Sketchbook Pro. Choose to carefully light, arrange, and frame an image instead of spending time in Photoshop to achieve a similar effect. Sketch out or identify in writing the sort of typeface you would like to work with before searching your library. Spend as much of the process as possible without turning on your workstation, writing notes theorizing how something can be achieved, the steps involved, and exactly where to go for help.

Best Offense = Good Defense

The first thing Mr. Miyagi taught Danny was how to wash the car, paint the house, and sand the floor. These seemingly nonsense tasks turned out to be defensive maneuvers that kept Danny out of harm long enough to successfully execute the Crane Kick.

Creatively, to know why you are doing something prepares a defense for it. Reasons why you choose a typeface should be clear, concise, and straightforward, like an elevator pitch. The more words it takes to explain something in a disagreement, the more it sounds like an excuse.

Preparing for defense is also important on the business side for when an explanation is required as to why you will not be doing a complete revision for free. The design process shouldn’t be treated any different than any other journey: if there’s preventable backtracking involved, someone’s got to account for the resources used. Knowing the contract, discussing the process, and identifying the design stages are ways to keep both parties informed and attentive.

Most Honorable

We’re grateful to our Design Masters for sharing their wisdom. Also, many thanks to the legion of portfolio reviewers who came out to give the students an honest look at what worked and what they needed to improve.

After all, without a review, one is just breaking wooden boards and, as Bruce Lee will tell you, “Boards don’t hit back.”

Greg Jericho spends an awfully lot of time designing for clients that do not exist at his equally fake company, Myopic! Studio. Kate Lawless strategizes content for the web, develops e-learning, and designs digital signage by day. By night, she’s a freelance designer and socializer-extraordinaire.

Does Great Design Equal Great Success?

At varying points in a career, the question of success rises to the top of a list of concerns. If a designer is not finding it, they might diversify an existing skill set to better qualify for different types of assignments, or possible begin work in an unfamiliar style in order to develop a relevance in a contemporary design market. Sometimes, though, it’s worth considering that there’s something other than a portfolio holding us back, something that keeps us from competing with other designers besides the work itself.

At AIGA Baltimore’s most recent Converse, our open talk on a specified design-related topic, we asked our group this question: Is the success of a designer dependent solely on the finished product? Are we all missing that ‘something’ and are we even aware of it? The suggestions we heard were interesting, and the conversations, inspiring.

Be Prepared

Being prepared is necessary. Unfortunately, parents, teachers, and co-workers have been telling us to ‘be prepared’ so much, that it comes off as just a cliché. A filler. Words said to bridge the gap between receiving the assignment and agreeing to the deadline. To dismiss research, development, and practice by intending to go into a project with an overconfident, self-perceived cleverness to win over a client is not only going to fail, it’s going to give the appearance that any design experience comes solely from watching all five seasons of Mad Men.

We heard from well-prepared individuals who suggested including quantifiable data to back up logic in a presentation. By doing market research and reading case studies, a designer can show returns on investment, giving little room for logical disagreement. By using online analytics to measure the impact of interactive products and by using social media to configure metrics regarding the successful exposure of printed materials, there is a clear emphasis made that we understand how to make this thing work. Being clear means being prepared.

Explain Yourself

While we were on the topic of being clear, we identified at Converse that designers aren’t particularly strong when it comes to communicating verbally, and it’s a common misconception that it’s not a necessary skill, that the work should speak for itself. In truth, all the aforementioned research and development that was done to assure a project’s success needs a knowledgeable speaker to explain it in terms of goals, direction, and purpose. A creative brief of this sort can become a preemptive explanation to the client, an education in design process, that can prevent confusion and unrealistic expectations, especially in later stages where their seemingly minor change means a complete conceptual reworking for the designer. One Converse attendee so believes in the power of a verbally-skilled designer, that she took an acting class not only to present herself and her work, but also how to react to clients’ comments. That decision scores points for being prepared as well.

Trust Me

Being prepared and well-spoken are absolutely paramount in creating a trustworthy image of a designer. The Converse group found that there were many clients who had never met their designer or even talked to them. In a society that believes that it’s called ‘Dreamweaver’ because you dream up a website, click a button, and it weaves one up for you, it’s important to become separate from our software.

As designers, our clients should understand that we chose our career because there’s a collaborative effort, a critical process that we require to do our best work. If we didn’t want input, criticism, or revisions, we’d have gone into Fine Art and insisted upon our sole vision. We are people who have a unique talent to visualize the solution even better after we’ve broken the last one, whether by accident or knowledgeable rejection. For this sort of partnership to work, we have to trust each other and, because the client is the financier, it’s up to us to gain that trust first. By explaining early and often why they should believe we’ll succeed and how they can help keep it that way throughout the process, the client feels assured that we are able to control the project without micro-input. Being mindful that both parties specialize in different areas and shouldn’t be expected to guess how the other does their job is a welcome transparency and should also prevent some unwelcome surprises.

Success is How You Work

Our Converse attendees gave us lots of valuable insight on success with clients but they also suggested some tips to help productivity while working to increase the value of time spent designing. Planning ahead for what will be the most productive time of the day allows an opportunity to clear out distractions. Check email a limited number of times a day, for a limited length of time. Most agreed three times a day for thirty minutes each was the maximum.

Some of the most difficult distractions are often mental, the pressure of conjuring an idea that’s worth exploring or that spurs a creative work session. Non-computer related activities such as sketching or flipping through a coffee table book are two ways of refreshing inspiration, the added benefit being less time spent troubleshooting a software tool or becoming distracted while connected to email or other types of e-communication. The stress of administrative tasks is as detrimental to creativity as regular writer’s block, so it’s important to remove the availability of tasking reminders during the previously scheduled productive times. Otherwise, the guilty, inner voice insists on responding to everything before allowing a relaxed mind. Creativity works well under pressure because there’s not any time to worry about anything else.

Join Us Next Time

Interested in some more about creativity and where it comes from? Be sure to join us for our next Converse on April 18 at The Windup Space and tell us how you come up with those ideas. Or tell us that you’re not: maybe we can help. It’ll be like designer group therapy.

Here’s some links suggested during the Converse:

Viewing: Designing a Stop Sign

Reading: Be Excellent at Anything

Greg Jericho spends an awfully lot of time designing for clients that do not exist at his equally fake company, Myopic! Studio. Kate Lawless strategizes content for the web, develops e-learning, and designs digital signage by day. By night, she’s a freelance designer and socializer-extraordinaire.

Alabama Design Summit

At the end of July, Brian Ghiloni had the pleasure to attend the AIGA Alabama Design Summit in Birmingham. The workshop-style conference brought together more than 50 attendees from across the country and across multiple disciplines. Their challenge was to use design thinking to address social issues affecting rural Alabama and other parts of the country.

Over three days, four multi-disciplinary teams tackled a variety of regional issues from overcoming Nature Deficit Disorder to Eco-Tourism as a source of economic regeneration. Working together, each team needed to understand the problem, define an objective and develop solutions. The conference concluded with team presentations of actionable ideas, which could be implemented in 12–24 months.

As designers, our contribution has been traditionally limited to identities, collateral and websites. The AIGA Alabama Design Summit is an early preview of a new AIGA initiative called Design for Good. With this new initiative, designers have an opportunity to engage in these types of important social issues in a deeper way than ever before.

This last March, AIGA Baltimore organized Ideas for Action. The event brought together area creatives, community leaders and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health to address social issues affecting Baltimore. AIGA Baltimore is committed to furthering discussions about the role of design and the potentially larger impact it can have on communities.

If you want to become more involved in the community or you have an idea for a Design for Good project, send us an email. We want to hear from you!

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The Alabama Design Summit was produced in partnership with AIGA and Alabama Innovation Engine. Local participants included representatives from Freshwater Land Trust, Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, US Fish and Wildlife, Cahaba River Society, Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, International Expeditions, Auburn University Urban Studio, and University of Alabama Center for Economic Development.

Alabama Design Summit, people working together
Marshall Anderson and Jessi Arrington explain solutions to combat Nature Deficit Disorder. These ideas could be implemented within 12-24 months. Implementing any one could have a measurable effect to offset healthcare costs related to obesity.Today 1 out of 3 adults in Alabama is considered obese.
Alabama Design Summit, lots of sticky notes!
Idea prototyping's best friend… the sticky note!

2011 Leadership Conference – Minneapolis – Feeling “Activated” !

Downtown Minneapolis

Three board members from AIGA Baltimore attended this year’s
leadership retreat – ACTIVATE – an interactive, inspiring, 3-day
gathering of leaders in chapters across the US. Jennifer Dodson, Bob
Gillespie and I (Elizabeth Brady) trekked to Minneapolis for an
incredible few days where we gathered momentum for the upcoming year
in Baltimore and got to see great design, touch the Mississippi, and explore
the Walker Art Center… to name a few things.

The conference began (at the visually inspiring, Graves [601] hotel)
with a display of all of the fantastic design samples and products
from chapters across the country. Each chapter brought a series of
trading cards to share and exchange at events throughout the
conference, offering a great opportunity to hear what makes other
chapters “tick”. The creativity was astounding.

See some examples here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25988873@N02/sets/72157626911717642/

Retreat Attendees Spell It Out For YouAfter an inspiring kickoff about the state of the association by AIGA
executive director Ric Grefé, we divided and conquered different “Spark” sessions and shared back. At our various sessions, we learned more about the power of design to create change, rock-star board structures that work for members, the value of membership to our design community, all the while gaining inspiration for design competitions, and new partnerships and opportunities. My eyes were opened to the vast impact our chapter has and the resources we can offer, as well as, design’s capacity to benefit business and society.

One theme that kept resurfacing? Create solid events with community input! We as a team from Baltimore spent a lot of time discussing different ways to find out what our members (you!) and local designers /agencies want from us, and returned to Baltimore with a
renewed desire to hear from you.

Here are a few links to national or local initiatives that inspired me!

AIGA austin design ranch 2011
http://vimeo.com/25680717

http://clockwork.aigablueridge.org/

http://onedayfordesign.org/

http://www.cause-affect.org/

I, personally, was particularly inspired by our incoming national AIGA president,
Doug Powell and his focus on Design for Good, an initiative to motivate design professionals and AIGA members towards impact, advocacy and cause. I came back with a renewed knowledge of the power and impact of design on society, and a lot of inspiration for social initiatives in Baltimore.

Keep an eye out for other new initiatives and events this year and be
in touch with what activates you, as a student, designer or creative
professional. Or email me at elizabeth@baltimore.aiga.org if you have ideas
to share or want to be more involved in social or green initiatives!

Why Being A PowerPoint God Is Almost Completely Useless, Why We Should Be Entering The AIGA 365 and Why Design Isn’t Free (All The Time).

I recently posted about my experience at a freelance gig where I was the interim head of the design department at a medical technology firm and the work I did there. Most of the work was print, but like many corporate clients, much of the work consisted of consisted of things you’d never put in your portfolio, much less admit you were involved in.

Among them was the development of PowerPoint presentations for sales staff. Many designers may mention that the are proficient at PowerPoint but it’s usage as a business applications overshadows any utility for the high-end designer it seems to me… As it works out, working with these folks, I stumbled into some PowerPoint projects simply by doing other work and being around to help solve interactivity issues with the program. All of a sudden, I’m a “PowerPoint God”. When I heard this I wasn’t sure whether to be proud or take a shower.

Turns out its a little of both …

On the one hand the ability to go in and answer communications problems in a business environment is golden in picking up new business. On the other hand, I don’t think I’ll be saving those PowerPoints for my portfolio. But this got me to thinking about the “why are we here?” No not on earth, silly. Why are we designers? And for me and possibly you it’s a mix of things.

Take a listen to a little Seth Godin’s The Dip and you’ll muse on the value of being the best you can possibly be if you’re going to bother to design/illustrate/photograph. Secondly, this may lead to your whittling down your best you and absent that the best you in your projects that you can find. To illustrate this point, I’ll rely on Jim Collin’s book Good To Great: Why some Companies Make The Leap and Some Don’t.

The book has a theory called the HedgeHog Concept which is illustrated here:

HedgeHog Concept proposed by Jim Collins in Good To Great

Well, as this goes, the being a PowerPoint god was worth it in that it was financially valuable, but not exactly the way I’d like to be contributing to the world. Perhaps your job is similar: you’re making charts, designing brochures that meet some business function, but fall short of your passion. What does this mean? Well, pursue that passion in manageable chunks.

Find a project that’s high on passion, even if it’s short in other areas. When Michael Beirut came to UMBC late last year, he reinforced this notion: “What’s stopping you from (re)designing whatever you want?” He also said: “the only overhead to designing is [ultimately] your time.” So, if no plum design project is coming along the road—particularly in a recession, what’s the harm in taking an otherwise limited assignment and doing it the way YOU want it?

Enter a competition for no one else but yourself if, for no other reason, because design is inherently a democratic thing (as in it gains power in the voice of each individual—not a particular side of the aisle) and that voice is only heard when our best voices are actively contributing to it. So make something over and spend your time developing the craft, without worrying about the financial end of things all the time…

But until they start taking time credits at the gas pump, keep work at converting that “time” to expertise, so that you can find the nexus of the hedgehog aspirations you seek. Go from designing widget catalogs to designing—I dunno—the new J. Crew catalog. Go from highly paid PowerPoint presentations that never see the light of day in the design world to possibly re-thinking what the presentation looks like in the first place or go from taking that project that you put your passion into and parlay it into a project that pays you some dough.