14+ Events to Attend Around the World!

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:

Finding Your Creative Communities

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

Design & Dine Recap: Debbie Millman’s Perspective on Social Media & Personal Branding

Thanks to Kelly Strine for writing this blog post!

The 8th annual AIGA Baltimore Design Week kicked off with a special Design & Dine with the legendary Debbie Millman on Friday, October 11, 2019, at Topside’s beautiful Garden Room. Founder and host of the Design Matters Podcast, Debbie has interviewed over 500 artists, designers, and industry experts. This special Design & Dine was no lecture. Instead, it was Debbie’s signature conversational interview style with 30 of Baltimore’s industry professionals. Had it been recorded, it could’ve been the next episode of Design Matters.

The casual discussion explored how we portray our lives on social media and in our own personal branding. Debbie has “very, very strong feelings about people as brands,” and why we sometimes hide the truth––or downright lie––in the social media versions of our lives.

Personal Branding

Debbie has studied the evolution of branding, and how we’ve grown with it, for the past 17 years. At its core, branding is about mark-making and building consensus around that mark. Through quality and consistency, shared views and opinions regarding products and services can be accomplished.

If we fast-forward through the history of corporate branding, we come to a more recent phenomenon: personal branding. Personal branding is the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands, with an intentional effort to influence public perception. Sound familiar in the design industry where everyone wants to position themselves a certain way in the marketplace?

Photography Credits: Bryan Burke
Photography Credits: Bryan Burke

Humans are Messy

As Debbie so bluntly put it, “Humans are messy.” We have a lot of feelings. But brands don’t have that kind of depth. Sure, brands can evolve, but brands are rooted in consistency. If humans run the emotional gamut and can reinvent themselves, but brands are built on consistency, can personal brands be successful? Can consensus be built?

From a technology standpoint, we’re living in an ever-connected environment. We’re always just a tap, click, or voice command away from whatever we need. Yet we’re oddly disconnected in our interpersonal relationships. Why? Isn’t social media supposed to make us feel more connected?

Our Online Personas

In many cases, people use social media as a highlight reel. We share what we are proud of and the happy moments and hide what we are ashamed of. That’s natural, right? But if you’re only seeing the highlights of other people’s lives, it’s much easier to feel left-behind or alone in your own life. The things that we don’t share tend to be the things that build a better connection with others.

For those of us who maintain a personal brand, Debbie challenged us to consider how social media impacts our branding. If we hide certain aspects of our lives to position ourselves a particular way, we start to pull away from our authentic selves. We start to create an online persona who is our ideal selves, but ultimately this can lead us to feel even more disconnected from ourselves and others.

Photography Credits: Krystal Carpintieri
Photography Credits: Krystal Carpintieri

How do we combat the disconnect? Here are a few ideas:

  1. Digital minimalism: More and more people are disconnecting from social media to live their lives IRL (in real life). Taking a break from social media or ditching it altogether is one way to reconnect and build better relationships with others.
  2. Be authentic: Rather than showing only the highlights, show your authentic self—challenges and all. People connect with honesty. But the key is to help; not commiserate. If you’re going through a difficult time, chances are someone else is going through it too. Share resources or seek support, rather than just complain.
  3. Set an intention: Ask yourself, why am I posting this? Am I looking for self-validation? Sympathy? Is it a humble brag? Being honest about why you’re posting sends a clear message to your audience. Did you land your dream client after working your tail off on the pitch? Yeah, I’ll celebrate that win with you. But do I care about your “picky” client? Nah, I don’t need your negativity.
Photography Credits: Bryan Burke
Photography Credits: Bryan Burke

Social Branding

As Debbie notes, branding is always evolving. The most recent anomaly is social branding, which is marketing for social change. Social branding projects, such as the Me Too Movement and Black Lives Matter, are designed to change a culture. So, whereas personal branding fails at the individual level due to the complexity of human emotions, social branding succeeds due to the social change people can rally around. Social branding builds consensus.

Continue the Conversation

Where do you stand on personal branding? Is your personal brand a true brand in that it builds consensus, or is it more of a brand identifier to set you apart in the marketplace? Do you tend to hide the truth on social media in hopes of creating an ideal online persona? Share your thoughts in the comments below, we want to hear from you!

About the Speaker:
Debbie Millman
Twitter & Instagram: @debbiemillman

Named “one of the most creative people in business” by Fast Company, and “one of the most influential designers working today” by Graphic Design USA, Debbie Millman is also an author, educator, curator and host of the podcast Design Matters.

Can You Teach Yourself How To Be A Graphic Designer?

Looking to learn graphic design? You’re in the right place.

What a time to be alive! The internet is an amazing resource, the likes of which has never before existed in human history. This entire catalog of knowledge, gathered over thousands of years, can now be accessed in a matter of seconds from anywhere in the world.

Information used to be a huge barrier to entry in most professions, design included, but those walls have largely come down. Skillsets which previously could only be gained through an apprenticeship –– or years of study at certain prestigious schools –– are now available to everyone who knows where to look.

Information is cheap. In fact, it’s often free. It’s so freely available that it brings a whole new set of challenges. Just because it’s all out there, doesn’t mean it’s easy to sift through the noise and properly absorb the most important parts. You will still face a steep road ahead to reach your creative and professional goals, but it’s very doable.

Knowledge and information is a huge piece of the puzzle, but it’s not everything. Applying what you have learned consistently, practicing and failing, is the second piece that transforms information into real skills. Many people will fail here. They’ll watch hours upon hours of YouTube videos, get super excited about their newfound passion, but never enter the next phase of applying what they’ve learned.

‘Learning’ can quickly fall into the realm of ‘entertainment’, if you are not taking an active role in getting involved with the material. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Considering all the media content that we consume these days, there are certainly less enriching and educational things we can waste our time on. But if your goal is to hone your craft and move closer to your professional goals, it’s important to be honest with yourself and admit when you’re just being a passive spectator.


4 Tips for Self-Taught Designers, From a Self-Taught Designer

teaching yourself graphic design

1. Embrace your unique journey

Unlike a fully structured college syllabus, the road ahead is going to be completely up to you. The good news is that you can cut through a lot of the fluff and focus on the topics and skills that you can apply immediately. The bad news is that nobody will be holding your hand and guiding you. It’s very easy to get lost in the weeds of information overload, distraction, and “shiny object syndrome.”

First, be crystal clear with your short, medium and long-term goals. Actually spend the time to sit down and think about this and write it out. Yes, that means you. No, you can’t skip this step. If you set the right targets, you can catapult yourself up the learning curve and get ‘pretty good’ at a particular skill in a matter of weeks or months. If you have unclear goals about what you want to do in graphic design, you could wander aimlessly for years before giving up… thinking you somehow lacked the innate talent to be a success.

What is your next logical step? Should you be building a portfolio? Are you missing a skill needed at your dream job? Can you learn something new and use it to help someone in your life, for free, to build up your confidence and network of references? These are some examples of excellent targets you can aim your learning journey towards.

learn from other designers

2. Model yourself after the designers and artists that inspire you most.

Figure out who’s doing the work you wish you could do and try to recreate it yourself. No, I’m not saying to plagiarize someone else’s work and pass it off as your own to others… but purely as a learning tool, it’s perfectly ok.

Try to ‘reverse engineer’ every element of their work and understand why they made the creative decisions they did. If you want to showcase this piece in your portfolio, then you will need to put your own spin on it and not blindly copy. However, don’t worry if your work is ‘derivative’ at this stage of the game. Finding your unique creative style is something that comes later, after you’ve learned the fundamentals.

There’s a reason behind Picasso’s classic quote, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Don’t take it too literally, but there is a lot of truth in it. Model yourself after those who are successful to help ‘catch up’ in your skill level, before taking it to the next level on your own.

Dedicate a lot of time each week looking at design from experts. Yes, this might make you feel a little bad about your relatively amateurish creations, but it’s something you need to do. This helps you develop ‘good taste’ which is the driving force that will help you close the gap between where you’re currently at and those at the top of their game.

Depending on your specialty, there are several good sites for this. Dribbble is a good example, across the board. For motion design, Vimeo is the industry standard and as a bonus allows you to go through pieces frame-by-frame. Pinterest is another classic source of inspiration for many designers.

aiga design community

3. Join a community. Online is great, in-person is even better.

One hurdle you will run into on this path are ‘gatekeepers’. People who will say you cannot do it, or who make things seem overly difficult to discourage you from even getting started. Often, these people are insecure about their own position, fearing that more competition could cost them their livelihood.

Also, they are afraid that the spread of free information will undermine their own education and experience, rather than seeing the opportunities to enrich their own careers by using these resources to continue their own education.

Don’t be discouraged if you run into a few naysayers. The internet can bring out the worst in people. Keep this in mind, try to develop a thick skin, and keep on moving.

You will also find supportive communities that are welcoming to newcomers and more than willing to help in any way they can. AIGA is one such example. Make sure that you are willing to give back and add value to others, even if all you have to contribute is a positive attitude. Be respectful of others’ time, be humble and willing to learn, and people will point you in the right direction.

Find Your Community With AIGA Baltimore ask for feedback

4. Ask for others to critique your work.

This is a tough one. None of us want our egos bruised, especially when we already feel like imposters and amateurs. But constructive criticism is the best way to refocus your efforts and move up the ladder quickly.


Websites for learning graphic design

youtube

This is obviously everyone’s first go-to when looking for short video tutorials. Surprisingly, there is a lot of high-quality content here… it’s just a matter of sorting through all the junk to find it. Unfortunately, YouTube is full of distractions, misinformation, and worst of all… people trying to sell you something under the guise of free help.

Overall it’s an excellent resource to look up any specific knowledge when you need it. If you’re just starting out however, you may do better with a more structured and well-curated source.

Find Design Tutorials on YouTube skillshare

Skillshare has over 18,000 online classes and continues to grow every year. The classes are project-based, and there is a vibrant community of fellow students to help provide feedback and critique.

The projects are fun, highly relevant to the latest design trends, and taught by some big names that we all know and admire.

Baltimore’s own Ellen Lupton has several classes on the platform. Her typography classes are a great foundation for anyone serious about learning graphic design.

Overall, the course format is a little more bite-sized, than the more intensive format of courses on LinkedIn Learning and others. This is great to hit the ground running on a project after only a few hours of tutorial, but may lack the broad foundation needed by a total newcomer.

AIGA members can receive a free two-month trial.

Learn Design Skills on Skillshare lynda

Lynda has a smaller catalog of courses than Skillshare, but they are far more intensive. Where a Skillshare course can be 3-5 hours of learning material, Lynda might be 20-40 hours. The potential downside is the time commitment, and the possibility to lose focus and enthusiasm, especially if a large portion of the course is reviewing the basics.

However, Lynda’s deep dives can get you up and running on the latest technology and trends in your industry even if you’re coming in as a blank slate. If you dive in and treat these with the same commitment as you would a college course, you will be rewarded with a solid foundation of knowledge.

This is also a monthly paid subscription, with a free trial that allows you full access to all of the courses.

Expand Your Skillset With LinkedIn Learning adobe

If you’re serious about Graphic Design, there’s a good chance that you are already using Adobe’s suite of products. With yearly updates, the software is constantly changing. Luckily, Adobe provides a large library of free tutorials that will help you find your way around the basics in all of these programs.

These tutorials are generally pretty short, so if you want to learn about every facet and feature of the latest Photoshop, for example, the above-mentioned Lynda might be a better choice.

Explore Design Tutorials With Creative Cloud pluralsight

Like Skillshare, with a smaller library of short-format courses. I’d probably check out the others first, then consider a free trial here to see if there’s some particular topic or teacher that interest you and isn’t on the other sites.

Check it out on Pluralsight udemy

Here you will find a similar deep-dive format as Lynda, but instead of an unlimited access monthly subscription, you pay by the course. This might make sense if there is only one particular course that interests you, or if it will take you several months to complete since there is no time limit once you’ve bought the course. Unlike some of the other sites, you won’t automatically be billed monthly regardless of your progress.

Learn More on Udemy

Online Design Programs & Courses

If you feel like you’ve gotten everything you can out of all of these sources, and you want to further hone your craft with an advanced level of online education, there is another tier (price-wise) of courses that exist.

For motion design, the two most prominent examples are School of Motion and Mograph Mentor. SoM’s courses start at around $1k, and MM at about $2k. There are other similar companies for other specializations.  These big-ticket courses are a long way from the ‘free’ information on YouTube.

Are they worth it? Maybe… To be honest, most of the information itself that is presented in these courses is probably available elsewhere, but they offer a higher level of personalized attention. These are 6-10 week ‘bootcamp’ intensity courses, usually focused on one large project that can be used as a showcase portfolio piece.

If you’re already 90% of the way there, the personalized feedback and coaching through every phase on the project could take your skill level from advanced to elite. If you’re still a hopeless newbie, you’re probably not going to get that much out of it. You will not be magically transformed from someone with no knowledge to an expert just because you shelled out a lot of money for a course.

Feedback and mentorship can be had for free elsewhere if you ask nicely and respect peoples’ time. And the amount you can actually learn and absorb in 6 weeks is limited. If you have the money to spend, and you feel like putting serious cash down will motivate you to work harder, go for it.

Education is a lifelong road, not a finish line that you cross once.

Education is a lifelong road, not a finish line that you cross once. Those who stop learning risk falling behind and stalling out in their careers. This is especially relevant now as technology advances as an accelerating pace. If you’re not learning something new every year, you’re probably already behind where the industry is headed. 

The good news is that where there were once walls, there are now an endless number of ladders. You don’t have to feel stuck doing something that doesn’t excite you. Life’s too short, and you’re never too old to change directions or decide you want to try something new. You can make a lot of progress in learning something new, in a relatively short amount of time, if you know how to sort through the information overload and focus clearly on your desired destination.

Can you teach yourself to be a graphic designer? Absolutely.



About the author:

Vaibhav Sharma headshot

Vaibhav Sharma

Vaibhav is an NJ native, who has called Baltimore home since 2013. He loves motion design, cooking, cats… and most of all, being a dad. Vaibhav is an introvert but loves to make new friends. Feel free to say ‘Hi!’ on Facebook, Dribbble, or in a comment below this article.



SEEKING Talented Designers and Creatives in 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 by Local Arts Events

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.

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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.

Credit: Ben Mason
Credit: Ben Mason

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.