Meet the Designers Behind the Ink & Pixels Branding 2022

Posted on by Krystal Carpintieri

Ink & Pixels is coming up at the end of April! Save the dates for the virtual panel, “From Portfolio to Offer: The Art of Getting Hired” on April 23rd and the in-person portfolio reviews on April 30th. This year, the branding for Ink & Pixels was designed by Jamie Wheeler of Jelly Creative Co. (@jellycreativeco) and Jess Langley of White Coffee Creative (@whitecoffeecreativeco).

Can you tell us about yourself? What’s your story?

Jamie — My go-to line is, “I’ve been getting paid to design for almost 15 years.” It started with a high school internship, a design degree from York College of PA, various design jobs, a few years teaching, and now I own Jelly Creative Co. A branding and design studio for the creatively ambitious. I also like lava lamps, Nutella, my dog Nova, reading fiction, and playing board games with my husband. When I’m working towards a deadline you’ll find 90’s hits or EDM blasting on my Spotify.

Jess — My story has been full of lessons and ups and downs. In college, I landed my first design-related job as a Store Artist at Whole Foods. I learned lettering, how to work with others, and built up my confidence. That led to my first internship turned design job after graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design from Towson University. After being laid off from there in June 2017, I decided I was done with the typical 9-5 culture and went out on my own. I started White Coffee Creative and haven’t looked back since! My services, style, branding, and who I like to work with have changed drastically since then but I’m so grateful for the journey. I started coaching creatives in 2020 and now am learning to balance the two businesses with ease. When I’m not working, you can find me sipping coffee (obviously, with extra cream and sugar), bingeing Netflix shows, hiking with my 2 pups and partner, or dreaming about having a cabin in the woods.

How did you meet and start working together?

Jess had been running her business for two years when I DM’d her on Instagram asking if we could meet for coffee and talk shop. We met up at Spoons for breakfast and just clicked! She was my first local design/business owner friend and a huge supporter as I went full-time with my company in 2019. Community is really important to us both so when I brought the idea of a group for local designers to Jess she was on board to help start the Facebook group, Baltimore Graphic Designers, which now has 300 members! We have worked on local branding projects together, drank lots of local coffee, sent countless voice messages, and continue to cheer each other on. After Ink & Pixels, we’re excited to see what design mischief we can get into next!

How did you approach this branding project and what was your design process?

We were inspired by the juxtaposition of ink (organic) and pixels (geometric). We started with basic shapes within the AIGA color palette, then using only these shapes we started creating icons that can be used in various ways. The final touch is the wavy lines that intersect with the shapes and icons to create movement and bring everything together.

Having a stark black background allows the colorful elements to be brought to life and grab your attention while scrolling on Instagram or walking by on campus.

The fonts are designed by our friend Alex of The Routine Creative, a Texas-based designer. The jackknife font just felt too perfect not to highlight!

Can you describe your inspiration and any challenges you came across them while designing the branding?

If we had been working solo, there may have been more challenges, but we were able to pass the files back and forth when one of us was feeling stuck creatively. We have worked on branding projects together so we hopped right back into a nice groove. When we say it was a fun project, we really mean it!

What’s your favorite part about designing branding?

Jamie — Like any large design project there are the peaks and valleys, I think the moments right after the valleys are my favorite. I think all designers have the thoughts of “this is never going to work, what am I doing” but it’s the “oh yeah, this is it!” that I’m always chasing.

Jess — I love pulling visual inspiration and using strategy and color psychology to tie in meaning. It’s always a fun challenge to create branding that visually captures the essence of a business while maintaining simplicity. So that beginning exciting energy and the finale of when it’s all done and ready to show the world are my favorite parts.

Was there an aha moment when you knew you wanted to be a designer?

Jamie — Why yes, yes there was. It was when I photoshopped Ashton Kutcher into my homecoming photo and posted it to my Myspace. Technically, that’s when I opened the world to design, but the moment I learned it was an actual career and a college major I knew that was the path I was taking.

Jess — Yes! In college, I dabbled in a few different majors—journalism, photography, general fine arts, and design. I vividly remember one of my college professors (shoutout to Carolyn Norton!) in an Intro to Design class telling me I was already a designer. Getting that recognition and encouragement made me feel ready to step into this direction as a designer full-heartedly, and I got accepted into the GD program at Towson that following semester!

In the long term, what do you hope to eventually accomplish as a designer? What is your biggest goal/dream as a creative?

Jamie — This question is making me realize how much I have accomplished as a designer already, which is really cool. My dream client at the moment would be to work with a performing arts company. Lately, I’ve been searching for ways to bring all my talents and interests together while also helping other designers and keepin’ it real. A huge dream of mine was to host a retreat for designers, which is happening this spring, so I’m too sure what’s next!

Jess — I’m really enjoying running my own studio. I love being a multi-faceted creative offering design, murals, AND coaching. I hope to continue to navigate balancing a variety of tasks, projects, and clients while continuing to reinvent myself and where I want to go next. My big dreamy goal right now is to speak on stage at a creative conference one day about intentionally finding that balance as a business owner while having the freedom to explore a variety of creative outlets.

Thank you to Jamie and Jess for sharing their stories! We cannot thank you both enough for creating the branding for this year’s Ink & Pixels. Make sure to follow them on their various social channels!

White Coffee Creative
Designer + Muralist
whitecoffeecreative.com | @whitecoffeecreativeco

The Colorful Jess
Mindset + Pricing Coach
thecolorfuljess.com | @thecolorfuljess

Jamie Wheeler
Owner + Creative Director
jellycreativeco.com | Instagram | Facebook

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:

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.

Tips for Staying Sane While Working From Home During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Posted on by Frances Miller

My company, along with many others, will be adding professional distancing to our social distancing regiment by transitioning to a remote workforce next week. As a software company, we consider ourselves fortunate to have numerous tools available to us, including our own product (insert shameless plug), to help us continue running the business without a hitch. But the decision wasn’t made lightly, and our department made sure to communicate expectations and concerns with each other before breaking for the weekend.

I worked remotely for a few years, and while I’m no expert, I got by with no budget (nor the extra room) for a home office renovation. I hope these tips will help you prepare and keep your sanity if you find yourself forced into a temporary work-from-home situation. It might not be the ideal home office of your dreams, but we’ll get through it!

Over Communicate

Let people know when it’s not working.
This tip comes from a coworker of mine who works remotely full time, while the majority of our team is in office. If something isn’t working, he always speaks up. And do it soon, rather than wasting time being polite while you can only hear every fifth word. He also reminded me that, “What you send isn’t always what is received,” which brings me to my next point.

Use emojis and GIFs to clarify tone.
If you tend to send short messages with no punctuation, your teammates might think you’re mad at them. Lighten it up 😊. Life-changing keyboard shortcut: on a Mac, use command-control-spacebar to pull up the emoji library!

Use communication tools. When in doubt, pick up the phone or turn on the camera.
We’re working remotely, but that doesn’t mean we’re doomed to spend the next few weeks emailing. Get comfortable being on the phone or in Google Hangouts with your teammates if you’re collaborating. Align your team with tools, and communicate expectations on how to use the tools.

Be on the lookout for software companies offering discounted access to their product during the Coronavirus outbreak, such as Loom for sending quick videos and screen recording.

Messaging apps: Slack, Flowdock, Whatsapp, and Facebook Workplace

Prepare for Video Conferencing

Test your internet and equipment.
Run a video conference test with coworkers before any important client or partner meetings. If you don’t have anyone to test with, just make sure to clear the air with the other person and ask them if they can see and hear you. Chances are, they’re working from home too, so use that to break the ice. Let them know if your dog might interrupt you, and have your mouse cursor on the mute button if that’s likely to happen.

Get familiar with your video conferencing tool’s settings. For example, if you use Zoom, you choose to automatically start with video off—that way no one’s caught pantsless! Another coworker shared these ground rules, which are a fantastic example of adapting communication for virtual spaces.

Get camera-ready.
My favorite trick is to open up the Photo Booth app before getting on a call, so I can see how the room looks behind me and clean up before starting the call. You aren’t the only one being thrust into a work-from-home situation, so there’s no reason to be embarrassed, but try to avoid a distracting background. You’re also going to be seeing your own face while you talk, which might take getting used to. I’ve noticed that I have a bad habit of messing with my hair when I see it on camera, so I try to get it behaving before the call.

Video conferencing tools: Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, BlueJeans

Be Your Own Snack Captain

If you’re lucky enough to be in an office with a well-stocked kitchen, you might find yourself cranky this week. So when you make your next grocery run, consider adding easy snacks and sandwich stuff to your cart. Prepare salads or sandwiches ahead of time, or go buy lunch if you feel healthy and comfortable doing so. Too many times, I skipped lunch because I didn’t have anything easy to make and felt too stressed to go out.

Food delivery services: Baltimore-based Hungry Harvest delivers recovered produce and pantry staples that would otherwise go to waste.

Set Boundaries

Get dressed.
Okay, wear sweatpants on the first day because you deserve it. But full-time work-from-home-ers agree that it makes a huge difference to act the same as you would if you were actually going to work. Shower, shave, and put on fresh clothes. Doing all of that will also help when you want to run out for lunch in the afternoon and realize you need to face the public.

When work is over, shut down the computer.
You’re saving time in your day by avoiding the commute, but that doesn’t mean you need to keep working all night. It’s Spring! Why not cap off your workday with a walk? Literally shutting down your computer will help prevent you from “just doing one last thing that will only take five seconds,” which we know always ends in you surfacing hours later. After all, sleep is crucial for maintaining good health, and your computer needs to rest and reboot too.

Go Outside

I’m serious. Try starting your day with a coffee on the porch or a stroll around the block. We may be quarantined, but the weather forecast is looking inviting and may be the best thing to quell Coronavirus anxieties. Also, you can’t always wait for a nice, natural break in your workflow. Sometimes you just need to drop it and step outside, even for a minute.

Support Local Businesses (if you can)

Stay sane, maintain your humanity, and support your local businesses and service industry workers. They are taking extra precautions, so if you’re healthy and comfortable, consider taking your laptop and hand sanitizer to the coffee shop for an hour. I visited the new Sizka sushi in O’Donnell Square today and noticed the WiFi password was prominently displayed in the spacious, clean, quiet restaurant. In Fells Point, Cafe Latte’Da even has a printer available.

That being said, the situation with COVID-19 is developing as we speak, so be informed and consider carrying a pack of tissues wherever you go to avoid touching door handles.

Connect Online

Tap into online communities such as the Baltimore Graphic Designers Facebook group, Baltimore Womxn in Tech (BWiT), Elevate and Cultivate Design Collaborative or Monument Women’s Creative Alliance (MWCA) to stay connected, get feedback on your work, and exchange knowledge.

Get a Puzzle

Okay, not entirely relevant, but have you done a puzzle lately? If you need something to distract you from work and COVID-19 tweets and keep you off your phone, this is it. They’re my new favorite winter activity, and it might be worth pulling one out if you’ll be practicing social distancing for an extended time.

Want more? I enjoyed this Instagram post by Post Typography co-founder and full-time work-from-home-er Nolen Strals:

Feature image by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
unsplash-logoGlenn Carstens-Peters

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

Posted on by Krystal Carpintieri

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.

Meet The Speakers: Illiah Manger & Rachel Davis

Posted on by Krystal Carpintieri

We are so excited to have Illiah and Rachel join us for Baltimore Design Week. Together, they bring us insights into creative communities with their In Perfect Harmony–Choosing Creative Communities event on October 24th.


Here’s what they have to say about the event: “We can’t wait to meet everyone during our Creative Communities event. This isn’t a typical talk where you leave with a numb bum because you sat in your seat the whole time listening to someone talk at you. We have some amazing activities planned for us to explore values and aligning those with communities.”

Choosing Creative Communities

Rachel will also be facilitating a Problem Framing Workshop on October 27. Rachel gave us a little insight into the event: “I view problem framing as step 0 of Design Thinking. Many times we jump right in because we believe we know the pain points and the user and we are ready to empathize with them, but we haven’t examined the “What Else?” There may be perspectives––or even users––we haven’t considered when we don’t explore other frames.” Join Rachel as she guides us through how to approach problem framing as we wrap up Baltimore Design Week. 

Haven’t grabbed a seat yet to these events?
Grab a FREE ticket to the Creative Communities event HERE.
Snag a seat at the Problem Framing Workshop HERE.

Problem Framing Workshop-Baltimore Design Week

Now, let’s get to know Illiah and Rachel a little more…


What’s your favorite quote/philosophy?

Illiah: “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change” – Brene Brown

We are each a wealth of knowledge, creativity, power. Our stories make up who we are, but it requires courage and vulnerability to be innovators, thinkers, designers. Brene Brown’s writing and talks inspire me to live fully and continue to do the work I’m called to.

Rachel: Everyone is creative. One of my favorite books is Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley. This whole philosophy of everyone is creative is what drives my brand Your True Tribes. One of my favorite quotes from this book is, “What we’ve found is that we don’t have to generate creativity from scratch. We just need to help people rediscover what they already have; the capacity to imagine—or build upon—new-to-the-world ideas. But the real value of creativity doesn’t emerge until you are brave enough to act on those ideas.”

Doesn’t matter if you are a designer, a copywriter, an accountant, a dentist, seriously whatever you are an expert in you are also creative. You have the ideas in your head it’s about working with those individuals who can help you organize those thoughts, and help you make them come alive in the world.

What is your biggest challenge as a designer/creative?

Illiah: That debilitating fear that comes with not thinking your ideas are good. That low-feeling you hit when you think the client won’t like what you’re designing is always a challenge. This leads to putting the work off because you don’t know if you can do it justice, and that procrastination just forces you to work under pressure when it’s not needed.

Rachel: The ever-present imposter syndrome. Any time I have creative block, or can’t get out of a creative slump, or just get into a funk. It’s that little voice in the back of my head that wants to tell me, well maybe you aren’t good enough to be doing this. Creative communities have actually helped a lot with this—being able to have a sounding board, a place to talk with like-minded people, a place that gets me back on track when that little imposter syndrome troll throws me off the bridge into the water. This is what I value in communities and close friends who help me come back to my true focus. 

A close second is communicating the value of design. That’s a huge challenge. How do you help the rest of the world “get it” when it comes so easy to you and other creatives to know the value and benefit of good design?

What’s on your desk that you could not live without?

Illiah: I get so many questions about color from both designers and clients. The Pantone Solid Coated & Uncoated swatch book is definitely something on my desk I cannot live without. It’s the most comprehensive, up to date color tool available. For me, it’s nearly impossible to choose colors for any brand design project without it, because the color formulas are consistent across all mediums. There’s always going to be differences from printer to printer and screen to screen, but choosing from Pantone as a starting place helps a lot.
And my earl grey tea latte. 

Rachel: Oh, this is a good one because I just bought something new I couldn’t live without. I get tense when I’m focused, I mean physically, my body—especially my hands. When I type I seem to think that pinky needs to go straight up in the air on my right hand as if I’m having high tea with the queen. Why? Heck if I know! But because of that, I invested in a gel stress ball, small enough to fit in my tiny hands. It helps me not have a hand that’s in pain for a week after a day of focusing and typing. This tiny gray hand therapy stress ball is my savior right now.

What sparks creativity for you?

Illiah: Weekends away from screens, art museums, walks, new experiences. Innovative Design.

Whenever I have creative block, it is because I don’t have enough information. My client is my main source of inspiration, always. Great design cannot be created in a vacuum. I need as much info from and about the client and the project as possible. 

Also, creativity takes practice. The more creative you are, the more you have. When I’m not designing, I’m crafting with my daughters or coloring in a coloring book. 

Rachel: Reading. For sure, reading. I have a list a mile long right now of books in my queue, both Kindle and ones I can actually hold in my hands. On my Kindle, I am addicted to the highlight tool for quotes or passages that spark something for me. In an actual book, I have stickies that go right next to quotes or things I want to come back to. There’s a time and a place for fiction, but my love is nonfiction, with some of my favorite authors being Seth Godin, Austin Kleon, Tom and David Kelley, Pat Flynn, and Tina Seelig. But there are so many more that I have on my list! If I’m at a block, I take a moment, pick up a book, head over to a room with no electronics—I mean except my Kindle if it’s a book on there!—I sit down, take a moment, clear my head, and just read.

What advice would you give to your 20-something self?

Illiah: Embrace fear, take risks. There’s never a time again when the stakes aren’t as high. Listen to your intuition, and let it be your guiding force.

Talk to and connect intentionally with designers (or anyone who’s living your dream) who are ahead of you. Community and connection is how you’ll reach your aspirations. Watch them and learn. 

Rachel: Progress is better than perfection. Have grace with yourself—change and mistakes are part of the process. It’s all about failing intelligently because failure is going to happen you just need to learn from it. And for that grace piece, seriously just give yourself a break. Did you make a spelling mistake in a post? Is it the end of the world, of course not——ask yourself will this matter in an hour, will this matter tomorrow, will this matter in a week, will this matter in a year?

Illiah C&V Creative

Illiah Manger

Creative Director / Owner
candvcreative.com // elevateandcultivate.com
@c.and.v // @elevate.cultivate

Rachel Davis

Rachel Davis

Content + Brand Strategist / Owner
yourtruetribes.com
@yourtruetribes (IG + Twitter)

Meet The Speaker: Taylor Cashdan

Posted on by Frances Miller

Taylor is a North Carolina-based multidisciplinary creative and community builder who’s passionate about people, design, and all the intersections in between.

He brings to the tables a burning desire to collaborate with others to create exceptional work “for people who give a shit.”

This October, we’re welcoming Taylor as a part of Baltimore Design Week 2019. His talk, titled “Stress Addiction: From Morning Coffee to the Cardiac Wing,” aligns with our recent efforts to engage with our community and peers about mental wellness and self-care.

Read on and get to know Taylor – from how he got started in design to what he’s digging right now. Then, join us in person during Baltimore Design Week!

Stress Addiction talk 10/23 with taylor cashdan

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Taylor: The people and things around me, and by extension, the Internet. I’m not one of those people that’s anti-Internet for sourcing inspiration. Never in the history of man have we as individuals had the reach we do now thanks to the Internet–you’d be foolish not to take advantage of it.

What advice would you give to your 20-something self?

Taylor: What you’re doing is working, so relax, continue to lean into authenticity, and remember is okay to take a break sometimes–your brain (and friends) will appreciate it.

When did you first realize you wanted a career in design?

Taylor: I can track all of my major “career” decisions back to people telling me “no, you can’t do this”. My first step in the direction of becoming a designer was during a 9th grade elective-fair (where you could come and learn about all the classes you could choose from for high school). The journalism teacher said “sorry, we don’t allow freshmen on our staff”…3 months later, I was the first freshman.

What’s your favorite quote or philosophy?

Taylor: There’s a book called “The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck” that has a lot of quick, punchy lessons. But the one that’s stuck with me the most goes something like this: “you may not be directly responsible for what happened, but you are responsible for how you react to it.” I’ve defaulted back to that statement during times of stress or conflict and it has helped me not over or underreact.

What’s the harshest criticism you’ve ever gotten about your work and how did you handle it?

Taylor: I was told in an interview debrief via a recruiter that “I’d make a better design manager than an actual designer”. And at the time, it hit me hard. I was thinking “wow, they’d rather me be the one talking to the designers than actually making things–I must really suck”. Fast forward a few years, I now realize it was a compliment–the consideration and perspective I was viewing and presenting my work from was both at the 10,000-foot level and in the weeds, and the position I was applying for would have been too mundane. The lesson here is: it’s not always about you, sometimes, it’s about what an organization/client/person/etc needs or doesn’t need.

Is there any designer or piece of design that you’re digging right now?

Taylor: I’ve been leaning into monoline illustration heavily lately. It’s nice because you can pull in SO much detail, but it can also scale well with subtraction. Brian Steely has been a huge source of inspiration for me–and of course the simplicity of Draplin’s “thick lines” mantra.

Stress Addiction talk 10/23 with taylor cashdan

Q&A with Crayligraphy Founder, Colin Tierney

Posted on by Frances Miller

Hand lettering and calligraphy are having a major boom today, as seen from logos to magazine covers, and from mass-produced home goods to painstakingly-handwritten wedding invitations.

When looking at work by the likes of Jessica Hische, Lauren Hom, and Jon Contino (just a few of the letterers helping to spread the craft today), it can feel like there’s no way your own hand could do that. Calligraphy, in particular, is intimidating to get into. Choosing and buying tools, and getting over the hurdle of giving up when your first few tries don’t look totally Instagram-worthy.

Crayligraphy was founded in the Summer of 2015 by Colin Tierney in (guess where?) Baltimore, Maryland. Offering in-person workshops, online guides, and a community of other learners, Crayligraphy delivers helpful content for anyone interested in learning. AIGA Baltimore is excited to cohost a workshop right here in Baltimore, so join us on Saturday, May 11th, 2019! Read on to learn more about Colin’s journey in developing this group and resource.

Sign up for the Crayligraphy workshop!

So, what exactly is Crayligraphy?
Colin: It’s a concept I dubbed several years back—a neologism combining the words “crazy” and “calligraphy”—to help people learn the beautiful art of writing through the magical world of those nostalgic, childhood friendly markers. Because let’s be honest, calligraphy with markers is pretty crazy.

Essentially, Crayligraphy is a space for people to try their hand in the ancient art form in the least intimidating way as possible. No longer do you have to spend an arm and a leg on traditional supplies before determining whether or not you enjoy the process. Broad-line markers are cheap, easily accessible and most of all, fun!

Where did the name Crayligraphy come from?

Colin: Crayligraphy began as a way to experiment with calligraphy through a marker. In this particular post, a Crayola marker. Hence the original name “Crayoligraphy,” which yes, I dubbed as well, but that’s a whole other story 🤫🤐

I changed the name to “Crayligraphy” shortly after realizing I wanted to turn this idea into a learning platform. The name not only rolled off the tongue easier, but it didn’t limit people to thinking they had to use Crayola’s brand. There are so many quality broad-line markers out there–– Target’s Up&Up, Crazart, Roseart to name a few—–that it seemed silly to be exclusive to just one brand.

At the time, did you think this would grow to what it is today?

Colin: At the time, I had no idea how big this idea was going to be. I was simply responding to my audience after several years of emails and DMs, requesting that I teach hand lettering and calligraphy.

One year after coming up with the idea of Crayligraphy, I posted this same image announcing the launch. People who were interested in learning how to stylistically write with a marker, were able to sign up to our newsletter, being the first to know when my series of tutorials would begin.

After the first 24 hours, we had 2 thousand people sign up to our newsletter list 😱. Before the announcement, I didn’t know how to teach. I had to better my knowledge and skillset before proclaiming that I was proficient enough to take on that role. Basically, I had to learn to teach.

Originally, you were traveling across the country to host workshops in different cities. How did you balance this along with your family and other work?

Make no mistake: doing all of these workshops solo was no easy task.

We get hundreds of requests to visit different cities all around the world. Back when I started teaching workshops, I was a one-man show on the road. My wife Lindsey organized the events and made sure everything was scheduled and set up so that I could fly into the city on a Friday, wake up the next morning (like a lost puppy in an unfamiliar territory), teach the workshop and hop back on a plane to return home early Sunday (early as in 3 or 4 in the morning early 😩).

I had to do this at the time. I lost my job, my family didn’t have a home (it was on the market when I lost my job) and we were about to welcome a baby boy to the world. We already had 2 girls under the age of 4! Life was a bit Cray to say the least 😐 And while it wasn’t a sustainable living situation, it was necessary.

So after some time passed, I decided I couldn’t go at this alone anymore.

Hiring can sometimes be as daunting as doing all the work yourself. How have you built a team of educators?

Throughout my visits to these cities, I reached out to local artists who have shown interest in Crayligraphy while also having an understanding of the art. I asked these artists if they had any interest in co-hosting a workshop with me in their respective cities. I did this for a few reasons. One, having two instructors to teach a workshop adds so much more value for the attendees. Two, it adds some local flavor that the students can relate to.

Most importantly though, I was able to train these local artists to teach the Crayligraphy material. We call them “Educraytors.” So, whenever a city’s interest arises, I am able to call upon an Educraytor who represents that region, to host the workshop. This allows me to focus on Crayligraphy’s bigger picture and spend those precious moments I would otherwise be missing during travel, with my family.

Does Crayligraphy define a specific style of lettering, or does each artist put their own spin on it?

Our team of educraytors is a great example of how you can produce wild results with one simple instrument. Check them out on Instagram! Veronica Ruiz of @veronicaletters is based in Denver, CO. She has a wide range of styles, but you know Vero’s work when you see it scrolling through Instagram because it always stops you in your tracks. Terence Tang of @tinlunstudio comes from Houston, TX, where we hosted a workshop last year with AIGA Houston. He has now integrated what began as a serious hobby into his professional design workflow, where magic markers are now among his go-to tools for designing logos and lifestyle goods.

I’ll be co-hosting Baltimore’s workshop with Natalie Downey of @nataliedowneydesign. She’s one of the best out there when it comes to Crayligraphy. Her fragmented style (broken strokes) is something to watch over and over again while scratching your head in awe of how she does it. We like to call Natalie The Ninja-Wizard ⚔️🧙‍♀️of the team because her strokes are so quick and unbelievably accurate.

What sorts of techniques are taught in a Crayligraphy workshop?

We’ll go through the two different methods to create your letters. We begin with the fragmented method; that’s breaking down each character into basic strokes so that we see the makeup of these letters as shapes and pieces to build upon. So, after each stroke, you lift your marker and place it down where the next stroke needs to be marked.

Some of you will be able to learn a little quicker and if that’s the case, you might be ready for the fluid method. That’s not to say we leave those who don’t learn as quickly in the dust. We just have another option to practice for the people who might have an easier time understanding the fragmented method.

The fluid method entails keeping your marker on the paper and transitioning between thick and thins based on pressure and release through the fingertips. This method allows for a more elegant or smooth aesthetic where the fragmented method is based on broken strokes that appear sharper and quicker.

Sign up for the Crayligraphy workshop!

Can You Teach Yourself How To Be A Graphic Designer?

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

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.


What I Learned About Being A Creative

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

What I learned about being a creative, after breaking through 30 years of stifled creativity

“I suck at art.”

I can’t remember the exact age when that thought crystallized in my head, probably around first or second grade. It was a toxic seed that I unwittingly planted in myself. As I grew, so did that seed. Until it completely cut me off from the creative instinct inside of me. Luckily, that drive to create always bubbled right beneath the surface, and after several decades of my life I have been able to reconnect with something that I thought I lost long ago.

Nobody is born a talented artist; every child produces some level of messy scribble when they first try to draw or paint or create anything from their imagination. But I felt like my scrawl was especially bad. Maybe I just lacked the fine motor skills. I couldn’t keep my coloring inside the lines, and I certainly couldn’t recreate any person, animal or object. I was hopeless.

I have this one distinct memory where I had a full spectrum of crayons in front of me, but for some reason chose to use my pencil to color a picture of a duck. “Why did you do that?” I remember the teacher asking… wondering why I had chosen pencil-gray instead of yellow or some other sensible duck color. I didn’t have a good answer for her. Maybe I preferred the sharp precision of the pencil. Maybe it was just what was closest to my reach. Whatever it was, I came away that day feeling like I had made the “wrong” choice creatively.

I came away that day feeling like I had made the “wrong” choice creatively.

There were many similar instances where I tried to express myself artistically and was left with disappointing results. Before long, other kids’ work began to outshine my own, and instead of striving to improve I just decided art was not for me.

Creative answers aren’t right or wrong

It took me many years to realize that it was my own belief system that caused me to give up on my artistic ability so early. The truth is that I couldn’t deal with the threat of criticism or ridicule. I couldn’t deal with making mistakes.

By comparison, it’s a lot easier to focus on learning something where the answers are concrete and unambiguous. There’s only one correct solution to a math problem, and I could learn how to repeat the same steps to arrive at that same answer every time.

But art, or any other creative pursuit, is not like that. The ‘solutions’ to any particular project can be infinite, which creates uncertainty that used to drive me crazy.

Before long, I had cut myself off from my inner creativity so much that I forgot that part of me ever existed. “I just don’t have any good ideas”, I’d tell myself. I admired others who were able to create inspired pieces of art, music, storytelling, but thought they had some magical source of inspiration that I somehow lacked.

Creativity, in the purest sense, cannot be taught or learned. However, it already exists naturally in every human being. What differs between us is the degree to which we self-criticize and suppress the ideas that are constantly being born within our minds. After a while, this suppression becomes second nature and we don’t even notice we’re doing it. All we’re left with is a blank slate when we try to access our mind for an original idea. This creative blockage comes from years of saying ‘no’ to all of the tangential and creative thinking that our brains naturally produce. When we set the bar too high for what constitutes a good idea, we close ourselves off to the source of all ideas.

This kind of flawed perfectionist thinking comes from childhood experiences. It’s not our fault, but it is our responsibility to correct if we want to reach our full potential. Many of us did not have the proper nourishment or encouragement to launch us into our best lives. Some of us were told directly that we did not have what it took, or that art was a dead-end path. For others, it might have been more subtle than that. Maybe we just weren’t in an environment where we felt like it was ok to make mistakes, and where we learned the important lesson that failure was the path to growth.

It took me until near middle-age to realize that the ‘safe’ path in my life was not safe at all. It was absolutely soul-crushing to work in a field I had no interest or passion in, just because I thought it was the most logical career path and the path that was expected of me by society, family, etc.

‘Staying inside the lines’ career-wise was a defense mechanism that I thought would keep me safe from criticism… it didn’t. Even within the confined, predefined spaces of corporate life you will still make mistakes and have to stand behind them constantly. But at the core of it, I didn’t believe in any of that work in the first place. I felt completely incongruent and therefore lacked any power or conviction to be proud of what I did.

Here’s the good news…

I wasn’t that special. I can’t believe how liberating those words are. It seems so obvious now, but it took me over 30 years to realize that. I’d rather take the risk of being a creative with “no talent” than being stuck in a career focused on conformity and rigidity.

Perhaps I wasn’t destined to be an illustrator or fine artist, but there are so many other mediums through which I can express myself to the world. And expressing myself authentically is non-negotiable. I cannot happily live my life without the opportunity to do so.

Creativity is in all of us.

It’s a combination of our life experience and a multitude of other intangible factors. It’s just a matter of the extent which we nurture that natural creative instinct. Creation is more of a process of getting out of your own way than trying to force ‘good ideas’.

My new path has been a series of these revelations. It has been a process of unburdening. Questioning my limiting beliefs about why I couldn’t succeed. Asking myself if I really do lack some fundamental ability that other, ‘real’ artists possess.

Ultimately, success as a creative professional comes from cultivating certainty.

When a client hires you to make creative decisions, you must back them up with certainty. You alone are the expert in whatever you do. If you were brought into a project in any role, you must believe that the client chose you because you are the best at what you do.

This kind of confidence and self-certainty doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time to build, but it can only come from within. You need to be comfortable making difficult creative decisions and being courageous enough to put your work out there even when you feel most vulnerable.

The biggest piece to all of this is just giving yourself permission.

If you don’t value the work you do, nobody else will.

It comes down to an inner choice, although ‘flipping the switch’ in your head to believe that you and your work are enough is much easier said than done.

It’s a lifelong journey, that never ends until you give up or decide to move onto to something else. There’s always room for improvement in terms of honing your craft and sharpening your skills. But in my experience, the biggest piece to all of this is just giving yourself permission. Believe that you are enough, right now. You are not an imposter, there is real value to what you do. If you can feel your heart calling you to do this work, then nobody can ever take that away from you.

Stay strong.

Never give up.

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.