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

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

Virtual Events

 

Jump to:
MARCHAPRILMAY

3/17–3/24 | Watch Helvetica for Free

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

→ Watch at your leisure

 

3/23 | AIGA Nebraska Shift+Cmd+Join

Hosted by: AIGA Nebraska

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

→ Register

 

Multiple dates available) | Online Yoga with Baltimore Yoga Village

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

→ Sign up

 

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

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

→ Find out more

 

3/26 | Webinar: Teach Your College Class Online

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

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

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

→ Register now!

 

3/31 | Adobe Summit

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

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

→ Sign up for free

4/4 | Virtual Icon Design Workshop

Hosted by: Scott Fuller

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

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

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

→ Get your ticket

 

4/4 & 4/5 | Canceled Con

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

→ RSVP!

 

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

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

→ Get in on the discussion

 

4/8 | Baltimore Women in Tech Virtual Happy Hour

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

→ Grab a drink and join on Zoom

 

4/14 | Storytelling in User Experience

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

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

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

→ Attend for free

 

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

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

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

→ Register for free

 

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

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

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

→ Register for free

 

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

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

→ Register to receive the Zoom link

 

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

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

→ Learn more & register

 

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

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

→ Reviewers and reviewees, sign up here

 

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

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

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

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

→ Learn more & register

 

Ongoing Campaigns

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

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

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

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Got an event you think belongs on this list?

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

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There are a plethora of amazing events in our area for creatives and creative professionals, so we’re shining a light on these events by groups like AMA Baltimore, BCAN, Baltimore Print Studios, AAF of Baltimore, Ladies Wine and Design Baltimore, and more. Do you know of an event that belongs on this list? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at promotions@baltimore.aiga.org with your event information.

Each month we will be featuring a Baltimore Designer, Photographer, or Artist! For March, our inspiration is coming from Courtney Glancy, Art Director at idfive. In her free time, she explores taking photos in Baltimore on her Sony A7III & Pixel Smartphone. In a recent post of the Patterson Park Pagoda, she said, “Way back in college, we had a photography assignment called ‘quality of light.’ I think I’ve been obsessed with light ever since. To me, this photo is the definition of when someone says that light is spilling or pooling.” Check out Courtney’s Instagram, @charm_city_gal, for more amazing Photography.

March Events

 

3/3

She-Suite Marketing Leadership Panel
Get ready for a few of the area’s female marketing powerhouses to drop some serious knowledge. On Tuesday, March 3rd, during Women’s History Month, AMA Baltimore will host a signature event, the She-Suite Marketing Leadership Panel. Taking place from 6 to 8 pm at Price Modern, the event will kick off with networking followed by a panel featuring marketing leadership from the non-profit, higher education, and technology sectors.
Hosted by: AMA Baltimore

→ Get Tickets!

3/4

Women’s Leadership Forum
Join over 300 women for an exciting day of empowerment, learning workshops, networking, and vending. WLF is a venue for women to come together and experience other positive, influential and uplifting women from all walks of life. Women are able to acquire knowledge, obtain resources, and make connections that will help them elevate to reach their goals through various learning methods. Our vision is to be an event that brings inspiration and transformation to all women in a safe space.
Hosted by: Notre Dame of Maryland University

→ Get your Ticket!

3/5

American Advertising Awards
Gone are the days of the three-martini lunch. Or are they? Get ready for a truly special experience as Baltimore’s advertising community reunites to celebrate 100 years of the AAFB. Don’t miss this year’s extraordinary celebration, hosted at Port Discovery—a veritable Wonderland in its own right. On March 5, we invite you to tumble down the rabbit hole and join us in commemorating 100 years of the American Advertising Federation of Baltimore (AAFB).
Hosted by: AAF Baltimore

→ Get your Ticket FAST!

3/7

MICA Grassroots Design Fest
MICA Grassroots DesignFest, sponsored by the T. Rowe Price Foundation, is an amazing opportunity to contribute to the social change movement in Baltimore while collaborating face-to-face with other designers and nonprofits. Teams of volunteer designers work with grassroots nonprofits to prototype logo designs, website updates, branding strategies, and more – all in one jam-packed daylong event.

Comics & Zines on the Risograph
Learn how to use the Risograph to its greatest strength, high-speed, affordable color publishing of zines and comics. The Risograph is an affordable, eco-friendly high-speed duplicator, made in Japan. In true punk-rock style, we’ll create analog layouts using collage materials, hand-written and hand-drawn elements, creating literary and visual multi-page publications.
Hosted by: Baltimore Print Studios

→ Register Here

3/9

Representing Baltimore–A Spotlight on Local Creatives
On Monday, March 9th, AIGA Baltimore will host the first in a series exploring the need for more diverse representation in the design industry and our city’s creative spaces. Join us at Flatform Studios for a night of inspiring presentations followed by a panel discussion on representation—as it pertains to the unique perspectives of the creative entrepreneur—featuring Jermaine T. Bell, Kaya Gordon-Levi, and Caprece Ann Jackson, and moderated by Charlotte James.

We all know Baltimore has a rich cultural heritage of innovation in the arts, music, and fashion, largely shaped by the immense contributions of the African American community. Unfortunately, this same community has been disproportionately underrepresented in the professional world of design and many other creative professions.
Hosted by: AIGA Baltimore

→ Get Tickets!

BCAN Help Desk – Building Your Cooperative Business
Co-op curious? Join Emily Lerman and Aishah Afadhalah for a drop-in discussion on worker-owned cooperatives and how their team is using a co-op model to build Mera Kitchen Collective. You’ll learn more about what a co-op is, why they are important, and gain resources for building and starting a co-op of your own. They’ll offer pro-tips on using the business model canvas as a startup tool, mitigating risks, starting a small food business, and managing finances.

At Noon, we’ll kick off a more structured lunch & learn discussion on capitalism, cooperatives and why we hope to see more co-ops in Baltimore and beyond. You bring lunch – we’ll bring the desserts!
Hosted by: BCAN & Mera Kitchen Collective

→ Register Today!

Screenprinting on T-shirts
This half-day, hands-on workshop covers all the basics of t-shirt printing. This is a followup class to our Intro to Screenprinting workshop. Attendees will learn what is unique about printing on apparel, appropriate inks, and mesh, how to set up multi-color prints and have a chance to print many different designs. No experience is necessary, but since this class is intended as a followup to our other Screenprinting workshop, attendees must take both classes before renting time in our studio.
Hosted by: Baltimore Print Studios

→ Register Today

3/11

Graphic Means, film screening and Q&A with Briar Levit
Graphic Means is a feature-length documentary about the history of graphic design production after the letterpress, focusing on the phototypesetting era and the transition that occurred as a result of the Digital Revolution. A discussion/Q&A with Director and Producer Briar Levit will follow the film.

Briar Levit, the 2020 Graphic Design Juror for YCP’s Annual Juried Student Exhibition, is an assistant professor at Portland State University in Oregon, where she teaches typography, page layout, and studio design classes. She graduated from San Francisco State University, with a BA in Graphic Design, and from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (UAL, London), with an MA in Communication Design. Her passion is designing for content-driven projects—primarily in the publishing and cultural institution sphere. Her clients include Museum of Contemporary Craft, Flooded Fox Den Distillery, Sasquatch Books, Critical Craft Forum, Timber Press, Counterpoint Press, Seal Press, Bitch Media, and Cicada Books.
Hosted by: York College Art Galleries

→ Sign-Up for the Free Event!

3/12

Changing the Face of Voting with UX
Design has the ability to include or exclude people. Join us for an “Intimate 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.
Hosted by: Ladies Wine and Design Baltimore

→ Get Tickets!

3/14

Icon Design Workshop
AIGA DC has teamed up with Scott Fuller of The Studio Temporary for a brand new icon design workshop! In this 4-hour class, we’ll be focusing on a very interesting subject…you! We’ll start with a walk through Scott’s personal work process, exploring the research, inspiration, and execution of a few of his icon design projects. Then comes the fun part: sketching and ideation of your own personal icon set! It’ll be a hands-on experience, so please bring notebooks, pencils (or pens, if you prefer) and a laptop with Adobe Illustrator.
Hosted by: AIGA DC

→ Sign-Up Today!

Intro to Screenprinting
This one-day, hands-on workshop covers all the basics of screenprinting. Attendees will learn first hand how to properly coat, expose, print from, and clean a silkscreen. Differences in inks, printing substrates, screen mesh, and film work will all be discussed, and various multi-color registration techniques will be covered. This class will provide you the skills to return and rent time to print your own work during our regular studio hours.
Hosted by: Baltimore Print Studios

→ Register Today

3/19

BCAN Connect – We Own This!
There is no doubt about it, the future of entrepreneurship is certainly female. Join BCAN to celebrate the unique spirit of Baltimore’s female founders. To start off the evening, attendees will enjoy a networking cocktail hour, followed by an intimate moderated discussion with female founders from Baltimore City. The evening will conclude with mingling and treats from local women-owned businesses! For all the female founders, entrepreneurs, and business owners out there, this one’s for you!
Hosted by: BCAN

→ Register for Free!

3/21

BCAN Help Desk – MDVLA Art Law Clinic
Are you a painter, musician or any kind of creative entrepreneur that lives or works close to the Baltimore / DMV area? Do you have legal questions or concerns? Come visit our Art Law Clinic in collaboration with the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts on March 21st, 2020, 1-4pm at BCAN HQ!

For our March clinic, you can snag a FREE 30-minute consult w/ one of our volunteer attorneys to sort out any general issues or questions you might have!
Hosted by: BCAN

→ Book Your Session!

3/25

SoDA Classic: Conversations In Design History | Reception
SoDA Classic is an exhibition celebrating 13 years of programs by the Society for History and Graphics (SHAG) and it’s reemergence as The Society of Design Arts (SoDA). View the past programs from a selection of the best posters and a look forward to the future of presentations and presenters as we explore new horizons in design.

→ Attend the Event at Stevenson University!

Excellence In Print
Get Your Tickets to Excellence in Print. The biggest event of the year. The competition is fierce. Who will bring home the wins?  You have to be there to find out.
Hosted by: Printing and Graphics Association MidAtlantic (PGAMA)

→ Get Your Ticket!

Tech Happy Hour Mixer
Baltimore Womxn in Tech is hosting a tech happy hour mixer on Wednesday. March 25th at Spark Baltimore. This event coincides with The Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC), which is hosted in Baltimore this year.
Hosted by: Baltimore Womxn in Tech

→ Save the Date!

3/26

Glass Blowing & Networking
Join Monument Women’s Creative Alliance on March 26th at 6pm for networking with a creative twist. You will be led in an activity where you’ll make a unique one of a kind pendent. Keep it for yourself or gift it to a friend and add one of the chains we provide. Enjoy a spread of great bites to eat from the Abbey Burger Bistro, as well as wine provided by Vectors Southand beer from O’Connor Brewing Co. All food and drinks are included in your ticket price.
Hosted by: Monument Women’s Create Alliance

→ Get Tickets!

3/29

Intro to Letterpress
Our one-day letterpress workshop covers all the basics of letterpress printing on a Vandercook and a C&P tabletop press from our collection of antique wood and metal type. Attendees will learn how letterpress printing works, how to hand-set wood and metal type, mix ink, print from type and polymer plates, and how to troubleshoot printing and press issues.
Hosted by: Baltimore Print Studios

→ Register Today

3/30

AIGA Design Conference 2020
The 2020 AIGA Design Conference brings the design community together in a once-in-a-lifetime, cross-disciplinary exchange of ideas about the changing world of design. Recharge your career with thought-provoking presentations, professional training, and meetups with design luminaries while taking in the City of Bridges.

March 30–April 1, 2020, in Pittsburgh, PA.
Hosted by: AIGA | The Professional Association for Design

→ Get Your Ticket!!

April Highlight

4/2

Flourish: PCB 2020 Production Show
The demands on creatives and marketers continue to branch out into new directions. Your clients want solutions faster, cheaper, greener and more unique. And without a sense of the latest production techniques and technologies, project timelines and budgets can get out of control, leaving even the most seasoned designers and production specialists in the weeds.

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 sample 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!!
Hosted by: Production Club of Baltimore

→ Get Tickets!

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Got an event you think belongs on this list?

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

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