Workshops

Sustainable Design: Methods that move design forward

Speaker: Amy Dritz

Description: Designers and creative people hold a key to the future. Since everything is designed – be it product, experience or service – we have the extraordinary power and responsibility to design for the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations. This presentation will provide you with tools and resources to start you in a greener design direction while also expanding the idea of what is possible in design and what sustainable design should be: a valuable tool to design better and smarter.

Bio: Amy Dritz has been an in-house graphic designer for 12 years with Three Rivers Park District. As part of the Communications team for this regional, environmentally-focused park system, Amy works on diverse design projects and often implements sustainability by stealth! She believes even small changes can add up. Amy is also very involved with AIGA Minnesota’s reDesign group, which provides opportunities for creative professionals to learn about sustainable design. In addition, Amy has been furthering her own knowledge through MCAD’s Sustainable Design Online program. When she’s not attached to the computer, she loves to decompress in the great outdoors by hiking or kayaking, or just gardening in the backyard.

Don’t Talk Me Out of Hiring You: The New Rules of Professional Networking

Speakers: Meghan Wilker and Nancy Lyons

Description: Social media is allowing unprecedented access to leadership inside of organizations. But what does this mean to young professionals? How can you use these digital tools to get noticed in the right way and what can you do once you have that attention? This session will help you think about your process and the wide array of opportunities to be noticed that social media affords. We’ll discuss starting and fostering engaging conversations with your targets. But we’ll also address transitioning to real world activities like networking, informational interviews and actual job interviews. We’ll review common mistakes and share tips and tricks that will get you noticed in the right ways. And we’ll share actual horror stories of interviews gone wrong (the names have been changed to protect the guilty).

Bio: Nancy Lyons works at the intersection of technology, community, and people. She empowers and motivates teams of technologists and creatives as the President and CEO of Clockwork Active Media. Meghan Wilker specializes in using strategy, technology, and process to bring people and products together. As VP, Managing Director at Clockwork Active Media she drives projects to produce engaging digital solutions. Together they’re the Geek Girls Guide, dedicated to demystifying technology for audiences everywhere through extensive public speaking, writing, and online dialogue.

Keep it Going

Speakers: Kate Carlson and Stephan Peters

Description: As a young designer who is just out of school, the success after landing a job is exhilarating. You may be ready to hit the ground running, but you’ve come across a road block and your new, exciting job isn’t exactly what you thought it would be. Join Kate and Stephan as they share their first year’s experiences and give some advice on how to keep your excitement and spirit up.

Bios: Kate Carlson is a Junior Designer at Ideas that Kick, formally known as HartungKemp. She was the recipient of the 2011 AIGA Larsen Scholarship. She draws her inspiration from vintage pieces, fashion and nature. Along with graphic design, Kate also dabbles in pattern design, fashion design, and handmade goods.

Stephan Peters currently works as a Graphic Designer at Periscope. He made his way over here from Germany where he studied at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hildesheim. After spending three years studying at the College of Visual Arts in Minnesota, Stephan received his BFA in Graphic Design. He was awarded with the 2011 AIGA Portfolio 1-on-1 Scholarship.

Willing to Do Anything

Speaker: Grant Eull

Description: If all goes well you will soon have a new job, however you may be unsure of what is expected of you as the new creative employee.

This workshop will help you set expectations before you get to the workplace and guide you with considerations as you seek your first job.

Bio: Creative Director, Pixel Farm Digital; Co-Chair of the MIMA, Higher Education Committee

Grant heads up the creative team at Pixel Farm Digital where his ambition and vision helps to shape ideas into unique experiences. Prior to joining PFD, Grant worked as a senior creative for both Colle+McVoy and Proximity/BBDO. His past client experience includes Hormel, Warner Brothers, Courage Center, Capella University, SPAM, Family Channel, University of Minnesota, Case New Holland, 3M, and the Minnesota State Lottery. As graduate of The College of Design at the University of Minnesota he continues to mentor students and is currently serving as the Co-Chair of Higher Education for the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association.

OpenType “Secrets”

Speaker: Mark Simonsen

Description: Adobe and other design software companies have not made it easy to access the amazing features built into many OpenType fonts. This workshop will show you how to “unlock” these hidden features.

Bio: Mark Simonson began his career in 1976 as a graphic designer and art director. From the start, he had a strong interest in type design. In the early 2000s, he began selling fonts on the web and has been working full time as an independent type designer and font developer since 2005. He currently has 122 fonts in the general market and has made custom fonts for Apple, Microsoft, Target, Sega, Abercrombie Fitch, and others.

Alphabet Play

Speaker: Anne Ulku

Description: Alphabet Play is a workshop for those interested in designing type. Before creating original art to be a part of a new alphabet, participants will receive a brief introduction to the process and inspirations of experimenting with letters and designing typefaces. Designer Anne Ulku will speak of her own alphabet experiments and creations and then will lead the process of the workshop. Using the supplies provided, each person will form one individual letter. The resulting alphabet letterforms will be used as the glyphs in a real, typable font later in the day at the second part of this workshop, Font Creation Workflow.

Bio: Anne Ulku is an established designer in Minneapolis. She is a 2007 graduate of Minneapolis Colllege of Art and Design, and she now works as a freelance graphic designer. Anne works with type design, logo and identity design, branding, print design, pattern and illustration. She also is co-creator of typographic story telling blog, Six Word Story Every Day.

Font Creation Workflow

Speaker: Chank Diesel

Description: Font Creation Workflow will give participants a brief introduction into the software and technical process that is used in font creation. From original art, to a scan, to vectors and into an OpenType font; how does simple alphabet art become a fully functional font? Expert font designer Chank Diesel will reveal some of the type development secrets. Participants will learn the basics of the modern font making process using Fontlab and other apps. We will develop a new font out of artwork that was created earlier in the day at the Alphabet Play workshop.

Bio: Chank Diesel is an artist, alphabetician and founder of Chank Co, an independent type foundry and art studio in Minneapolis. Among other things, he draws letters. Letters that turn into original fonts. Fonts that let designers infuse personality into their work. Each font Chank creates is a labor of love; inspired by the world around him and crafted by hand. Grounded in real world application, they are technically refined for modern use. In the last 15 years, Chank has created over 500 unique fonts that capture emotion and create the desired visual effect for corporate clients as well as independent designers.

Designing for Unpredictable Technology

Speakers: Renee Padgett and Jennifer Mannhardt

Description: Hear about what it’s like to keep up to date on technology standards while staying true to design principles in print, web and mobile environments.

Bio: Renee Padgett and Jennifer Mannhardt are currently Dashboard Design Specialists at Lancet Software in Burnsville, MN. Renee stems from a background in web design with a degree in Fine Art from North Carolina State University. Jennifer hails from a print background with a in degree in Graphic Design from the Art Institutes International of Minnesota. Between the two of them they have worked with clients in the Retail, Healthcare, Finance, Non-Profit and International Affairs industries.