April 2009

4/8
Green Salon #3 | Compostmodern

Wednesday, April 8 / 6:30 - 8:30pm
Fremont Studios
155 N 35th St.; Seattle

Green Salon 3 will feature guest speakers Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins from Algalita as well as highlights via webcast from this year's Compostmodern event in San Francisco. AIGA and our sponsor Mohawk want to make sure you make it to this event, so it is free to AIGA members and only $5 for non-members.

Have you heard about the island of trash? This is a great opportunity to meet Algalita Marine Research Foundation who built a raft made from 15,000 plastic bottles and sailed from California to Hawaii during the summer of 2008 to bring attention to the issue of plastic marine debris. Hear in person what they have told to ABC News, Martha Stewart, NY Times and the TED conference about their extraordinary discoveries. They will be here in Seattle as part of their route travelling by bicycle from Canada to Mexico. Along the 2000 mile coastal route samples of plastic debris collected from the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) will be given to legislators, educators and organizations--sharing Algalita's research and education programs with 1000's of people.

If you did not get chance to make it Compostmodern this will be your chance to see what you missed. We will showcase great speakers like Saul Griffith of Makani Power, Dawn Danby of Autodesk, Nathan Sherdroff the Design MBA Chair of California College of the Arts Emily Pillton of Project H and the Designers Accord.

All of this will be happening in the great atmosphere of the Fremont Studios. Enjoy light food and refreshments, mingle and connect when doors open at 6:30 pm. Speakers will begin at 7 pm.

ADMISSION
AIGA Member: FREE
AIGA Student Member: FREE
Non-Member: $5
Student Non-Members: $5

Tickets will be available at the door.

This event is generously sponsored by:

4/9
AIGA Seattle and the University of Washington AIGA Student Group present
Valerie Casey: Creating The Conditions For Change

Thursday, April 9 / 6:30 doors open, 7pm Lecture
Henry Art Gallery
University of Washington; Seattle

Please join us for a talk by Valerie Casey, global head of digital experience at IDEO and founder of The Designers Accord, a global coalition of designers, educators, researchers, engineers, and corporate leaders working together to create positive environmental and social impact. Valerie will provide practical advice on integrating the principles of sustainability into design practice and production. She will also present the progress of The Designers Accord movement and discuss how participating design firms, educational institutions and corporations throughout the world are making change.

About Valerie Casey
Valerie Casey leads the digital experience practice at IDEO, where she provides strategic leadership for client relationships. Valerie works with organizations around the world to design products, services and business models that create positive social and environmental impact. She specializes in helping companies and other organizations understand, shape and ultimately capitalize on their internal and external networks to address cultural, economic, social and environmental challenges with greater agility.

Valerie founded the Designers Accord, the global coalition of designers, corporate leaders, and educational institutions focused on integrating sustainability into all practice and production. More than 150,000 designers and organizations worldwide now participate in the Designers Accord.

Prior to IDEO, Valerie was Executive Creative Director at frog design, where she led the global design research and design strategy practices. Previously, Valerie was an Associate Partner at Pentagram Design, where she built the interaction design practice in San Francisco. She has also worked as an Associate Creative Director at vivid studios.

Valerie’s work has been highlighted in multiple publications, and in 2008, she was named a Fast Company “Master of Design” and a Fortune magazine “Guru You Should Know.”

After the lecture, we will be raffling a Wacom tablet and other exciting prizes.

ADMISSION
AIGA Student Member: $5
AIGA Member: $10
Student Non-Members: $10
Non-Member: $15

A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.

This event is generously sponsored by:

4/16
Smashing Alphabets with Chank & Spunk

Thursday, April 16 | 7-9pm
Seattle Asian Art Museum Auditorium
Volunteer Park; Seattle

Typographic improvisations and renovations with font designer Chank Diesel of Chank.com. See inspirations for Chank's early font work, samples of fonts in action and case studies of how custom fonts help create great brands. Hear about the fonts and follies of a full-time, self-employed creative visual artist. Jeff Johnson of Spunk Design Machine will speak of distinction over distraction as he shows his team's solutions to some recent design projects. More info at: http://www.chank.com and http://www.spkdm.com

Register
Student Member $5
Professional Member $10
Student Non-member $10
Non-Member $15

4/25
Reality Check Student Portfolio Review

Saturday, April 25
Session 1: 8:30-10:30am
Session 2: 10:30am - 12:30pm
Student Exhibition Reception: 12:30 - 1pm
Art Center Gallery at Seattle Pacific University
3 West Cremona; Seattle

What is Reality Check?
Celebrating its 12th anniversary, Reality Check is an event designed to provide students and newcomers to the field an opportunity to receive constructive portfolio feedback from experienced design professionals. Reality Check is the time to show your work and ideas to some of the best art directors and designers in the Northwest. All that is needed is your registration, résumé and portfolio. The portfolio doesn't have to be perfect—that comes after you incorporate the Reality Check advice you're going to receive. Simply put, use this event to check your understanding of the basic principals and ideas behind creating a powerful design portfolio. Participants will receive four to five reviews, probably more!

What to Bring
A portfolio and résumé—and we're not talking perfect. 7-10 portfolio pieces at various stages of completion and the accompanying résumé you plan to use to get that first job or internship will do. You may present digital work on your personal laptop (remember to charge the battery!)

Dress to impress. Treat this as you would a real job interview, business casual recommended.

Have an open mind. Reality Check is all about the learning. The professionals we've invited are signing on to be your ally—they'll shed light on the basic principles and ideas you should consider in creating a more powerful design portfolio.

Just to Name a Few
Reviewers in previous years have included designers and art directors from firms + internal creative departments such as:

Sessions
The event will be split into two 90-minute sessions. (You only need to register for one session.) Individual reviews are limited to seven minutes; time will be called. Each session is limited to 75 participants.

• Session 1, 8:30am – 10:30am
  8:30am: Check-in and orientation
  9am: Reviews begin, ending promptly at 10:30am
• Session 2, 10:30 – 12:30pm
  10:30am: Check-in and orientation
  11am: Reviews begin, ending promptly at 12:30pm

For more information on Reality Check, contact education@seattle.aiga.org

Register
Student Member
   ~ Session 1 (8:30-10:30am) $5 Registration Full
   ~ Session 2 (10:30-12:30pm) $5 Registration Full
Student Non-member
   ~ Session 1 (8:30-10:30am) $15 Registration Full
   ~ Session 2 (10:30-12:30pm) $15 Registration Full
Associate Member
   ~ Session 1 (8:30-10:30am) $20 Registration Full
   ~ Session 2 (10:30-12:30pm) $20 Registration Full
Professional Member
   ~ Session 1 (8:30-10:30am) $25 Registration Full
   ~ Session 2 (10:30-12:30pm) $25 Registration Full

Special Thanks
AIGA Seattle would like to thank our event sponsors, Seattle Pacific University and Colorgraphics for their generous contributions for this year's event. We would also like to thank our Education sponsor, FILTER/TALENT, for their support of the chapter and continuous involvement with the AIGA Seattle Education Committee.

4/30
Combination
AIGA + SPGA Shared Design Social

Thursday, April 30 | 6 - 8pm
Jillian's
731 Westlake Avenue, Seattle

This month's Design Social will be a friendly face-off between the AIGA and the SPGA/Seattle Graphic Artist's Guild over some games of pool and libations at Jillian's. The Guild has been around for a while and they've built a community of designers and visual communicators much like our own—kind of a sibling organization. On this night the gloves come off and we'll test the mettle of our groups where it really counts—on the green felt!

If you know a foot spot from a head string, your team needs you—if kerning and tracking is more your thing and your game is rusty, come on down, support your team, and meet some friendly designers! Join us at Jillian's on Lake Union for an evening of professional camaraderie and some friendly rivalry. No Admission. Full food menu and drinks will be available.

aigaseattle.org
seattleguild.org