AIGA Event Thursday, Nov. 6th

Limelight Event-Sean Adams

Sean Adams, Partner, AdamsMorioka,
National President, AIGA
Lessons in Fear

AIGA Salt Lake City is proud to welcome Sean Adams, Partner at AdamsMorioka in Los Angeles and National President for the AIGA. At AdamsMorioka, over the past ten years, they’ve made mistakes. Big mistakes. Some were a collision of events that hit like a train wreck. Some were self-produced. All of the mistakes were motivated by fear. When is fear appropriate in design? Are we on the Love Boat, or Voyage of The Damned? How do we know the difference? Where are the lifeboats?

November 6th, 2008
6:30 pm Mingle
7:00 pm Presentation
8:00 pm Q&A

Salt Lake City Arts Center
20 South West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT

Click here for link

Student Spotlight

One of my favorite classes to teach is DES109 - Graphic Design I. Up until this point, students are learning about the software - Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign but this is the first class where they are introduced to the world of design and a day in the life of a graphic designer. We study influential designers, the history of graphic design, the principles of good design and creative use of typography.

This project is one of students' final projects and they are instructed to design a self-portrait using only typographic characters. Their work should represent their design style and say something about who they are as designers. This is one of my favorite projects because I'm always blown away by students' creativity and their process of design.

These are a few of my favorites. Click on any image to see a bigger photo.



Amelia Robinson



Amanda Peterson



Kenyon Curtis


Destiny Winter

Practice Time Management

As the new module is getting underway today - I strongly encourage you all to look at time management in your design classes as well as general education classes. Online and elluminate classes require students to be self-paced and work a lot on your own time. I have found some students flourish in this environment while others use it as an excuse to procrastinate. The career of a graphic designer is extremely demanding and deadlines are king. If you miss a deadline, the magazine page your company purchased goes out blank; the product your company is stocking on Target's shelves is sitting empty. No one is going to wait for you to hit your deadlines.

You hit them or you lose your job - period - game over!

On the other side of the pendulum, I often see students that spend many hours over and above what the assignment calls for. Life is a balancing act and I also want to caution students about spending so much time on one assignment that the rest of their school work suffers. It is important to always do your best work but effective time management can help you be efficient in all areas of your life.

There is a great article on 'youthedesigner' about how to be a more productive designer. Click here to read the full text

DVD Designs

I think my dream job (besides the one I already have of course) would be to design book jackets. Read one book a month and take all the time I need with an unlimited budget of course, to knock out one awesome design every 4 weeks. It would combine my 2 favorite things - design and reading! But I also Love movies - here is a list of one designer's favorite DVD covers for 2008 which include Ironman, Indiana Jones and The Incredible Hulk. Serious Photoshop skills on display

Check out this link for more

Do you have a favorite that didn't make the list?

Is Graffiti Graphic Design?

According the Webster - Graphic Design is defined as : the art or profession of using design elements (as typography and images) to convey information or create an effect ; also : a product of this art

So, what sets graphic design apart from other media? Painting, Sculpture, Photography - is that graphic design? I came across this book called Graffiti Japan that highlights different artists and showcases their work. The book has great images of the work and check out the website as well - creative!

Click here to see more...