Calling emerging and professional designers!

The learning curve is steep, the key commands are complex, the page count is long and that is why you are here.

SHINE, an AIGA DC mentoring initiative is a four-month mentoring program designed to fertilize the career growth and professional success of emerging graphic designers. Starting with a kick-off event, mentors and mentees will come together and work hand-in-hand to identify the mentee's career goals and aspirations. Over the next four months, mentors will provide advice and guidance as they show their mentees the ropes.

SHINE is designed for self-starters. After the kick-off event, we won't dictate meeting but instead provide you with the introduction to a like-minded professional. Together you'll set your own schedule and time commitment and along the way, we'll provide helpful suggestions, friendly updates of great tips and encouragement.

For more information and to register, please visit http://aigadc.org/events

Registration for SHINE closes on December 2, 2011.

Unable to commit to participating this time around? Please forward this email to members of your network who you think might fit the bill. Or, join us Fall 2012 when the program will start back up again.

Posted by washingtondc in Mentoring | September 12, 2011

AIGA DC would like to thank the Washington DC community for contributing over 400 submissions to be judged for The Urban Forest Project Washington DC. We are excited to share with you the 100 artists whose artwork was selected to be exhibited on street banners and inform you that they are CURRENTLY being erected as you read. Look for an official launch and additional details soon on our website over the next several weeks. In the meantime, to hear about the inspiration behind some of the banners please check out these videos: http://bit.ly/j5akae

PROFESSIONAL DESIGNERS AND ARTISTS
*Generated inspiration videos
Sandy Adams
Antonio Alcala* + Leslie Badani + Helen McNiell
Milagros Arrisueno + Hal Swetnam
Julia Ames
Ioana Balasa
Sarah Hitchcock Becker
Ed Bisese
Nancy Bratton*
Jessica Blair Buchanan*
Bryan Byczek*
Craig Cahoon
Sarah Chamberlain
Dominique Chirinciuc*
Ryan Clennan*
Mark Cooley + Ryan Griffis
Adriana Cordero
Cecilia Cortes-Earle*
MIchael Crossett
Daniel Delli-Colli
Tara Detchemendy* + Natalya Minkovsky
Alex Diaz
Eileen Doughty
Ilfigenija Dupras
Alessandra Marie Echeverri
Lauren Emeritz
Alia Faith
Jo Fleming
Liani Foster
Lara Fredrickson + Carol Casey
Rachel A. Freedman
Doug Fuller
Nathan Gomez
Francheska Guerrero *
Nicole Hamam
Robin Harris + Gary Harris
Rania Hassan
Sean Hennessy
Richard Lee Heffner
Allen Hopper
Marcie Wolf Hubbard
Alicia Jager
Anne C. Kerns
Minki Kim
Ethel Kessler* + Suzanne Kleinwaks + John Dawson + Terry McCaffrey
Phyllis Klein*
Galen Lawson
Marni Lawson *
Sara Lin
Patti Look
Betsy Martin
Jessica Menk*
Jamie Mitchell
K. Bisola Momoh*
Phil Napala*
Catherine Nichols
Katie O'Brien
Julian Oh
Nicole Parente-Lopez
Michelle Thomas + Rodney Williams* + Anja Biazjczyk
Hillary Reilly
Elizabeth Renomeron
Jessica Reynolds
Karen Rose
Kerri Sarembock*
Erika Satlof
Monica Servaites
Shikha Savdas
Nikolas Schiller
Alex Schultz*
Carolyn Sewell
Lindsey Marie Smith
Marrimarra
Greg Stein
Randall Stoltzfus
Rachel Stone
Hermano S. Talastas*
Shelby Tanase
Angela Terry
Julee Dickerson Thompson
George Travez*
Joe Velasquez
Sarah Joy Verville*
John Wehmann*
Jessica Muniz Witmer

AIGA DC MENTORING TEAMS
*Generated inspiration videos
William Jones + Erin Greene*
Dezae Precia + Nicole Hamam
Demetria Williams + Jane deBruijn

CORCORAN ART AND DESIGN STUDENTS
*Generated inspiration videos
Katherine Carberry*
Ron Cortez
Abigail Fairfax
Abdullah Khashoggi
Noha Khashoggi
Gilbert Kusler
Shawn Moriarty
Nancy Palm
Drew Ransom*
Susana Sanchez
Michael Theodoran*
Ken Zinser*

THE JURORS
Sam Shelton, Kinetik
Jim Darling, Useful Studios
Rachel Dickerson, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Monica Lear, Urban Forestry Administration, DDOT
Linda Harper, Director of Cultural Tourism DC

ABOUT THIS PROJECT
This spring, The Urban Forest Project, a global public arts and environmental initiative, will plant 100 street banners designed by local designers and students in the downtown Washington DC. Each banner will use the form of, or metaphor for, a tree to make powerful visual statements about the environment. Together they'll create a forest of thoughtful images in the heart of the nation's capitol. Once the banners come down from the light poles, the artwork will be repurposed into tote bags for purchase. Proceeds from the sales of the tote bags will go to non-profit environmental efforts that will aid Washington DC in being a cleaner, greener and more sustainable city.

This project, conceived by Worldstudio, is being presented in Washington, DC by the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), in collaboration with the Corcoran College of Art and Design, AIGA DC and Downtown DC Business Improvement District. Seed funding for the project was provided through a grant from the USDA Forest Service with corporate sponsorship being sought to support implementation.

Posted by washingtondc in Education, Mentoring, News | May 4, 2011

By following your passion, anything is possible
By Dian Holton

On April 1, 2011 the graphic design students of West Potomac Academy were in for a treat. They were graced by an exhibit/lighting specialist Tim Smith, who shared his colorful academic road that included a fine art degree with a concentration in sculpting, and his pursuit to be a designer at the world's largest museum and research complexes, the Smithsonian Institution. Tim, the fourth professional to present at AIGA DC's Mentoring Program Speaker Series, welcomed the opportunity to share his knowledge about the museum industry, and to inspire these young minds.

Like previous sessions, the series began before 8am with students varying in attentiveness. Tim set up his presentation which included a nifty slide show, a mannequin head and small electronic picture frame that flashed a multitude of model making photos. These items allowed him to talk endlessly about his background while also keep the attention of the students. Throughout, he engaged the class with questions and conversation related to museum visits, exhibits they were often drawn to, and the relationship between space, lighting and design as it applied to most disciplines. An important question he asked ultimately became the basis of his talk and the reason why he was there "...what do you want to accomplish within the next five years?"

Over the next 45 minutes, Detroit native Tim Smith talked about his early years as he transitioned from being a student studying sculpture to a small museum model maker in North Carolina, to most recently, to a staffer at the infamous Smithsonian Institute. He talked about how once you've found your passion you pursue it until you can't anymore, giving examples that included extensive research, persistence after being rejected from jobs, and using contacts to get his foot in the door. Confident and hungry, Tim made it clear that he contributes his success to his agressiveness and his can do/will do attitude. He encouraged the students to explore this path and also seek out a mentor to guide them along their way.

Having delivered on his promise to help inspire and enlighten the high school students of West Potomac Academy about his life and career, it was evident the students were not yet ready for Tim to leave. Some took the opportunity to gain advice about what he sees beyond their high school years (such as Smithsonian Internship opportunities), while others wanted him to give honest critiques about their work. By then of the day, Tim had inevitably made his mark and equipped these youth with the tools they needed to pursue their passions.

Dian Holton is the AIGA Washington DC Chapter Mentoring Chair. For more information about the Mentoring Speaker Series please contact Dian at dian(at)aigadc(dot)org.

Posted by washingtondc in Blog, Mentoring, News | April 29, 2011

Spotlight on Scholarship Winners
AIGA DC has contributed to the education of five students since launching the Continuum Fund in 2007. Here are some updates on our scholarship recipients:

Joseph Cabato
(NVCC Tom Suzuki Scholarship Winner)
While maintaining summa cum laude status, Cabato earned a total of three associate degrees from Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC): Communication Design; Communication Design/Interactive Design; and Fine Arts/Photography. In his 'downtime' Cabato redesigned NVCC's logo and layout for their newspaper, NVCC Fortnightly. Forging ahead, Cabato has been accepted to begin this Fall at American University's School of Communication for their MFA program: Film and Electronic Media. He looks forward to working on fictional narratives, short-form videos, animation and documentaries.

Alfredo Ramirez
(NVCC Tom Suzuki Scholarship Winner)
Since this scholarship allowed Ramirez to focus solely on school, he admits that he began 'living and breathing design.' In addition to excelling in classes, Ramirez received NVCC's "Best in Interactive" award. He also joined the NVCC Studio, a student-run, donation-based organization that creates designed pieces for local or non-profit organizations and supports scholarship funds for current and future students. Looking ahead, Ramirez has begun taking classes for web and interactive design and plans on completing his remaining classes for an associates degree in the near future.

Sarah Machicado
(AIGA DC Continuum Scholarship Winner - 2009)
During fall semester 2009, Sarah participated on a project through an advanced object design course taught by Inna Alesina and partnered with John Hopkins Children ARE Safe (CARES) Mobile Safety Center to solve the issue of child related accidents that occur in common Baltimore households. In addition, Sarah worked on poster awareness campaign called "It's All Connected" to illustrate how people's actions or choices can affect themselves, the community and the environment. Her poster was selected to be displayed in Baltimore's MTA subway stations. The AIGA DC Continuum Fund made it possible for Sarah to attend a study abroad program with Temple University to La Paz, Bolivia this past summer.

Huong Le
(AIGA DC Continuum Scholarship Winner - 2010)
Huong Le is a student at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore and part of MICA's Design Coalition, dedicated to helping the citizens of East Baltimore find resources to help sustain services for their community. She works directly with the Men and Families Center to re-strategize their brand identity so they can develop more funding to help those in need. Art education and design thinking have encouraged Huong to pursue her passions. She plans to continue working with design organizations to strategize development for low-income communities like East Baltimore.

Alexis Lovely
(AIGA DC Continuum Scholarship Winner - 2010)
When Alexis looks at a blank canvas, screen or image, the first thing she sees is the potential it has to be something more. She sees a beautiful work of art in the making, or the endless possibilities it has to be an inspiring piece of work through color, a serious message or eye-catching phenomenon. Alexis is freshman in the graphic design program at Howard University and is determined to have others feel an emotion unique to them with anything she designs.

Proceeds from 2010 Fellow Award Event
AIGA DC is excited to report that just under $700.00 was raised at our October 6th Fellow Award Event, which honored Tamera Lawrence and Rodney Williams. 80% of the proceeds from this event were donated to the AIGA DC Continuum Design Scholarship in both of our Fellows' honor. Thanks to everyone who attended and contributed to the cause of design education.

How You Can Become Involved
If you would like more information about AIGA DC's Continuum Fund Scholarship or have questions about donating to AIGA DC's Continuum Fund, please email continuum@aigadc.org or visit www.aigadc.org/continuum.

Posted by washingtondc in Blog, Continuum, Discussions, Diversity, Education, Events, News | October 15, 2010

It may not seem like much, but $5 can make a difference. That's the premise behind the Continuum Fund Button Campaign, which provides a doorway into the fund for those AIGA DC members and friends who may not yet be financially able to join the Continuum Circle. In addition, these buttons will help raise awareness to our general membership of our Continuum Fund. A steady rotation of industry heavies have contributed designs over the past year, including Stanley Hainsworth, The General Design Company, Michael Osborne and last year's AIGA Fellow Award recipient David Franek.

The newest set is designed by last year's Show Off winner, Nathan Hill, a 2009 graduate of Corcoran College of Art + Design. Over the past several years Nathan has designed for both boutique studios and large design agencies in the DC area. Fueled by his addiction to design and passion for design education, Nathan recently started his own studio. He says, "a great friend once told me that design is an ever-learning process. It's a simple notion, but it's stuck with me and continues to shape how I approach design."

At Wednesday's 2010 AIGA 50 Awards Show we will premiere Nathan's button set to the public. AIGA DC has made 50 sets of the buttons and they will be available tonight at the suggested minimum donation of $5.

The AIGA DC's Continuum Fund Button Campaign helps DC metro area students pursue a graphic design degree. All proceeds go to AIGA DC's Continuum Fund Scholarship, which allows young people from minority and economically disadvantaged backgrounds not only to realize their artistic dreams, but also to give back to their communities.

If you would like more information about AIGA DC's Continuum Fund Scholarship or have questions about donating to AIGA DC's Continuum Fund, please email continuum@aigadc.org or visit www.aigadc.org/continuum.

I hope to see you Wednesday at the Arts Club of Washington. Please pick up a button set or two to support the Continuum Fund Scholarship. Here is some more information about the event:

WHAT: 2010 AIGA 50 Awards Show
WHEN: Wednesday, June 2, 2010
TIME: 6:30 PM - Reception and Design Exhibition, 8:00 PM - Program and Awards Presentation
WHERE: Arts Club of Washington
2017 I Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
TICKETS: Members: $15/$25 (at the door), Non-members: $25/$35 (at the door)

--
Carolyn Belefski
Continuum Chair, AIGA DC

Posted by washingtondc in Blog, Continuum, Discussions, Education, News | June 1, 2010

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