Millman began with a few words about the practice of in-house design. She reviewed complaints from in-house designers: bureaucracy, office politics, monotony, and the difficulty of landing an agency or studio job afterward. Despite this, Millman added, “at this very moment in time, over 50% of all professional designers in the united states are employed as in house designers.”

She quoted Julia Hoffmann, Creative Director at Etsy: “In-house design studios are the future of successful branding. A strong in-house designer knows and cares about the brand and becomes a steward of the organization, leading the company in achieving design excellence.” Millman concluded, “The three in-house designers here today are proof positive that this is 100% true.”

Derek Scott | Instagram

Instragram’s mission, Derek Scott explained, is “to capture and share the world’s moments” while adhering to three core concepts. The first is simplicity: the interface shows only one square image at a time, and the company deflects requests for custom filters or new commenting features. “It’s very pure,” said Scott. Next, creativity, “we set the bar high from the very beginning. When Kevin [Systrom] created Instagram, he hand-picked the first 100 content creators to show the types of content that we want, which sparked Instagram into becoming what it is today.” Lastly, community: The intimacy of Instagram, Scott argued, comes from “knowing that we all have the same camera in our pockets…that if we were there in that moment in time, we could have captured that ourselves.”

As a creative strategist, Scott’s primary role is to teach companies how Instagram can help them build their brands. “Sometimes I miss getting my hands dirty,” he mused, and explained that Instagram’s in-house designers work on product design, art direction of Instagram’s photographers, and building sample campaigns for clients.

Renda Morton | The New York Times

“Our goal as designers at The New York Times,” said Renda Morton, “is to balance the goals of our business side and newsroom while advocating for the best reader and user experience. We represent all of her readers in absentia.”

Morton is a digital designer for the newspaper’s web platform, and she shared some highlights of the story page’s recent redesign. Her team built an extremely flexible template, with over 100 different layouts to accommodate various image shapes and sizes.

The team also incorporated more typefaces, moving closer to the wide range used in the print publication. Stay tuned for additional changes to the web platform as well, “We’re going to continue to iterate on this, because we never want to have a redesign ever again!” said Morton.

As for what some of the other digital design teams do, some focus on specific content. These designers create a special look and feel for items such as the “Invisible Child” feature earlier this year about Dasani, a homeless girl living in Fort Greene, or the Sunday Magazine’s visual columns such as “Eat” and “Who Made That?” The product team, on the other hand, designs and launches new products aimed at growing the Times’ audience, such as the NYT NOW app released just last week.

Joe Marianek | Apple

“I love Apple,” declared Joe Marianek. Yet he was the aware of the potential downsides of moving in-house when he left Pentagram for Apple. “A lot of people said to me, if you go to Apple you won’t get to be creative any more,” he explained. “But that’s not true. There’s a lot of invention at Apple.” The company welcomes fresh concepts from its employees, and ideas are literally “always on the wall” in the Apple office. “No matter what level you are, you can contribute,” said Marianek.

While working on the iOS7 launch, Marianek contributed to a complete reinvention of the iPhone’s visual design. He also helped put together an eye-opening video showing the production process for the new Mac Pro.

For Marianek, the move from Pentagram to Apple also meant a move from New York City to San Francisco. From California transportation (“It’s a real car culture, the kind of place where you either own a Honda or a Maserati”) to the uniformly branded campus (“There is a lot of Myriad at Apple”), this west coast world felt different to Marianek. Most of all, he was struck by the great sense of togetherness at Apple — not only socially, at the campus cafeterias squash courts, but also professionally, “it’s the community of people that make the company what it is, and makes it fun to to work there,” Marianek explained. “When you’re in-house you’re all doing the same thing. It can sometimes get monotonous, and you all have to challenge each other to work and think outside of that.”

Additional Information:
Instagram
The New York Times
Derek Scott
Renda Morton
Joe Marianek and what he’s doing after Apple

Event Details:

 AIGA/NY In-The-House IV: Culture, Connectivity and Content

Event Photos:

Click here to view all photos from AIGA/NY In-The-House IV: Culture, Connectivity and Content on Flickr. 
To view additional photos, or to contribute your photos, visit our AIGA New York Flickr group.

Special thanks to contributing writer Karen Vanderbilt for the AIGA/NY In-The-House IV: Culture, Connectivity and Content event recap and photos. Karen can be found at karenvanderbilt.com, @k_vanderbilt and Studio Kudos.

AIGA/NY Announces the Launch of Catch — & — Release

a participatory design project which is part of its Design/Relief initiative,
conceived by its South Street Seaport Team

New York, NY, January 6, 2014 – AIGA/NY is pleased to announce the launch of Design/Relief’s Catch — & — Release, an interactive installation that is part of a participatory design initiative aiming to help the neighborhoods of South Street Seaport, Red Hook, and the Rockaways imagine a more vibrant future for themselves as they overcome the lingering effects of Superstorm Sandy. This special project of the New York chapter of AIGA (the nation’s leading professional association of graphic designers) explores the potential of design in defining and expanding creative placemaking to positively transform communities. Design/Relief is supported by an innovation grant from ArtPlace America.

Catch — & — Release aims to capture, make visible and celebrate the resilient spirit and agency of the South Street Seaport community, one of the areas hardest hit by Superstorm Sandy. The Catch — & — Release installation is temporarily set up, in a vacant space under the FDR at John Street, from January 11 until February 2, 2014. It offers a physical respite where neighbors, visitors and all are invited to share messages of gratitude. In this interactive space, visitors are performing a sort of ritual by which their written “Thank You” notes will be publicly “caught,” and elevated to create an installation that will become the visual symbol of this place. “As messages accumulate, this installation will become a visible symbol of the unity, shared visions and social network of the South Street Seaport community,” explains Yeju Choi, lead designer on the Catch — & — Release project.

A system of cordon and pulleys symbolizes the collective activation of relationships, an act that will help participants rediscover what makes them uniquely resilient. The design of the installation was largely inspired by the vernacular materials of the Seaport’s maritime activity. As a tangible design experience and a community engagement tool, the installation’s form encourages the expression of aspirations while fostering social bonds, creating new opportunities to shift perception about South Street Seaport’s future.

“With Catch & Release, we are embarking on a partnership with the seaport community while offering an intimate community engagement model beyond the community board. We are hoping to yield valuable insights to shape a longer-term dialog and help to imagine the Seaport as a more vibrant place,” says Laetitia Wolff, Design/Relief’s Program Director.

With information and emotions collected and shared throughout the box installation’s limited time and space, Catch&Release hopes to create a method to empower its community to have a say in its future. By “Catching” acknowledgements of gratitude through various related community engagement programming, and a mapping project, the project aims to “Release” this information for a second phase of design development and community engagement.

“Design is as much about the collaborative process and act of creating as it is the final artifact –and it is always about people. As AIGA enters its centennial year, the New York chapter is thrilled to celebrate design’s influence in society through community efforts such as our Design/Relief initiative in Lower Manhattan’s South Street Seaport,” says Wily Wong, President of AIGA/NY.

Catch — & — Release was prepared for the New York State Department of State Office of Coastal, Local Government and Community Sustainability with funds provided under Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund. Catch — & — Release was developed by Yeju Choi of NowHere Office (designer), with Francesca Birks and Josh Treuhaft of ARUP (community engagement strategists), and Cristian Fleming and Stephanie Lukito of The Public Society (storytellers). This installation was designed and built by Yeju Choi, with Chat Travieso, Heechan Kim, and Chris Fox. Special Thanks to NYC&Co.

WHEN:
OPENING PARTY SAT JAN 11, 2014, 2-6 PM
Opening remarks and presentation at 3:00PM
CLOSING PARTY SAT FEB 1, 2014, 2-6 PM
WHERE: Design/Relief box is under the FDR (at South St & John St)
WHAT: Catch — & — Release, Jan 11- Feb 1, 2014, hours of operation, TUES-SUN, 11-7PM

About AIGA/NY

AIGA/NY is the largest chapter of AIGA, the nonprofit professional association for design. Founded in 1914 and headquartered in New York City, AIGA has brought design to the world, and the world to designers. The New York Chapter aligns with AIGA’s overall mission to advance design as a respected craft, strategic advantage and vital cultural force. From content that defines the global practice to events that connect and catalyze, AIGA/NY works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design on business, society and our collective future. Learn more: 2006.aigany.org and follow us on Twitter at @aigany.

About DESIGN/RELIEF

 Design/Relief is a participatory design initiative to help three New York City neighborhoods—Red Hook, the Rockaways and Lower Manhattan—imagine a more vibrant future for themselves as they overcome the lingering effects of Superstorm Sandy. DESIGN/RELIEF aims to demonstrate design’s role in creative placemaking, to help these neighborhoods be more navigable, visible and vibrant. The project includes a Red Hook team, a Rockaway Team and a South Street Seaport Team, all of whom will present their work in progress on Tuesday January 14, 2014 at 630PM at Parsons, 55 West 13^th Street. The project is overseen by Laetitia Wolff, Program Director, with a project Board composed of Willy Wong, Glen Cummings and Manuel Miranda. For the complete list of team members and updates please check 2006.aigany.org and Twitter at #aiganydesignrelief

About ArtPlace America

ArtPlace America provides grants and loans, supports research, and conducts outreach and advocacy. To date, ArtPlace America has awarded 134 grants totaling $42.1 million to 124 organizations in 79 U.S. communities (and a statewide project in the state of Connecticut). Foundations participating in ArtPlace America include Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Surdna Foundation, and two anonymous donors. ArtPlace America also seeks advice and counsel from close working relationships with various federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council. ArtPlace America is also supported by a $12 million loan fund capitalized by six major financial institutions and managed by the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Participating institutions are Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife, and Morgan Stanley.

If you are interested in receiving dedicated emails regarding DESIGN/RELIEF please update your email preferences here.

Juliette Cezzar, faculty at Parsons, kicked off the evening with the Warm-Up—an ongoing series that gives local design students a chance to share their work on a professional platform before AIGA events. DaSeul An, BFA candidate at the School of Visual Art, presented her research and design for a web platform and mobile app that more seamlessly connects New Yorkers to their local farmers markets and vendors.

Ken Carbone stepped on stage, with the magazine in hand. “This is my New Yorker,” he began, and then described the ceremonial process by which he reads the publication. First, he carefully peels the mailing label sticker from the cover “to fully liberate the artwork,” then starts “dessert first” with the cartoons, before browsing the table of contents and diving deeper into the long form journalism. He easily lists off favorite columnists and authors as if they were close, personal friends.

This particular sense of attachment—that seems to be especially pronounced in New Yorker readers—was both the greatest challenge and greatest attraction for Wyatt Mitchell in taking on the redesign. “Its readership is as loyal as any readership of a magazine can possibly be,” he explained. In its 88 years, it had remained virtually untouched, aside from some changes made in the 90s by Massimo Vignelli—which made the task slightly daunting.

Coming from Wired magazine, where disruption was baked into the culture, Mitchell had to shift gears in approaching the project. He remembers a moment when Editor in Chief David Remnick said, “I want this redesign to feel like someone you work with just went on vacation to some beautiful beach…and came back looking fresh and tan and lean. I don’t want this redesign to look like someone who had plastic surgery.”

With a rich history behind the New Yorker, Mitchell’s instinct was to comb through the past for clues to make sure this refresh was also informed by tradition. Some of the new type treatment references work by Irvin, who was present at the magazine’s inception and after which the classic New Yorker typeface was named. By looking at the same source material Irvin had used for the original designs, the design team noticed quirky ligatures and spot illustrations that could be brought into the modern magazine to great effect.

When asked to discuss his most difficult and unexpected challenge, Mitchell readily answered that it was the handling of type. Type foundry House Industries was tasked with redesigning Irvin, and after a first pass that straightened out a few too many quirks, they arrived at a solution that kept its handsome stature and “idiosyncrasies,” Mitchell explained.

Much has changed in the publishing landscape in the past few years, and when Mitchell and his team approached the restructuring of content, they had the magazine’s unique strengths in mind. For example, showtimes and addresses listed in the old Goings On About Town needed less emphasis when a users often now find directions on their smartphone or online. Reviews, and critical writing in general, however, are what the writers at the New Yorker do best. The focus went into improving the display of this information—to make it sing on any platform. This involved giving the writing slightly more breathing room; increasing some of the artwork to fill pages, giving readers a moment to pause and reset. Hierarchies are made clearer, giving pages a more dynamic overall feel.

When asked what lessons he learned from this experience so far, Mitchell paused for a moment before answering that it was importance of communication. The New Yorker, is a magazine that inspires strong, articulate, opinions, the question “is a design as good as I think it is?” can only be answered when it is clearly articulated to his team, his editors, and ultimately the magazine’s readers.

Throughout the talk, Mitchell drew upon his vast and growing knowledge from this project to commend both the content-generators from the New Yorker’s storied past and all the individuals that are shaping its present and future. As he named writers, editors, and members of his team, it was clear that the magazine is, at its heart, a community that shares a love of its characteristic writing and artwork.

Additional Information:
The New Yorker
Video: The New Yorker Gets Refreshed
House Industries

Event Details:
AIGA/NY & The New Yorker: Now and Then

Event Photos:
Click here to view all photos from AIGA/NY The New Yorker: Now and Then  on Flickr. To view additional photos, or to contribute your photos, visit our AIGA New York Flickr group.

Special thanks to guest contributing writer Mira Rojanasakul for the AIGA/NY The New Yorker: Now and Then event recap and photos. Mira’s work can be found at rojanasakul.com, or follow her at @rjnskl.

Contact: Laetitia Wolff
Program Director
(212) 710-3156
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AIGA/NY Announces Final Selection of Design/Relief TeamsDesign/Relief teams begin collaborations in Red Hook, the Rockaways and South Street Seaport on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy as part of AIGA/NY’s efforts to inspire communities through graphic design

For immediate release: New York, October 28, 2013: AIGA/NY announces final selection of Design/Relief teams. Design/Relief is a participatory design initiative that aims to support three New York City neighborhoods – Red Hook, the Rockaways and South Street Seaport – imagine a more vibrant future for themselves as they overcome the lingering effects of Superstorm Sandy. This special project of the New York chapter of AIGA explores design’s potential in defining and expanding creative placemaking to positively transform communities. Design/Relief is supported by an innovation grant from ArtPlace America.

This designer-led initiative will establish collaborations with various partners-stakeholders, who can reflect the diversity of interests in a given community, but not necessarily with one single client in mind. Each Design/Relief team will work collaboratively with their respective sites (Red Hook, Rockaways and South Street Seaport) to develop an implementable design concept that addresses livability, legibility, navigability and vibrancy.

Each team includes one to two graphic designers tasked to identify an opportunity and a way to materialize a meaningful, neighborhood-specific design project, supported by one or two community engagement strategists who will focus on outreach and participation, along with one or two storytellers who will visually document the design process and create visibility for the project through regular blog reports. Each team will work with the community to leverage existing assets and efforts while they contribute to creative placemaking definitions and build a case study to inspire other AIGA chapters across the country to take on similar design-led initiatives.

COMPLETE LIST OF DESIGN/RELIEF TEAM MEMBERS
AIGA/NY Executive Board: Willy Wong, Glen Cummings and Manuel Miranda
AIGA/NY Design/Relief Program Director: Laetitia Wolff

RED HOOK TEAM
Designers Anke Stohlman, Lil’Robin, principal with Alicia Cheng and Sarah Gephart, mgmt., principals
Community Outreach Strategists
 Amplifier Project (Jerome Chou, James Andrews and Stephen Zacks)
Storyteller
 David Al-Ibrahim, communication designer and writer

ROCKAWAY TEAM
Designers Natasha Chandani and Danielle Aubert, Placement Publication, founders
Community Outreach Strategist Daniel Latorre, The Wise City, founder
Storytellers Carolyn Louth, art director with Rich Tu, illustrator

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT TEAM
Designer Yeju Choi, NowHere Office, Creative Director
Community Outreach Strategists
 Francesca Birks and Josh Treuhaft/ARUP
Storytellers Cristian Fleming and Stephanie Lukito, Public Society, infographics designers

“This curated group really fits the profile of participants we were aiming to recruit, i.e. skilled mediators, resourceful thinkers and makers, eager to collaborate and bring their design-focused vision to help reinvigorate a sense of identity in these waterfront neighborhoods still hit hard as we approach the one-year anniversary of Sandy,” says Laetitia Wolff, program director of the initiative. The stellar cast of emerging designers features varied and complementary backgrounds in editorial design, interactive design, digital strategy, art direction, photography and illustration, as well as activists familiar with community engagement.

The Design/Relief teams were introduced at a recent kick-off event, which included a presentation of the program’s framework, goals, team structure and collaborative approach. A selection of community representatives from the three neighborhoods also shared their experience and perspectives, providing inspiring, informative and touching testimonies. Stakeholders ranged from NYC Small Business Services grant managers focused on cohesion in the South Street Seaport merchants community, photographers documenting the effects of Sandy on low-income residents and independent business owners of the Rockaways to social services and community activists in Red Hook. The presence of these community leaders marked the first step towards establishing a partnership with neighborhood associations and nonprofits, small businesses, Business Improvements Districts (BID), and individuals who have a vested interest in rebuilding efforts in these neighborhoods.

“Design/Relief hopes to foster a sense of camaraderie among its participating members, and encourage discussion around graphic design’s creative process and capacity for social and cultural impact, while modeling methods of engagement and eventually setting standards of best practices in the field of community-centered design,” says Willy Wong, President of AIGA/NY.

As part of the Design/Relief ecosystem, AIGA/NY will develop a series of public programs to create interactive moments for both the selected team members and the design community at large, while expanding the conversation around creative placemaking in each of the neighborhoods. AIGA/NY was proud to invite inspiring leaders in community development such as UK-based expert Donald Hyslop, Head of Regeneration and Community Partnerships at Tate Modern, London. “I really enjoyed my visit to Red Hook. As the area rebuilds I hope there will be many opportunities for creative projects, both temporary and permanent, to be developed in partnership with and for local people. Design/Relief has a vital role to play in this work and I look forward to keeping in touch with the project,” says Hyslop.

For complete biographies of the team members, visit here

If you are interested in receiving dedicated emails regarding DESIGN/RELIEF please update your email preferences here.

About AIGA/NY
AIGA/NY is the largest chapter of AIGA, the nonprofit professional association for design. Founded in 1914 and headquartered in New York City, AIGA has brought design to the world, and the world to designers. The New York Chapter aligns with AIGA’s overall mission to advance design as a respected craft, strategic advantage and vital cultural force. From content that defines the global practice to events that connect and catalyze, AIGA/NY works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design on business, society and our collective future. Learn more: 2006.aigany.org and follow us on Twitter at @aigany.

About ArtPlace America
ArtPlace America provides grants and loans, supports research, and conducts outreach and advocacy. To date, ArtPlace America has awarded 134 grants totaling $42.1 million to 124 organizations in 79 U.S. communities (and a statewide project in the state of Connecticut). Foundations participating in ArtPlace America include Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, The Surdna Foundation, and two anonymous donors. ArtPlace America also seeks advice and counsel from close working relationships with various federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, and Transportation, along with leadership from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Domestic Policy Council. ArtPlace America is also supported by a $12 million loan fund capitalized by six major financial institutions and managed by the Nonprofit Finance Fund. Participating institutions are Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Chase, MetLife, and Morgan Stanley.

DESIGN/RELIEF INITIATIVE IS FUNDED BY:

Be sure to check back every Monday for a fresh list of events.

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October 6–October 12, 2013

1/ New York Comics & Picture-story Symposium: David Lefkowitz
David Lefkowitz’s discusses his work in painting, installation, and mixed media addressing everyday paradoxes of perception.
When: Monday, October 7, 2013, 7:00pm–9:00pm
Where: Parsons The New School, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street, NYC
Price: Free and open to the public

2/ Design for 100%: A Marfa Dialogues/NY Event
A panel discussion with members of the 2013 Buckminster Fuller Challenge Jury. How do we create a world that “works for 100 percent of humanity,” as Buckminster Fuller famously said, in the face of epochal, systemic global crises like climate change?
When: Monday, October 7, 2013, 6:00pm–7:30pm
Where: SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, NYC
Price: Free and open to the public

3/ Pushing the Envelope: Direct Mail
Trish Witkowski, foldfactory.com, and Daniel Dejan, Sappi Fine Paper, discuss direct mail inspiration, information and best practices.
When: Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 6:00pm–9:00pm
Where: Art Directors Club, 106 West 29th Street, NYC
Price: Free and open to the public

4/ Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Designing For IPAD: A Step-by-Step, Hands-on Session
Learn everything you need to know for designing and submitting an app to the Apple App Store, without writing code.
When: Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 6:00pm–8:00pm
Where: The Huffington Post Headquarters, 770 Broadway, NYC
Price: Free SPD members

5/ Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight
Meet Milton Glaser and filmmaker Wendy Keys at film screening of Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight. For many, Milton Glaser is a the personification of American graphic design. Best known for co-founding New York Magazine and creating the enduring I ♥ NY campaign, the full breadth of Glaser’s remarkable artistic output is revealed in this documentary.
When: Wednesday, October 9, 2013, 6:30pm–9:00pm
Where: Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd Street, NYC
Price: $10 SI members, $7 students/seniors, $15 general public

6/ 100 Conversations
The Public Policy Lab thinks that designers and policymakers need to talk more – so they can work together to make better services for the public. Hear 10 enterprising public servants to chat (quickly) with 10 astute designers about 10 different topics related to design, governance, and innovation – that’s 100 conversations in one hour.
When: Thursday, October 10, 2013, 10:30am–11:30pm
Where: AIA Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, NYC
Price: Free AIA members and students, $10 general public

7/ The Secret History of Marvel Comics: An Evening with Al Jaffee, Stan Goldberg, Blake Bell & Michael Vassallo
The Public Policy Lab thinks that designers and policymakers need to talk more – so they can work together to make better services for the public. Hear 10 enterprising public servants to chat (quickly) with 10 astute designers about 10 different topics related to design, governance, and innovation – that’s 100 conversations in one hour.
When: Saturday, October 12, 2013, 7:00pm–10:00pm
Where: Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd Street, NYC
Price: $15 SI members, $10 students/seniors, $20 general public

Rothman began by recounting how her own first book project, The Exquisite Book, came into being. “It was just sort of a dream project I had in the back of my head,” she explained. A friend with a connection at Chronicle Books helped arrange what Rothman initially thought was a casual introduction to a few Chronicle editors and staff. Once they arrived, however, Rothman and co-author Jenny Volvovski quickly realized the publishers were expecting a conference-room presentation of their book idea. Rothman had no choice but to dive in, sharing her project plan and winging details that weren’t fleshed out. She must have impressed the editors even in her unprepared state, because 2 months later, Chronicle made an offer on The Exquisite Book.

Rothman admitted that while she was preparing this Breakfast Club presentation, she found herself wondering about the moral of that Exquisite Book story. Why, exactly did she feel so compelled to share it as part of her talk? “I think it’s that if you reach the right people and get out there showing you have passion,” Rothman explained, “then people will see that and get excited too.”

Next, Rothman shared details of how to write a proposal and get a book published.

For the proposal, Rothman suggested using tone that’s both casual, as if addressing a friend, and also formal. “Describe what it’s going to be, and say it as if the book is going to exist,” she said. Include any ideas you have about the format, and be specific about your audience. For example, “it’s girls, [age] 25 to 35, who shop at Anthropologie, and read the New York Times a little bit… okay, you can basically describe yourself,” Rothman joked. She stressed, getting very specific helps the editor picture who will buy the book.

Rothman stressed the importance of building a social media following, and listing this in your proposal. A Twitter or blog followership creates a de facto audience, and many publishers won’t look at an author who doesn’t have one. Rothman recommended sharing your own credentials and any awards you’ve won. “This is not the time to be modest,” she insisted — the editor will use whatever information you list in selling you to the publisher.

Rothman also recommended including sample designed pages. Even if the final book comes to look completely different from your submission, these samples help the editor picture a finished product.

Rothman then described how advances and royalties work: an advance is upfront cash, and royalties are earned as a percentage of sales after enough copies are sold to cover the advance. Rothman stressed that even though it can take a long time to begin earning royalties on a book, “these are passion projects that get your name out and lead to other things.”

Once the contract is signed, it’s time to actually create the book! Rothman recommended designing the book yourself or working closely with a designer friend to ensure that your vision is realized. She also stressed the importance of keeping to a schedule, since procrastination can easily catch up to you on this kind of big, long-term project.

Rothman recommended being proactive about marketing your book when it’s published — the publishing company’s busy marketing staff may not be as thorough or enthusiastic as you are. Rothman suggested sending personal notes accompanied by copies of the book to bloggers you admire and respect. If a well-read blog features your book, you’ll be rewarded with an instant spike in interest and sales.

The talk concluded with a Q&A session, and with an opportunity to look through the the four books Rothman has produced so far. “You do it one time, and you learn what you’re supposed to do, and the next time it’s easier,” Rothman said. Thanks to Rothman’s many words of wisdom, the Breakfast Club attendees know a bit extra — and have a bit less to learn — about how to publish a first book.

Additional Information:
Julia Rothman
Julia Rothman’s books: The Exquisite Book, Drawn In, Farm Anatomy, and The Where, the Why, and the How

Event Details:
AIGA/NY Breakfast Club: All the Tricks in the Book

Event Photos:

Click here to view all photos from AIGA/NY Breakfast Club: Every Trick in the Book on Flickr. To view additional photos, or to contribute your photos, visit our AIGA New York Flickr group.

Special thanks to contributing writer Karen Vanderbilt for the AIGA/NY Breakfast Club: All the Tricks in the Book event recap and photos. Karen can be found at karenvanderbilt.com, @k_vanderbilt and Studio Kudos.

Be sure to check back every Monday for a fresh list of events.

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September 29–October 5, 2013

1/ Principles of Typeface Design: An Introduction
This course is for anyone who has always wanted to design their own typeface, but is unsure where to start, or for those who just love type, and wish they knew more about how it works. Over 10 weeks students will engage with the fundamental methods, tools and principles involved in the making of a digital typeface.
When: Tuesdays, October 1 through December 3, 2013, 6:30–9:30pm
Where: Type Directors Club, 347 West 36th Street, Suite 603, NYC
Price: $750 general public

2/ Designer’s Debate Club No. 4: Designers Make the Best CEOs
Designers have long been asking for a seat at the executive table. The Designer/CEO is the business worlds latest mutation. Will it prove unviable, only to whither and die? Is this a new species built to thrive in a creative economy? Watch the panel of pros, practitioners, and pundits have it out. Will the design industry be a fertile training ground for next gen creative execs or should designers stick to what they do best and leave the business to the MBAs?
When: Tuesday, October 1, 2013, 6:30pm–8:30pm
Where: Haft Auditorium, F.I.T, 227 West 27th Street, NYC
Price: $10 AIGA members, $5 AIGA student members, $15 Innovation by Design attendees, $10 student non-members, $15 general public

3/ Jane Nisselson, Cinematics of Systems, Processes, and Beautiful Things
Jane Nisselson is the founder of Virtual Beauty, a film production studio whose Webby-nominated short films focus on the intersection of design, science, and engineering.
When: Tuesday, October 1, 2013, 6:30pm–8:30pm
Where: Design Criticism MFA Department, School of Visual Arts, 136 West 21 Street, 2nd Floor, NYC
Price: Free and open to the public

4/ An evening Vince Frost
Vince Frost will discuss design projects he has completed in the last ten years as head of Frost* Design.
When: Wednesday, October 2, 2013, 6:30pm–8:30pm
Where: Aperture Foundation, 547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor, NYC
Price: $10 AIGA members, $15 general public

5/ Innovation by Design Conference
Fast Company’s conference of world’s best designers and design-minded business leaders consider The Business Impact of Good Design. Expect highly visual presentations, smart dialogue, and an engaging setting — all intended to elevate and amplify your creative vision. Celebrate the finalists and winners of the 2013 Innovation By Design Awards, Fast Company’s annual recognition of designers who have made groundbreaking contributions in the past year.
When: Wednesday, October 2, 2013, 8am–10pm
Where: 82 Mercer Street, NYC
Price: $695 full conference and gala; $505 group registration (3 person minimum)

6/ Luke Hayman, Pentagram: Magazines According to Luke
Luke Hayman, Partner, Pentagram, was born in England and studied graphic design at Central St. Martin’s School of Art, London, graduating in 1988. He has lived and worked in New York City since 1992. He joined Pentagram as a partner in 2006.
When: Thursday, October 3, 2013, 6:30–8:30pm
Where: Type Directors Club, 347 West 36th Street, Suite 603, NYC
Price: $5 TDC members, $15 students, $20 general public

7/ Annual Student Program 2013
The Student Program offers an inside look at the architectural profession. The program highlights the varied and creative career paths open to graduates of architecture school. The day includes: a panel discussion featuring a diverse group of dynamic young architects, afternoon studio tours at some of the city’s most interesting firms, and an end of the day reception at Ennead Architects.
When: Saturday, October 5, 2013, 11am–5:30pm
Where: Trespa Design Centre, 62 Greene Street Ground Floor, NYC
Price: $35 general public

Lessard, a Brooklyn-based designer, currently the Design Director of Aperture Foundation, began her talk with two very simple but important tips on how to be a good designer, or, in general, how to be good in life.

First: Be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Second: Find the smartest people you possibly can, and then find a way to have them around you all the time. Lessard showed a map of all the places she has lived in the United States before the age of twenty-two with a dozen dots scattered all over the map. Her parents loved adventure and taking new jobs across the country. Moving frequently taught her how to adapt and how to be “the new girl” in at least five different schools.

When it came to her second point, Lessard humbly thanked her family and her sisters for being a part of the smartest and craziest people in her life. “Sometimes you don’t have to look so far in order to find the best people,” she says. Lessard continued by mentioning Jessica Helfand, her thesis advisor at Yale, and Barbara Glauber, from Heavy Meta, whom she acknowledged with a giant bright-green starburst, “Really, I can’t thank you enough!” Lessard exclaimed. Finally, she showed a slide of her husband John. “He makes me a way better person, and a way better designer, I didn’t want to show anything pre-John.” She pointed out the importance of appreciating your surroundings and reminding you that you can’t do it alone.

Lessard, a great storyteller, delivered her talk in five different chapters:
1. The Criminal
2. The Improbable
3. The Recluse
4. The Holy Shit
5. The British Sunburn

Each chapter focused on one of her projects and how she defied obstacles along the way.

The Criminal’s brief was to “design a book that was illegal to read.” This project was a collaboration with Jill Magid, an artist who spent a year with eighteen different spies working for “Avid” (the Dutch Secret Service). Magid recorded her relationship with them, all of their stories, and wrote a book. After much effort, and Lessard’s detailed design work, the Dutch government sent the book back and erased all of the content that was strictly not allowed to be published. At times, full pages were blank. The government officials had pasted white paper over the content, and scanned the pages, something Lessard found incredibly beautiful and used in her future revisions. After much brainstorming, Lessard found a solution and kept the white blocks in the book design: she kept the page title header, the page numbers, and punctuation, which helped give the book structure, and a sense of movement even without the content. The project gained attention and after being shown at the Tate, the revised books were shown as a sculptural landscape at the New Museum.

The Improbable chapter described the process of how to transfer a website into a book under eight weeks. The challenge was that the website’s content and photography was random. Lessard used an ordered color system, to design the book “Photography Changes Everything.”

The Recluse’s brief was to design a book for an 80-year old Mexican crime photographer, Enrique Metinides, encompassing his 50+ year career. The challenge was that he didn’t speak English, nor travel outside of Mexico, yet he wanted to be involved. Lessard studied his newspaper tear sheets, his identification papers, and on the contrary, didn’t look too closely at the gory, bloody photographs for too long. As a result, she found a balance to create something personal and intimate to the photographer. She let the photographs breathe, giving them each their own spread. Lessard designed a book for Aperture Foundation and one that could be sold commercially, switching the cover’s photography. One was a shocking photograph of a car crash and the one that could be sold worldwide did not show a hint of violence that lay in the book. A sneaky move, however, was to print the cover’s wrap around double-sided and add some gore there. “When there’s a will, there’s a way”, she explained.

The Holy Shit chapter described Lessard’s latest achievements; re-designing the Aperture Foundation’s logo, the website, print collateral, books under a tiny budget. Sometimes, “you simply don’t have to look too far,” she said. She was given the first Aperture Magazine from 1951 and thought, “why did we ever leave this place? It’s perfect.”

The British Sunburn chapter describes her task to re-design a book that has already been designed by one of the best designers ever, Martin Parr’s Life’s a Beach, beautifully designed book by Xavier Barral. Lessard had to transform this luxury product into a commercial product. Time after time, the team would fire back a big “no.” Until one day, Lessard walked her dog and found a bright, green sun parasol in the trash. She thought, “This is Perfect!” After that, E-bay packages kept flowing into the office and Lessard would get more and more excited by the vintage, summer printed materials she collected. The book ended up using these prints, and they work charmingly with Parr’s photography.

Lessard’s advice can be summed up in the following tips: Be adventurous, be inspired by the people around you, take on every assignment you’re excited by even if you think it will be impossible, when using gold, use Beyonce-gold. And lastly, if you have a dog, walk it often – you never know when you’re going to find your next inspiration.

Additional Information:
Emily Lessard
Aperture Foundation

Event Details:
AIGA/NY Design + The Fixer

Event Photos:
Click here to view all photos from AIGA/NY Design + The Fixer on Flickr.
To view additional photos, or to contribute your photos, visit our AIGA New York Flickr group.

Special thanks to guest contributing writer Sophie Butcher for the AIGA/NY Emily Lessard event recap and photos. Sophie can be found at sophiebutcher.com and followed on Twitter (@sophiemmbutcher).

Lobe comfortably started with, “So, yes, tonight I am a guy.” He played a short video showing a group of ten construction men in bright yellow jackets hammering things under metal bars, drilling into walls, looking impatiently around. “I stumbled upon this scene in London,” he says, “and I thought, is this a performance? People are working so hard but nothing is happening. It’s just like my studio,” he explained.

First, he explains the title of his talk, “Translating Culture.” He believes that the main thing his design studio does is translate the culture of a company, a museum, or any brand into a graphic language. Translating is a culture within itself. The title is a play of words.

The first project he showed was an example that as designers, failing is okay and sometimes you cannot please all of your clients. H4A is an architectural firm that invited Lobe to create a new corporate design and logo. He started with a grid and then thought about how to use the grid in relation to the firm’s story. As they have several locations in Germany he thought about creating an open grid, which would allow different looking logos but always recognizable as H4A’s. He built a typeface and made refinements. The client’s reaction was an immediate no; “I think they thought this flimsy typeface looked like their building’s wouldn’t last long,” Lobe explains. He pitched a new idea, always returning to the grid. That was his only parameter. He did this again, and again. Each time the client rejected his ideas. Lobe said that sometimes you and your client don’t fit and you have to move on. He doesn’t know what H4A’s logo looks like now. Even though he failed he has a good story and an excellent starting point for a talk.

Next, he showed posters he designed for Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim. He kept the format of each poster relatively simple, type is flush left and an image is used as a background and the logo is always on the top right hand corner. However, sometimes breaking your own rule can create the best work. He showed a poster in which no image was used but he simply drew 101 rings over the typeface which worked hand in hand with the title of the exhibition displaying 101 rings.

He explained that having a concept is incredibly important to making good design. For instance, when designing signage for buildings he always thought long and hard about the building’s surfaces, its function, its structure and the area surrounding it before designing. The Rhur Museum was a factory before becoming a museum; it was not made for men, he says, “there weren’t even any bathrooms inside, it was a machine, a little like Manhattan”. As a result, he designed a typeface that worked symbiotically with the building; clean, geometric and needed lighting. It worked perfectly for the museum but couldn’t have been used in a white cube. He showed several projects in which the design suits the building and its function perfectly.

Although Lobe is a fan of functional design he still keeps things playful and says its okay to follow your gut. When asked how to chose the typeface, he rubs his stomach and says, “It all comes from here, and it’s good to have a big appetite!”

Lastly, Lobe spoke about client relations. He showed many examples of a continued relationship with the same client for years. However, he has also worked with a client for over ten years and on a sunny Sunday morning received an e-mail that they have chosen to switch over to a new design studio. Lobe rubs his hands together for a minute and explains, “basically when you rub your hands together for too long, it can get too hot and it’s better to change hands.” Lobe said that it is important to be flexible, functional and creative. He also loves circles,“circles are a designer’s best friend, they resolve many things,” he said.

Additional Information:
L2M3

Event Details:
AIGA/NY Sascha Lobe, Translating Culture

Event Photos:
Click here to view all photos from AIGA/NY Sascha Lobe, Translating Culture on Flickr.
To view additional photos, or to contribute your photos, visit our AIGA New York Flickr group.

Special thanks to guest contributing writer Sophie Butcher for the AIGA/NY Emily Lessard event recap and photos. Sophie can be found at sophiebutcher.com and followed on Twitter (@sophiemmbutcher).

Mike Susol of Parsons Design and Technology, Tom Harman of SVA IxD, Randy Gregory of SVA Branding, Liz Seibert and Leigh Mignogna of Pratt Communications Design, Kevin Paolozzi of Cranbrook Academy of Art 2D Design, Danne Woo of NYU ITP, Bryn Smith of SVA D-Crit, Eric Hu of Yale, Javier Lopez, Young Sun Compton and Luiz Ludwig of MICA, Lizzy Showman of SVA Design, and Wael Morcos of RISD shared a lot of impressive work in a short amount of time. Their presentations underscored the true breadth and depth of thought and practice taking place at today’s best design schools. Below are a few highlights.

Liz Seibert and Leigh Mignogna / Pratt Communications Design
Liz Seibert and Leigh Mignogna shared a joint project, Geneva Kneue: A Metafont. The two worked with Susan Kare’s 1984 typeface Geneva, a bitmap font built on a simple 5×7 pixel grid, and sought to transform it into a more contemporary typeface. Using Donald Knuth’s programming language Metafont, created in 1979, they defined a few basic points for each letterform and provided instructions for connecting those points. By manipulating parameters such as letter width and height, penstroke shape, grid slant, and line format, Seibert and Mignogna created several different styles for their new typeface, Geneva Kneue. The final product is an example of both designer’s interest in “transparency,” or, as Seibert put it, “exposing the design process in the form itself.”

Bryn Smith / SVA D-Crit
Bryn Smith began by quoting Rick Poynor: “On the rare occasions that an exhibition of graphic design appears, it’s a safe bet that one complaint will always be heard. Graphic design, someone will say, just doesn’t work in a gallery.” Smith’s thesis What We Talk About When We Talk About Exhibiting Graphic Design discussed the challenges of removing design objects from their real-world contexts and placing them “under glass” in a museum. Smith shared examples of graphic design exhibitions, such as Peter Bilak’s Graphic Design in the White Cube and Julia Born’s Title of The Show, that subvert common museum practices by emphasizing reflexivity and recursivity over display. She also presented a project of her own, in which participants take a self-guided tour of everyday designed items found on New York City streets. Rather than emphasizing any one successful exhibition, Smith placed emphasized the opening of dialog. “It’s time to bring this debate boldly out into the open,” she concluded, “not to find one solution, but to embrace many.”

Eric Hu / Yale
In his thesis Platforms, Eric Hu explored the presence and function of craft in digital contexts. All media has “affordance and limitations,” he explained, or “what it can do, and what it can’t do. I’m interested in subverting those extremes.” Hu shared several projects surrounding these themes, including a script that applies digital aesthetic styling to Chinese characters drawn “by hand” with a mouse, an iPad video of a walking person that plays only if the viewer himself is walking, and a three-part thesis book whose different sections had been printed at Lulu, Blurb, and Magcloud, highlighting their differences in paper stock and color reproduction. Hu’s pieces creatively tackle the complex relationship between the digital and analog. “Growing up with a love of both computers and classical notions of typography and print design, I couldn’t settle for one of the other,” he explained. “I had to do both.”

Lizzy Showman / SVA Design
Elizabeth Showman presented In.Bounds, a crowdfunding platform that raises money for inner city school athletic programs. Showman shared an energetic graphic video advertising and explaining the goals of the program, and then gave a tour of the website itself. Visitors to playinbounds.org can read about the schools in need of support and view exactly what items — ranging from from $4 ball pumps to $600 sports camps — their donations will buy. As Rachel Abrams put it nicely in the follow-up, “this project showed a really lovely balance of craft, design thinking, and real-world application.”

Wael Morcos / RISD
Wael Morcos’s thesis In Any Form or by Any Means – Communication as Copy was composed of several projects exploring reproduction’s role in graphic design. Among other projects, Morcos shared a book of copyright notices collected and re-presented as concrete poetry, an invitation to RISD Museum-goers to recreate a portion of Monet’s Le Bassin D’Argenteuil with dot stickers, and Bozoni, a system of three stacking pixel-based typefaces that echo Bodoni’s letterforms. Morcos concluded by drawing attention to our 21-century obsession with sharing, liking, and re-posting online information. “I believe there is real insight into who we are by examining what we choose to reproduce, how we reproduce it, and how we feel about the act itself,” he said.

Thanks to all the presenters for such an inspiring evening.

Additional Information:
Mike Susol | AMERICAN VALUE$
Tom Harman | figuros
Randy Gregory | MoMA Store Destination NYC
Liz Seibert and Leigh Mignogna
Kevin Paolozzi
Danne Woo | datavisual
Bryn Smith
Eric Hu | r-e-p-l-y
Javier Lopez, Young Sun Compton & Luiz Ludwig | Seventeen-Day Studio
Lizzy Showman | In.Bounds
Wael Morcos

Event Details:
AIGA/NY My Dog and Pony: Fresh Blood IV

Event Photos:
Click here to view all photos from AIGA/NY My Dog and Pony: Fresh Blood IV on Flickr.
To view additional photos, or to contribute your photos, visit our AIGA New York Flickr group.

Special thanks to guest contributing writer Karen Vanderbilt for the AIGA/NY My Dog and Pony: Fresh Blood IV event recap and photos. Karen can be found at karenvanderbilt.com and Some of the Parts.