Recently I attended the first ever Phoenix Design Week. A movement that brought together creatives ranging from student to professional. There were exhibits, mingling, conferences, and of course the after party at the Clarendon Hotel. It was a great turnout and a big success considering it's the first design week for Phoenix.
I attended the student poster contest at the Kitchen Sink Studio downtown. It was great to see what fellow students were submitting, their personal style, and the message each poster presented (supporting a cause or organization). Some were really interesting, while some I felt lacked the connection between the message and the imagery/type solutions used. Oh well, at least there were cupcakes and wine.
I also attended the exhibitions at the Santy Agency. They featured logos rejected by clients, illustrations by Daniel Davis from Steamcrow, posters submitted by designers around the valley promoting PHXDW, and much more. They also had an apple pie that was amazing, I thought I should throw that in there. I bumped in to Susannah Fields and Mark Anthony Munoz from Ripe Creative, who are just some of the greatest down-to-earth people I know (which by the way are working hard on putting together next year's ADDY Awards). It was great hanging out, meeting new people, and seeing familiar faces.
Friday was a big night, Typophile made it's debut. It was a full house down in Tempe. It was the biggest congregation of design nerds like me. Only we would watch short films on typography and enjoy it. Some made us laugh, some left us in awe, some made us think, and some made us scratch our heads. But, all in all it was a great film festival!
I also had the honor of hearing Debbie Millman, head of the American Institue of Graphic Artists (AIGA) and President of the Design division at Sterling Brands, speak at ASU. She shared the top things she wish she knew when starting out. Needless to say, it was one of the most intriguing, eye-opening, and inspiring "lectures" I have heard. After her presentation, I shamelessly sneaked down and shook her hand.
The Saturday conference was an exciting and busy day. I attended a number of lectures including: Web Anatomy: Introducing Interaction Design Frameworks by Robert Hoekman, Talk to Your Client Like Your Mom by Russ Perry, and Design Solutions for the Fluid Web by Stephanie Sullivan. I was very impressed with the speakers, all were very down-to-earth, informative, and humorous. It was a breadth of knowledge and experience that was different compared to school courses. I always enjoy hearing stories, and learn from them. I think going to events like these, and talking to all sorts of people in the industry really puts one ahead of the game. I can't help but raise my eyebrows at some of my fellow colleagues that go to school, but don't attend events or network with others in the industry. Makes me wonder who really wants this and who doesn't.
Enough of my ranting. The after-party at the rooftop of the Clarendon was awesome. The weather was perfect, the music great, and the food delicious. I got to hang out with some great people, hand out a couple of business cards, and watch an arm-wrestling match by a couple of gents that may have had too much to drink. Design week was amazing overall (although I felt politics should have been kept out of panel discussion).
Big thanks to Arizona AIGA and Mark Dudlik, amongst a myriad of other determined industry professionals and students who helped put it all together. PHXDW 2010!
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