79NM

// ENTER CAUSE/AFFECT DESIGN COMPETITION BY JUNE 19TH

Before class ends for the semester, consider submitting your social design projects to the AIGA San Francisco's biennial cause/affect design competition, "for do-gooders who do good." The work entered must promote or support social good, but not contribute directly to the profit of a commercial organization, and it has to have been produced between November 1, 2007 and June 19, 2009. The deadline is June 19.

Winning work will be showcased at the cause/affect awards ceremony in July, on the cause/affect website, and displayed at the AIGA SF gallery through the summer. A portion of any proceeds from the competition will be donated to a local non-profit organization.

Three Academy of Art University students walked away with awards from the AIGA's first cause/affect competition in 2007.

For more information, or to download the entry form, click here.

// PHIL HAMLETT TO CO-MODERATE DESIGNERS ACCORD EVENT

Academy of Art University's Phil Hamlett, along with Nathan Shedroff of the California College of the Arts will co-moderate an event on behalf of Designers Accord. The event takes place on Thursday, April 30th from 6pm - 8:30pm in the California College of the Arts boardroom.

DESIGN EDUCATORS SUSTAINABILITY ROUNDTABLE

Please join the Designers Accord and other members of the Bay Area design education community for a roundtable discussion on sustainable design curricula in higher education.

The Designers Accord's educational community represents a diverse network of design educators, schools, and departments, committed to integrating sustainable design principles into their academic curricula.

Seating is limited, so RSVP soon.

// ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TO ATTEND NY ART DIRECTORS CLUB DESIGN PORTFOLIO REVIEW

Four Academy of Art University Graphic Design students have been selected to attend the 2009 Art Directors Club National Student Portfolio Review. The Design Portfolio Review will take place in New York on Monday, May 4th at the Art Directors Club Gallery.

The four students are:

Carl Bender, who was aided by Debbie Millman for his thesis project, Corporate Revolt;

Ashley Ciecka and Michael Jeter, who created a social design initiative called The SoftSpot; and

Dave Gottwald, creator of themerica, an in-depth study of thematic design.

This prestigious event is limited to only 100 students per day and is an exceptional career opportunity. Creative professionals in advertising, design, and communications meet and review portfolios from 200 of the most promising graduating seniors in advertising and graphic design. Students will benefit from encouragement, feedback, and job offers from the foremost art directors, creative directors, and designers and creative recruiters in the NYC area.

// FUSE CONFERENCE TO EXHIBIT ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY STUDENT WORK

Academy of Art University students from Michael Osborne's graphic design class have been asked to present during the Art Lunch on Friday, April 24th at the 13th annual FUSE Design & Culture, Brand Identity & Packaging Conference.

During the Art Lunch, held at 12pm on the closing day of the Fuse Conference, the students will be presenting a branding project assigned in Osborne's class. Osborne split his students into three groups and ran the class like his "design office," presenting this classroom with a theoretical situation: Target plans to launch a new chain of upscale retail stores combining the high-profit business offerings of Williams Sonoma and Crate & Barrel all under one roof. "My students were required to develop individual branding strategies, a design brief that delineated their direction, mood boards, ideas for how to categorize products, new product concepts, and packaging for all products," says Osborne.

The Art Lunch is an excellent opportunity for students to meet potential employers, including national branding, packaging, and design experts from companies who will be in attendance such as Apple, General Mills, McDonald's Corporation, and Unilever Visual Branding.

// ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY ALUM AWARDED HEIDELBERG SCHOLARSHIP

Matthew Wakeman, 2005 BFA School of Graphic Design Graduate and adjunct professor of Graphic Design 1 & 2 and Typography 2,  was awarded the Heidelberg Scholarship for the Executive MBA in Creative Leadership program.

Executive MBA is a global program that focuses on strategy, innovation, change management, and executive leadership skills. It is organized into two-week modules in Berlin, Chicago, New York, Shanghai and Tokyo, spread throughout a year.

Wakeman, who has been working in the Brand Expression group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC as a Senior Designer/Art Director, says, "this is the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm incredibly excited about this chance to travel the world with other creative leaders to engage in enriching executive study. I have always wanted to continue my education and I simply cannot think of a better way for me to do just that."

// AIGA'S MAURICE WOODS TEACHES INNER CITY YOUTH AT THE ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY

"The goal of all Inneract Project classes is to teach kids to be creative thinkers," says Maurice Woods, co-chair of Education for AIGA. "The core of what designers do is rooted in their ability to be thinkers and communicate ideas that are meaningful, clear and direct."

This Spring, the Academy of Art University is playing host to the Inneract Project, a design program whose mission is to provide inner city youth with a means of communicating issues of violence, love, hate, oppression, and cultural awareness through graphic design.

Inneract Project's founder Maurice Woods says about this Spring's program, "Middle school students are given a main assignment, several daily exercises, and creative games as part of a six week curriculum. They do not use computers-instead they use sketch pads, markers and magazines. The main assignment for the San Francisco session is to design a postcard and flag that represents a fantasy destination. Daily exercises that work to achieve this object include a flipbook exercise, converting photograph into a black and white image, typography and layout discussions."

Woods says special thanks should go to the Academy of Art University for lending the classrooms to make the program possible, as well as the teachers and teachers' assistants, who have volunteered time for the program; Carmen Rickenbach,Katie Miller, Eileen Lee, Chantal Sanchez, Robin Weir, Charmian Naguit, Jan Yeager, Jason Barnes, and Azi Rad.

// NOT TO BE MISSED IDEAS THAT MATTER PRESENTATION APRIL 13 AT 7PM

Phil Hamlett, Ideas that Matter judge, appears on the cover of the call for entries.

Ideas that Matter is coming to the Academy of Art University on Monday, April 13 at 7PM for a special presentation for School of Graphic Design students, instructors, friends and family. The evening will focus on explaining the Ideas that Matter grant program and coaching students in the proposal-writing and grant form-filling process. "My students have GOT to be a part of this not to be missed event!" says Phil Hamlett.

The night's program will include:

Terry Marks, principle of tmarks design in Seattle and 2008 winner of a $20,000 Ideas that Matter grant for his work with Autism Spectrum Treatment and Research will present his work and success stories.

Kathleen Rye from Sappi Fine Papers will give an overview about the Ideas that Matter grant, and

Deb Aldrich from D&A Company will instruct students on how to create a winning proposal.

Sappi Fine Papers started Ideas that Matter 10 years ago, and since then has awarded $9 million in grants worldwide to designer-nominated and -produced projects, supporting causes that ranged from youth centers and health care awareness to wildlife protection.

Click here for more specific details.

The deadline to submit your Idea that Matters is July 17th!

// APPLY BY APRIL 30TH FOR JOHN BIELENBERG'S PROJECT M SUMMER PROGRAM

 

If you made it to John Bielenberg's presentation at 79NM last year, or saw him at Compostmodern 09, and if you're committed to exploring how design can shape a sustainable future, you'll be interested to know that Project M is accepting applications for their summer program. The program, Project M South, will be in Greensboro, AL, from June 1 - 27.

There are only 8 openings available and entry deadline is April 30th so apply soon.

Click here for the application.

// DEBBIE MILLMAN TAKES ON THESIS ADVISOR ROLE FOR ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY DESIGN STUDENT

 

Academy of Art University student Carl Bender, graduating this May with and MFA in Graphic Design, was advised by Debbie Millman for his thesis project. Corporate Revolt, Bender's thesis project, consists of a factitious worst-case scenario that is presented as authentic, and works to "question the influence of corporate, branding and advertising power in a culture consumed by consumption. Its goal is to encourage citizens to examine their response to commercial messaging and to play a more active role in determining the limits of corporate power in American society."

In Bender's scenario, a handful of America’s top corporations form a collective called Anarkon, whose goal is to sell a revolution to the public through a targeted branding and marketing campaign. The objective of this revolution is a corporate sponsored state more conducive to maximizing shareholder profits. In the process Anarkon will create and meet a need by selling not only the ideology of revolution, but the supplies necessary to carry it out.

Bender says Millman's aid helped him to "solidify the purpose and thinking" behind Corporate Revolt. "From the first time I picked up the phone with her until the last session we had, I was continually being challenged as to why I was doing things the way I was and because of that I think I got good at defending and explaining my thesis... and that has been invaluable."

See more of Carl Bender's work at okaybeta.com.

// ALUMS: RE-CONNECT WITH US

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