One of the most important things I learned about the design industry during my undergraduate studies did not happen in a classroom, it occurred during an AIGA function called ‘Feedback’.  The event invited established design professionals to look at soon-to-be graduate’s work in a mock interview setting.

Personally, I was terrified. I had done critiques before in class, but had no experience speaking about my portfolio and work as a whole. My professors simply never broached the subject.

Sienna

CE photography faculty member, J.Paul Simeone, announces the first of a series of photographic workshops for those interested in furthering their fine art photography skills.

The first series of workshops will be held in the hills of Tuscany at one of the most luxurious and exclusive destinations in Italy – Casali Di Bibbiano. This villa, vineyard and winery offer a bit of “heaven on earth” to its visitors who can’t wait to spend a week in paradise.

The one week workshop, in spring 2012 and fall 2012, will include daily lectures and personal instruction as well as photo shoots in Florence, Siena and Montelpulciano.

The Maya Archaeology Initiative, a nonprofit that supports education for Guatemalan children, is challenging a claim by Kellogg’s, the maker of Froot Loops, that its use of a toucan image infringes on the cereal giant’s Toucan Sam character.

The MAI logo can be viewed at www.mayaarchaeology.org or below.

MAT logo

In a detailed response to Kellogg’s, Maya Initiative legal counsel Sarah Mott explained that the toucan in MAI’s logo looks nothing like Kellogg’s cartoon character and said the two entities are not in competition. MAI’s logo is based upon a realistic toucan native to Mesoamerica, while Kellogg’s Toucan Sam is a cartoon character with colors that represent Froot Loops’ food coloring.

The ‘idea’ of a graphic designer has undeniable appeal.

Where once the occupation was seen as mundane and unnecessary, graphic designers are now regarded as a vital and meaningful role in every company. In the consumerist, advertisement-laden world we live in, demand for the position has never been higher. Graphic designers control the very way viewers see and interact with products and services. Now, more so then ever before, graphic designers need to be cognizant of this very important fact.

The famous (and infamous) Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe is about to hit the city in a big way. This multi-day, multi-art annual performance showcase brings, as they put it:  “the world’s newest and most cutting-edge cultural experiences to our city, amplifying the vibrancy of Philadelphia as a renowned cultural center and an unparalleled place to live, work and visit.”    I agree!  This marks the 15th year and, of course, it will be pioneering, challenging, exciting, off-kilter and inspiring for all.

Title: Namasya Photo: L. Philippe Pictured: S. Shivalingappa

Greg Pizzoli's Award Winng Piece

An esteemed panel of judges pored over more than 200 portfolios to choose winners for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Portfolio Showcase at the 40th Anniversary SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles. A portfolio grand prize winner and three honor winners were chosen.

By: Christina P. Day (Instructor, CE + Pre-College)

This past June, I was awarded a month-long full fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont, an internationally recognized art residency that offers writers, painters and sculptors four to eight week stays.  During the residency, I planned to complete a double “twin” window frame wall-hung sculpture, a piece that I started while on residency at Sculpture Space in Utica, NY in 2008.  I received a Continuing Studies Faculty Enrichment Grant this year to help with the financial costs of materials and tools needed to create the piece.  With this grant I was able to purchase lumber and materials as well as a Dewalt router and router table necessary to complete the construction of the piece.  The VSC full fellowship and supplemental grant from Continuing Studies at UArts allowed me to focus on articulating this piece to its best effect during my stay at VSC.

What fuels designers?  Creativity, coffee….and good music would be near the top of that list.

I just heard about  a new live music venue opening in Philly: Union Transfer. Named after the original train station that occupied the building at 1026 Spring Garden Street, this venue was developed by The Bowery Presents, an independent promotion company based in New York City, Sean Agnew of R5 Productions, and Avram Hornik and Mark Fichera of Four Corners Management, in order to meet Philadelphia’s need for a mid-sized live music space. Union Transfer is slated to officially open on September 21, 2011 with a show by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

King Taco Photography_Christopher Boetticher designer

The students in Mia Rosenthal’s summer Web I course have agreed to share the websites they built using HTML + CSS. The process involved the creation of Photoshop mock-ups to be used as guides. The students understand the importance of having a solid idea of what the design ‘should’ look like before starting on the coding and how it can be a great help. It is important to remember that a website is not an image. A finished website is a flexible, moving thing, built with HTML or CSS. Photoshop gives us (and the client) an ‘expectation’ of how a website will look- but not how it will behave. The students were also challenged to thinking about how their design would translate into code all the way through the design process- never forgetting- for a good designer, content drives design!

I know October may seem a long way away on a hot summer day, but excitement is already building for the 7th Design Philadelphia event this fall.  Mark your calendar for October 13 – 23 to check out incredible design openings, lectures, events and more.  Here’s a video recently filmed at First Friday with Philadelphians talking about design in their lives: First Friday Video about  Design

Design Philadelphia

Learn more about Design Philadelphia and hope to see you in October!