kcai alum josé garcía earns national recognition

a 2005 graduate of our fine program, josé garcía, from quito ecuador, went on to earn a masters in packaging design at elisava university in spain. he recently launched his own studio, gworkshop, in quito and has been racking up multiple national awards and press for his great packaging work. the above front-page image is from the largest newspaper in ecuador. be sure to check out josé's site and then bug him for an internship this summer. a huge congrats to josé for the great work he has done. we're very proud of our grads!

Check out the recent Parse article by Marty Lane:

Failure: It’s Not That Bad

by Marty Maxwell Lane

Failure can be defined as a lack of success. But, how does one understand success within a creative practice? As a design educator, I witness fear of failing regularly. Whether a student striving for an A, a professor striving for tenure or a practitioner striving to build a practice we all have a fear of failing. However, what if the fear of failure and the accompanying baggage is worse than the failure itself?

Read more here...

website of interest

never sleep is the website for a book of the same name. the premise of the book is that "there is a major disconnect between the life of a design student and the transition to being a design professional." to that end, the book and the site offer lots of stories and advice for design students and young professionals. worth a read / look.

something from PH books

LEO FUCHS: Special Photographer From the Golden Age of Hollywood from powerHouse Books on Vimeo.

not so much about the design...but the images and video PRESENTATION.

AIGA GROUP POTLUCK & ROUNDTABLE (11-18)

Armin Vit in KC Dec 2

The Good, The Blog and The Ugly an AIGA KC event

"If you're a design blog junkie, you probably recognize the name Armin Vit (http://www.underconsideration.com/). If you've ever ranted about your design morals on Speak Up, read about the latest logo redesign debacle on Brand New, or quip'd about an inspiring project on Quipsologies, then you've interacted with his blogs. While perusing the bookshelves, you've likely seen books he's published, such as Graphic Design, Referenced. Join us as Armin Vit gives us a raw, uncensored look at his ten year design career—having grown from an almost client-less home business and a single blog to a relative publishing empire. This event won't be a cliché "best-of" slideshow. The Good, The Blog and The Ugly will give you a peek at Armin's lamest flops and cautionary tales as well as his greatest hits..."

There is also an opportunity to attend a private dinner with Armin Vit. Details on the AIGA KC site.

Liquid 9 Studio Tour (11-17-10)

Herbert Matter Documentary 11/18

Herbert Matter was a Swiss-born American photographer and graphic designer known for his pioneering the photomontage in a series of Swiss tourism posters in the early 1930’s.

Reto Caduff has now put the life and work of this great designer to film in “The Visible Language of Herbert Mater”. Director Caduff will offer one of the only showings in the Midwest at the Liberty Hall Theatre in Lawrence and will be there to discuss the making of the film.

Tickets are at the door and there will be only one showing.
$10 (cash only)
Thursday evening, November 18, 6:30-9:30, Liberty Hall/Downtown Lawrence.

Design Ranch Studio Tour (11-10-10)

Thanks, Bethany, for taking photos!

Advice For Emerging Designers

After School Special: Advice For Emerging Designers

beautiful comparison...

and i've never been on the "spruce goose."

Upcoming Events

Hey kids, check out the blog for potluck/round-table details, as well as details for our first two studio tours this semester!

Don't forget about the all-members meeting this coming First Friday at lunch! Can't wait to see your super-smiley faces!

Cheers,
Abby

What's black and white and abstract all over?

(hint: it contains dots and lines too!)

You all are invited to my ArtSounds video performance: Tuesday November 9th, 7:30 PM, Epperson.

Mine is a short video/music collaboration (created with Robb Smigielski and Daniel Eichenbaum) that will be part of a longer performance called "Quadrivium Duplum".

"The Kansas City chamber music ensemble, Quadrivium and the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance team up for an encore performance of their highly acclaimed collaboration featuring local musicians, composers and artists. Quadrivium members Jonathan Borja (flute), Kari Johnson (piano), Cheryl Melfi (clarinet), and Sascha Groschang (cello) will perform works by Chris Biggs, Jason Bolte, Andrew Seager Cole, Daniel Eichenbaum, Mara Gibson, and William Lackey with videos by Chris Biggs, Andrew Seager Cole, Rebecca Dolan, Jamie Gray and Robb Smigielski."

Be SWISSMISS's intern!

Studio612A (a collaborative workspace in NY, shared by design blogger extraordinaire swissmiss) is seeking a one month studio intern. They don't say when, but perhaps you could arrange this to occur over your winter break!

This would be a fantastic opportunity in which you would learn from designers, developers, interior designers, copy writers and bloggers:

Cameron Kozcon, FictiveKin
Larry Legend, House of Legend
Rob Weychert
Jennifer Ward, Minor Details
Erica Heinz, Energy7
William Burks Spencer, Spencer Empire
Chris Shiflett, of Analog
swissmiss

Email them and state "why you think you’d qualify". Make sure to include a link to your website (something like this would work).

more info here.

First Friday Design Exhibit

For the very first time, AIGA KC will be showing selections from the AIGA A6 Design Awards in a joint exhibition with the Young Architects Forum's Monsters of Design show. This is a great opportunity to see all the great work from both shows at the same time. Come see the winning professional and student projects!

Friday, November 5, 2010 6:00 - 10:00 pm

AIA/AIGA Office in the Crossroads
1801 McGee Street, Suite 100
Kansas City, mo 64108

American Advertising Federation of Kansas City Career Day

Monday, November 15th
9 am Opening Presentation
4 pm Portfolio Review & Wrap Up

Location Uptown Theatre
more info & registration here