Thursday, April 28, 2011

Wordcamp

WordCamps are community organized meetings for users of WordPress, the blogging platform and content management system that is sweeping the online world.

Come to WordCamp and learn from one another, network, and celebrate the global phenomenon that is WordPress.

Where: Johnson County Community College
When: June 11-12, 2011
Cost: $40 for students
Register NOW!

Let me know if you are planning on attending (if there is a group of you registering at once, I might be able to snag a free ticket or two).

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Local scholarship winner

Congrats to sophomore graphic design student, Eli Brumbaugh, and junior, Bethany Ediger, for winning the 2011 AAF-KC Foundation Scholarships. A well deserved honor.

sprint internship

Sprint's UXD group is hiring a visual design intern for the summer. Online job description and application form for Req# 108906BR at http://careers.sprint.com/. KCAI students certainly should meet their list of "requirements". Link directly to position.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Summer Internship in San Francisco!

UX | Research Summer Intern
gotomedia is a global leader in creating people-friendly, connected experiences. Our approach combines research, strategy and design into digital solutions. gotomedia is looking for an intern interested in multiple areas of UX design and research to work in our fast-paced, real-world environment. We currently have an open position for a paid internship at our office in San Francisco for a talented and motivated applicant.

Note: Though our ideal is a mixed-experience internship, we will consider applicants interested exclusively in UX design OR research.

You
• Are personable, proactive and self-running, with a desire to learn and a passion for user experience and research
• Are completing or have finished a bachelor’s or master’s degree in HCI, digital design or related fields
• Take a problem and figure it out yourself—in unique and creative ways
• Have a strong portfolio and can demonstrate your style of visual thinking
• Have excellent verbal and written skills—and can type really fast!
May have experience in human factors, cognitive psychology, or other
May have coding or other technical experience

Our working environment
gotomedia is located in San Francisco’s eclectic Mission District. Our loft space is casual, inviting collaboration and creativity. We revel in our flexible environment and ability to work in the manner and location that yields the best outcome. We welcome you to visit!

What you will be doing
The UX side of things demands attention to detail and a focus on real user experience strategies. You will learn task and behavior-oriented mapping and information architecture. Depending on your aptitude, you will participate in design reviews, working sessions and project meetings. Applicants who are more technically focused will have a chance to get deeper into the specifications and coding side of the solution. Design-focused applicants will participate in brand sessions, product and interaction deliverables, and more.

In the research portion of the internship, you will focus directly on projects ranging from usability to remote and in-person (contextual) studies. You will be asked to help with recruiting, testing, note taking, report writing and integration into results.

Interested?
Please send a cover letter to go2work (at) gotomedia (dot) com in email format. Attach a current resume and link to online portfolio. (Exceptions can be made if you do not currently have an online portfolio.) We will prioritize applications received on or before May 1, 2011.

Please let me know if you are interested or have questions.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A very good deal for purchasing type!

House Industries photolettering.com allows you to purchase single settings for $7 each or less through a subscription program. This allows for a cheap purchase when you just need to set a few words.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

nine-day intensive experimental book workshop

http://openbookworkshop.com/
Faculty: Denise Gonzales Crisp and Christopher Baker
Dates: July 29-August 6, 2011
Cost: $700

Over the last two decades, there have been a number of essays—and, ironically, books—that predict the demise of traditional books in the wake of digital media. Defining the term “book” loosely, as a vehicle for visual or verbal content that is organized into “sections,” this intensive nine-day workshop will challenge overly simplistic ideas about the demise of physical books by stressing instead the ways novel renditions of physical and digital and hybrid “books” carry meaning. The objective is to encourage participants to explore unconventional forms that books may take and to create an artwork/designed object that challenges ideas of what books can be.

The nine-day intensive workshop is organized by Eastern Michigan University faculty Leslie Atzmon and Ryan Molloy. It will be led by Denise Gonzales Crisp and Christopher Baker. While the instructors will guide the direction of and lead discussions at the workshop, participants will be asked to contribute their particular knowledge and skill sets and contribute to the topic through presentations of their ideas and their creative work or research. The workshop is open to students, educators, and professionals from all disciplines.

Application due date: May 15, 2011

Notification of admission: May 30, 2011

Down payment due date: June 15, 2011

Dates of workshop: July 29-August 6, 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

local graphic designer wins MasterMind award

Here's an inspiring article about local graphic designer, Sarah Nelson. Sarah works at Barkley ad agency and is also becoming a prominent fashion designer in KC. Sarah recently won the Pitch's 2011 MasterMind Awards.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

AIGA spotlight: Luke Babb

Check out this nice write-up for AIGA's member spotlight for graphic design senior, Luke Babb.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Summer internship in KC

Do you want to work in a small, hands-on studio that has made its mark specializing in unique printed materials and production techniques?

Reactor design studio is looking for a summer intern. Contact Clifton Alexander (a former KCAI graduate himself) at hello@yourreactor.com.

Micah Barta (senior) is currently working there so if you want more info you can also talk to him.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Meet Your Fellow Designers: Studio Chain Interview 01

Designer: Ivan Anthony Alonso
Grade: Sophomore
Age: 20
__________

Meet Ivan Anthony Alonso, a sophomore in the KCAI Graphic Design Department. He enjoys his grandma's tacos and the color purple (not talking about the movie). He comes to us from a fine art background, and although he came out of high school thinking about majoring in printmaking, his interest in design became much more clearer once he came to KCAI. He said, "I thought I had a good understanding about graphic design, but I was pretty much blown away at the Senior Show last year."

Ivan is a pretty eclectic kid with inspirations spawning primarily from nature and found objects. If you haven't seen his desk, I would suggest you all check it out. What you'll find are things like sharp geometric rocks on string, letterpress samples and even plants growing in whiskey bottles. As far as design goes, he likes his clean and to the point, so that means no mumbo jumbo is allowed. He also enjoys design that's organic with very free flowing compositions. When asked about his favorite typeface, he responded with Univers 49 Ultra Condensed! or anything sans serif.

So what's in store for Ivan's future? Well, he'd like to someday work for a small house firm rather than in a big corporate environment, some place that's multidisciplinary would be nice. He's also thought about becoming an art teacher. All he knows is he's really excited and really nervous, but ready to learn!

Interviewed By: Lance Flores

Thanks Lance for kicking off our Interview Chain!

Thursday, March 24, 2011


A Brief History of Title Design from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.





















this was ffffound: visual metaphors.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

a graphic design job at hallmark.

detailed announcement here.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Spring Break: Austin, Texas 2011

Good food, good times, good memories. We were in Austin for 4 days, 3 nights, and we were just in time for SXSW. We were able to hit flatstock 2011 while we were there, and it was fantastic. We toured at the Livestrong headquaters, Pentagram's Austin branch, and Sanders/Wingo. It was a very inspiring trip. You should be able to view more photos by visiting the album I made on facebook.




AIGA is really ramping up spring events

Don't miss out on these upcoming events:
1. Register now for Portfolio workshop 4/1-4/2. It fills up fast.

2. Enter your eye catching work in the A7 design awards by 4/11.

3. DIY by design will be lots of fun on 4/1.

4. Learn about designing for the web in Intro-Active session 3 on 3/24.

summer workshop with massimo vignelli


two different week-long "Dialogues in Design Summer Master designer Workshops" are being offered this summer. the first is a photography and design workshop in provence, france with armando milani. the second is a typography+graphic design and advertising design workshop with massimo vignelli and george lois in rochester, ny. both are pretty amazing opportunities and worth checking out.

http://www.dialoguesindesign.com/