More Infographics

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/06/25-useful-infographics-for-web-designers/

Great Custom Lettering from LetterCult (courtesy of Jason Santa Maria)

From LetterCult, the best custom lettering of the year so far. Seriously gorgeous stuff. http://bit.ly/6dElR

An Open Letter to Design Students Everywhere

A wonderful, inspiring post by Jessica Helfand that's very relevant to all of us.

My favorite part?
"So here's what you do: never stop thinking. Never stop asking questions. Never, never stop reading, looking, imagining what else can be done. And don’t be afraid to start small. You’ll get there, eventually. And when you do? Send somebody a thank you note."

Read Post

50 excellent data visualizations

Check it out here

Second annual KCAI Graphic Design Student Awards

The Weingart Award: Awarded for superb achievement in formalism.
1. Curtis Pickel

The Kalman Award: Awarded for imbuing work with conceptual depth and meaning.
1. Sean Shockley

The Hofmann Award: Awarded for outstanding rigor and diligent process.
1. Tammy Shell

The Lausen Award: Awarded for outstanding social/ethical awareness and advocacy through design.
1. Rebecca Daugherty

The Tschichold Award: Awarded for significant growth & transformation.
1. Ryan Shawgo

The Bierut Award: Awarded to the most articulate in oral and written communication.
1. Adam Tramposh

The Emigre Award: Awarded for a fearless and exploratory approach.
1. Cameron Perry

The Poyner Award: Awarded for insightful contribution in critique.
1. Matt Anderson

The Cooper Award: Awarded for boldly embracing technology in design.
1. Ian Tirone

The Lupton Award: Awarded for positive citizenship in KCAI's graphic design studio community.
1. Andrea Morris

the creative process from A to Z (then repeat)

"High-flying ups and sideways-spiraling downs. False starts and fresh starts. The creative process can be unpredictable. Brent Barson’s short film F is for Fail is the story of one person’s creative roller coaster, told through type in an evocative A to Z." Watch Brent Barson’s F is for Fail.

trek bicycle graphics designed by shepard fairey for lance armstrong. lance will be riding this bicycle in the 2009 giro d'italia that starts on may 9. crazy.

!!!ENTER!!! 2009 Adobe Design Achievement Awards

Get Recognized for Your Work on an International Stage.

The 2009 Adobe Design Achievement Awards give higher education students from around the world the shortcut to brilliance to propel their careers in the future. Enter in 12 categories in 3 media areas endorsed by the industry. Cash prizes will be awarded during the Icograda World Design Congress in Beijing, China. Submissions close June 5, 2009. For more information and to submit: www.ADAAentry.com

FYI: Last year our sophomore Sheila Wong and junior Kristy Tilman both made it to the final qualifying round.

Any design writers out there?

The Winterhouse Awards for Design Writing & Criticism is offering a $1,000 Education Award to the student whose writing demonstrates the greatest evidence of eloquence, analysis, perspective, insight and original thinking to further a public understanding of design in contemporary culture.

The education award is for a single work of student writing addressing any design discipline or form, including but not limited to: architectural, environmental, fashion, graphic, industrial, information, interactive, product and strategic.

Students may be from any academic discipline, as long as the subject of the work is design. Students must be currently enrolled or have graduated within the year, and must be either a U.S. citizen or resident of at least three years.

The deadline is June 1. Visit www.aiga.org/writingawards for more information.

VML studio team

There are 3 full-time salaried positions open on VML's studio team – a small team within VML that supports the different creative teams with production capabilities. You'll get opportunities to do creative concepting, but the primary role is creative production. The positions are designed to last one year with the designer graduating to an Art Director position, or moving on.

They are looking for graduating seniors that are interested and skilled in the interactive realm and also strong all around designers. If this is you, apply to Farrah McGuire (fmcguire@vml.com).

as you are getting ready for the job search

Check this list of online job boards.
And easy online portfolio creation sites.

• Coroflot
• 37signals job board
• AIGA jobs
  
• Creative Hotlist
• DO job board
• Print job board
• Krop
• Behance
• design related
• cargo (beta)

Idee Labs

Filtering your search by color is becoming quite popular. Google just released this functionality about a month ago. But, Idée is doing some fantastic research on image association. Check out their labs where you can filter Flickr images by compounding color, find similar images based on composition, and even upload your own photo for a content-aware search.....amazing.

Swiss graphic design comes to America

Thursday, May 14, 2009
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Irving Auditorium
Graphic Design student awards ceremony to follow!

call for KCAI aiga student group officer nominations

Interested in getting more involved with aiga? Email me this week.

> programming: Coordinates and plans events and activities
> communications: Coordinates and creates promotional materials for events
> membership: Promotes new membership and coordinate volunteers
> treasurer: Directs fund raising activities and coordinates money distribution
> board representative: acts as liaison between and advocate for kc board and kcai student group

What two CCA students did after graduation...

"ok, so you’ve graduated from design school. Now what? For 24-year-old Andre Andreev and 27-year-old G. Dan Covert, the answer was to start up a studio, dress code, and write a book about the experience of transitioning from school to work." Read the rest of the article here.

GD 2009 SENIOR SHOW

OPENING RECEPTION / FRIDAY MAY 1, 6–9 PM SENIOR EXHIBITION / MAY 1–17

FOUR YEARS AGO is a culmination of work created by senior graphic design students from the Kansas City Art Institute. It is an opportunity to celebrate four years of academic accomplishment. The show features a range of self-defined projects illuminating new visual and conceptual strategies for communication. Student projects demonstrate the critical role of design in educating, entertaining, and persuading a range of audiences in diverse contexts. Location: Kansas City Design Center 1018 Baltimore Ave. Kansas City, MO 64105

www.fouryearsago.com

advertising internship

BURN Advertising, has an opening for a part-time internship. This is a non-paid position, expected 15-20 hour a week dedication.

www.wowthatburns.com. Their website does not show any work so I'm unsure of the type of or quality of projects produced there, however, they state in their job announcement that your learning experiences include:

• graphic design (identity development, brochures, event materials, websites)
• creative concepting
• project management
• client presentations
• art production
• branding

To apply, please contact:
Sarah Kelsey
Brand Evangelist / Creative Director
BURN Advertising
913.481.6630

Bruce Mau Lecture Highlights

I know many of you did not get the chance to make the 45 minute trek to Lawrence for the Bruce Mau lecture, but I took notes on some things that he said which I thought were particularly interesting.

"We don't say this is how we do it, we say these are the tools."
He was talking about design not being as solution that you come up with somewhere else in an office and then give to people, but something that you co-create with them in order for it to have more meaning for them.

"Imagine, we can make the world a teaching experience."

"Current education deadens our sense of wonder fro the creative world."
Once you learn how the trick is done, not only are you no longer impressed by that trick, but skeptical of all subsequent tricks.

"If everyone lived like Americans we would need 4 additional earths to accommodate the resources we consume."

"Most inventions fail because the context isn't ready."

"Design is matter and energy combined with intelligence, creating delight and leaving matter behind. what we have to do is create something out of what is left behind."
I thought that was a interesting definition for design, but entirely true. It is a lack of doing things with what is left behind that is one of the reasons Americans would need four additional Earths.

"Words fall down."

Lunch Lecture :: Joe Cavallero :: Wed 4/22

Bring yourselves and your lunches to Futura this Wednesday when
Joe Cavallaro comes from Payless for this weeks Lunch Lecture. If I'm not mistaken, he will also pitch the Payless Summer Internship after his lecture. So, don't miss it!

Comic Sans has made it to the Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123992364819927171.html?mod=yhoofront

Thanks to Bryan Jones for the link.