The Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington turns 61 years old this year. That’s an incredible amount of history and heritage, especially for a city of transients like DC. If you haven’t already, take a look at our history.
What you might already know is that, since the 50’s, ADCMW has put on a great variety of events and competitions for the local creative community. But have you ever wondered who makes this all happen?
The ADCMW Board of Directors comprises a group of passionate creatives who volunteer their time to organize events and work behind the scenes ensuring that DC creatives have the opportunity to network, compete, and hear great presentations from some of the most famous faces in design.
I’m just finishing up my first term as VP of Publications and am looking forward to being involved with ADCMW for a long time to come. Serving on the Board has been an eye-opening experience when it comes to understanding how much planning and effort it takes to to organize a successful event. I’ve gained a huge appreciation for the Club’s role in our community and have worked — and become friends with — some of the most talented creatives around.
If you didn’t make it to our Talkin’ Type with House Industries event last week, I’m sorry, but you missed out on a great time. It’s understandable though, this month has been busy with back-to-back events by ADCMW and a number of other local organizations.
Rich Roat, co-founder of House Industries, shared his love for typography, the history behind House Industries, and the design process for several of their most popular type collections. On top of all that, he shared some of the new alphabet projects that we can expect to see in the very near future!
When I met Patrick Smith of Market Hardware last November at BarCamp DC, I hardly realized how inspired I’d become by just volunteering my free time to work on a project he envisioned. After all, I already very happily volunteer with FullBleed helping to solicit stories and edit articles for the ADCMW community. And, with other responsibilities on my plate outside my day job, I was a bit skeptical that I had more time to give.
But, as a fan of TED — which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design — I thought it could be fun to be part of a local version, which Patrick was beginning to plan, called TEDxPotomac. So, when he asked if anyone would be interested in volunteering, I stepped forward, and it’s proved to be such a fulfilling endeavor.
Now, after eight months and hundreds of hours of planning among passionate volunteers and supporters alike, we’re about to see the fruits of our labors distilled in a line-up of truly engaging presenters who embody our theme, “Beyond Politics: Innovation, Inspiration, and Insight.” With so many events in DC geared toward specific industries or issues, it’s refreshing to be an integral part of a more wide-spanning program whose talks range from environmental impact to electronic music, from architecture to the Encyclopedia of Life, and from cupcakes to Craigslist.
There are few true originators in the land of Hollywood, but the iconic Kyle Cooper, designer of innovative titles for everything from Sherlock Holmes to Spiderman and Speed Racer to Seven is the very definition. His breathtaking work has brought the first few minutes of a film back to the forefront of creativity after a long slumber, and made staying to the very end a newfound requirement. Not since Saul Bass has someone’s work been so analyzed and enjoyed in this respect. As one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” he transcends film and has become part of our creative fabric.
This past week, The Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington had the pleasure of hosting Mr Cooper for a sold out event at the Navy Memorial’s Penn Quarter Conference Center. Before the event, ADCMW President John Foster had a few moments to quiz Kyle on everything from his typographical heroes to the animal menagerie in his house. Listen in:
Every year the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington brings you a great variety of events. Last week we concluded 5 days of creative co-working at local coffeeshops and cafes, also known as a ‘Jelly’.
The concept of a Jelly is to provide a specific time and location where telecommuters or freelancers or just those who usually work alone can come together for a work session full of camaraderie, brainstorming, and feedback, or just a change of pace. Anyone is welcome to come, just bring your laptop or your sketchbook or your paperwork or whatever your task for the day is. Meet up at a designated place and time and enjoy a fresh take on your usual work. Maybe you’ll run into an old friend, maybe you’ll make a new friend. Either way, you’ll get out of the house or office, share some time with fellow creatives, and get some work done.
It’s resolution time, friends, and whether you’re a chronic breaker or never maker, 2010 is a whole new ball game. I realize that we’re 3 weeks in to the new decade but it’s never too late to make your annual vow to self improve.
All too often we make resolutions in order to change a life style or habit that is considered socially unacceptable. There’s the go-to resolution of quitting smoking, something my husband and I did on New Years in 2007 only to go back to smoking in October the very same year. Or working out more, which often ends up in an expensive yearly gym membership that you only go to in the first month.
I make a resolution every year. Some I’ve kept, some I’ve almost entirely blown off. Though statistics show that only 40-45% of people make New Year’s resolutions and 46% of those same people actually keep them, people who do make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their life goals than people who don’t. Think about it. Continue reading…
I’ve been wanting to go to HOW since I found out HOW existed.
I think it was the first time I saw Paula Scher speak at Syracuse University in 1999, and she went on about Pentagram and painting her crazy maps… Or it was when the Communications Design Head, Ken Hine, introduced me and my sophomore class to Tibor Kalman, The Eameses, Buckminster Fuller, and all of the other amazing creatives who have done their part to shape our industry and inspire my career…
If you didn’t make it to ADCMW’s Creative Elements event the other night, then you missed a great time. But don’t worry! There will be more; a lot more, actually.
Sponsors for the evening’s event (from left to right): Frank Wang, Corey Greeneltch, Candace Nicolls, Bill Buell & Chris Cook of Ironworks Consulting.
CEO Peter Corbett of iStrategyLabs makes an appearance at the kick-off event.
Freelance Graphic Designer/ADCMW Board Member Selena Robleto & User Experience Manager Greg Robleto of The Motley Fool. Continue reading…
This is one of the questions we asked in this month’s “Three” series. Check out what several local creatives had to say, then share your own insight via the comments below!
Which DC theaters/venues are the best to see the most innovative work?
This is one of the questions we asked in this month’s “Three” series. Check out what several local creatives had to say, then share your own insight via the comments below!
