innerspaeth

60 Seconds with Ethel Kessler

Over the summer, Debbie Millman emailed me and asked that I participate in the AIGA National Design Conference (which I just blogged about) as one of the 20/20 presenters. 20/20 is a short skit that started a couple of years ago as an inspirational addition to the main stage presentations at the AIGA conferences where 20 designers are invited to give a presentation on a specified topic in 60 seconds, totaling 20 minutes. In the past I’ve seen David Gibson singing opera, Michael Bierut singing the Star Spangled Banner a cappella, and last year at GAIN Moira Cullen reciting her secrets to success.

To be honest, my first reaction after reading Debbie’s email was: Are you sure she meant to email me and not some other really important “Jill”? But then I read on. This year’s 20/20 highlighted representatives from AIGA chapters nation wide, including a representative from Washington, DC and that meant me! I had a little over two months to brainstorm and prepare 60 seconds on “Make|Think” in Washington, DC. This left me with my next very heart pounding question: What the heck am I going to talk about for 60 seconds in front of 1500+ people?

It was easy to come to the right answer after brainstorming with my presenting partner, Emily Carr (a former AIGA DC President). Below is the video we produced of Ethel Kessler, and influential government designer who’s been working within and for the government for over 25 years. Ethel is as charismatic as they come and it was a delight to have the opportunity to interview her for this project.

DC: Ethel Kessler from Jill Spaeth on Vimeo.

Sweet type.

Let the weekend begin with some beautiful typography found on ffffound and sent to me by my good friend and fellow RIT alumni, Alex Cheek. By the way, Alex is the Visiting Assistant Professor of Design at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.

Enjoy and happy Friday.

Make|Think

On Sunday, I got back from 5 bliss-filled days in Memphis, Tennessee, where I was volunteering at and participating in the AIGA National Design Conference, Make|Think. AIGA, the professional association for design, holds a National Design Conference every two years. I was in Denver for the 2007 conference and in 2005 I was in Boston. Each conference always has it’s own theme, and this year it was Make|Think.

Purposely left open for each attendees’ interpretation, to me this year’s conference theme, Make|Think, is backwards. Shouldn’t it be Think|Make? Then I wonder if maybe that’s the reason for structuring it purposely opposite? Either way, the theme represents the dual roles of designers as makers of beautiful things and as strategic problem thinkers and solvers. Interestingly enough, Joe Duffy‘s recent article on Fast Company outlines the same idea of the conference, but reminds us to air on the side of simplicity in all aspects of the design process.

From the “thinking” to the “making, he says, “It begins with collecting as much input as you can regarding a particular subject and understanding the context of the world in which that product or service will exist and compete. It’s about looking for gaps in the marketplaces where others haven’t thought to go. It’s about finding the truth of an organization, where they’ve come from and what they’re capable of. And then it’s about organizing and mixing ideas and visual elements to deliver a succinctly meaningful and artistic perspective.”

It would be impossible to recap the amazingly, awe-inspiring time I had in Memphis amongst 1500 designers from across the country. In fact, much of it was captured by Alissa Walker of Gelatobaby who was the official conference real-time blogger. Make|Think with Gelatobaby is still being updated with articles, tweets using the #makethink hashtag and images on flickr that are tagged “makethink”. Here are a few of my favorites:

By jkali1

By girl*alex

By girl*alex

and

By Calebyte

As Stefan Sagmeister reminded us during his main stage presentation, it’s a good idea to take a sabbatical and experiment. He closes his studio every 7 years for 12 months and spends his time trying out various little design experiments, for which there is never enough time while running a regular practice. You too can take a break from your routine. Join us next year for GAIN, AIGA’s Business and Design conference. Mingle with old friends, search for new ideas and find your inspiration.

See you in NYC!

Needed a lil’ sumthin’ sumthin’

I know, I know. It’s been a while since I last posted. I have no excuse beyond being busy, which nobody really accepts anymore anyway, so I digress.

The Urban Cowboy, New York City’s finest designer around – Mark Guthridge – sent me this video today. I just love it and wanted to use it to inspire me to start blogging again. A little inspiration goes a long way, huh?


Letterpress Poster Printing from Joshua Gerken on Vimeo.

Story Time With Stanley

Tomorrow the branding badass, Stanley Hainsworth, will be at the Corcoran speaking on behalf of AIGA DC on his experiences in the constantly evolving world of branding, design and agency life.



But really, who is Stanely Hainsworth? Here is a snip-bit from a Q&A with GD USA:

1. ONE THING I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT
Wireless access and bananas. Whoops, that’s two, okay, make the banana wireless then.

2. STAR SIGN
Leo

3. READING
Rereading A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. What a study in juxtapositions.

4. FAVORITE TV SHOWS
The Office – BBC and U.S. version

5. FAVORITE MOVIES
Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders

6. FAVORITE MUSIC, BAND, SONG
Music: Alterna-rock/pop/opera/folk
Band: Tom Waits
Song: What a Wonderful World – Joey Ramone version

7. STRENGTH & WEAKNESS AS A DESIGNER
Inquisitive

8. NEW YEARS’ RESOLUTIONS
The same as every year: World domination.

9. IN THIS ECONOMIC DOWNTURN, NAME ONE THING YOU HAVE DONE TO WEATHER THE TOUGH TIMES
Make every pixel, period and moment count.

10. IF YOU WEREN’T A DESIGNER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
A filmmaker and author.

12. WHAT’S THE ONE THING ALWAYS IN YOUR BAG?
My iPhone and moleskin. They have become one thing. The analog and the digital attached, afraid to separate and leave each other behind.

13. IF YOU COULD SPEND 15 MINTUES TALKING TO ANY PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE?
Philippe Starck, he has branded himself while designing anything he feels like.

14. IF YOU COULD WORK FOR ANYONE, CLIENT OR PROJECT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Rebranding the U.S.

New Theme!!!

As if you (the most faithful Innerspaeth reader) didn’t notice, but things look a bit different around here. Suggestions / comments / thoughts / ideas / regarding the new layout are welcome. I’m still trying to infuse a little “Spaeth-o-rific” personality into this theme, but the basic structure is MUCH better. Wouldn’t you say?

Lips. Roosters & Michael Graves.

What do these three things have in common? They all describe my adorable new Michael Graves tea kettle which was purchased this weekend at Target.

Now, this isn’t exactly the rooster kettle I purchased, but it’s similar in it’s look at feel. I find it’s important to purchase an item from your personal list of “finer things” from time to time, and luckily for me my time was this weekend.

And now allow me to explain the title of this post:

1. Lips.
Actually spout. They must be shaped appropriately (slanted up) as to minimize spills / dripping and maximize boiling water to mug.

2. Rooster
At the top of my spout is the cutest red rooster head. When the water is boiling the rooster crows, as if to wake me from my morning slumber.

3. Michael Graves
Michael Graves, one of the most celebrated architects and designers of our time, created this tea kettle for Target. His philosophy is simple: “Good design should be accessible to all.” The Michael Graves Design Collection for Target is comprised of 200 kitchen, cleaning, storage and home décor products designed to meet your needs and enhance your lifestyle. Each piece is “an inspired balance of form and function created to infuse our daily lives with great design and joy.”

The best part is, no storage space is compromised! Since the kettle is designed to infuse my daily life with joy, why the heck would I place it in the dark depths of my pantry? It sits out on my stove for all visitors to see. In Fact, swing by and take a look yourself! A complementary cup of warm chamomile tea will be included in your visit.

RIT Alumni Association logo

My famous Alma Mater, RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) is in the process of changing the Alumni Association’s logo. I got an email yesterday to vote for one of the two choices below (the first 500 to vote get a prize! goooodie!):

or



So at first I was excited to be a part of the process. I went online and voted. It took 2 seconds. Then I began to wonder… did they already choose a logo and are they just going through the motions of soliciting alumni input but will just go with what the originally picked anyway? Is this a good process to go through when choosing a logo — to make people feel included? Does a survey like this create more buy-in from the network? This is an interesting way to handle it, but it’s been the RIT way for years. They had a similar process for selection of the new President, but it wasn’t a survey vote in, just a series of meetings around the country with each alumni network. I suppose as in institution they have to should solicit feedback from the community.

Either way, I have my favorite and I did find it interesting to be included in the process. There’s really no reason why they couldn’t choose a logo in this way, is there? Is this controlled design by committee? I wonder what the school for design has to say about the logo and the selection process…

Stay tuned…

Get Inspired!!! What is AIGA?

Many of my non-AIGA friends often wonder what I’m doing when I say “oh I have an AIGA meeting (or event, or happy hour, or conference or retreat etc).” This video was first unleashed during our Leadership Retreat last May in Omaha, NE and it explains what AIGA is and begins to quantify everything that we’re doing as a professional organization. It’s worth the 7 minutes (ooh! Don’t miss the outtakes at the end!)



We come together, with like minds, to share ideas and passions for promoting the value of design! For more information visit the national AIGA website http://www.aiga.org or my local chapter (DC) http://www.aigadc.org.

ADC Hall Of Fame 2008

It’s with absolute excitement and horray! that I’m able to say R. Roger Remington’s day has finally come! He has been inducted to the 2008 Art Director’s Club Hall of Fame!



Since 1971, the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame has recognized and honored those innovators who have made significant contributions to art direction and visual communications, and whose lifetime achievements represent the highest standards of creative excellence.

This year they’re honoring the following people along with Roger:
Alex Bogusky
Sir John Hegarty
Ray Eames
Maira Kalman
John Maeda
Bruce Weber

My experience with Roger has been through his teaching and devoted research to design history at RIT. There Roger has developed a unique scholarly resource, the Graphic Design Archive, where I worked for two years. This project involves preserving and interpreting the original source materials of 19 Modernist design pioneers such as Lester Beall, Will Burtin, Cipe Pineles (the woman whom my cat is named after), William Golden and Alvin Lustig among others.

Congratulations Roger!