| AIGA SAN DIEGO | SEPT 2006 | Mario Porto, AIGA Communications Chair |
We’re happy to present the first issue of Lorem ipsum, a monthly e-newsletter written exclusively for members of AIGA San Diego, one of the country’s most active AIGA chapters.
Looking for new ways for you or your firm to get involved in San Diego’s flourishing design community? Want to bridge into the national scene? Each issue will highlight upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and a profile on a local San Diego designer or firm breaking new ground in the design world.
We encourage you to let us know what you think about this premiere issue, and share with us any ideas you have for future issues. Members are welcome to submit articles and story ideas for consideration, as well as news items and upcoming design events.
Contact us at editor@aigasandiego.com.
We all have seen a design and thought "I could do better!" Here's your chance to prove it. We're looking for you to submit designs for the new AIGA San Diego newsletter banner. Each month we will display a new banner, along with your credit info for all to see. Selections will be made by the PR/Communications Committee at their discretion. If you’d like to get involved and help call the shots, email editor@aigasandiego.org. Show us what you've got, San Diego!
Submission requirements:
- Banners submitted must be a 425 x 100 pixel jpg or gif. No animation or Flash; only jpg or gif will be accepted. File size must be less than 20k.
- Email your file as an attachment to editor@aigasandiego.com with “Banner Submission” in the subject line.
- In the body of the email, include your name or your firm’s name and a link we can use to credit you.
- You may use any photos, illustrations, or other legal images you’d like.
- Banners cannot promote a design firm, designer, or any other organization.
- You must use the "Lorem ipsum" title and subhead, "We speak your language."
- We encourage submissions that creatively represent our local design community.
- Lorem ipsum preferably uses a capital “L” and lowercase “i.”
- Submit as many ideas as you want.
- You must be a current AIGA member. If you are not a member, join here.
I wanted to take a minute and include a few comments in our first issue of Lorem ipsum. I plan to use this forum to share what AIGA is doing for our industry, how we are supporting those initiatives locally, and to spotlight things you might not know about AIGA and your local chapter.
For instance, AIGA has recently updated its mission. After a century of success, AIGA has outgrown its original purpose as a club for New York graphic artists–book designers, typographers and printers. We’re now the leading association for communication designers–visual designers, identity designers, environmental designers, information designers, package designers, motion-graphics designers, interaction designers, customer-experience designers, strategic designers and others.
The mission of AIGA is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool and global cultural force. Our goals are to stimulate thinking about design, demonstrate the value of design and empower the success of designers across the arc of their careers.
As members of AIGA, we directly benefit from the efforts of our national staff and local chapters who uphold that mission.
I am occasionally asked, “What do I get for my $295 membership dues?” So, in this issue, we present an overview of where your money goes and all the benefits that you get for the price.
Hit the link below to see just how your membership dues are spent. I think you’ll be amazed at what you find out!
All the best,
Ken Miracle
President, AIGA San Diego
AIGA | the professional association for design
There’s a good chance they designed the album art for at least one CD in your collection. As you read this, you may even be wearing a t-shirt they designed, or perhaps you’ve done a kickflip or ollie with one of the dozens of skateboards designed by the firm.
San
Diego-grown design duo Dave Lively and Jeff Motch of Lively and Motch
have made a name for themselves, having designed album artwork for such
multi-platinum recording artists as Jack Johnson, G. Love and Blink
182; local favorites including Rocket From The Crypt, Deadbolt, Tanner
and Heavy Vegetable; as well as t-shirts and skateboard decks for Innes,
Zero, Patagonia and Von Zipper. According to Motch, the firm got its start
designing shirts for pro surfer and filmmaker Chris Malloy.
“Dave started doing freelance projects for Chris,” he said. “They ended
up becoming good friends, and Chris asked Dave to do the packaging for
his surf video and art book, ‘Thicker than Water.’”
The Malloys eventually put Lively on retainer to design album and DVD artwork for their new record label, Brushfire Records, which they formed with North Shore surfing buddy and singer/songwriter Jack Johnson. To help out with the workload, Lively recruited Motch, a long-time friend and fellow designer at Hoodoo Advertising in La Mesa (where he was lead designer for the Padres move into PETCO Park—creating everything from season tickets to advertising).
Working for the Malloys not only provided Lively and Motch with the opportunity
to work on fun, cutting-edge projects with pro surfers and talented musicians,
it generated a word-of-mouth buzz that neither Lively nor Motch could
have anticipated.
“The family tree just keeps on growing,” said Motch. “G. Love is signed to Brushfire Records, so we started doing work for him. Then his manager liked the work, and asked us to design art for another one of his clients, singer Tristan Prettyman.”
Motch explains, “Everybody knows somebody, and if they like your work, they’ll tell their friends. Sometimes we don’t even know where new business calls come from!”
According to Lively, the firm recently received a call from someone at John Mayer’s office, requesting samples of recent work. “It was a really surprising call to get – a good surprise.”
Working with Brushfire and Woodshed has led to some other unexpected
referrals, including actress Minnie Driver, who surfs North Shore with
Johnson. Lively and Motch designed the cover art for her debut album,
“Everything I've Got In My Pocket.”
Donating design for this year’s “Kokua Festival,” a benefit concert organized by Jack Johnson’s wife to promote environmental awareness in Hawaii, allowed Lively and Motch to make the acquaintance of yet another North Shore surfer, whose father owns a petroleum company. They’ve since designed the identity and several projects for the company’s new biofuel division, USA Grown Fuel.
“We don’t have a particular design style,” said Lively. “But the work we’ve done for Brushfire has made us somewhat of a specialist. It helps potential clients have faith that we can get the job done.”
With the album art for Jack Johnson’s No. 1 debuting album, “Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies
for the Film Curious George” under their belt, as well as a t-shirt design
contract with outdoor apparel retailer Patagonia, what’s next for Lively
and Motch?
“It would be awesome to team up with a big studio, and provide the creative a larger campaign,” said Motch. “At the last ‘Y’ Conference, I was really impressed by Mick Hodgson of Ph.D. I’d love to work with him.”
For now, Lively and Motch are sticking to their two-man team and modest University Heights design studio. Stay tuned!
For more information about Lively and Motch, visit http://www.hechoensandiego.com.
Submit your firm for consideration in a Between the Lines profile by sending an email to editor@aigasandiego.com.
Wondering what goes on behind the scenes? Download minutes from this month’s AIGA San Diego board meeting.
Esquina Norte in Tijuana
September 28-30
Tijuana is once again hosting Esquina Norte or “North Corner,” the region’s premiere design conference. More than 16 international designers already have been confirmed for the three-day design conference, which features workshops and presentations in both Spanish and English.
Click here for more information: www.esquinanorte.com (Spanish version) or here to view the site in English.AIGA Orange County “Boot Camp”
September 30
Hang out in the OC and sharpen your Adobe skills at the AIGA Orange County’s
Creative Suite 2 Boot Camp + Expo. This all-day event will educate designers
on better workflows using Adobe CS2 applications including InDesign, Illustrator
and Photoshop. Special “break-out” sessions will take place
following the Boot Camp, as well as a cocktail reception featuring the
winning entries from HOW Magazine’s self-promotion competition.
Click here for more information: http://orangecounty.aiga.org/events/bootcamp
Annual Membership Party
October 5
The annual AIGA San Diego party, free for members and those who would like to sign up as members, is scheduled for October 5 at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. Come meet the board members and find out how to get involved on your favorite committee. Watch for more info soon!
Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference in New York City
October 26-28
At this year’s GAIN conference, participants will hear business
and design leaders from a variety of industries discuss case studies demonstrating
the broadening role design plays in business strategy, leadership, process,
and product. Tom Kelley, general manager of IDEO and author of The Ten
Faces of Innovation, will serve as the conference moderator.
Online registration rates:
$850 Members
$1,050 Non-members
$375 Student members (only 50 seats available)
$575 Clients (must be registered by AIGA member)
Click here for more information: http://gainconference2006.aiga.org
Speaker Series
Look for upcoming information about a speaker series starting in November.
AIGA San Diego’s LINK program is in need of volunteers to help out with design workshops during the months of August through June. Volunteering with LINK is a great way to make a difference in the life of an aspiring designer and you may even learn a new technique or two at one of the workshops!
The hottest design conference of the year is scheduled for March 30-31, 2007, and the planning is already underway! Help make Y12 the best Y Conference yet by joining a Y Conference committee to assist with sponsorships, communications, event setup and more.
A new committee is forming to create a commemorative book for AIGA San Diego, celebrating its 20-year history as a local design organization. We’re in need of a few members who would be interested in researching, interviewing, photographing and writing content for the book.
Please contact Eas Gooch, Ken Miracle or Stacey Keck for more information.
SAFE provides financial aid in life crisis situations to members of the San Diego advertising community, including such related industries as graphic design, public relations, marketing, printing, and photography. Each year, SAFE hosts its annual fundraising party and silent auction to raise funds for the organization. Interested in lending a hand? Perhaps one day it could lend you one.
Visit www.aboutsafe.org for more information. Click here to volunteer.
AIGA San Diego is a chapter of the oldest and largest membership association for professionals engaged in the discipline, practice and culture of visual communication and graphic design. AIGA San Diego holds regular events supporting the local graphic design and business community and has been touted as, “one of the hottest communities for design in the nation,” by both HOW and Print magazines. AIGA San Diego also operates LINK, a mentoring program for inner-city youth showing promise in art or design.
For more information, call AIGA San Diego at (619) 233-5470 or visit online at www.aigasandiego.org.
To unsubscribe from the AIGA San Diego mailing list, click here.
