Studio On Fire :: What you missed...

Yesterday, Lindsey and I went to Minneapolis for a Studio On Fire workshop. If you've ever sat by me in class you know just how obsessed I am about letterpress printing and Studio on Fire is the cream of the crop. This event sold out in 2 hours which is just to prove that you should never hesitate to sign up for an event!

We met tons of great students and professionals there.
Below is Lisa Valley's post about the Studio on Fire workshop:

Imagine how thrilled I was to go on a letterpress tour last night! Not only do I love the impression of design into a soft cotton sheet but I love watching machines make magic! Plus, I got to run not one, but TWO presses! (Okay, so I simply ran a single sheet of coasters through two presses in a highly supervised environment.) It was fun and hands on.

Letterpress printed materials make you want to reach out, touch and run your fingers over the indented surface. It doesn’t get much better than this, folks!

::photo courtesy of Lisa Valley::

Studio On Fire began with Benjamin Levitz printing in his basement. After spending 40 hours a week at a design job and an additional 40 hours a week at Studio On Fire, he realized it was time to go all-in to the letterpress world. Studio On Fire is ten years going strong.

Studio on Fire is more than just an awesome printer. They also offer full design services. And they have their own line of cards! Check out Studio On Fire’s website and blog.




more photos of the event on flickr

Make/Think: AIGA Design Conference

Join us in Memphis this October!

“Make/Think,” the 2009 AIGA Design Conference, will explore the dual roles of designers as makers of beautiful things and strategic problem solvers. Join us in Memphis to celebrate design excellence, reinforce friendships and connections and stimulate thinking about the critical issues that surround design practice.

Find your mojo in Memphis this October with a stellar group of main stage speakers, dozens of specialized affinity sessions, roundtables with design luminaries, the excitement of “Command X: Season 2,” hands-on activities, workshops, studio tours and plenty of networking.

Don’t miss out on “Make/Think.” Register now!

Cocktails with Creatives :: August

Mark your calendar, you don't want to miss this Cocktails with Creatives!

Thursday, August 6, 2009 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Tiger Sushi 2
2841 Lyndale Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55408


Each month AIGA Minnesota hosts a mixer event at various venues around the Twin Cities. This event is a great networking and social opportunity so bring your business cards and your ideas! Members and non-members alike are welcome.

e-mail or comment if you plan on attending.

AIGA event: Makin' Stuff with Studio on Fire

Makin' Stuff' with Studio On Fire - A Design & Letterpress Workspace.
From a mysterious letterpress obsession that occupied a spot in the basement between the boiler and the litter box, fast forward ten years to a bustling design and print studio consistently producing national award-winning work. Studio On Fire has grown by embracing two principles: design and craft. Making stuff that people actually want and doing it with love and an expert eye toward detail is what we are all about.
Fall 2009 will mark the 10th anniversary of letterpress printing at Studio On Fire, so lets all make some stuff together and talk about what it takes to successfully mash up design and craft in a modern letterpress shop. We'll have our chat and see the iron beasts in action, pressing some super special, collectable take-aways. Ask questions, watch the process and get inspired to embrace your inner basement dweller.
studioonfire.com

This event is open to current AIGA members only. Seats are limited. Sign up today!
Thursday, July 30, 2009 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Studio On Fire
1621 East Hennepin Ave #226
MInneapolis, MN 55414
Cost: AIGA members (all levels) - $10.
Refreshments will be served.


I met Ben from Studio On Fire at Design camp and he was truly awesome and the work they crank out at the studio is to die for! This is a super cheap event and if you're in the cities you'd be crazy to pass it up. Leave a note if you plan on going - maybe us Stout kids can meet up for dinner or drinks later on.

Luncheon Series 2009: "Design With Heart"

Here's another AIGA event: Luncheon series 2009: 'Design with Heart" with Robyn Waters

Thursday, May 28th
11:30-1:15
International Market Square, Suite 185


Join us for lunch as Robyn provides a thought provoking environmental scan of the macro marketplace that takes you deep into the hearts and minds of the consumer. Her presentation will challenge you to look at trend ‘from the inside out’ by focusing onwhat’s important instead of just what’s next.

Robyn Waters has over thirty years experience tracking and translating trends into sales and profit. As Target’s former Vice President of Trend, Design, and Product Development, she helped a small regional discount chain become a national fashion destination.

Type Type Type!

A few weeks back I received an e-mail from 2008 Stout Grad Hannah Roesler all about type. Just thought I'd share it with the rest of you.

15 Typography Sites:

I love typography
Type Theory
Typography Served
Use Typography
Type Directors Club
TypeNeu: An Odyssey in Typography
Typographic Collaboration | Typophile
Type For You
The Font Feed
Betatype
Typographic Posters
Upscale Typography
Slanted Typo Web Blog and Magazine
Font Lover
My Fonts: Find Fonts, Try Fonts, Buy Fonts

Also you can browse those sites for FREE fonts download

Dafont - One of the most popular sources of free fonts
Urban Fonts - More than 8,000 fonts to choose from
Fonts 500 - The web’s top 500 free fonts Of course there is plenty more sites, its just a fast review of some of the best sites for inspirations…
Fawnt - Over 9,000 fonts
Better Fonts - 10,000 fonts and counting
Abstract Fonts - 10,000 free fonts
Daily Free Fonts - Thousands of free fonts
SearchFreeFonts - 13,000 free fonts and more that can be purchased
1001 Free Fonts - Nicely categorized
1001 Fonts - Free fonts by category

Olsen Design seeking a summer intern

One of Stout's grads who works at Olson Design in MSP called to ask my why no Stout people have applied. If you are interested in an internship for the summer--get your digital book to these people now because they are making a decision this week.

Contact kwolf@oco.com - Karl was a bit upset that he saw no Stout interest.

It looks like on their site that the Web Development Internship was due May 5th... Not sure if that's the position they are trying to fill.

Where are they now? : Justin Mueller

We're going to try out another new thing on our blog where we take a peek at what Stout Grads are doing these days.
The first up is Justin Mueller, a Multi-Media Design graduate of 2008. I met him through mutual friends and he has been one of my favorite 'go-to' guys. He is full of tips and tricks and is always willing to share his knowledge. Visit his site too! Justin currently works at August Ash in Minneapolis as a web designer. He is not able to show what he's been doing for them but a few of his freelance projects are pictured below.

Dessert First is in Eau Claire. Check out the website here

Live Nocturnal was Justin's senior project which helps assist planning a night out on the town.
Check out Live Nocturnal here.

Justin's also worked on BDP's website and the Art and Design Department's website.

So here's the informal interview:

Who are you?
I am Justin Mueller.

When did you graduate?
I graduated May of '08 in Multimedia but took a good share of GD courses.

What was your favorite class at Stout?
I would have to say screen printing or exploring photography, just the process of creating a physical copy of my image was quite enjoyable.

What advice do you have for other GD students?
Everyone says to develop your portfolio, which is great and a major aid. But another thing is once you actually get an interview, make sure to talk well of your work. I have heard too many people, even in just this year, talk about what they could/would do better. Don't give to much focus to what you could do better in your interview, put the most effort in to what you do well, play your strengths, state eagerness to learn new things, and it never hurts to talk about wanting to build up and be an asset to their company. Also, if you have the slightest interest in web or interactive design, try it out. Quite a few design jobs are moving towards the digital era now.

How did you land your job?
I was working at a nice little firm in Eau Claire right after school but I was also cold calling firms in the cities just to get my name out there. I got a few interviews and offers but the most appealing was a smaller web firm looking to expand, being they had the most work coming in.

What type of work do you do there?
I started as a designer but quickly shifted to web development where now I deal a lot with planning solutions, user experience, and making back-end systems fit the needs of the client. My current project is a social networking site for people to help each other and themselves, but I can not go into much more detail than that yet.

Senior Design Shows

Don't forget that this Friday, May 8th is Senior Design Shows!
It's from 7-9 in the Applied Arts Building

Graphic Design


Multimedia Design

If you've never been to a senior show they are really neat. It's a great way to see what senior studio is all about, what projects students have devoted an entire semester to completing and to say goodbye to those graduating!

Portfolio Book - Blurb

We all know that portfolios are NEEDED at a job interview... but many wonder the best way to present the work.

Genevieve passed on a website called BLURB where you can upload photos, add context, layout and page and they will print it, bind it and ship it to you!

They already have portfolio layouts for you to choose from too!
Here's from their website:

• High Quality - Our Hardcover, Dust Jacket, Hardcover, ImageWrap and Softcover books all feature professional bindings and coated, matte paper.
• Affordable - prices start at only $12.95 for a 40 page softcover,
  
• Flexible Ordering - Order just one of many copies of your portfolio. You have the option to place your portfolio in Blurbs bookstore for friends and colleagues to purchase
• Easy to make - Drag and drop images and text into hundreds of professionally designed layouts to showcase your work.
• Unique sizes - Choose from four sizes including a distinctive Square 7x7 or Large Format Landscape 13x11 for a big impact.
• Easy to make - Drag and drop images and text into hundreds of professionally designed layouts to showcase your word
• Fast turnaround - orders arrive on your doorstep in approximately 7 to 10 business days.

This is a great deal - I went to Kinkos last week to get my book printed and saddle stitched and it was $22 dollars. Plus I have to trim down the edges myself. Blurb looks very easy so let us know if you use it!

Serve Marketing seeing a part time intern

Serve is a nonprofit advertising/marketing agency whose mission is to give under served charitable causes a stronger voice in the community. Since 2002, Serve has helped create behavior-changing marketing campaigns for over 30 non-profits, both locally and nationally, on issues ranging from teen homelessness, child sexual violence and shaken baby syndrome to teen pregnancy, ovarian cancer and gun violence. To date, Serve has donated over $11 million of in-kind creative, media, web, pr and strategic planning services to non-profits, in an effort to raise their profile and increase their impact in ours and other local communities.

We are looking for students who are able to work in a fast paced environment, have an outgoing, passionate personality, and can multitask. Determination to get the job done is a must. This position allows students to wear many hats and helps to define which areas (like PR, Sales, Production, Marketing, etc) interest them. This is a great opportunity for students to make contacts within the marketing and advertising communities in Milwaukee.

This internship would require a 15-20 hour weekly commitment and is paid.

Students should contact Brittin Haury
Serve Marketing - Account Exec
414.289.0881
Brittin@servemarketing.org

Stout's Photography Club

Stout's Photography Club is making a come back!
Join E X P O S E D photo Club on Monday, May 4th at 7pm in the Terrace to explore upcoming trips and fun events.


Whether you are an amateur or an avid photographer, you are welcome to share you ideas and learn about the modern technologies and techniques of the photography world

Best of all... PRIZES WILL BE WON!
Posters and Photos done by UW-Stout Junior Staci Paul. View more of her work here

Designing Obama Lecture

Sol Sender and Scott Thomas will be at the Walker Art Center for a lecture about the Obama Logo
When: May 12, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Cinema
Price $30 ($15 Walker/AIGA members and students)
Dubbed a “strategic and smart campaign” by Fast Company, the Obama “brand” has received much recognition not only within the design community, but also throughout the nation and abroad. Sol Sender and Scott Thomas, creators of the official Obama logo and Web site, will describe their experiences developing this historic political brand. The event features a special exhibition of posters from Threadless Loves Democracy, a challenge to design the most unique and conceptual call to vote, sponsored by Sappi Fine Paper, Threadless, Rock the Vote, and Jones Soda.

Command Prints

These have been floating around a few blogs and if you haven't seen them yet here they are
These were done by Christopher David Ryan and can be found at his online shoppe MyLittleUnderground.net

Mini-Lecture Series: Patrick Redmond

You may have noticed a new professor last fall in the GD department and he's here to tell you what he's all about.
Our first guest speaker is Patrick Redmond.
Tuesday April 28th, 5:45pm, APPA 321

Patrick Redmond started his official design career when he was 16 years old. He took every opportunity he had, reached out, designed some pretty sweet stuff for some pretty huge organizations and hasn't stopped since. He is founder and owner of Saint Paul, Minnesota-based Patrick Redmond Design. His career, to date, has included providing design for over 130 clients through his firm. He is a very experienced designer and has a lot to share with everyone!

This was a great opportunity to see what he was all about. He's a legit professor who has more real world experience than any of us might have. He takes his business seriously and has a lot to teach. Those that went to his mini-lecture saw what being a graphic designer meant back in the late sixties and how so much has changed since then.