Hello [member_name_first],

The Upstate creative community is alive and welcoming the warmth of spring. Students are readying their portfolios in preparation for graduation and designers are working on their spring campaigns. Everywhere in Upstate New York the design community is fully engaged.

Spring also brings change to our chapter. The upcoming election of new board members is sure to bring a new sense of enthusiasm to the board. We value the service our members give to this vital community. Be a part of the fun and serve on some committees, it's a great way to get to know other designers. Your ideas are welcomed and the volunteerism is vital for our chapter success.

See you at an upcoming event!
Marj Crum
AIGA Upstate New York - Secretary

AIGA UPSTNY 2010 PROGRAMMING CALENDAR

Participate in one of the many events happening this year in the Upstate New York graphic design community. For more information, visit our website events page.

Monthly Regional Creative Eats

Student Portfolio Review | 04/08

stressdesign Open House | 4/16

AIGA Upstate NY Roundtable by invitation | April date to be announced

AIGA is proud to support the Upstate New York Design Community.

RAF Freelance Creative Expo | 4/22

6x6x2010 | 7/11

RIT SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGN WALK-THROUGH

RIT Senior Graphic Design Walk-Through
Thursday, May 13, 5-7 pm, 3310 and 3330

Rochester Institute of Technology
One Lomb Memorial Drive
Building 7A, 3310 and 3330
Rochester, NY 14623

All RIT Graphic Design Seniors will be showing their portfolios/books/websites/promo pieces to the public and prospective employers. School of Art and ID and interiors will also be participating

CREATIVE EATS | April 2010

This monthly social event series was a huge success last year. AIGA UPSTNY is continuing these third [3rd] Thursday of the month social gatherings. The locations will change between a dining experience and a happy hour gathering. We hope you will come out to join us in open dialogue about local design issues and creative discourse.

This networking event is open to long time professionals through beginning students. It is not exclusive to members or graphic designers. It is a gathering of those in the local creative industry, no matter what your title.

Find out more about this month's locations:
Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Southern Tier and Utica.

SPEAKING OF TYPE...

By Marjorie Crum

It's a wonder moveable type ever caught on! Learn how Gutenberg's Bible almost didn't make it.

One of the first things graphic designers learn in typography class is how Johann Gutenberg invented moveable type and the printing press. But what isn't often talked about is this—how the genius who figured out how to strengthen metal and create the printing press lost the business before the publication of the first book was finished.

Johann Gutenberg was trained as a goldsmith so he knew how to work with metal. It is claimed that he knew something about printing because he had worked on copper engravings with an artist known as the Master of the Playing Cards. Gutenberg's method for making type is traditionally considered to have included a type metal alloy and a hand mould for casting type. The use of movable type was a marked improvement on the handwritten manuscript, which was the existing method of book production in Europe, and upon woodblock printing, and revolutionized European book-making. Gutenberg's printing technology spread rapidly throughout Europe and is considered a key factor in the European Renaissance.

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UPSTNY MEMBER INTERVIEW

What prompted you to start your own design studio?

The decision to start my own studio was fairly fortuitous - the result of a turn of events over a four year period, paths put in front of me by happenstance, and the choices I made at any of those given moments in time. I wish I could say that I planned it all, but it was really a matter of just going with the flow. If you have the time here is the brief history:

After graduating from Purchase College I landed a job as design assistant to Swiss designer, Fred Troller, in Rye, NY. (google Fred - he was part of a group of national and international designers in the 70's who shaped corporate America) I never applied for this job. I was recommended for it by the head of the design department at Purchase. A portfolio review was scheduled and I started work the Monday after graduation.

My decision to leave Fred's studio was a result of my housemates moving to NYC and my boyfriend leaving for Albany to go to law school. Rather than moving with any of them, finding another place to live or getting new roommates, I took off for Europe for eight months. I was 23 and pretty impetuous. When I got back from Europe I chose the guy over NYC and moved 'Upstate'. The 80's recession was in full force. Jobs were scarce. (Sound familiar?) Not knowing the Albany market I was again recommended for a job. This time it came through a family friend who knew the owner of one of many, now defunct, studios in Schenectady, that had grown out of GE's incessant need for visual communication materials. I had left Fred Troller's with work for IBM in my portfolio. I hate to say it, but when I showed my book, that name brand opened up a lot of doors for me and got me jobs. During my one year tenure in Schenectady I honed my production skills, broke up with my boyfriend and met many of my art and design friends. Through their introductions and recommendations I got so much freelance work that I left my job. Some of my clients included the NYS Health Department, Metroland Magazine, and the Hamm-Brickman Gallery.

Within the year, I received a call from a man named Mark Shipley, a freelance advertising copywriter, who had just moved to Albany from NYC. He was looking for a designer to work with and had gotten my name from his roommate - an artist friend of mine. Mark, being more of a salesperson than I, actively went out and sought clients. We worked on a ton of business together, each out of our own apartments, for about six months. One day he called me up and said he thought we should combine our clients, get some office space and start an advertising agency. The rest is history. On April 1, 2010, Smith & Jones will celebrate its 25th anniversary. And recently within the past two years, with much planning and development, we started a second agency, Wanderlust, which specializes in marketing for travel and destination brands.

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Membership Benefits

AIGA membership offers great value, including tangible and intangible benefits: Savings. Information. Special offers. Community. Inspiration. Education. Representation. Validation.

Benefits of AIGA membership

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