Hello [member_name_first],

We hope you started the holiday season off with excitement. This time of year we are challenged by fits and starts. Hopefully you find the balance of family, friends and work.

The board would like to recognize one of our colleagues, Lori Reed. Lori joined us a year and a half ago from New Orleans. She moved back to Rochester not knowing how long she would stay. Now, she is moving on in the new year. We are grateful for her jumping on the board as Treasurer. Her presence has added great wisdom and vision provided by her past experience as President of the New Orleans chapter of AIGA. We will miss you. Good Luck.

The AIGA UPSTNY board is looking to fill these shoes and a few others that have been vacant for a while. You know you have the right stuff to be a design leader, join our board today! Contact us at president@upstatenewyork.aiga.org

Have a great holiday and talk to you again in the new year!

Best Regards,
Bill Klingensmith
AIGA Upstate New York – President

UPSTNY MEMBER INTERVIEW

AIGA member since 2003, Doug Bartow, principal and design director at id29 of Troy, NY is interviewed by fellow member and Treasurer, Lori Reed.

What prompted you to start your own business?

I had been working as Director of Design at MASS MoCA for 8+ years (and commuting 2 hours per day) before my business partner and I decided to quit our jobs and start an agency without any clients in 2003. It was a calculated leap of faith that kept me up many nights in the summer as we planned id29. My partner Michael Fallone is a brilliant creative director/strategic thinker and former agency 'suit,' which is the perfect complement to my formal design background—we had the bare-bones skill set to make an impact. We called everyone in our rolodex and said, "We're starting a design firm, can we sit down and talk about it?" Fortunately, a few old friends quickly became new clients and we were busy right out of the gate. We had actually talked about starting our own shop 10 years earlier when we were fairly inexperienced and toiling together at a large agency. I'm glad we waited.

What inspires you?

I'm going to flip this question—I think a better variation is "What do I do to inspire others?" I'll frame the answer in the context of my work with AIGA: I got involved with helping to program the UPSTNY Chapter of AIGA two years ago because of the lack of a creative network in the eastern portion of upstate NY. By working to 'activate' this area through programming such as the Capital Region Student Portfolio Review, Designing MASS MoCA and our version of the popular Creative Eats, we've seen local involvement grow to new levels. Our local student members are graduating, finding jobs, and returning to our events as AIGA Associate and Professional Members. We are the AIGA, and the benefits of membership are directly related to the work we put into it. I'm hoping my efforts will inspire others to get involved as well.

What role do you think designers should play in going green?

Is that a back-handed stab at my colorblindness? Ha! I don't think simply being a designer means one has additional responsibilities above and beyond what the rest of our society should be doing to help maintain our environment for the future. I do think that as communicators, however, designers have the unique ability to help tell this story in a compelling way that can help influence others into action.

What would your top piece of advice be for a designer who is just getting started in the industry?

I just answered this same question via iChat for AIGA Chicago's 2009 Student Conference, "SPARK." (http://spark.visualvoltage.org)
See my answer here: (http://vimeo.com/7768158)

In what way does being a part of AIGA enhance your career being a designer?

For me, the forum AIGA provides to meet and talk with other designers and creatives is one of the biggest benefits of membership. I've always looked at design education as a lifelong process. AIGA, particularly in terms as a discourse on design, is ongoing and vital to our profession.

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KEETRA DEAN DIXON LECTURE

JOB POSTING: DESIGN LEADERSHIP

AIGA UPSTNY, a non profit organization run solely by volunteers, is seeking an AIGA member with aptitude and understanding (and perhaps even a little passion) for numbers to assume the role of TREASURER on our board. This position is not a difficult nor a very time consuming one, but it is one critical to the success of the financial health of our organization. The candidate must be detail oriented, highly responsible, and committed to guiding the vision of our chapter in a well-organized, accurate, business-like manner. Prior board experience is not required. Position duties can be fulfilled in as little as 4-6 hours a month and available to serve for a minimum of one year beginning January 2010.

Tasks include: reading and understanding bank statement; disbursing checks; balancing the checkbook (typically 3-5 transactions a month); preparing a brief financial report for each event (recording income/expenses, profit/loss, and number of attendees); submitting a recap on our financial status at the monthly board meeting (held 6-8pm the second Tuesday of each month, able to attend in person in Rochester or remotely via skype); and annually providing the necessary information to the chapter's hired CPA so they can then prepare the chapter's annual tax form.

Perks include: working with an experienced team of professional designers, who bring a wealth of knowledge and talent to the board; exercising your special left-brained professional skills; developing or honing your leadership skills; and receiving and the satisfaction of directly contributing to the success of your chapter by acting in good faith for our member's interest. Our current treasurer is relocating out of state, but will remain available for the incoming treasurer on an as-needed basis to support a smooth transition.

So if you are looking to enhance your resume with the addition of titles such as guardian of the AIGA UPSTNY funds, keeper of the chapter financial records, contributor to the success of your beloved organization, then please immediately contact current treasurer, Lori Reed at treasurer@upstatenewyork.aiga.org to inquire further about what this position involves.

SPEAKING OF TYPE...

Were you aware that the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, of Two Rivers Wisconsin, has three connections to the Upstate New York region?

Darius Wells (Johnstown, New York) found the means for mass producing letters in 1827, and published the first known wood type catalog in 1828. The usual procedure was to draw the letter on wood, or paper which was pasted to the wood. Then cut around the letter with a knife or graver, gouging out the parts to be left blank. Wells saw the need to make this process better and invented the lateral router to speed up the cutting process.

In 1834, William Leavenworth (Syracuse, New York) made his solid contribution to the wood type industry with the introduction of his pantograph. He adapted it to the Wells router, and the combination formed the basic required machinery for making wood type on a production basis.

The next major step in the manufacture of wood type was the introduction of Hollywood type in 1880 by Edward J. Hamilton, founder of the Hamilton manufacturing Company, of Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Hollywood was used in preference to maple, because it was 50% less costly and it could be cut 1/16’ thick and glued to cheap pine. For a time Edward Hamilton lived in Lockport, N.Y., and for two years attended Lockport High School.

In 1868 Hamilton moves to Two Rivers, Wisconsin and becomes a tender of a clothespin lathe. He then goes to work in a chair factory using routers to make chair legs and spindles. Lyman Nash, Editor of the Two Rivers Chronicle needed letters to print a poster for a “Grand Ball” at Turner Hall and waits too long to have enough time to order the necessary type. He asks Edward Hamilton if he can make the large type and using a foot-powered scroll saw on his mothers back porch, he creates his first wood type. The finely sanded and polished letters print so well that Hamilton makes up a few samples and sends them to nearby printers. After receiving his second order he quits his job at the chair factory and forms the J. E. Hamilton Hollywood Type Company.

Today the Hamilton Wood Type Museum carries on the legacy of J.E. Hamilton and can be seen soon in the movie Typeface, coming to the Upstate region in the near future.

AIGA UPSTNY PRESENTS: MOHAWK FINE PAPERS MILL TOUR

Join fellow AIGA UPSTNY members and local xpedx representative Kathy Prozeller as we embark on an educational Mohawk Fine Papers Inc. Paper Mill Tour & Presentation.

Mohawk is the largest privately-held premium paper manufacturer in North America, offering a forward-looking product line of writing, text, cover and digital papers while pursuing the highest standards of environmental stewardship and sustainable practices.

WHAT:
Mill Tour & Environmental Presentation

WHEN:
10AM-2PM, Thursday, December 10, 2009

WHERE: Mohawk Fine Papers Inc., 465 Saratoga Street, Cohoes, New York

COST: Free to attend, but must RSVP by December 3

RSVP: http://aigamilltour.eventbrite.com

Light lunch will be served. Transportation not provided, but carpooling is encouraged.

LIFELONG LEARNING

I am a student of life. Everyday brings new opportunities to learn- about people, places and things; about process; about simplification; about relationships. I am committed to asking questions and listening, to traveling to new perspectives. It has been a terrific journey! I have been an adult now as many years as I’ve been a child and I finally feel the dimensions of family, career, community and personal growth bonding together. Life feels cohesive. But it took years of change and patience and education to get there. So let me share with you some of what has helped me develop as an individual, that it may help you along your life’s journey.

CREATIVE EATS | December 2009

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.

DESIGN YOUR FUTURE

As we mentioned in the previous newsletter, AIGA UPSTNY has joined many other chapters around the country in adopting an initiative to diversify our profession. We are pleased to announce “Design your future.”—a free, afterschool, design workshop that introduces at-risk youth, in the Upstate New York region, to attainable careers in
graphic design and design-related disciplines. In January 2010, starting in Rensselaer county, 12 y youth will participate in a two-month workshop held once a week at the Boys & Girls Club in Troy. We will then hold successive two-month sessions with 24 more youth at Boys & Girls Clubs in Albany and Schenectady counties.

We are looking for designers to mentor and teach youth who participate in this workshop. If you are a designer in Albany, Rensselaer, or Schenectady county; and, you’re interested in participating in this important initiative, please contact Advocacy Chair Audrey Bennett (audreygbennett@gmail.com) by December 15, 2009 for more information.

We are also looking for designers to implement design workshops for at-risk youth in Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, and other cities across the Upstate New York region. Lets work together to strengthen our profession by diversifying it.

For more information about “Design your future.” and the contributions of under-represented designers to the discipline, see the new Advocacy page of the chapter website. Then, check January’s AIGA UPSTNY newsletter for a peek at the jaw-dropping curriculum we have planned for youth through “Design your future.”

Also check back in January and every month after that for an interview with an under-represented designer—through our 2010 “Diverse” series with Albany-based, graphic designer Kate Peterson.

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INTRODUCTION TO LETTERPRESS CLASS

Incorporate our hundreds of Christmas and Holiday cuts with your handset messages for a unique Holiday card with this class.

Discover how you can produce elegant letterpress printing. Set movable metal and wood type as practiced from the fifteenth century, selecting letters one at a time by hand in a composing stick.

REGISTER: Call owners Tony or Dave today to register for the class 585.872.5050

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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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