As I mentioned before, I wanted to share about the speakers I had a chance to see while at this year’s AIGA/Minnesota Design Camp®, which took place this past weekend. I had never seen any of the speakers, even though Joel Templin has spoken at the HOW Conference before and I’ve worked with Jakob Trollback on a story he wrote for us.

Jason Munn
The first designer took the stage on Friday night and was Jason Munn of thesmallstakes.com. He creates some really awesome screenprinted posters for bands like Mates of State, the Shins, the Decemberists and Death Cab for Cutie. As if that weren't enough to hook you, Jason (who also teaches design classes a couple times a week) gave really good insights into his process and the concepting behind each poster he presented. He talked about how he mined the bands' songs or sounds for inspiration, or how he was able to incorporate any specifications they might have made. (One case being when the artist Josh Ritter requested that his home state of Idaho be included or reflected. The result? A piano in the shape of the potato state.) Most interesting was when he revealed the step-by-step process behind the 3-color Deerhoof poster he designed (below) from the sketchbook phase to the process of overlapping each individual screenprint. He also showed some non-music related work that he's done; even though he's most known for his band posters, he's also done book covers and magazine illustrations and some advertising/brand work.



Having only spoken at small AIGA events or school lectures, his session was easily my favorite of the weekend. It was a good up-and-coming look at a designer I wasn't too familiar with before, and he had really good behind-the-scenes insights and delved into the "whys" behind each of his projects. Considering many students were in attendance, I thought he hit the spot.

Joel Templin
Joel Templin and his design work has been featured in HOW magazine many times, but mostly under his previous firm, Templin Brink Design. This spring, he branched off and cofounded Hatch Design. He was my second favorite speaker of the bunch, because, like Jason, he showcased a lot of inspiration and concepting process behind the projects he’s created. For instance, he talked about how he keeps a vast reference library and archive of what he considers “good design.” Most things (that he showed, at least) were all vintage ephemera—old packaging examples with muted color schemes and bold, clean typography. Then—my favorite part—he showed how those pieces of inspiration fueled his current projects.

For example, when American Eagle asked them to create new hangtags for the store, the Hatch designers researched in their reference library to dig up old tags and sports tickets. When they were helping rebrand the Song airline, they referenced old Pan Am examples. Even for the identity that they created for this year’s Design Camp materials were inspired by old designs that they’d dug up in the archive; there was an old sci-fi poster of a butterfly beaming lasers from its eyes onto a bus that is referenced in the final Camp branding. He also showcased the work they did for Fuelosophy (a new Pepsico beverage), along with the many, many variations that they pitched, including the ones that didn’t get chosen. I always appreciate seeing rejected work. My only complaint was that he went short of the time he had allotted; it would have been interesting to see even more examples or showcases of how he works.



Jakob Trollback
Of Trollback + Co. in New York, Jakob Trollback talked a lot about what inspires him, but didn’t really link that back to his work. I would have liked to have seen how or why those things fuel his work (a la Joel and Jason because, while I do think it can be inspiring, I think that digging deeper offers the most takeaway). However, the most interesting point of his presentation was when he started showing some of the projects they’ve worked on, because they were so impressively cutting-edge. For instance, he talked about designing/using LED screens in elevators that would change as the elevator moved up and down floors to make it look like the passengers are sinking underwater. Another example was making a lawn out of fiber-optic grass. Not all of these ideas were final projects; he too showcased rejected work. He also touched on how the classic, understated Penguin book covers have been influencing the motion work that he’s been doing.

Carin Goldberg
She was the only female in the main designer line-up and, I have to admit, that I was very disappointed in her presentation. There was a loose theme of “truth” for the conference. The other presenters turned that into the truth behind the work they do. Carin, however, used it as an opportunity to talk about politics and religion and consumerism. Rather than be inspiring, it came off more as a pulpit and being talked down to. After about 30 minutes (and she read from a sheet the whole time), I had to get up and leave. I had been excited to hear her because she was another designer that I wasn’t familiar with and, plus, she’s the president of the AIGA/NY chapter. I did hear that some attendees really appreciated what she had to say, so I think it could be something of personal preference.

Workshops
In addition to the 4 speakers, there were 8 workshops offered, and everyone got to attend 3. The first that I went to was a hands-on one about binding books with needle and thread. I’d never done that, so it was interesting to walk away with some tiny books that I’d created myself. It made it feel like elementary arts-and-crafts day again!

The second that I went to was about making sure to take breaks to allow yourself to refuel. The speaker, Kirk Horsted, is a huge advocator of sabbaticals and really encouraged all in attendance to start working now to make it happen for you. It’s a dream everyone has, but that everyone puts off. He went around the room and asked what it is that holds most people back from doing these things? Most said “Money,” but “Work” was another common excuse. His insight: Most of the big decisions we make (for instance, who we marry, the career we pursue or the college we attend) aren’t based on money, but on personal desire. So why should we make taking a break be one? Of course, it doesn’t necessarily take a 3-month break for you to take time for yourself; he also encouraged anything such as a day to yourself or giving yourself an hour to tap back into yourself. 

The final workshop I attended was about sustainable design. The presenters are very devoted to the idea and were full of information and resources. They talked about the guiding principles that designers can use to guide their decisions when they’re creating design projects. These principles included everything from: What materials are you using? Are you breaking the chain of wastefulness or adding to it? Can these be reused biologically or technologically? Does this benefit the greater human good/need? They added that these questions are in addition to the already existing needs that designers have to be responding to, such as making a design that is affordable and attractive, etc. Sustainable design should accomplish those elements, too!