Welcome

Welcome to the June issue of Re:Member. If you
weren’t able to attend last month’s Small Talk, read below for a
summary of the evening at Avenue, and make sure you get to one of this
summer’s many exciting events! This month’s Annual Member Meeting is
the perfect chance to meet and mingle with your fellow designers. Read
below for more details of this important event. We’ll see you there.

“You don’t have to see the world; what you have to do is observe the world.”
—Ray Charles

Chicago Chapter News & Events

2007 Annual Member Meeting
Thursday, June 14
Museum of Contemporary Art
220 E. Chicago Avenue
6:00–10:00 pm

Be sure to attend AIGA Chicago’s Annual Member Meeting, the largest,
most celebratory event of the year. Attended by more than 400 guests,
this event is a celebration of Chicago design and designers, an
opportunity to thank our volunteers and patrons and recognize
outstanding achievement within our community.

Joseph Michael Essex of Essex Two will be awarded the AIGA Fellow Award, while the Above and Beyond Award will be presented to Lance Rutter of Tanagram Partners. Don’t miss the evening’s featured speaker: Paul O’Connor, Executive Director of World Business Chicago.
Paul will discuss WBC’s dedication to enhancing Chicago’s global
position as a business location and building the best city in the world
in which to live, work and play.

Registration starts at 6:00 pm, and the presentation runs from
6:45–8:00 pm. Make sure to stay for the party that goes until 10:00 pm.
Registration is $30 for AIGA members, $15 for student AIGA members and
$60 for non-members. Save your spot online at AIGA Chicago.

This event is sponsored by Lake County Press and Getty Images.

Avenue Small Talk summary
The third part of the Small Talk series was hosted by Avenue Marketing & Communications,
a marketing and communications firm that specializes in brand creation
and repositioning through integrated marketing campaigns. The night
began with a social for the 30+ attendees with drinks and hors
d’oeuvres in Avenue’s River North space. Later, everyone gathered for a
presentation given by the President, Bob Domenz, in which he discussed
Avenue’s general approach and walked through a few illustrative case
studies.

While Avenue’s clientele is diverse, all are striving for
aggressive results in their respective industries. This type of work
lends itself to intimate, long-term relationships in which Avenue can
truly understand the business and audience—becoming “an extension of
the client’s marketing department.” Joffrey Ballet, Weber, and
InterfaceFLOR were examples of recent, successful brand repositioning
projects that Bob highlighted. For each, Bob explained the process
starting from the initial “Wall of Shame” in which Avenue critiques
current marketing, to the strategic process, the design, and the
dramatic results garnered by each campaign.

This event was sponsored by Artisan, Dupli-Graphic and Getty Images.

Membership

Membership benefit reminder
AIGA’s role in stimulating thinking about design includes competitions
and exhibitions. Extending a legacy that began 90 years ago, these
competitions celebrate excellence in design and seek to promote the
value of design to a broader public. A survey of selections is
published in AIGA’s virtual gallery and exhibited in AIGA’s New York
gallery on Fifth Avenue. Members can review submissions and browse
through the selection of award-winning design at AIGA Competitions.

AIGA Chicago welcomes new members to the chapter

Welcome to AIGA Chicago!

Volunteer Opportunity: Editorial Committee
We are looking for AIGA members who are adept at editing, proofreading
(AP standard), content management (compiling Web content), researching
and fact-checking, and copy writing. Volunteers would work with the
Editorial Chair Mark Drozd throughout the year to assist with AIGA
Chicago member communications. If you would like to volunteer or are
interested in learning more, please contact Mark at editorial@aigachicago.org.

From National

Download the newly updated Design Business and Ethics series

AIGA has published a series of brochures outlining the critical ethical
and professional issues encountered by designers and their clients. The
series, entitled “Design Business and Ethics,” examines the key
concerns a designer faces in maintaining a successful practice and
speaks directly to the protection of individual rights. Visit the AIGA national site
to download revised versions of the brochures that were published in
May 2007. AIGA encourages you to download and reformat the information
as reference in creating proposals to clients.

Register for Image, Space, Object 4: People-Centered Brand Experiences

This August 9–12 in Denver, small teams of participants and studio
mentors will come together at Image, Space, Object to collaborate on
design innovation and brand experience. Be a part of this active
hands-on workshop experience that will inspire ideas as well as provide
strategic design tools and brand methods that can be added to your
existing design process. Visit the Image, Space, Object site for registration information and a list of presenters.

Design Community Events

IIT Institute of Design Open House
The Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology specializes
in building bridges between design and corporate strategy. If you’re
interested in learning about their methods, community and degrees,
visit the open house on Wednesday, June 13. This event includes
breakout sessions with students and faculty, as well as examples of
student work and guided tours of facilities. The open house runs from
5:30–7:00 pm on the sixth floor of the Institute of Design on 350 N.
LaSalle Street. For more information, visit the IIT site.

Helvetica: the documentary comes to Chicago
The Gene Siskel Film Center presents Helvetica,
a documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of the omnipresent
typeface. It will screen at 6:00 pm and 8:15 pm on Friday, June 15, and
the director, Gary Hustwit, will be present at both screenings. The
film runs through June 21 at 164 N. State Street. Check the Siskel Fim Center site for more information.

Benefit for Typeface, a documentary in progress
Come enjoy champagne and sweets while shopping a silent auction filled
with original art, including prints by Jay Ryan, Yee-Haw and Dennis
Ichiyama, and other goodies—all to raise essential funds for the
production of the documentary film Typeface.
Tickets are $30 in advance or $40 dollars at the door. The benefit
takes place on Friday, June 15 from 7:00–10:00 pm at the Center for
Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College, 1104 S. Wabash Avenue. Visit typefacethefilm.com for tickets, or contact justine@kartemquin.com for more information.

Learn from a master in Photoshop!
Matt Zumbo, accomplished illustrator and recent winner of Best in Show
at the 2007 Photoshop Conference, will demonstrate his expertise in
Photoshop, sharing the tools and techniques he uses to create
award-winning work. C2 Graphics Productivity Solutions is offering two
large group seminars with Matt, as well as intimate hands-on workshops
on June 27–28 in Milwaukee. Engage in one or both, depending on your
interest in picking the brain of a Photoshop master! AIGA members get a
10% discount. Get more information at the Photoshop Masters site.

Save the Date

July 24—Small Talk IV: Liska + Associates, Inc.