Pivot has ended with a solid closing session that had inspiration, humor and a great wrap-up by Kurt Andersen. But the highlight of yesterday evening had to be at The Corona Ranch. The ranch was a good 20 minute drive away, but the shuttle service ran as smoothly as any I have seen at a conference. And [...]

AIGA Pivot has been sounding like a design conference for the past day, but now it looks like one too. Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum has a table full of gorgeous posters. This one designed by Matthew Carter. I have been enjoying a lot of the talk about doing good, and designing ideas, not just [...]

There has been a trend here at Pivot (it’s happened two out of two time, so I’ll call that a trend) that the closing session has been running a bit over. But if you’re going to run over, AIGA knows how to make it worth hanging around for, and that’s with the questions that have [...]

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I was really looking forward to Robert Brunner’s breakout (I mean affinity) session at AIGA Pivot. When I first met Brunner, it was to interview him for a podcast, and Nate Voss referred to him as the Steve McQueen of design. I learned more in that sit down [...]

Walking to the opening session today really made me love Phoenix. There is a look to the town that is fun, and the weather is fantastic. Granted, this was at eight in the morning, and by the time we broke for lunch it became plain old hot. But that 8am in October weather? Wonderful. We are [...]

Pivot has officially opened with a pick and roll, soda nutrition, dead fish, and the return of the greatest graphic design reality show ever made. Working on the premise of doing good, and not just doing good design, AIGA spent the opening session with host Kurt Anderson introducing some speakers in Katie Salen (talking of play [...]

I’ve really been looking forward to the AIGA Pivot conference ever since it became real to me two weeks ago, but sometimes you need a sign to tell you how great an event may be. This one hit me at 6:45 in the morning while waiting for my bag at the Phoenix airport. They have [...]

2011 Brand New Conference Report with Armin Vit: The conference website made a bold promise: "After a successful inaugural conference in New York City last year we wanted to take the show to the opposite side of the United States and San Francisco felt like the best hub for a West Coast gathering of brand and identity designers and aficionados." We turned to ...

Hey, Donovan Beery from 36 Point here, and with Matthew Porter unavailable to make it to Phoenix for the AIGA Pivot Conference, I was asked/volunteered/begged/did begging/said ok to cover the Neenah paper blogging duties. And wow, these things sneak up fast. It really hit me yesterday at the Field Paper Show in Omaha where Tom Wright [...]

  Above: Happy type lovers soaking up the sun and the serifs at Type Camp on Galiano Island, British Columbia, Canada. From left to right: Stephen Coles (instructor), Dean Gendall, Jessica Speigel, Jessica Yurasek, Erica-May Chan, Marian Bantjes (instructor), Sarah Clayton, Matt Soar, Aaron Bell, Tiffany Wardle (instructor). OK, so summer is over, but don’t ...