Branded Road Trips: What Have I Been Missing?

On September 9th, 2009, Nate Voss and I made a day trip to Kansas City, and set up to record a podcast with Ann Willoughby of Willoughby Design. While there, we ran into Martin and Gavin on their cross-country trek to talk to designers across the nation as Drifting Creatives.

But recently I have been wondering: are design road trips gaining steam? And it seems a lot of those trips seem to pass through my hometown. Has Omaha become a must stop hot spot on all epic designer adventures?  Is this a trend or am I imagining it? One thing is certain, designers are better equipped now than ever to share their adventures and whereabouts through social media.  In fact, I am convinced social media is making these things happen. Or at least, making them known to me?

Last July, Dave Saliger of Core77 stopped through town with his cleverly named Route77 tour. While here, he chatted with Ben Lueders and me on our podcast, The Reflex Blue Show. We had a great time hearing about his trek and we shared insights on life and work in Omaha.

Later in September, Arthur Glenn Meier, III and Christopher Harrer were half way through a 10,000 mile road trip when they stopped through. We met up at a monthly event called 36 Pints that Tom Nemitz and I started as an excuse to hang out with more local creatives after work.

And at our most recent 36 Pints Meet Up on May 23 of this month we met up with Cody Wallis, Ryan Sprowl and Jon Nagy to discuss their adventure – Design Nation, a cross country journey  that began in Kent, Ohio and will conclude in Seattle, Washington if all goes as planned. None of these seem to follow the most direct path there – I assume that’s part of the fun. Thankfully for me, it means Omaha somehow makes it into a few of these plans.

One thing I have noticed is this: it is not a “real design thing” unless it has collateral. Design Nation (www.designnation.us) has it right. A little leave behind. In this case, a double-sided 3″x 5″ card. Print it on paper  and I have a souvenir. Best of all, I actually remembered where to find them online the next day..

Is it too late to brand my own road trip? Maybe sometime in the future? Maybe the Design Family Reunion should become a bus reunion that just picks us up along the way? You listening, Matt?

(From the Editor) Last Spring, Against the Grain reported on Austin designer Jennifer Sukis and her Kickstarter financed adventure in travel, meeting and reporting on the lives of five people who’d dramatically altered their life course. Donors a beautifully designed, signed, numbered limited edition book as a thank you for their financial support. She explained:

“On April 13th [2012]  I’m taking leave from all things routine to load up the car with cameras and paper and pens and camping gear, and driving across the country to visit five remarkable individuals who’ve challenged what was in front of them and made drastic changes to create a life that felt truer to their values. I’ll be asking them how they came to these realizations, what it felt like when they decided to abandon their traditional paths …  Throughout this trip I’ll be sharing coffee, camping out with and staying on the couches of friends and friends of friends, asking … big questions … and getting a sense of how people from all different ages and walks of life feel about these issues.”

 

Apparently the “Walleye” is Minnesota’s state fish. There’s even a painting of one hanging in my cabin here at Design Camp. Hence I sketched a rough Walleye to signify Day 1 of AIGA Minnesota’s wonderful design conference. (Not sure I was really even aware of the whole “State Fish” thing. I have heard that Minnesota’s “State Bird” is the mosquito though…)

Paula Scher kicked off the day with an amazing keynote based on her long career of design work. Above is an obligatory Paula Scher photo showing her iconic Citi Bank logo.

I was actually blessed to have lunch with Paula (and a handful of other amazing design celebrities) – and I was faced with a moral dilemma: Paula left her name tag at lunch! I knew she was flying back to New York soon after lunch, and I thought it would be awesome to wear a Paula Scher name tag around the campgrounds. But in the end, I figured getting her on The Reflex Blue Show and getting her autograph was enough. When I returned her nametag – she exclaimed, “Good! I forgot who I was!”

Eric Madsen gave an unusual and moving speech about his childhood in Texas, starting his design studio in Minneapolis, his practice of sketch journaling and the passing of a dear design friend. It was refreshing to hear a designer talking about his life – not simply about his “work”. There were large portions of his talk that seemed to have nothing to do with design at all – but it was ok, because we all connected to his story in different ways. Very inspiring.

Right after Eric’s talk, Neenah’s own Jamie Saunders gave a workshop entitled “Print Lives!” to a packed room of designers and students. Her presentation was a great follow up to Mr. Madsen, since much of his talk highlighted the tactile beauty of paper and traditional media.

One of the highlights of Jamie’s talk was an opportunity to do some arts and crafts: cutting out paper steaks and assembling them! (After all, the theme of this years Design Camp is MEAT)

This young lady went an extra step and designed blood to adorn her steak. Almost too realistic…

I know this doesn’t have really anything to do with Design Camp, but during Jamie’s talk I had a few moments to FaceTime with my wife and kid. This is Jonah. I thought you’d think he was cute too…

BTW – we’ve been eating good at camp. Lunch was a full Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing etc.), and Dinner was an eclectic assortment of appetizers, salads, sandwhiches and pasta. Very delightful.

Here’s Jamie keeping in line with the camp’s “Meat” theme. (While Kim Shannon looks on in horror.)

The Grand View Lodge is beautiful after dark.

When the exhibit hall opened, the Neenah ladies were ready to rock!

Neenah was bombarded by designers eager to feel fresh paper samples… and sample their assortment of cured meat giveaways.

The frisky Joe Isaak cleans up pretty good!

Showing off our Neenah aprons. I’m the one in the middle.

AIGA’s national president, Doug Powell told me he liked my apron… but that it was a little too “skimpy” on me.

The night ended with a small after party in the Neenah cabin. You can’t really go wrong when you combine good drinks with great designers.

The final interview in our new to the HOW Conference interview series, brings us to Justin Schafer. Justin talks about the common thread of inspiration helping him relax and enjoy the conference.

Name: Justin Shafer

Occupation: Sr. Graphic Designer

Location: Omaha, NE

What was your motivation for attending the HOW Conference?

Everyone needs a little creative jolt sometimes, a place to go to get an inspired mind meld. I looked at a few conferences earlier in the year but none had as many sessions and such a diverse range of speakers. Plus, I had heard from past attendees that the HOW Conference was by far one of the best conferences they’ve been to. So between the diversity of the sessions and speakers, and HOW’s track record on being a laidback, fun conference, it was an easy choice.

How did you manage first timer’s intimidation at HOW Conference?

Actually I didn’t find it intimidating at all. Everyone was relaxed and really easy to talk to. I think part of that was because we were all there to have fun and be inspired, so right of the bat everyone there had so much in common. Although there were a lot of people, which sometimes can be overwhelming, the only time I saw everyone in one room was in the opening and closing keynote. This made the majority of the conference feel smaller than it actually was.

What were your first thoughts as you walked through the doors of the Resource Center on Opening Night?

Wow! This room is too small for this many people! There seemed to be a couple bottlenecks in the crowd, of course they were mainly located by the bars. After the crowd trickled out of the Resource Center I was finally able to take a breath.  It was then that I went from being overwhelmed by people to being overwhelmed by paper samples. Of course Neenah’s being the best! (Great booth by the way)

What was your favorite session/speaker at the conference?

Von Glitschka’s “5 Alarm Concepts” really stuck with me. He offered practical advice and real-world examples when it comes to brainstorming. He had a great presentation that kept me engaged with emotion and humor. He also reinforced two things that I had been thinking about leading up to the HOW Conference. The first one being you pick up creative sparks from things in life, like the places you go, the people you meet or the things you see, not by reading the latest design magazine. It’s your experiences that make the difference when brainstorming. The last thing he brought up was how graphic designers of the future should realize there value lies not in the physical production of actual design but rather in their design thinking and process. Von said he hesitated on whether to bring the last point up or not, but I’m glad he did. As a young designer it makes me think about where my job is headed down the road.

I will most definitely be looking out for more interviews being released by Nate and Donovan at the Reflex Blue Show. They did a great job covering the event, plus they’re from Omaha!

Did you happen to buy any of the books from the HOW bookstore as a result of hearing a speaker?

I did buy a couple books for our design library at work but none from a speaker I saw. The bookstore was certainly loaded up with great material though.

Did you do anything in Denver outside of attending the conference?

I wish I would’ve had a chance to see more of the city. In hindsight, I would have liked to stay Thursday and Friday just to explore what Denver has to offer. Although informative, the amount of sessions there were in a short time period left me little time to see more than a restaurant or bar during lunch or dinner. Next year I’ll plan ahead and make it a goal to see the city I’m in, not just the convention center.

Did you meet anyone interesting or anyone you feel like you will keep in touch with after the conference?

Definitely, I met a lot of really cool people that I have a lot in common with. There are a couple of them I’ve already followed up with. To me, meeting new people and sharing stories is just as important as the actual sessions.

How do you plan to keep your inspiration alive after the HOW Conference? Or put to use the information that you learned.

I guess that’s the most important question. I’d like to think the HOW Conference offered me more than just some new tips and tricks, but rather a new perspective. Ultimately I’ll need to push myself beyond my comfort zone and experience new things, good or bad, to keep my inspiration going. Or at least until the next HOW Conference!