Looking back at 2012
From political campaigns to hurricanes, the events of 2012 have certainly made for a memorable year. And, the year was no less exciting for the AIGA Arizona chapter — with over 35 design events plus a week-long design week and conference, a brand-spanking new, responsive website, and our highest membership to date (389 and counting!) — it’s thanks to YOU that the Arizona design community continues to strengthen and grow.
Here are our top 12 highlights of 2012:
1. Aaron Draplin’s Tall Tales From A Large Man brought out over 230 attendees and Aaron brought the f*cking house down with his amazing story-telling and insights.
View Draplin’s presentation here »
2. Local experts came together for the day-long workshop Joust: The Business of Freelance to share their insights on how independent designers could best market themselves, communicate with clients, and handle their accounting and legal affairs.
3. Thanks to our Tucson directors and volunteers, we implemented Tucson Thursdays which takes place every last Thursday of the month. Our fellow Tucsonites have successfully hosted several Say Something and mixer events, along with the Tucson 20×20 event which featured seven speakers sharing their passion about design and art in a rapid presentation format.
4. The Movable Type Truck made a pit stop at Forest Mall in Tempe and along with ASU’s Pyracantha Press, provided an evening of letterpress demonstrations where attendees had the opportunity to make their own souvenir print.
5. AIGA Arizona focused on hands-on training with workshops on Muse, CS6 and the Creative Cloud with Adobe evangelist Brian Wood, as well as an introduction to motion graphics led by Justin Katz of Flock of Pixels.
6. We highlighted several AIGA members who have made contributions to our chapter through our Member Spotlight series and #whoisaigaaz Twitter campaign. We couldn’t have done it without you!
Read more about our latest featured members Mike Russell and Rudy Berk »
7. Our Film Night at FilmBar series, which takes place every last Monday of the month, brought several great art and design films to Valley including Typeface, Handmade Nation, the Visual Language of Herbert Matter, and Indie Game: The Movie.
8. As part of AIGA’s Design For Good initiative, AIGA Arizona hosted the first-ever Phoenix Design Summit, where national and local design and community leaders used an intensive design thinking process to tackle several social issues in Phoenix. Teams collaborated on developing long-term solutions for after school, health, and arts programs. In addition to the Phoenix Design Summit, AIGA Arizona hosted a Design for Good event which welcomed AIGA National President Doug Powell and AIGA Connecticut President Rich Hollant, who talked about the D4G work they’ve been doing in their communities.
Learn more about the Phoenix Design Summit »
View photo highlights from the Design for Good event »
9. With a newly-launched responsive website, thriving communities on Facebook and Twitter, and accounts on LinkedIn, MeetUp, and Flickr, staying connected with AIGA Arizona and getting the information you need has never been easier.
10. As part of our Special Film Screenings series, we were one of the first cities to premiere the film Design & Thinking, as well as feature new design films Linotype and Beauty is Embarrassing.
11. Two portfolio review events, including the international Behance Portfolio Review where reviewers and design recruiters were able to share valuable insights on presenting a successful portfolio.
Read more about the Behance Portfolio Review »
12. In addition to a week-long agenda of events and exhibitions, this year’s Phoenix Design Week: Here & Now conference brought an unforgettable line-up of inspiring speakers including Armin Vit, Eddie Opera, Rich Roat, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Jessica Walsh, Sam Harrison, Michael Duah, and Tamara Christensen.
This year couldn’t have been possible without the effort and countless hours contributed by our board of directors, chairs and volunteers, and most importantly, YOU — our members that make up the Arizona design community.
Thank you for making 2012 so amazing, and we can’t wait to show you what’s in store for 2013!