ALR on Tour: September - October

I'm going to be doing a lot of traveling and lecturing over the coming months.
If you're in the area(s) I hope you'll check out one or more of these...

This Wednesday September 17th: Richmond, VA
Creative Reuse Workshop for Stuff Inc.
7-9pm @ 812 W. Franklin St. Rm 300
RSVP sarah AT richmondstuff.org
$3 Suggested Donation

September 30th: Richmond, VA
The Pros & Cons of Pro Bono talk for Haustalk
7pm @ Gallery 5 200 W. Marshall Street
FREE

October 7th: Richmond, VA
Talk 20 slide presention on Skull-A-Day
6pm @1708 Gallery 319 W. Broad St.
RSVP HERE
FREE

October 9th: Hollywood, CA
Skulls exhibition opening & Book Signing @ Chaos Gallery at Museum of Death
6-9pm @ 6033 Hollywood Blvd.
(exhibition runs through just October 14th)

October 15th: Louisville, KY
Lecture & Book Signing
Louisville Graphic Design Association 100 Show
6-9pm @ The Mellwood Art Center 1860 Mellwood Ave.

October 17th: Richmond, VA
Book signing at Blood Lake
7:30-11:30 @ 13131 Overhill Lake Lane

October 25th: Sandusky, OH
Skull-A-Day exhibition Lecture & Book Signing.
Sandusky Cultural Art Center
Details TBA @ 2130 Hayes Ave.

October 31st: Philadelphia, PA
Talk, workshop, & book signing.
Day of The Dead event at the Mˆºtter Museum
10am-5pm @ 19 S. 22nd St.
Free with museum admission.

ALR in Austin: How Conference Talk

Back in June I was an invited guest speaker at the How Design Conference in Austin, Texas.

Things have been a whirlwind since then, so I never got around to writing a report on the experience, but suffice to say I had a terrific time.
I especially enjoyed spending time with so many amazing designers, making new friends and catching up with some old ones as well. And it seems that people liked my talk. I also loved the food and sights of Austin and am totally ready for another visit (which will hopefully happen next spring).




For those of you who weren't able to be there, How is now selling MP3s of a lot of the speakers' talks including my own: Making A Living As A Socially Conscious Designer.
















Since a lot of it relates to the slides I was showing, I've gone ahead and made a PDF of my presentation images, which you can download for personal use HERE under a Creative Commons license.

Hopefully I can find a way to get back for next year's conference. Any suggestions for new talk topics to propose to them?

The Pros And Cons of Pro Bono: Richmond, VA September 30

I'll be facilitating a discussion on the relationship of designers and nonprofits on September 30th as part of the Haustalk monthly design forum in Richmond, Virginia. This free event is open to the public. Designers and folks in the non-profit sector are especially encouraged to participate...

The Pros and Cons of Pro-Bono Work:
A Strategic Approach to Developing Working Relationships With Not-For-Profits

September 30th
7:00 PM
FREE

Gallery5
200 W. Marshall Street
Richmond, VA

Gel Conference 2009 Recap

I had a terrific time speaking about my Skull-A-Day project at this year's Gel Conference in NYC. The best part of the event for me was getting to hear all of the other fantastic speakers and also meeting the attendees between sessions. Here are some highlights from the speaker's talks:

Scott Heiferman creator of MeetUp.com (which he described as a community organizing tool) talked about the future shifting from D.I.Y (Do It Yourself) to D.I.O. (Do It Ourselves). He said we need to turn more to each other and "make the hand that feeds us"!

Joan Sullivan, principal/founder of Bronx Academy of Letters, brought two of her students who were able to escape from their difficult lives in the South Bronx and get into good college thanks to her school.

Artist Zina Saunders said that metaphorical potholes in your road were a good thing since they forced you to take detours and give you a new perspective. I was particularly enamoured with her Overlooked New York portrait project.

Fred Kent, founder of Project for Public Spaces talked about the need for "authentic destinations" and creating community based on a "placemaking approach" rather than a top down design approach. Having public seating is often the key!

Graham Hill, founder of TreeHugger, showed a picture of a giant tomato with green lightning on it crushing an airplane as a mnemonic for his talk about reducing carbon footprints by tons (rather than pounds). The key: eat less meat, fly more efficiently, use green power.

Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, spoke just before me, so I don't have notes on her talk, but I do remember it being very informative and interesting!

Magician Jamy Ian Swiss talked about the importance of empathy in magic, explaining that it's actually the key to connecting with an audience, regardless of your profession.

Robin Nagle, the anthropologist-in-residence for the New York City sanitation department, gave an eye-opning talk about waste (NYC is always only 3 days away from a serious trash breakdown) and left us with the admonishon to say "thank you" the next time we see a sanitation person.

Filmmaker Risa Morimoto, shared a snippet of her incredible documentary Wings of Defeat, telling the true story of the WWII Kamikaze pilots (who were not actually volunteers as most people assume).

Design Author Steven Heller said, "Adolf Hitler was a logo" as part of his talk about fascist branding.

Musician Bruce Molsky, played several lovely & catchy folk tunes on his fiddles.

Author Bill Gurstelle talked about the importance of the "art of living dangerously." He said, "the only way to get better at risk-taking is to take risks" and left us with an image of a sea creature that lacking danger ends up eating its own brain as it grows up!

Barry Scheck, co-founder of The Innocence Project, said that eyewitness misidentification was the greatest cause of wrongful convictions. His organization helped exonerate Jerry Miller, who also spoke, after he spent 24 years in prison for a rape he did not commit.

And professor Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice, talked about the need for "virtue" in business. He defined this "practical wisdom" as "moral will" combined with "practical skill". And he decried rules, saying that we won't become skilled by following them. He also said there shoud be no more courses on ethics, that the only way to learn them was by living them.

I'll post a video of my own talk as soon as it's available.

ALR in Austin: Early-Bird Discount

Just a head's up that if you're planning to attend the How Design Conference in Austin, Texas, where I will be speaking this June you can get an "early-bird" $100-off discount by registering by April 1st. Details can be found HERE.

ALR talk: Editorial Freelancers Association, March 30, Richmond, VA

I've been invited to speak about marketing and self-promotion at the Central Virginia chapter meeting of the Editorial Freelancers Association on Monday, March 30. The event is open to all editorial professionals, members and nonmembers, and will be held at 10:00 AM at the Richmond Public Library at 5420 Patterson Avenue, in Richmond, VA. This will be a low-key session that focuses on Q&A and will give people an opportunity to discuss their own current marketing materials/strategies.

ALR on Tour: New York, Austin, Philadelphia, Richmond

I will be doing a lot of traveling this year, so I figured I'd share some of my upcoming public speaking dates. Please do come out and say "hi" if you're in any of these areas/attending these events...

February 26: James River Writers Writing Show panel "From Rags to Riches: The Art of Self-Promotion" with Jenny Block, and Slash Coleman. 6:30-8:30 at the Science Museum of Virginia. Richmond, VA

April 30: GEL Conference guest speaker. New York City

June 25: How Design Conference guest lecturer. Austin, TX

October 31: Mˆºtter Museum Day of The Dead event keynote speaker. Philadelphia, PA

I also enjoy giving talks at universities and for business groups about both my work as a socially conscious designer and my year-long art project Skull-A-Day. If you're interested in having me come talk to your group/school please don't hesitate to get in touch.

ALR on tour: South Carolina

I spent this past Thursday through Sunday in Columbia, South Carolina as a guest of the South Carolina AIGA. I gave a lecture on living/working as a socially conscious designer and my Skull-A-Day project to student and professional members of the AIGA, I also met with design students at South Carolina University, and was one of the judges for the AIGA InShow design competition. Thanks to all of the AIGA folks who were such kind hosts, I really enjoyed my visit!

Designism 2.0

If you missed this year's Art Director's Club talk on socially conscious design, "Designism 2.0", you can check out a podcast of it HERE.

My friend John attended the event and posted an excellent review on his Social Design Notes blog HERE.