Stefan Sagmeister and Massimo Vignelli

What an exciting year to be in Syracuse for design! Last week, Michael Bierut was here visiting campus, and now Massimo Vignelli is scheduled to speak at SU in late-October! Also, RIT is having Stefan Sagmeister visit their school in three weeks and has invited our AIGA members to RIT for the event!


One of the things I'm most excited about is connecting with other AIGA groups. Albany's AIGA chapter will also be at RIT for the Sagmeister event, and I've extended invitations for RIT and Albany to join us at SU for Massimo Vignelli's lecture. Hopefully this is the start of greater communication and exchange between the chapters; I would love to have a giant portfolio show from the different schools at the end of the year!

Michael Bierut

Last Tuesday, SU's School of Architecture hosted a guest lecture by Michael Bierut, called "My Life as a Font." Unfortunately I was unable to attend, BUT because of my position as Co-President of AIGA, I had the privilege of attending in a special Warehouse luncheon instead! Hopefully, we represented AIGA (and CommDesign) well and didn't embarrass ourselves too much, because for those unfamiliar, Michael Bierut is something of a celebrity/hero to design students.


Blurb from the SU events site:
Michael Bierut, partner at full-spectrum graphic design firm Pentagram in NYC, will lecture. In 2006 Bierut received the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) medal, the profession's highest honor. His work is represented in several permanent collections including MoMA and the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in NYC. He currently serves as a director of the Architectural League of NY and of New Yorkers for Parks, and is a senior critic in graphic design at the Yale School of Art.

I think it's safe to say that I wasn't the only student in complete awe, but what really impressed me was how gracious and candid he was with his time and in speaking with us about design. We gave him a small tour of our third floor, and he even signed a poster for us!

I'm still giddy thinking about it.

Later that afternoon, the Warehouse showed "Helvetica," an independent documentary film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. Michael was again a special guest speaker and participated in a Q&A after the movie.

I can't think of a better way to christen the renovated Warehouse!

Soccer Start Up

We just had our first soccer tournament of the season today. It was held at Cortland, which is about 40 minutes from Syracuse, but we had to leave at 6:30am in order to be there in time for our first game. We did pretty well considering we've only practiced twice, but I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be feeling it tomorrow. (I know I will.)

We played three games against Cornell (0-3), Cortland (1-0), and Ithaca (0-3), so we lost two and won one. We definitely could have taken Cornell if we had warmed up better, but it took the whole first half for our team to start operating at full speed, and they had already scored 3 goals by that point.

Next time...

Let's get it started...

Earlier, I had mentioned how great it was to have an easy schedule this semester, but I'm starting to regret those words a bit. On the one hand, it's great. I' m relatively unstressed, and I have a ton of free time. On the other hand, having a large amount of free time and a minimal workload for most of my classes is setting me a bit on edge.

On the plus side, soccer season is starting up again, and we have a full schedule this semester! Try-outs for the Women's club team were this past weekend, and we had a GREAT turnout. I think there were over 70 girls who signed up at the club involvement fair. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to play all that much at try-outs, but as a senior, I was asked to observe and keep track of potential new players. At least it got me up and out of the house early. :-)

I'm also considering joining the Swing Club. The first meeting is tonight, and it's something I've wanted to do since Freshman year but was never able to because it didn't fit into my schedule. I sometimes seem to have a problem with taking on too many extracurriculars, but I'm somewhat bored with my lack of activity this semester. Maybe I should volunteer to work in the woodshop as well....

Practice safe design: Use a concept.

One of the great things about being in the CommDesign program at Syracuse is that we get to pick our own projects. From start to finish, our projects are something that we've created ourselves--from the initial idea to the eventual physical form it takes. When I graduate, I know that I'm going to be coming out with a portfolio full of projects that I love and that are unique from any other graduating senior. Yet while this method is a fantastic exercise in thinking, it can be quite frustrating in actual practice.

We're already two weeks in and I'm struggling a bit with my first project in CommDesign. I think I'd be more worried if I wasn't unsure because then the challenge would be gone (and the fun with it), but at the moment it is proving somewhat troublesome.

My idea originally came from an article I recently ran across with the headline"Male birth control pills soon a reality." Awesome! Now, what to do with it? Realistically thinking, it would be a pharmaceutical; therefore, I wouldn't really be able to brand the name (A friend of mine worked at Pfizer and said they name prescription drugs by throwing a bunch of letters together and checking with legal to make sure the name's not already taken), and the packaging wouldn't be that important since it's not over-the-counter.

After going in circles a bit this week, I think I've decided on 1 of 2 ideas:
1) A program that has teens who have had experience with teen pregnancy coming to schools and talking to other teens about the consequences of unsafe sex. (meh? or yeh?)

2) A cross-media campaign specifically directed at males, promoting responsibility and the use of contraception.

Thoughts are welcome. I need to hash this out before Monday so I can get cracking on the design.

Design for the Open Mind

While doing some research for my second credit project in Comm, I came across some fun quotes about design. For your reading pleasure...

It’s art if can’t be explained.
It’s fashion if no one asks for an explanation.
It’s design if it doesn't need explanation.
— Wouter Stokkel

A camel is a horse designed by a committee.

Art is like masturbation. It is selfish and introverted and done for you and you alone. Design is like sex. There is someone else involved, their needs are just as important as your own, and if everything goes right, both parties are happy in the end.
— Colin Wright

The difference between a Designer and Developer, when it comes to design skills, is the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it.
— Scott Hanselman

Designing a product is designing a relationship.
— Steve Rogers

Being a designer is like being a porn star. You're hot and popular for a year or two, then everyone goes off and finds something new to screw around to.
- Jason Demetillo

Broken gets fixed, shoddy lasts forever.

Weekend Review

Friday I... worked in the morning, went to my kickboxing class in the afternoon, and then checked out my friend Travis' "rave" later that night. (Truth be told, it wasn't that great)

Saturday I... took the roomies grocery shopping at Sam's Club and Price Chopper. We later ate delicious grilled cheese sandwiches (our friend Sam makes them with bacon, apple slices, and Gruyère cheese, YUM!) at Carl's house, and rounded out the night be stopping by Tracy's birthday party for a bit.

Sunday I... grabbed some coffee at Recess in the late afternoon and then helped (and by helped, I really mean watched) Margaret make vegetarian chili for Derek's Chili Cook-Off. Margaret ended up winning second place at the Cook-off, and I bonded with some people by killing them in Mortal Combat on the PS3 :-D. Casey and I later met up with Travis & co. for game night at his girlfriend's house.

Monday I... did a lot of nothing. I relaxed on the Quad for a bit and tried out my new bubble recipe. I can happily report that I now know how to make 15-foot bubbles :-) I also stretched my legs a bit and played catch with Margaret & Casey. We later watched the Harry Potter Musical online and Empire of the Sun (Christian Bale's first movie).

All in all, my weekend mission of relaxing and having fun was a success.
Let the new year of CommDesign commence!

Our Warehouse...

(all images taken in the lobby )

...Is a very very very fine house.

Over the summer, Syracuse University's downtown location, the Warehouse (or Warehaus...brownie points if you get the reference ;-D ) went through some serious renovations. I think the Warehouse can now definitely stand my its unofficial motto...

"It's not a house, it's a home."


The new "Warehome" now houses the five VPA design majors: Communications Design, Ad Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, and Fashion Design. Each major has moved onto its respective floor, and although it's been strange adapting to the influx of students, it's also super exciting to be a part of this highly collaborative community.

If you do get the chance to check out the Warehouse, I would definitely suggest paying a visit to the 4th floor, which is the location of CoLab. CoLab is an area completely dedicated to collaboration, both between design students and nondesign students. It also looks like a funhouse.

In CommDesign, we like to play the XBox 360 on a projector...

don't tell anyone ;-)

S.U.Musical: Senior Year!

Being a senior rocks.

My first week back in classes has been amazing. Thankfully, because I have completed almost all of my required credits, I am able to have a wonderfully easy schedule this semester. For classes, I'm taking one CommDesign class (but for six credits, so the workload is comparable to taking two classes), Self Defense for Women, Cardio Kickboxing, Wine and Beer Appreciation (you must be 21 to participate, but I would highly recommend it), Ballroom Dancing, and a class titled "What's the Big Idea?"

What's the Bid Idea is, in my opinion, the most relevant and exciting class (aside from my major) I have taken at SU. It's a multi-disciplinary course, so students from VPA as well as the IT, Management, and Engineering schools are all in class together, and, since the course is designed for teaching and exploring different strategies for thinking and brainstorming, it's really great to have a lecture room full of students from different backgrounds.

Get pumped!