Monday, March 10, 2008

RSW Is Hunting for an Intern

We got this from alumni Ryan Briggs ('03).

RSW Creative are looking for an intern. Interested candidates can contact our Creative Director, Saul Torres, at:
torres@rswcreative.com

If you have any questions, contact me at ligon@unt.edu.

Celebrating the Persian New Year!


Arma Shahidi ('07) was asked to be part of "Celebrating Norooz" on Sunday, March 23 which is an art exhibition of Persian artists work. Norooz is also the Persian New Year. The exhibition will be held at the Plaza of the Americas at 700 North Pearl Street, Dallas, Suite G-207. She hopes to see you there!

UNT Racks 'Em Up!

Wow, the students racked up the entries in the Dallas Society of Visual Communications 4th National Student Show, the only national student show for Communication Design! By my best count, UNT entered 348 separate entries and 24 portfolios. There were a total of about 2300 entries from all of the schools, so UNT entered about 15% of the total entries, but got just over 34% of the show! Great showing!

Here is the break down by school:

Total Pieces Accepted 184
******************************
Art Institute of Dallas 2
Collin County CC 2
Indiana U 2
Indiana U—Southwest 1
Kansas State U 1
Louisiana State U 1
Mississippi State U 1
Missouri State U 17
Oklahoma State U 6
Rutgers U—Camden 3
Southern Methodist U 3
Texas A&M Commerce 8
Texas Christian U 24
Texas State U 15
U of Incarnate Word 1
U of Kansas 15
U of Louisana—Lafayette 1
U of North Texas 72
U of Oklahoma 3
U of Texas Arlington 7
Utah Valley State College 2

Total Portfolios Accepted 22
**********************************
Collin County CC 1
Indiana U 1
U of Kansas 2
U of North Texas 17
U of Oklahoma 1

You can go to http://www.dsvcstudentshow.com/index.aspx?id=24 for the complete results.

Congrats to all of the students who got work in the show!

Design and Community Identity

DFW AIGA Presents:

District Branding: Design and Community Identity

March 13, 2008
7:00 p.m.
The Melrose Hotel
3015 Oak Lawn Ave.
Dallas, Texas 75219
214-521-2121
To reserve you spot for this event, please visit aigadfw.org.

What is the heritage of place and how do you best connect that past to its vision of the future? How do you help a community define its vision of the future? How does this vision integrate into the fabric of the city at large? Bennett Peji, a specialist in urban design and district branding, will discuss these questions and will explore how to discover and define what distinguishes neighborhoods, communities, and cities in order to build a clearer, sustainable identity. City employees, developers, and designers interested in community and public works projects will all benefit from this presentation.

Bennett Peji is a specialist in district branding and design. He serves as an AIGA national board member, a Commissioner of Art & Culture for the City of San Diego, an Asian Business Association Vice-President, and a Public Art Committee member for National City. He is one of the co-founders of the AIGA Center for Cross-cultural Design and is San Diego's first AIGA Fellow honoree. His firm, Bennett Peji Design, focuses on helping revitalize organizations, cities and cultures through district branding. Believing that form follows culture, Peji served as master plan consultant for the Filipino Village development in National City. He is leading the district branding projects for the City of Carlsbad, downtown Rancho Bernardo, downtown National City and the Asian Pacific Historic District in downtown San Diego. Peji is the recipient of the 2005 Arts, Business and Culture Award from the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the 2004 Outstanding Professional of the Year Award from the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce and the 2004 Asian Heritage Award for Cultural Preservation from Asia Media. Besides business and community service awards, his firm has received over 200 design awards.

Peji is a co-founder and regent of the Baja California Missions Foundation, founded to renovate and preserve the historic missions in Mexico.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Final Count for DSVC Entries

Wow!

Our final count (I think) is 343 separate entries in 18 of 22 categories, and 24 portfolios in 5 scholarship/portfolio categories!

I spoke with Lori Dibble, chair of the Student Show, and she said they expect to have the results posted on the web site in two weeks. I'll send out an announcement as soon as I know.

Good job everyone.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

You Guys Blow Me Away!

As of Sunday, Feb. 24 at 11:23 p.m., my running total for DSVC enteries are: 324 separate entries and 23 portfolio entries, all entered by 87 different students. And I don't think that is the final tally.

Way to go.

I have not heard when the announcement will be made but I'll share that when I hear.

Thanks for entering out in force. Good luck!

Mapping the Island

I received this illustration freelance job earlier this week from Jay Franklin, an alumni fo the art department ('82) and am now posting it here for you.

"I am looking to have someone illustrate a map for me. My father is writing a book about the island of Kauai and I need an illustrated map of the island. It will be a pretty simple illustration for someone that has proficiency in the style that I am looking for. I am looking for a black and white line drawing looking down on the island that would show some of the basic terrain of the island. I am not looking for a topographical map, but a drawing of the island to illustrate the locations where some of the events in the book take place."

If you are interested, please contact Jay via e-mail at jay@franklins.org.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Turner Duckworth in CA Magazine


Emily Charette ('07) wrote with a heads up about a feature about Turner Duckworth in the January/February issue of Communication Arts. It highlights some of David Turner and Bruce Duckworth's philosophies about work/design and and has images of a lot of nice projects. Emily has been working at Turner Duckworth since this past summer.

Thanks Emily!

Fossil Internship Available

Graphic Design & Web Design Internships — at Fossil's award-winning design studio!

Fossil, a leader in the design, marketing and distribution of fashion watches, apparel, leather goods and eyewear has opportunities for full-time and/or part-time graphic design & web design internships for the spring and summer semesters in our headquarters in NE Richardson, Texas USA. You must be currently working on, or have a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Arts or related field. Our paid internship program will offer you hands-on experience in a fast paced, in-house environment. Our design studio of over 100+ creative people will provide you an enriched internship experience.

Portfolio required at time of interview. We prefer interns who would be available for full days at least 2-3 days per week up to full time, 5 days a week. We are willing to work with school schedules.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE: Internship candidates are encouraged to apply if able to meet the following requirements:

* Working knowledge of graphic design principles and possess both artistic and technical skills.
* Knowledge in Adobe programs on a Mac platform.
* Web experience a plus, but not required
* The ability to effectively balance multiple projects and meet tight deadlines
* Strong communication skills
* The ability to work well with others and as part of a team
* The ability to follow direction well
* Currently working on or have a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Arts or related field.


Please e-mail resume including samples of your work to Lori Massey at Lorim@fossil.com. Please indicate your availability in your correspondence. No phone calls please. They will be accepting resumes through April.

Sad News

I heard this week that Scott Golem's wife died earlier this week. Scott is an alumni from '93.

Our sincerest condolences go out to you, Scott. We'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

Sorry for the Lack of Posts

Due to the preparation of the entries for the DSVC, and me getting sick, I have not been very diligent here at the blog, but never fear: I'll be posting once again.

Hang in there with me!

DSVC Show Entries

It appears that UNT entered about 200 entries in the DSVC competition this year, roughly the same number as last year. (I hope to have a final tally by Monday.) There is a lot of great work entered. The folks and volunteers at DSVC are going to be very busy this weekend sorting, and judging the work. Like you, I hope we do well. I know you will make us proud as you always do.

I want to remind everyone before the list is published of who got what work in the show that this is, still, only a design show. Every year, lots of great work doesn't get it. Every year, work not so great gets in. The judges will be looking at over 2,000 entries in a matter of two days. Some really great work will always be there, but other pieces strike a judge's fancy on a particular day or not. Design can be pretty subjective, especially when one is looking at that many pieces in so compressed a time period.

All of this is to say that if you get work in the show, that is really great; if you don't get work in the show, don't beat yourself up. (These same judges on a different weekend would likely pick a different show out of the exact same entries.) This is true of professional shows as well.

We want you to know that we are proud of you for the hard work you do, for the quality work you do, and for being really great students. Regardless of what shows and wins, or not.

Monday, February 11, 2008

CA Magazine Annual Illustration Call for Entries

Luan Luu ('07) sent this along as a reminder to any of you aspiring illustrators.

The deadline for the 2008 CA Illustration Call for Entries is March 11. Check the website for more information.

Thanks, Luan!

Simona Cellar is Smokin' Hot

Simona Cellar ('07) was featured in one of Zurich's newspapers in January. Yes, the article is all German, but basically she completed a project with an artist in the city. The task was to develop an idea of how to make art for the city of Zurich, and for its government buildings. Their idea was to put video screens next to office doors that showed little videos of what happens in that specific office. She also designed two posters to explain the whole concept. They (Simona and the artist) ended up in the best of 10, which is great!

Other than that, she doing well. She is still doing an internship at MetaDesign Zurich ,and hopes to get hired full-time in April.

Than ks for sending us this update Simona. Also, tell Erik that Jack and I said hello. (We took him to eat at Javier's years ago when he came to UNT.)

DSVC College Club: February Meeting

Date: Feb 21st
Time: Be there between 5:30 pm and 6:00 pm
Location: 3232 McKinney Avenue Suite 1200 Dallas, Texas 75204
Phone# 214 969 1050

Sibley Peteet Design, founded over 23 years ago, has grown from a two-man design boutique to a nationally acclaimed, multi-disciplined communications powerhouse. No matter what kind of work from Annual Reports, Branding or New Media, they do it all. Their client list includes Mary Kay, Radio Shack, Verizon, Nokia and 7-Eleven, to name a few. For more information about their work please visit their website at www.spddallas.com, or simply join our tour on February 21st for a 101 experience. We will meet between 5:30 and 6:00 pm for a quick tour of their facility followed by 30 min presentation by Mr. Don Sibley and 10 minutes Q & A.

Professors and students who are interested in participating in this event please RSVP by Feb 18th to Arma Shahidi: armaart@gmail.com

PARTICIPATION IN ANY COLLEGE CLUB EVENT IS FREE OF CHARGE FOR DESIGN LOVERS.

Looking forward to see you all,

Arma

New DSVC Student Show Deadlines

Good News:
The deadline has been extended for the DSVC entries. The deadline is now Thursday, Feb. 21 at Clampitt by 6:00 pm. The DSVC will be sending out a mass e-mail about this sometime soon, Lori tells me. So I will move my deadline to end of day (5:30 p.m.) next Monday, in my office. You can still take work down yourself as long as you promise to e-mail me what you entered (category number, title of piece, number of pieces).

Other News:
It is the practice of our program (when we can afford it) to enter the work of those alumni who graduated in the Spring of the previous year, but only work done in these students' final portfolio semester. One of our current seniors wrote to express concern over the legality of entering work of students who graduated last spring according to some of the wording at the show site. This is a practice we have followed for many, many years, but I check with Lori Dibble—the chair of the conference just in case.

Lori told me that as long as the work was done for a class and when the alumni was a student, then it is okay to enter. Concerning entering this work in portfolio scholarship competitions, she said that she'd like the Jump-Start Portfolio Scholarship to go to a student who will be graduating in a couple of months rather than one who graduated 9 months ago. I told Lori, and now you all, that we only enter our alumni student portfolios in the Padgett Scholarship competition. That seems fair to us and seemed very fair to Lori and the board of DSVC.

Our entering past students work raised another question: Can a current senior count on the program to enter their work next year? The straight answer is: Don't count on that happening. Our ability to enter past student's work is wholey dependent on what funds we have available in our Gift Account. This year, gifts have been fairly generous so we are able to enter a nice quantity of work from last Spring. In the past, this has not generally been the case.

However, if you are a current senior in your final semester, you may plan to enter work that you complete later this semester in next year's Student Show, according to this policy. If we can cover that expense for you, we will, but usually we are only able to select what we consider the very best to submit ourselves.

I hope that answers any of your concerns.

Eric

Sunday, February 10, 2008

I'm on the Case, Sir


Lori Dibble ('02) recently upgraded her portfolio and she is left with a (slightly used) aluminum portfolio case 18"x2 5" (roughly). She'd love to sell this for a few bucks —$75 obo. (These things sell for $150 or more, so it is a great deal!) It still looks great, but she just doesn't want it sitting around her house anymore! Are any of you interested in buying this portfolio? It would be a really great purchase before the Job Fair at the Student Show!!!

If you are interested, please send me an e-mail (ligon@unt.edu) and I'll forward it to Lori. She lives close to Denton, so it would be easy for someone to pick it up.

Two of Our Own Dominate at the Fort Worth ADDYs


Last night at the American Advertising Federation of Fort Worth (better known as the Fort Worth Ad Club) two of our students dominated! Current art direction seniors Beth Gillespie and Jessica Hillman both brought home top awards.


Jessica Hillman won a gold ADDY for her Coke Blak Campaign.


Beth Gillespie won a Gold ADDY for her Hypnotiq campaign (pictured above), a Silver ADDY for her GE Lightbulb campaign, a Judges' Award of Merit, and a Special Judges Award for Photography Used in a Design for the photography she shot herself in the Hypnotiq ads.

Beth noted that she and Jessica were the only students from UNT who entered the competition this year, making Communication Design in the College of Visual Arts and Design at UNT the only program who can claim that all of their entrants came home with Gold!

We are truly proud of you two! Way to go.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

DSVC Student Show FAQs

Q1.
If I'm turning in multiple entries for one advertising campaign, do I pay for each individual piece or does the whole campaign count as one entry?
A1.
If the multiple pieces make up a single campaign you only pay for one entry. The only caveat to remember is that if the campaign gets accepted, all of the work will have to fit on a maximum of three boards. If you want to see how that might work, the display big booth near the resource room now has a number of examples of entire campaigns, none of which will exceed 3 boards. You may gang multiple pieces onto a single larger sheet. You may resize as necessary, however, if you reduce any work significantly, you may want to indicate the percentage of reduction in 6 point type in the lower right hand corner of the piece. "Printed at ??%"

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Here's the DSVC Student Show Poop

Okay, I hear through the grapevine that many of you don't know what you need to do to enter work in the DSVC Student Show. I'll try to outline it here for you, and will follow with a FAQ list which I can ad to as Qs get asked.

1. Register
First you need to decide what level you want to register for. This can be in any number of levels from "attending and not entering any work" to "attending, and entering work, and going on the tours, and to the banquet." You can download those registration forms here.

2. Prepare Your Work
First remember that just because you can enter unlimited numbers of work does not mean that you should enter unlimited numbers of pieces. You should only enter the work about which you feel really good (or work your professors feel really good about even if you don't). The guidelines are pretty clear at the DSVC Student Show web site.

Remember the work you turn in for judging will NOT get returned, it will be tossed onto the garbage heap, win or loose so do not spend time mounting this work on presentation boards. A clean print out of the work in a large format envelop with the form filled out legibly taped to the back is sufficient. Make sure to trim the printouts well, with or without a border. Do not turn in actual packaging unless you are prepared to build a new comp. A good photograph or multiple photographs will work just fine. Keith, Michael and Karen all took photos of their students packaging last semester. You might write them to ask if they have an available photo they can send you.

There is no size limitation but don't go overboard. If you can resize this for judging to fit on a 15" x 20", that is probably acceptable. Just make the call as seems appropriate for the design piece.

If there are multiple pieces of work for a single campaign, then you need to either clip them together really well or put them into a envelop. Entries with a single piece do not need their own envelop. Be sure to affix the entry form to the back of each campaign or piece as instructed. You should put all of the work you enter in a single large envelop with your registration receipt attached to the outside.

When you fill out the entry forms, put the name of the professor for whom you did the work, not the professor you currently have. That seems simple but students often list the wrong professor's name on the entry forms.

3. Payment
If you are attending the entire conference and can enter unlimited pieces, you need to include a copy of the receipt you get after you register showing that you have paid.

If you are entering work separately (and not attending the conference), then you can figure the total cost for all of the pieces you enter and fillout the payment form only on one of them for the total cost. On the other two, write a note saying "See other form." Be sure to fill out the rest of the form, though, with all of the appropriate information such as name, address, school etc. Be sure you take the time to write a good but brief description of the job. I think it is optional but it is a smart move as long as it clarifies the work.

4. Deadlines
If you want me to take the work down by the deadline, then I need you to get me that work by end of day on Wednesday so we have time to log the work. It makes it mush easier for me to maintain a manifest of all the work that gets entered by UNT (this helps with press and follow-up and lots of other things as well). I realize that some of you will want to take your work down to Clampitt yourself, which is fine. However, I really need you to e-mail me with a list of what you entered and whether or not you'll be attending the conference. It is really important for me to have as compete a list as possible. I will appreciate it greatly.

5. Portfolio Entries
These are paid for separately (on the portfolio entry form you'll fill out). If you plan to enter this, you do not need a formal portfolio for judging. You can send in a collection of prints that are collected in an envelop (I'd probably number them if order is important). I would try to make sure that the page sizes are uniform and the work is handled in a consistent manner —borders, description, etc.) I'll be writing Lori Dibble, chair for the show, to see if we can get back actual portfolios from the judging if you want to enter that way. I'll post to the blog once I have an answer.

I think that gets most of the questions I have heard so far. If you have more, please write me at ligon@unt.edu. I'll do my best to answer (or find the answer) for you and then post it to the bog as a DSVC Student Show FAQ.

Good luck. You all do great work. You should enter. Make us all proud.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Hillebrand Cory Is Looking for an Intern!



Sara Stoner (alumna, '07) is working at Hillebrand Cory in Dallas. They are currently looking for ajunior or senior for an internship for the rest of the spring semester (and into the summer possibly). This will be a good opportunity for someone who wants to start getting their feet wet working at a firm (even if you have to start with the regular intern-type grunt work). They have great clients — some of their biggies are Corner Bakery, Cadbury Schweppes (we did the Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper that is in all the ads right now, Snapple, Canada Dry Ginger Ale, etc.), and Brinker International (Maggiano's, Chili's, Macaroni Grill, On the Border). If you are interested, please contact Sara at sara@hillebrandcory.com

PS: The studio website is not up and running right now, sort of like the shoemaker's kids without I shoes I suspect. Write Sara at her e-mail. She's great.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

DSVC Student Competition Entries

Hi all,

This is a reminder that all student entries are due to me by the end of day next Wednesday. You'll need to put the work (that will NOT be returned), the entry form you have filled out and a copy of your registration showing that you have paid in the envelop. It would be helpful if you are able to write the category number on the outside of the envelop for me. If you have any questions, let me know.

I look forward to seeing the work!

Eric

Bed Down on the Summit

Please make your hotel reservations early for the Creative Summit 23.

The Summit will be taking place at the Hampton Inn and Alkek Library as in previous years, but the Hampton Inn books quickly, so below please find a list of alternative accommodations. We hope to have the website live this week, so book your rooms before everyone else. We look forward to seeing you at the Summit!

San Marcos Hotels
Comfort Suites 104 I-35N, Exit 204 (512) 392-1006
Best Budget Inn 903 I-35 North, Exit 204B 512.392.3990
Comfort Inn 1611 I-35N, Exit 206 (512) 396-5665 or (800) 288-5150
Days Inn 1005 I-35N, Exit 205 (512) 353-5050 or (800) 329-7466
Holiday Inn Express 108 I-35N, Exit 204 (512) 754-6621 or (800) 465-4329
Roadway Inn 1635 Aquarena Springs Drive (512) 353.8011 or (800) 446.4656
Super 8 1429 I-35 North, Exit 206 512.396.0400 800.800.8000
Amerihost Inn 4210 I-35 South, Exit 200 512.392.6800 800.434.5800
Hampton Inn & Suites 106 I-35N, Exit 206, Exit 204 (512) 754-7707 or (877) 866-3468
Red Roof Inn 817 I-35 North, Exit 204 512.754.8899
Stratford Inn 1601 I-35 North, Exit 206 512.396.3700
La Quinta 1619 I-35N, Exit 206 (512) 392-8800 or (800) 531-5900
Motel 6 1321 I-35N, Exit 206 (512) 396-8705 or (800) 466-8356
Ramada Limited 1701 I-35N, Exit 206 (512) 395-8000 or (800) 272-6232
Best Western 917 I-35 North, Exit 205 512.754.7557 877.866.3468 Group Res.
Parkside Inn & Suites 801 I-35 North Exits 205/204B 512.353.1303 800.228.2000
Econolodge 811 South Guadalupe, Exit 204A 512.353.5300 800.553.2666
Quality Inn 1433 I-35 North, Exit 206 512.353.7770 800.228.5151

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Emily Duckett at emily@hillonline.com

HILL 3512 Lake Street Houston , Texas 77098 713.523.7363
Tel 713.523.6624 Fax hillonline.com

Register Your Voice!

Yesterday was the last day to register to vote in the primaries on March 4. But now is the right time to register for the presidential elections in November. You're able to download the voter registration form here. Just print it and mail it in to the correct address for you. In Denton County:

DENTON COUNTY
Elections Administrator
Don Alexander
P.O. Box 1720 Denton 76202
(940) 349-3200 Phone
(940) 349-3201 FAX

Whether you are Democrat or Republican, you ought to be voting. Even if you feel disenfranchised by the process. Even if you aren't sure that it is worth your time or effort. The most it'll take is about 20 minutes. You waste that much time mumbling about starting your homework on most days, don't you?

Take a chance. Vote.

See you at the voting booths!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Short Films at Big Sky



I got this exciting news from alumna Meta Newhouse ('07). She is now teaching Graphic Design at the Montana State University in Bozeman.

"The world premiere of my film “Reversing the Odds” will be at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival on Feb 15, 2008, in Missoula, Montana. This film festival gets 1000+ entries and accepts 90 films that are shown over a one week period. So I’m psyched to get in, and it is only three hours away so I’ll actually be attending the screening! When I sent it off last spring I had no idea I would be in Montana."

We are really proud of you, Meta! Let us know how the premier goes.