Most Creative City of 2009

Who knew? Seattle is the most creative city of 2009. How exciting that we get to visit in October! Great slideshow of some places to see or visit while in the great Northwest, as recommended by designers and thinkers of the area.

Guest on Your Brand Radio

I thought you might be interested in knowing that tomorrow Rex Whisman, one of the conference presenters, will be interviewed on Your Brand Radio, a weekly Internet radio show. The hosts and Rex will talk about several topics related to brand. Joining him a bit later in the show will be one of his clients, John Dolan, Vice President for Enrollment at La Salle University. They will be discussing the brand initiative that they are working on at La Salle University. If your schedule allows, I hope you will listen. The show takes place live Thursday, June 11 at 4-5 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time in the United States. You can go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/YourBrandRadio and click on the arrow at the top of the center column of the page to play. If you are unable to listen in tomorrow, the show will be archived and appear on the same page.

Forecast is for showers and lots of coffee.

Greetings from one of the local boys and a first time blogger.

I'm Simon, the Art Director for Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. Tacoma is a small city 30 miles south of Seattle. Yes, the very same Seattle where I live and commute from each day.

Todays topic...

Weather and lattes
Okay, so Seattle is famous for rain. During the conference you can expect temperatures in the 60's with off and on showers. Don't worry, it rarely rains hard. We get what you'd call "annoying" rain - the kind that's like a sprinkler that hits you from the neighbor's yard. Dress in layers for the weather. Heavy rain gear won't be necessary, but a light waterproof outer shell with a warm inner layer will be more comfortable.

On the upside... rain gives us locals all the more reason to partake in the numerous coffee venues we have around town. The original Starbucks store is located in Pike Place Market, a few blocks from the conference hotel. Back in the 90's, you could catch the original spoonman playing outside.

Welcome to the original home of grunge!

I filled out my calendar for the summer and fall the other day. I know that the summer will fly by and the annual conference will be here in no time. One of the things I need to prepare for is public speaking! As president of UCDA this year, I'll have to get up on that stage often. Designers by nature tend to be introverted personalities, and I am definitely in that group. Many surveys reveal that the number one fear people have is public speaking. Number three on that list is death. Well I think my number one fear is death by public speaking! Come October, you'll be the judge of how well I do, but forgive me if I seem to be drinking a lot of Merlot that week.

I'm not totally obsessed with the stage-fright thing. Breakfast food has been on my mind too. When we went to scope out Seattle for the conference last year, Tadson and I went for a morning meeting at The Crumpet Shop. It's on 1st avenue up above the fish market, and you must check it out. When Tadson suggested it, I initially thought..."a restaurant selling nothing but english muffins?... are you kidding me?...  OMG. An english "crumpet" is sort of like an english muffin, but these are made fresh—you can see the crumpet guy pouring batter on a steaming griddle through the window. I had one topped with butter and pure maple syrup. It was so good I dream of it still. Go early in the morning and sit outside, where you'll hear fog horns in the bay and seagulls calling. They serve great latte too. 

Seattle Named City of the Year

Fast Company magazine has named Seattle its 2009 City of the Year in recognition of the city's creativity. Seattle has ranked America's most literate city three of the last five years and in the economic downturn of 2008 it took the unusual step of boosting its municipal art budget. The city has long been center for technological innovation and as an eco-leader its municipal utility, City Light, was the first carbon-neutral utility in the nation.

Man versus Food

The rest of my family has gotten addicted to the show Man v. Food, which is basically a show that celebrates gluttony. (Obviously, I'm a bit more leery of it all.) It is a pretty funny show and he does visit some interesting restaurants. This weekend, lo and behold, he went to SEATTLE! That one I watched a bit more carefully than the others. I probably want to visit the Crab Pot. I'll pass on the burgers at Red Mill (even if it's one of the 20 burgers I should eat before I die) and I definitely will pass on the 12 egg omelet at Beth's Cafe! Even Adam couldn't finish that monstrosity of an omelet, packed with chili, sour cream, salsa and cheese. It was at least 5 pounds! See all the places he showed on the episode.

So in addition to the great programming, you have plenty of spots to go out and network with other UCDAers.

Competition!

Think you did some work worthy of showing off this year? Enter the competition! I'm proud to say that I've won two in the past and what a thrill that was. Plus, if you enter and win, it's just one more reason as to why you simply must attend such a great program in Seattle. Anything you win reflects well on your institution AND on you as well. Think of it as a professional development expense, right? Your winning entry becomes part of the UCDA archive and history. Believe me, what a thrill it was to be a winner in San Diego. I know how hard it can be to win one of those things, but they are won by UCDA members just like you. And if you don't win, you can still show off those publications that you think SHOULD deserve a little attention. Bring them to our swap shop event! Think green and reuse those publications ... as inspiration to all your fellow UCDA conference attendees.

Mohawk Receives (another) Green Award

Last week Computerworld announced their second annual Top Green-IT Organizations for IT departments that are using technology to create energy efficiencies. At the top of this year's list: Mohawk Fine Papers. Keep up the good work!

Take advantage of this year's pre-conference workshop opportunity to hear more from Mohawk about how paper is made, tips for making paper choices, and a little more about what Mohawk is doing to to be environmentally responsible. Kelly Chrey and Joel Theisen from Mohawk will provide attendees a set of paper refernce tools and will even guide you through making your own sheet of paper.

A Tradition of Great Design

David Eliason, creative director of Brigham Young University Publications and Graphics for 13 years, was responsible for many of the seven awards BYU won in the UCDA Competition last year, building on an already rich history of design accolades for the institution. David has agreed to share some of his secrets for great publication design at this year's conference and sent this new layout as a teaser.

Photographer Interviewed on Charlie Rose

Last year photographer, Max S. Gerber, was interviewed by Charlie Rose on the subject of Max's 2008 book, My Heart vs. The Real World. Max, a congenital heart disease patient since childhood, spent years documenting and photographing children with heart defects... Touching stories! See more about this project on Max's website.