Speaker News: Lime Twig Honored

Lori Schmidt, principal at Lime Twig, was happy to share with me this week that they recently won a Best of Show award in the 24th Annual Admissions Advertising Awards competition. "Immersive Reality: The Future of Human Interaction" is a remarkable book designed for the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering. The challenge: how do you represent 3D and 4D immersive environments in a 2D print piece? Lime Twig's solution: the extensive use of transparencies conveys the vision of the Integrated Media Systems Center at USC beautifully and effectively.

We'll hope to prevail on Lori to have samples for us to see when she presents her sessions on undergraduate recruitment in October.

The Art of Recycling

"Turning useless into useful." That's the mission at Alchemy Goods. Located about two and a half miles south of the conference hotel, Alchemy invites you to come see how they are making bags and accessories out of recycled bicycle inner tubes and seat belts. Factory store hours are limited so you'll want to check with them ahead of time but if you can plan your visit right you might even catch their weekly factory tour.

SAM remembers Wyeth

The Seattle Art Museum, or simply SAM, is currently paying tribute to Andrew Wyeth with a special exhibition of seven paintings from private collections, not otherwise on public view. The exhibit runs through mid-October and SAM is a short walk--less than a mile--from the conference hotel. (It's also right on the way and only three blocks before the Seattle Central Library where the opening night session and reception will be.)

Donut confession #1

A few days in Seattle shared with designer foodie friends is not a good formula for dietary restraint. Thanks a lot Tadson for introducing me to the Daily Dozen...no, honestly if you're looking for a sweet indulgence to jump-start your day you've got to take the short walk up the hill to Pike Place Market and the Daily Dozen Doughnut Company. A bag of bite-sized, hot cinnamon-sugar-donuts shared with a friend and colleague must fit into your conference agenda somehow. Now, this is Seattle--there must be some coffee around here somewhere.

Olympic National Park getaway

We just finished booking a few days of August family vacation in one of our very favorite destinations, Lake Quinault Lodge. 150 miles by car from downtown Seattle, Lake Quinault in the southwest corner of the Olympic National Forest. If you're willing to take a chance on the October weather this could be a perfect spot to experience the Pacific Northwest with a few days of hiking the rainforest, fishing and kayaking on the lake, or simply relaxing by the fireplace and recovering from an action packed conference.

Monday studio tours set

I'm very excited about the Monday evening studio tours and how they tie into the programming. We got the final clearance last week and we're now set to visit Methodologie, Fitch, and Starbucks. The tours immediately follow the presentation by Methodolgie partners Anne Traver and Dale Hart, and will provide a wonderful opportunity to continue that conversation. Fumi Watanabe from Starbucks is an alum of the design program at Western Washington University and will be participating in Kent Smith's design education panel Sunday afternoon if you want to get sneak peak at her work.

Space for the studio tours is limited so if you're interested make sure you get your registrations in early.

Only in Seattle

Here is a short list of some hidden treasures found only in Seattle.

Unique toys
http://www.schmancytoys.com/index.php

The original Seattle fish and chips
http://www.ivars.net/

Uwajimaya Japanese market and bookstore
http://www.uwajimaya.com/index.html

Breakfast floss and a bacon watch (New location by Greenlake)
http://www.mcphee.com/

Picture postcard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Park_(Seattle)

Look for the pink door
http://www.thepinkdoor.net/index.html

Skip Barnes & Noble
http://www.elliottbaybook.com/index.jsp

KAPOW! BLAM! ZOWIE!
http://www.goldenagecollectables.com/

With the exception of Archee McPhee, all are within walking distance or a short bus ride away from the conference hotel.

Enjoy!

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!