Keynote Speakers: Bob Hambly and DJ Stout

June 7, 2011

We have a lineup of great speakers, so in the next few weeks, I'll highlight these individuals on the blog. I am excited about our keynote speakers, and I think you'll be inspired by their presentations.

Keynote Speakers

Opening Keynote Session: Bob Hambly on "Creativity."

When I first spoke to Bob about his session on Curiosity, I wondered what inspired him to prepare this lecture, which was first presented to the R.G.D. of Canada. He’s been thinking about the idea of curiosity for a quite a long time—about how it can be nurtured and encouraged, rather than feared and under-valued.

Bob Hambly is the creative director of Hambly & Woolley Inc., a Toronto-based, multi-disciplinary graphic design firm he co-founded with his partner, Barbara Woolley. Over the past 20 years, the firm has received over 350 national and international design awards—an impressive number by any standard.

When asked to prepare a lecture on any topic he desired, Bob jumped at the chance to delve into what intriques us. The result has been popular on the road, and lecturing to different audiences—architects, graphic designers, interior designers, MBA students and design students—one thing has been clear, the topic of Curiosity resonates with everyone.

Bob will isolate 5 areas where improvements will help spur your creativity. Learn new techniques, or refresh your current habits and thrive with fresh ideas.

Grand Finale Keynote Session: DJ Stout, "Content is King."

When I was preparing for this conference, I reviewed survey comments that attendees had made after past conferences, and under the question, “who would you like to see as a speaker?” the popular response was DJ Stout. Long a fan myself, I was unsure about how to approach this icon of the design world. Email? Formal letter? Phone call? I decided an email would be a good start. “Absolutely,” he replied to my very first email, and with that generous spirit, I knew we were in for a treat.

DJ Stout is a sixth generation Texan, born in the small West Texas town of Alpine. He studied graphic design at Texas Tech University, and began his graphic design career working for Robert A. Wilson Associates in Dallas. After moving to Austin, he was the award-winning art director of the nationally respected and critically acclaimed Texas Monthly magazine. In January 2000 DJ joined Pentagram, where DJ’s wide-ranging expertise encompasses the design and redesign of a variety of publications including magazines, books and catalogs. He and his team also specialize in identity design, branding, packaging, exhibitions and website design.

DJ will emphasize the importance of depth with “Content is King.” All publications are about content. Sure, a magazine, a college view book or a website could look marvelous, but it is not going to survive long if it doesn’t have something to say. Every publication needs to understand who their specific audience is and they need to understand how to create vital content that resonates with their particular constituency. Vital content is more than just good writing, it can be that of course, but the most effective publications deliver content through powerful conceptual photography, thought provoking illustration and a fluid combination of all those elements.

Veteran designer DJ Stout will talk about strategies and techniques for creating publications that look great and actually say something too!


As impressive as our keynote speakers are, the breakout session speakers are equally impressive. Check here for more profiles each week...

Breakout Session Overview

We all need to keep up with technology and follow communication trends, and we can use techniques to refresh our creativity, too! The breakout sessions at the UCDA Annual Design Conference will provide tools to help us keep our edge and thrive in the higher ed market.


Here's a brief overview of the Breakout Sessions:

Lauren Cantido, of Social Media Solutions will provide valuable insight on how social media is being used. Check out Game Changers: How Educational Institutions are Using Social Media, and How Today's Students Use Social Media. You'll come away with information to help you take advantage of this fast-paced media platform.


Brad Mitchell, from Missouri State University transitioned their print magazine to online with minimal in-house staff and just a few students. Learn how they did it with Transitioning Alumni Magazines from Print to Web. He will also provide Ten Tips for Creating Online Videos.

With over a decade of design experience in eco design and visual communications, Dion Zuess from ecoLingo Studio believes that designers have a unique opportunity to integrate talent, communication strategies, and social responsibility. Join Dion for Why Sustainable Design is Smart Design, and explore opportunities to rethink design roles, gain tips to "work smarter" and gather inspiration from world changing design solutions from around the globe.

Trish Witkowski is Chief Folding Fanatic at FoldFactory.com. Ever seen a twist fold, snake fold, reveal folder, angled roll fold or bidirectional accordian? Trish will show how fresh new solutions can maximize the success of your projects in her session, Escape the Tri-fold Funk.

When is Creative "Too Creative" for Admission Campaigns? You're a designer. You crave those opportunities to exercise your creative chops and push the design envelope. New recruitment campaigns present just that opportunity! Or do they? Lori Schmidt of Lime Twig, and Todd Haynie from Eastern Arizona College will talk about the definite ideas today's students have about being "marketed" to. EAC is a campus with unique marketing distinctions, and their recent marketing strategy pairs eye-catching design with primary marketing messages to reach the right students. Explore this successful campaign and others that have resonated well with students.

Wil Heywood is a Clinical Psychologist whose recent research explores the role of team building, creative collaboration and mindfulness as it relates to design education and critical visual thinking. In Creativity, Confidence and Collaboration, find out how to bring more creativity, playfulness and flexibility into your work.

You're looking at that really bad photo that you just to have to use... Can you fix it? Join photographer Earl Richardson to learn techniques from his session, Lipstick on a Pig—tips that can help salvage that problem photo.

Along the same lines of working smarter, join Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich and Matteo Bologna for their Survival Type session. Imagine this scenario: You have no budget, the computer has hiccups, and the artwork was provided by the (air quote) gifted (air quote) three-year-old daughter of your client. Enter Typography to save the day! Explore the versatility of creating type from thin air with this class exercise.


Garrick Chow, from lynda.com presents two can't miss sessions. He will revisit the popular iMovie in an Hour which he presented at the 2008 Savannah conference. iMovie is the easiet way to import, edit and share videos, and Garrick shows you everything you need to know to go from raw footage to final product.


Garrick Chow also is presenting Preparing Your InDesign Documents for the iPad. He will walk you step-by-step through the process of tweaking your existing inDesign documents and converting them into the ePub format for viewing on the iPad. Garrick will also provide an overview of the options that are available for distributing your publications to the iPad, and how to convert them to other eBook formats for use on devices like the Kindle and Nook.

From Auburn University, Kevin Smith is an educator who teaches design and runs a design studio. His studio faced the same pressures of adapting to a multimedia environment that we all do, and he'll share the tips and tools he used to get there. Kevin will also present his session, IDEATION, Generating Idea Bubbles. This session will explore the process of forming and relating ideas, and design is the visual sum of these ideas.

Check out Do-It-Yourself: Testing Your Website's Usability. Susan Kirtland, of Propeller Communications, will present how to use in-house resources to test your institutions website for effectiveness and ease of use. Susan will also present a session, What Your Visual Messaging Really Says about You. Through actual case studies, you'll explore the five elements of successful visual messaging.

Telling stories is a fundamental element of what makes us human. It is also a highly intuitive way in which we make sense of our everyday lives. From the earliest cave drawings to Polaroids, blogs and tweets, we have always used a rich variety of media and technologies to represent and understand our life experiences. Today’s social media platforms, mobile applications and hybrid physical/digital environments present rich opportunities for creating new forms of storytelling experiences. Join media system designer Aisling Kelliher for Telling Something to Someone about Something, as she demonstrates how to design, build and evaluate engaging mediated storytelling platforms.

Arizona State University struggled for years with how to manage and share a sprawling photo library. Several designers worked together and found a solution by using Flickr. Cindi Farmer will talk about the models and processes that have worked for the community of designers at ASU wiht her session Flickr Photo Management.

Okay, folks, this was long, but we have such exciting sessions planned, I wanted to give you all an overview of what's to come. Next week I will begin to share in-depth session reviews and bios for our speakers...

Get ready for Phoenix!

It's time to grow, evolve, and THRIVE!

We're well on our way to another great UCDA Annual Design Conference in Phoenix, October 15-18th, 2011! The lineup of speakers will inspire, educate and provide the relevant tools that you need to THRIVE in your job.

Check this blog weekly for updates and insights on programming and activities. You can find detailed information on the UCDA website as well, just follow this link: http://ucda.com/conference.lasso, and click on the conference activities listed on the left side.

General Session highlights include:

Keynote speakers Bob Hambly, of Hambly and Woolly Inc., with his session, "Curiosity: The Designer's Secret Weapon;" and from Pentagram, D.J. Stout with "Content is King."

Bob Hambly's session will take a close look at Curiosity, and how it can be nurtured and encouraged rather than feared and undervalued.

D. J. Stout will talk about the importance of content. The most effective publications deliver content with good writing, powerful photography and thought-provoking illustration in a fluid combination of all these elements.

General session speakers include Elizabeth Scarborough of SimpsonScarborough, Sandra Kowalski and Trey McCallie from Northern Arizona University, and Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich and Matteo Bologna, masters of typography.

Elizabeth Scarborough promises to show how research findings can spur creative concepts that prove, once and for all, that data geeks and graphic designers can live together in harmony.

How do you take 300 web sites that underperform and make them into something that really helps you achieve your strategic goals? Sandra Kowalski and Trey McCallie of Northern Arizona University will present a fascinating case study of the NAU process.

Because English is the second language for Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich and Matteo Bologna, they communicate with type. Come experience the power of typography and visual imagery.

Next up, breakout session highlights...

See you in Phoenix!

UCDA Design Conference: Thrive (2011 conference trailer)

The past few years for colleges and universities have been challenging to say the least. The truth is, though, that it is not only possible to survive the current crisis, but to evolve, grow and...

Inspired, Smart Designers = Happy Clients + Strong Institutions

Institutions need to turn to one of their greatest untapped resources: their designers. By using "design thinking," institutions can increase the significance of their brand and compete more effectively for students, resources and enhanced reputation.

Designers are uniquely qualified to help their institutions harness the power of creativity, technology and communication to prosper and grow.

Thrive in Phoenix
Experience the only major design conference in North America specifically created by and for designers working in education. Programming is in development that targets the topics you told us were most important to you. UCDA consistently delivers a top-notch conference experience at a competitive price.Come be inspired.

UCDA Design Conference
October 15-18, 2011
Phoenix, Arizona

Light Rail

I'm starting to think about packing my bags for Minneapolis and head north, way north for me. I'm checking out the weather (highs in the mid-60s perhaps even 70, lows in the high 40s, far better than last December!) and I'm remembering my trip back to the airport on light rail.

On the way in, I took the Super Shuttle, which was OK but took a long time to get to the hotel and so on the way back, we decided to try the light rail.

Light rail is such a bargain! For around $2, you can get from the airport (btw, love the cute blonde family on the home page!) down close to the hotel, then you can easily walk. You can even walk mostly inside, if need be, because of all the bridges and such that connect buildings. That was a wonderful thing in the cold weather as well. It was about one block over and two blocks down, not any longer than any airport concourse walking trip, so extremely do-able.

Once there, buying tickets from the kiosk was also a snap.

The part that was NOT a snap was competing for room on the train with all the Vikings and Bengals fans. See, there was a playoff game the weekend we were there. Every restaurant was crowded with fans all weekend long. And the trains ... well they looked like they'd been stuffed with purple and gold cloth. We waited in the 16 degree weather for a train to be less full and finally, after we skipped the first two trains, the conductor said "YOU BETTER GET ON THIS TRAIN." So Winston and I took our suitcases, shoved them through the doorway and snuck on. Two stops later, we had the train to ourselves, which took us directly into the airport.

Fortunately for all of us, the Vikings have a bye week! So, one of my very few Minneapolis tips: take the light rail!

See all of you at the end of the week! Lots of surprises and fun and of course, lots of networking and learning to be had. Can't wait! My favorite time of year: UCDA time!

The Big Picture 5.0: Doing More with Less Means Being More Imaginative and Less Static

Another note from the UCDA "buzz" team....

For many of us, we are the only design/communications professional in the entire unit, office, department, etc. Even if you're part of a design/communications/publications/web team, there are only a few of you, and there are many more jobs than you can count. This requires you be efficient. Creative. Innovative. Effective. All that.

With that (and you) in mind, each year UCDA puts together their annual Design Conference to Inspire us. Educate us. Train us. Motivate us. Equip us.

This year is no different. What with the demands of designing for and communicating via integrated marketing campaigns, social media, and video, I know that without UCDA I would still be driving 35-mph in the new Web 5.0 world. (Yes, as of May 20, 2009, according to PR LEAP, Web 5.0 has begun.) And HTML5? It's already here.

This year's breakout sessions bring you the gamut of how to design multi-touch, coherent communications campaigns. Finding ways to do things more efficiently and spread the message across multiple platforms won't be a mystery when you have the right tools and tips. Check out what who can learn from this year...

Designing for WordPress
Mike Richwalsky, John Carroll

No Country for Old Marketing Methods...
Sini Stjernsward Ross, Sexton Strategic

Connecting with Coherence: Three Satellites Point the Way
Rick Bailey, Richard Harrison Bailey/The Agency

Getting Started with XML
James J. Maivald, XML for Designers (His book is a must-have! Designer's Guide to Adobe InDesign and XML)

Thinking Dynamic-ly? Know your P's, Q's (and your XML's ...)
Chris Edwards, Quark

Technobabble or Technobrillance: 21st Century Digital Strategies for Higher Education
Fritz McDonald, Stamats

Until October then, it's shoulder to grindstone. See you in Minneapolis!

sarah

Bidding war

The Silent Auction is always a good time at the conference. The bidding war that goes on until 10:15 on Tuesday can get really intense! If you're looking for oddities or hand-crafted items, you will find a wide array of items at the auction.

So what should you bring as a contribution? Just about anything works! We've seen everything from leather wallets and Pantone necklaces and hooked rugs and beaded jewelry to tshirts and books and letterpress cards and odd knick knacks. You name it, someone has contributed it to the auction. In fact, the auction grows throughout the conference as people go out and buy things to contribute.

My contribution is always knitted. In the past, I've made unusual hats. This year, it's the texting gloves! (Sorry guys, I made 'em pink.) We met in Minneapolis in December last year, and boy this Southern girl was cold. COLD. One morning, it was negative 3. Like, below zero cold. I wear gloves when it's 40 degrees outside! So I furiously made a pair of texting gloves to survive the visit and I made another pair when I returned, just for the auction. Some lucky soul will win the bid here, and hopefully the bids will be good to raise some money.

And you're raising money for a great cause! Our very own UCDA Foundation uses the monies raised for scholarships and sponsoring programs or other special projects that we share with members. So in the end, you're really helping yourself keep programming affordable, or even available to several lucky designers a year who might not otherwise be able to attend.

What will you bring or send in for the auction this year?

Prepare for Minneapolis

Hey y'all! (Do they say that in Minneapolis?) I finally downloaded my conference attendee information from the Home Office. (If you didn't get one, let them know.) And if you haven't registered, you still can! Lots of fun and networking and oh yeah, great sessions that will help you connect your design skills to the tools you'll need in the future. (And yeah it includes print!)

In the PDF, there was a nice little list of 40 must do activities in Minneapolis, which reminded me that had been posted ... way way back before anyone was thinking "what will I do when I'm at the conference?" Oh sure, you could search for it, but I thought I'd make it easy for you.

AND ... coming or not ... participate in our silent auction. What is the silent auction? It benefits the UCDA Foundation, which it turn uses it for special projects and scholarships and programs and so in the end it benefits you as well. I'll blog more on that later, so I can include a picture of this year's donation. Last year, I made a fish hat, since we were in Seattle. This year, something a little more practical. I had thought about making a Mary Tyler Moore tam, but I went with something more useful. Tune in tomorrow!

Beginnings

This past week, I've been immersed in the UCDA history with a little project I've been doing. Interesting history, to be certain. We were started because Lee Kline, from Illinois State, decided it was time we had something for university designers, as there just wasn't anything out there for us at that time. I won't repeat the rest of the history, which you can read here.

Boy, the early days must have been something. They had impressive programming at these events, to be certain, (Milton Glaser? Saul Bass? Margo Chase?) but even more so than the programming, it is clear that the chance to get together was vital. When you talk to Lee, and you can this year, he'll tell you it was an opportunity to drink beer and commiserate. Someone who attended those early days told me "It was kind of their Woodstock every year." It's clear as you go through the old letters and pictures that deep, important friendships were made, and are still made, through UCDA. I meet so many of you that work in offices as the sole designer. Especially for you, UCDA can give you colleagues. I see it on the listserv (really? 40+ messages of road songs, people?) and on Twitter all the time. You support each other and that's what we're supposed to be all about.

To me, the heart of this organization is summed up in this membership brochure from 1977. Here's the intro: "You say the publications editor in your department thinks design is something you cut out of a clip art book? That the dean considers $300 for 5,000 copies of a full color three-panel brochure "absolutely outrageous" and suggests you use the mimeo machine in the future? That your budget's been cut back so far you're having your department secretary fill old magic markers with food coloring you bought with your own money? And that your last request for a creative project was to have the college catalog (with a return reply card) reprinted on the inside of a matchbook flap? Well, take heart friend. The University and College Designers Association is here.

"We can't do much about the publications editor's attitude, the dean's tightfistedness, your budget problems, or the never-ending series of ridiculous publication design request you'll get.

"But we can get you together with other designers from across the country who've already faced -- and handled -- problems like your, and who can tell you how they've coped. With designers who've had their share of successes and failures and would like to share success formulas, and the funny failure stories, with you."

If that doesn't sum up, 33 years later, who we are trying to be, I don't know what does.

The other thing that hit me as I sifted through the more than 1,000 names of speakers over the past 40 years, is the caliber of the speakers. To add to Milton, Saul and Margo, there are other impressive names that jumped out at me, including: Charles Spencer Anderson, Steven Heller, Didi Katoni (the very first speaker I ever heard at a UCDA event), Annie Leibowitz, our good friends Brenda Foster and Domenica Genovese from GCF, D.J. Stout (twice). And right next to those names, more than a few of our own: John Krider (Washington University), McRay Magleby (Brigham Young), Amy Charron (Oregon State), Bob Winward (currently Utah State), Tom Hope (Univ. of Central Florida) and Amanda Fetterly (Univ of British Columbia). It's a wonderful meld, isn't it? A mix of the well-known commercial world along with our peers, teaching each other what we've learned.

So as the conference nears, I am excited to see all of you: from our founding members Lee Kline and Bud Deihl, to our very newest members. And I'm just as excited to see Matt Banbrough from Utah Valley University as I am the NBA in-house events team.

Nice spread!

Have you been swimming in class notes and page counts? Searching for just the right cover shot? Trying to figure out how on earth to get your beautiful print magazine onto the web?

As the Creative Director of Marketing at Utah Valley University and the Art Director of the UVU Magazine, Matt Bambrough has been there. As he tells it, "We have a very talented team and have a lot of creative people that contribute to the final project. I work directly with the editor and all of the designers, photographers, and illustrators. I love doing editorial design, it is one of the favorite things about my job, and I am continually trying to make things better. It is always changing and evolving."



Matt has also proven he's pretty talented. He's the recipient of several UCDA Design Competition Awards. Last year alone he won Awards of Excellence for both Recruitment/Other, Magazine-Complete Unit, and Magazine-Editorial Spread.

When I asked him about presenting at this year's conference, Matt was instantly interested. They completed a redesign in 2008, and they're implementing a new approach to moving the magazine online. It sounds like there's always something interesting going on. As Matt puts it, "It is always changing and evolving and hopefully getting better."

So if you're looking for a relevant, useful case study of a successful higher ed magazine, you need to be in Minneapolis this October! Learn more about the conference and see what other breakouts will interest you: http://ucda.com/breakoutsessions10.lasso

And be sure to check out Matt and his team's award-winning work with the UVU magazine.