To our San Antonio Creative Community:

AIGA SA’s Board has been closely following all COVID-19 developments. To ensure the health and safety of our San Antonio community and after careful consideration, we will be suspending all in-person programming until further notice. This includes our ¡SOMOS! Conference, which will be postponed until a later date. 

The Board is working to develop a plan for the next several months that could include virtual programming and engagement. To encourage creative communication, we will be relaunching our community Slack workspace this month. Stay tuned for a sign-up link on our social media channels. 

Stay informed about COVID-19 and take the necessary precautions to stay healthy and reduce risk. While there is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19, you can take the following steps to help stop the spread of this virus:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after you have been in a public place. If soap and water are unavailable, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• If your employer allows it, consider working from home.
• Practice social distancing; wherever possible, keep 6 feet between yourself and other people
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

Stay updated with the latest information from the World Health Organization, The Centers for Disease Control, and the City of San Antonio.

• https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
• https://www.sanantonio.gov/health/news/alerts/coronavirus

Gracias! Take care and be safe!

Please feel free to reach out to AIGA San Antonio via our social media channels or send us an email. 

Sincerely,
AIGA San Antonio

Broaden your network of peers

Establish new connections and relationships. The membership is made up of some pretty amazing working professionals so you will have a lot of great people to listen to, to talk to, be inspired by, and learn from. 37% of our members are professionals working at studios, as freelancers, in-house, or running their own businesses.

Get your name out there and show off your work

Get your name out there with a custom member profile on aiga.org. Get your work featured on AIGA’s Behance network. And if you join at the Sustaining level, you can post content and share your point of view on aiga.org.

Get inspiration and creative fuel

Lectures, panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions, and parties organized by our local chapters offer an endless source of inspiration and creative fuel on every topic one can imagine. And if something is not being talked about, we want to know about it! There is also the three-day national conference each year, and the massive and incredible online Design Archives.

Develop professionally

In addition to local and national events, workshops and conferences, AIGA also offers its members a variety of online tutorials and seminars that focus on the practice and business of design. If our professionals join at the Sustaining level they can also get a discounted rate on the AIGA + Yale School of Management “Business Perspectives for Creative Leaders” course.

Find a new job or a new hire

Access to hundreds of opportunity listings on designjobs.aiga.org.

Make a positive impact

Professionals can participate in any or all of our programs that help the greater design community, like Design for Good, Mentoring, the Living Principles, Design Education forums, and Design for Democracy.

Save Money

Members pay less for local and national events, and competitions – and at certain level, get discounts on other things they need like Apple, MOO, Shutterstock and Wacom products, as well as online training and a variety of insurance packages.

Participate in the conversation

At the sustaining level and above, designers can vote on national issues. At the supporting level and above, designers are eligible to serve on your chapter’s board.

The most furious design competition of the year landed in San Antonio last month! Drinks, laughter, tears, and hugs were had by many — depending on which competitor you were rooting for. On November 14, Pixels of Fury contestants were asked to design posters in just 20 minutes, and now you can see their final designs below:

In the final round, contestants John Speer and Cesar Briones competed against one another, both creating beautiful end results. Speer ultimately defeated Briones, and he took home the Furious Pixel trophy. Check out his winning design:

Photos by Tehua Cruz. Video filming and editing by Albert Salinas and Ryan Ibarra.
Read more on Shutterstock’s Blog >>

Introducing … 

Jason Schirmer
Website: www.shermz.com
Shermz is a developer/designer who hails from the mean streets of Chicago. Chicago is the only city Shermz knew for the better part of his life. …And so being the place where he had most of his experiences,
and where Shermz first did many of the things that he did, or still does, design and development being among those things. Some time ago Shermz came to San Antonio on what would become a permanent vacation. He has since found himself comfortable here, and he has enjoyed the rest and relaxation provided by this city. A welcome escape from the harsh wind and bitter cold. Shermz now calls Medical Center home, where he can usually be found along Wurzbach, maybe in the back of a dark restaurant chasing raw
octopus with strong drink. …Or wandering the streets in search of Halal meats, fresh produce, exotic herbs and spices, or rare teas. By day he codes and designs. And by night he does the same.

Amanda Silva
Website: silvacreates.net
Facebook: facebook/SilvaCreates.com
Born in San Antonio, Texas. Earned a BFA in Communication Design, Texas State University. Amanda is inspired by designers such as James Victore and Stefan Sagmeister who break the rules and forge their own path in design and life. Hence, after working as a designer for 8 years she realized her dream of owning her own design business, SilvaCreates. Amanda has designed for such organizations as the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, designing the current Market Square maps and inaugural Military River Parade logo and as a web designer for USAA. With SilvaCreates, Amanda is most passionate about designing for arts and cultural organization and hopes to promote design education at the elementary school level with SilvaCreates in the future.

John Medina
Company: Alamo Basement
Website: www.alamobasementsa.com
Bio: John Medina was born and raised in Texas and comes from the hometown of Whataburger and Selena. He currently lives and works in San Antonio as an artist and designer for Alamo Basement. His work is inspired by Mexican folklore, Texas history, urban legends, cryptozoology, quantum physics, religious iconography, cultural traditions, science fiction, comic books, gangsta rap, breakfast tacos and drunken story-telling. Just like any good pocket knife, he’s got the tools to do a little bit of everything. His latest accomplishment was completing the world’s first stereoscopic 3-D mural entitled, Vision del Futuro, in downtown San Antonio. He is married to a beautiful redhead named Colleen and together they are the proud parents of Hugo Reyes, a half-beagle pup named after the fat dude from the TV show LOST.

John Speer
Company: Tribu
Website: wearetribu.com
San Antonian born and raised, I cut my teeth in the screen-printing world in the summers of my youth at my mothers workplace. From then on I knew I wanted to be in the creative field (preferably a designer). After high school and a brief hiatus I attended Texas State University where I got my BFA in communication design. I landed a job at Tribu as a creative, and the rest…to be continued.

Stephen “Stevo” Torres
Employer: esd and associates
Website: www.stephen-torres.com
Facebook: facebook.com/stephen.c.torres
Bio: I’m a San Antonio-based graphic designer who strives to merge the love of art, design, and technology by uniting unique aesthetics and practical functionality. With an open mind to new ideas and techniques, I’m constantly researching the latest industry standards and keeping up with the ever changing design world.

Adrian R Gomez
Website: www.thebrandwork.com
Company: BrandWork Advertising (Art Director/Owner)
My name is Adrian R Gomez. I was born and raised here in San Antonio. I
have a deep level of appreciation and passion for design/advertising. I
strive to challenge and educate myself on a daily basis. Aside from
design and advertising I enjoy spending time with my 5 year old son and
playing flag football.

D.j. Pennington
The two constants in my life have be art and music, since I was in diapers. I was introduced to Adobe Illustrator in 2006 while working for a promotional product company, which opened my eyes to the possibilities of doing what I enjoy and being successful while doing it.
I graduated with my bachelor degree in 2011, and have since worked via contract and as an employee in Austin and San Antonio. Currently I’m enjoying my time as an Art Director for KGB Texas Communications (kgbtexas.com). When not designing I’m playing in bands, running around town and maintaining my street cred.

Cesar Briones
Website: www.noise.mx/
Originally from Mexico, Cesar is a Hands-On Multidisciplinary Digital Creative with 12 years of experience, specializing in Visual Design, Digital Art Direction and Rich User Experiences (also Bilingual).
Work: currently working for Creative Link.

What is Pixels of Fury?

Competitors face off in 20-minute rounds to create posters on a given topic. The audience votes on which competitor does the best work in that round. The winners of round 1 and round 2 face off in the championship round. The person who illustrates the topic most successfully is declared the winner.

All competitors use curated Shutterstock Instant to create their posters; they can add type but can’t use any outside images or additional hardware.

AND the whole thing happens live, with competitors surrounded by the audience and their posters projected on screen as they’re being created.

Regsiter for Pixels of Fury at http://www.etouches.com/furiouspixel

This years event will take place at Dorćol Distilling Co. Check them out on facebook.

Take a look at the posters from last years competition.Album

Action shots from last years competition at the Finesilver building.Album

Do you have what it takes?

We are searching for 8 brave designers in San Antonio to compete in AIGA SA & Shutterstock’s second annual Pixels of Fury live design competition.

How it Works

Competitors face off in 20-minute rounds to create posters on a given topic. The audience votes on which competitor does the best work in that round. The winners of round 1 and round 2 face off in the championship round. The person who illustrates the topic most successfully is declared the winner.

All competitors use curated Shutterstock Instant to create their posters; they can add type but can’t use any outside images or additional hardware.

AND the whole thing happens live, with competitors surrounded by the audience and their posters projected on screen as they’re being created.

Interested in competing?

There are 8 spots available for competitors. Any professional designer or art director is eligible to participate. If you think you have what it takes to win the Pixels of Fury trophy along with some other great prizes email us at pixels@aiga-sa.org with:

• Your name, employer/position
• A link to your online portfolio or a PDF attachment of your work samples
• 1-2 sentences explaining why you want to be a competitor

The deadline for submissions is October 3rd.

We will announce our competitor lineup the week after.

Good luck!

This years event will take place at Dorćol Distilling Co. Check them out on facebook.

Take a look at the posters from last years competition.Album

Action shots from last years competition at the Finesilver building.Album

Hello AIGA San Antonio community!

Our chapter turns four on September 20th, 2014. Four! I don’t know how you guys feel but that is a very exciting milestone for us.

This past year has been the most active year in our chapter’s history. Membership is higher than ever at over 130. We’ve brought in some really big names: Aaron Draplin, Randy Hunt, Debbie Millman, Mike Rohde, and Eric Tan and John Quinn from Disney. We also had our most attended, and now requested, event ever: Shutterstock’s Pixels of Fury. (Which we are hosting again this year on Nov 14!)

Since I became President over two years ago, our Board has really focused on building a community here. And hey, we’ve successfully built and maintained the foundation of that community and we are growing every day. Gold star for us. But, I have the privilege to work with a board 10 incredibly smart and creative individuals who aren’t scared to really dig deep and turn things on their head.

As motivated individuals, we are always looking to better ourselves.There’s an energy happening in this city that is incredibly exciting and we still feel like we could be doing more to tap into it. Out of town speakers and inspirational talks are great, but those events only provide a certain level of engagement.

Our board takes a full-day retreat each June to refocus and evaluate our goals for the upcoming year. The general consensus from this years’ retreat: Let’s shake things up.

You guys are asking us for more–and we hear you! More hands-on engagement, more person-to-person interaction, more high-energy events, more variety and more tie into the rest of the San Antonio’s creative community and local artists.

We want to know you better! We want you to get to know each other. We want to know other creative/art organizations in our city better. To do that we are focusing more on creating intimate events to really allow people to share knowledge and form relationships with each other. And most importantly, discover the breadth of inspiration out there in our awesome city.

In addition to a peppering of exciting speakers, here are some new things to look forward to in the upcoming months:

Book Club Meet-ups An opportunity to discover new design/creative related books and connect one-on-one with other like-minded individuals in local coffee shops.

Small Gatherings at Local Events A way to find outside inspiration and connect with other creative organizations in the city. Discovery!

Showcase of “The Other Side of Design” Exploration of local companies outside of traditional “Graphic Design” (food design, fashion design, architecture, interior design, etc.)

More High Energy Events Also known as parties, to really unwind and connect over live-action competitions and other interactive activities.

Just Because it Would Be Cool Camping Trip – need I say more?

I hope this sounds exciting, because we’re ready!

We look forward to serving you, our members and friends. If you are interested in getting involved or have any event ideas, don’t hesitate to email me personally at ali@aiga-sa.org.

Here’s to another successful year! See you at the next event.

Your President, Ali Palmerson

]]> https://sanantonio.aiga.org/a-letter-from-the-president/feed/ https://sanantonio.aiga.org/january-speakers-from-disney/ https://sanantonio.aiga.org/january-speakers-from-disney/#respond Mon, 06 Jan 2014 02:41:27 +0000 admin http://sanantonio.aiga.org/?p=15624

We’re excited to bring over two Disney artists from Disney Consumer Products to kick off our 2014 programming. If you ever bought any products with Disney characters, you’ve probably seen John Quinn’s work. And all those retro-inspired, illustrative versions of Disney and Pixar movie posters, that’s Eric Tan. Read more about them and register for the talk on Jan 24th at etouches.com/disney or sign up for the poster workshop on Jan 25th.

John Quinn

John Quinn is a SVA grad in illustration. His  clients included Reader’s Digest, Scholastic Books, 20th Century Fox, American Greetings before beginning his career with The Walt Disney Company in 1996. He is currently the Director of Character Art at Disney Consumer Products.

Eric Tan

Eric Tan grew up in the sleepy town of San Diego. Suffers from narcolepsy. When he’s not working or sleeping…or sleeping at work, he usually has a skateboard, a snowboard, or a burrito in hand. You can see more of Eric Tan’s art on his blog.

About Disney Consumer Products

Disney Consumer Products is the business segment of The Walt Disney Company and its affiliates that delivers innovative and engaging product experiences across thousands of categories from toys and apparel to books and fine art overseeing areas such as licensing, publishing and the Disney Store.

John Quinn – Minnie Mouse Apparel for Forever 21

John Quinn – Art of Disney Princess

John Quinn – Seasonal Characters for Target

Eric Tan – WALL-E and The Lion King

Eric Tan – Up and The Incredibles

Thank you to everyone for coming out to our event! All of the photobooth photos from the event are up and available for purchase. Check out the link below!

Thank you again to Rob Roudabush from rbrpics.com for his generosity and wonderful photography for the evening.

www.rbrimages.com/aiga

Join AIGA, American Advertising Federation-San Antonio and Ad 2 San Antonio for a fun night of mingling and live entertainment.

We’ll have food, drinks, music, door prizes and the competition will be emceed by local comedian, Cleto Rodriguez.

We will also be having a food and toy drive! Bring 3 canned goods or 1 toy to receive a raffle ticket for prizes.

Check out the official event page to see our contestant lineup!  

The Competition

Competitors face off in 20-minute rounds to create posters on a given topic. Judges and the audience vote on which competitor does the best work in that round. The winners of round 1 and round 2 face off in the championship round. The person who illustrates the topic most successfully is declared the winner.

All competitors use curated Shutterstock Instant to create their posters; they can add type but can’t use any outside images or additional hardware. The thing happens live, with competitors surrounded by the audience and their posters projected on screen as they’re being created!

Check out the video below of the contestants from a previous Pixels of Fury event or look at the wrap-up of the Fury in 2012.

We have a great line up coming up for August and September. Stay tune as these events come live but here are little teasers to get you excited!

8/23 Debbie Millman

“On Rejections”
On Rejection, or how the worst moments of your life can turn out to be the best (and vice versa), is a funny and heartbreaking tale of making it (or not) in New York. Debbie Millman is President of the design division at Sterling Brands.

Registration now live

9/5 Randy Hunt

“Nothing is Precious: Designing Web Products”
Randy Hunt, Creative Director at Etsy, will take a look at the principles used to inform design decisions at Etsy and the sometimes surprising outcomes they generate. These principles are applicable not only to web product design but any design process where you want to learn from your audience and embrace change.

Registration coming soon

9/25 Aaron Draplin

“Tales from a Tall Man”
Using scientific proof and state-of-the-art multimedia techniques, Aaron James Draplin of theDraplin Design Co. delivers a suckerpunch of a talk that aims to provide bonafide proof of work, the highs and lows of a ferociously independent existence and a couple tall tales from his so-called career in the cutthroat world of contemporary graphic design. Just a regular American guy with a trajectory a little dirtier than yours, his talk is open to all oncomers brave enough to show up. If you are a youngster, you may find yourself inspired to attack your design future in a different way. If you are established, you may just leave feeling grateful you don’t have anything to do with him. Hard to say. Be there!

Registration coming soon