AIGA Charlotte

It's no secret that AIGA will be celebrating a century of existence in 2014. Next year will certainly be cause for a celebration, but it will also be a time for great reflection. While chapters across the country are poised to present special programming regarding the centennial, AIGA is also preparing for what the next 100 years will look like.

AIGA's national board has done the heavy lifting when it comes to the organization's strategic plan. In fact, we won't rehash it all here; simply take the time to visit their detailed breakdown (or view the condensed version in the slideshow at the top of that page). In short, the proposed strategy will have four focuses: design, designers, organizational viability, and members/chapters.

So where do you come in? As always, AIGA values member input. That's why a series of Adobe Connect sessions have been slated over the next two months. Though you can find the eight sessions (the first four tackle the strategic focuses mentioned above) listed at the bottom of  their breakdown, we wanted to call attention to the first two sessions since they're taking place next week:

3 p.m. on August 20: Focus on Design

12:30 p.m. on August 23: Focus on Designers

We’re excited to announce that we’ve recently arranged to be a community sponsor for the forthcoming Blend Conference that’s taking place right here in our hometown from September 5th through the 7th. This is a cutting-edge conference, one that will showcase 50 speakers who will share their thoughts and opinions on user experience design, user interface design, and web development. So, basically, when it comes to all things web design, this is an experience that you certainly will not want to miss.

Mervil Paylor is the Owner and Principal Designer at Mervil Paylor Design. She has been a member of AIGA since 1987. What is your favorite word? I like runtogetherwords like nevertheless, inasmuch, notwithstanding and woebegone. Oh, and I like palindromes (both verbal and visual) — perhaps because my father's name was Bob. What’s your proudest accomplishment? It is a toss-up between designing the piece that won the "2002 Sappi Paper Company International Best Printed Piece In the Universe" award (I can't remember the exact award title but I like my version better anyway so let's just go with it) or, scoring 99.3 percent accuracy on Typewar.com. Typewar is an addictive typeface-identification site and app. Out of 26,209 questions I averaged 99.3% right. Only one person has bested me in the percentage ranking — electricboogaloo, with 99.6%. Be warned EB, right now I am busy working, but next recession I am coming after you.

What’s one goal (professional or personal) you have for the future?

I am writing a book about my longtime best friend, Becky Johnston, an artist and designer who died several years ago. I promised her I would finish it and so I shall. It is a mix of writing and visuals. Becky saw early drafts and was convinced I was creating a new genre — "the book as brochure." You can check out a rough draft of the first chapter on my website at: http://www.mervilpaylordesign.com/opine/project_2b.php What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? "Do everything you want to and only do what you don't want to when you have to." — Advice from my grandmother, Mervil Norman Hobson, at 86 What is the best purchase you’ve ever made? A Mac SE, circa 1987-1988. ——-

AIGA Charlotte is pleased to present a project feature from Patrick Short, Partner and Creative Director at Eric Mower + Associates. 

At Eric Mower + Associates, we love working on pro-bono projects because it gives us a chance to do some really great creative work for a good cause. Working with Pints for Prostates is even more rewarding to us, it’s a cause that is special to us. Pints for Prostates was founded in 2008 by Rick Lyke who is a Senior Partner here at Eric Mower + Associates, a noted beer writer, and prostate cancer survivor. So, it seemed natural for Rick to draw upon his love for beer when he wanted to reach men in raising awareness about the importance of regular health screenings and early detection of prostate cancer. By making appearances at beer events, social networking and pro-bono advertising, Pints for Prostates’ grassroots campaign uses the universal language of beer to reach men with this important health message.

So, armed with a brief and some research, Ruben Lopez, Associate Creative Director/writer, and I headed out to concept. Actually, we headed down to a local pub which seemed like a natural place for us to concept. This way we could consume a few beers and get our heads in the right frame of mind while thinking about how to reach men. Fortunately, for us, it took a few trips to a few different pubs for us to land on an idea that we felt excited about. And to think the idea was right around us the whole time. Beer toasts. Toasts have been with us for centuries and are as common as beer itself. And a lot of these toasts wish you good health. What a natural fit.

In researching these toasts, we found some traditional toasts, but discovered some beer toasts that had a very dry sense of humor. It’s these toasts that led us to creating our toasts that would communicate Pints’ message in a humorous way while making a strong point. After all, we wanted to create ads that would appeal to readers of magazines like Esquire, GQ and Mens Health. And we felt that a somber message highlighting stats about prostate cancer may turn readers off plus we wanted to approach it from a different direction.

From there, the other half of our solution was right under the beer glass itself. The coaster. The art of the coaster has been collected and held in high esteem by countless people through the ages. In fact, Rick has a huge collection from all over the world. So, I borrowed a few for inspiration. With these coasters in hand, our next trip was to Pat Staub’s studio to photograph these coasters on an old wooden bar with a lot character. You never know when an old bar that takes up a lot of space may come in handy. After a few hours and some beautiful images, it was time to head back to EMA and start working with some great toasts that Ruben had written. There’s always pressure when working with some really great copy. Hopefully, the art direction will deliver. So, after countless starts and stops, I finally arrived at some nice typographic treatments that felt coaster-like and delivered on Ruben’s copy. Simple designs that don’t get in the way of the concept with illustrative type treatments and strong copy. Keep it simple.

The added benefit of concepting is the sessions will sometimes yield some additional ideas that may not be a part of the original scope of work. When we hit upon one of these that we really like, we will present these to our client and hope they see what we see—a great idea. In this project, Ruben came up with a great radio script that our client loved. Pints had never produce radio before, but found many radio stations wanting to run them. So, with the help of Mike Lee of 26 inch Productions and the voice of John Causby from Groundcrew, we were able to produce our radio spot, which has been a huge hit.

So, you never know what can happen when you drink a few beers and concept.

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Michael Stout joined AIGA in 2012. He is Senior Designer and creative collaborator at Alter Imaging. Visit his website at stoutideas.com.

What attracted you to the design profession? Did you have particular mentors or experiences that opened the door to the profession for you? Drawing and art was something I always seemed to have a bit of a knack for. Growing up, I loved to get lost in a sketch or a design. Something about the silence of just me and a piece of paper working on a creation was, and still is, something I really love (only now the paper is often replaced by a computer). I went off to Auburn University for some higher learning and an initial goal of exploring other career paths. After just one semester as an undeclared, I already began to dread the idea of a lifetime without creativity. I listened to the voices inside my head, chose design and have never looked back. I cherish the fact that I love what I do. So many people don't have that in life, which is part of what makes this profession so special to me.  There are many mentors in my design career that have opened doors for me. I have to give some major credit to my Dad. I remember some advice he gave me once that always resonated. He once told me that having more money would make many things easier in life, but if it meant doing something that made you miserable, it wasn't worth it. He said you have to work for a long time in life and you ought to enjoy what you do to a degree. This was also an "ah-ha" moment for me in choosing design as a career path.  What’s your proudest accomplishment? I've done many things in life that make me proud. I was an Eagle Scout, graduated from college, got a job, left a job for a better job, won an Addy or two, got married, and am now going to be a father. Honestly though, I feel like no one can ever fully answer this question until they are at the end of their days. I mean I feel like I'm always working towards something great that could be my next proudest accomplishment. If I'm not then what's the point of living?  What would people be surprised to know about you? Deathly afraid of cave crickets.  What’s one goal (professional or personal) you have for the future? Own my business. Not just freelance (did that already), I want to put together a team of creatives that will rule the design universe or at least make a significant mark. What sound or noise do you love? Sounds from any body of water as long as there's a fishing rod in hand.

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About AIGA Charlotte’s Member Spotlight

The team at Theory House, a shopper marketing agency in Charlotte, has designed and is activating a great initiative for their grocery client, Food Lion. As part of the retailer's focus on an improved produce offering, they developed a "Fresh from the Field" sampling tour.

The food truck pictured above will be touring the Baltimore/DC area over the summer months to sample fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables and drive store traffic with coupon offers.

Check out more images and learn about the tour here.

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July is always a bittersweet month around AIGA Charlotte HQ. We say good-bye to friends and colleagues as their terms end and they roll off the board. However, that loss is coupled by an infusion of fresh faces, ones that bring new ideas and energy to the board table.

AIGA Charlotte is proud to announce six new board members: Bree Basham, Megan Skelton, Mark Iafrate, Justin Moore, Megan Dobrusin, and Ryan Hollingsworth. This topnotch crew will be teaming up with those who remain to form your next AIGA Charlotte Board. We're excited, and we hope you are, too. More details about these six new board members, and the ways they'll be serving your local design community, will be forthcoming soon.

AIGA Charlotte board member, Adam Iscrupe, recounts his first national AIGA Leadership Retreat.

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More than 250 AIGA chapter leaders (including Kevin Brindley, Kimberly Diedrich and myself) from across the country gathered in Philadelphia from May 29th until June 1st to discuss centennial goals for next year, chapter success stories, participate in breakout sessions, as well as group lunches ranging from Design for Good to bettering iKit (the system for our upcoming website redesign), and many more topics.

To distinguish between the newbies and the veterans, Kimberly and I received a green name tag to show that we were first timers to the leadership retreat. Those with a yellow tag, well let’s just say they have been around for a while. Throughout the weekend, this made those with a green name tag very approachable because as I found out, almost everyone with a yellow name tag knew each other.

Each year there is a Thursday ice breaker activity to help everyone get to know each other. This year each chapter designed a business card representing its city and handed them out while mingling. The intent was that whomever received the card would hopefully be able to guess what city the chapter was from. It was required that each chapter include an arrow, or the idea of moving forward. Sadly, not a lot of attendees knew that Charlotte was the Queen City, so we educated them a bit.

It was great to see and hear what the other chapters are doing at each breakout session and inspirational stories between National goals. One inspiring story came from AIGA Pittsburgh who does a bi-weekly podcast called Creative Briefs. With only 22 episodes, there have been 6,000 downloads in 60 different countries. Some of their past guests include Doug Powell, Jay Fanelli, Val Head and Ellen Lupton.

Another inspiring story came from AIGA Nebraska’s The Show 21, which is its annual design exhibition. This was a great success because of one simple rule: Make it easier. They allowed designers to submit digital submissions and allowed judges to judge from the comfort of their own home, making this its most successful event of the year. With a playful photo booth, all the attendees had a fantastic time.

Upon our return, we brought back lot of ideas and some awesome swag from the other chapters, including every shirt I could find (Design for Good West Michigan being my favorite). But it wasn’t just the free swag, it was the connections we made and people we met from each chapter including Chris from Honolulu, Rachel from Minneapolis, Brian from Jacksonville, and Roland from Anchorage, just to name a few. Forward was motivating, inspiring and a great way to collaborate on bettering AIGA as a whole.

We are ONE AIGA.

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On May 30, 2013, AIGA Charlotte hosted the first ever Iconic Charlotte Workshop at Queen’s University. The event took place in the Duke Energy Auditorium nestled in the new Platinum LEED-certified Rogers Science and Health building. The discussion was led by Mike Wirth, Information Graphics Designer and Professor of New Media Design at Queens University of Charlotte.

As attendees arrived, they were given a handout that was a quick reference guide of the various kinds of symbols. They were also given a sticker that added a little humor that said, “ƒμ©kN SYMBOLS.” The night started with a lecture on icons and how to use them for civic design. Mike went through a very creative and informative presentation that illustrated the importance of icons.

After the lecture, Mike led a brainstorming session where attendees shouted out ideas of symbols that could represent Charlotte and help guide the community. As each idea was shouted, Mike wrote them down on large sheets of white paper leaving a place below each idea. “No, I am not playing around with leading,” he said making everyone laugh. He was leaving the space for the next step in the workshop. After all of the ideas had been recorded, everyone was given yellow Post-its to draw what they thought were good symbols for the idea that they selected. After about 30 minutes, each attendee placed their Post-it on the paper that correlated to the idea that they chose. Mike then led the group in a quick overview of each design. Then he showed the group how to successfully digitize the symbols. He used the Disco Chicken (aka Niki de Saint Phalle's Firebird outside of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art) as an example showing the group a few Illustrator tricks to get it ready.

The final icons will be uploaded to The Noun Project under an AIGA Charlotte account. The Noun Project is about creating, sharing and celebrating the world’s visual language. All of the icons that are uploaded to the site are their for everyone to enjoy and use.

Mentee Megan Dobrusin recaps her experience with the 2013 AIGA Charlotte Mentor Matchup.

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Since our last meeting, Mark (Iafrate) and I had a quick chat at Amelie’s and caught up. At the time, I was working at FIG Marketing and told Mark how things were going in the corporate setting. We also talked about freelance work and how I had a few wedding invitation designs going on. Mark gave me a general idea on how the BuzZ events went since I was unable to make them, and we talked about how we were hoping we could make the Aaron Draplin TALKabout event. (Read the recap here.)

We wrapped up our last meeting at NoDa Brewing. I told Mark about my plans to travel to Australia with my family for a couple weeks since I have the time off, and how I am going to focus more on my freelance work while job searching. We also talked about non-Graphic Design topics, like how my volleyball team was going to playoffs and how designers tend to like breweries--which was funny, because we saw Rachel Martin (a fellow AIGA member) at the brewery!

Speaking as a mentee, the mentorship program was extremely helpful and fun. Mark introduced me to websites I should know (like Dribbble.com), some design magazines I should subscribe to, and he forwarded some interesting articles to me. Mark and I kept things fun and easy by trying a new brewery each time we met since we both like craft beers, and we would (almost) always have a topic prepared to talk about. I’d have questions ready, and Mark had answers. We also kept things fun by creating a "volleyball" poster, where one person would start designing a poster, then the other would have to add or edit it in some way, and we would go back and forth until we agreed it was complete. It forced me to play with Photoshop and strengthen my skills in that area, whereas the second poster forced Mark to get back into Illustrator. I’m glad I signed up for the Mentor Matchup because of what I've learned, I know I have another professional I can ask all my design related questions to, and there will be another familiar face at future AIGA events.

As President of the CPCC Advertising & Graphic Design Student Group and an AIGA member since 2011, Nalee is always in pursuit of creative escapades within the design community. Her passion is driven by her insatiable curiosity and desire to learn.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Inspiration comes from all around me. I used to work with school-aged children on a daily basis and their imaginations are what fueled the majority of doodles that reside in my sketchbooks. Currently, I follow other student designers on Instagram, and when they post pictures of their creative process and their finished designs, it makes me want to explore and create even more! What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I'm not one to brag but I think I'd be a great chef. My creative powers allow me to work magic in the kitchen. From my sharp knife skills to my love of gardening, I've got all the right components of a master chef in the making! Although, if I were to become a professional chef I'd probably have to stock up on more band-aids.  What would people be surprised to know about you? I used to ride motorcycles until I fell off of one not too long ago. Now I have a small scar that warns me about the dangers of riding a bike whenever I climb back on. What's your secret talent? It's not so much a talent, but I'm pretty good at chess and I'm even better at speed chess. What's one goal you have for the future? As a design student, I'm currently in the process of selecting portfolio pieces and getting my book together. One goal I have for the future would be to secure a job after graduation with an agency where I will not only be able to take on creative challenges, but also continue to grow as a designer. ——-

About AIGA Charlotte’s Member Spotlight

On Thursday, May 16, 2013 AIGA Charlotte & Skookum Digital Works co-hosted a TALKabout with Aaron Draplin from Draplin Design Co. Rhonda Sergeant, VP of Communications for AIGA Charlotte, recounts the evening.

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Face-To-Face With A Celebrity Designer Months ago, when AIGA Charlotte & Skookum Digital Works began talks to bring Aaron Draplin to Charlotte for a TALKabout, I did what I am sure a lot of people did: I got giddy that a big celebrity designer was coming to inspire our community.

I think we all tend to get a little starstruck when meeting designers that have been written up in big publications like Communication Arts or have widely successful brands like Field Notes but after meeting Aaron Draplin I realized that he's just a regular guy who has amazing talent, works really hard, and really loves his parents. Imagine that.

Humble In The Beginning, Humble Today   Aaron started out like a lot of us. He didn't really know what he wanted to do with his life and worked hard to figure it out. Along the way he designed stuff he was proud of (and probably some he wasn't) and just kept moving forward. There is no one client that put him on the map or one project that changed the way he worked or the size of DDC.

Over time he's made a name for himself and done some great work that has allowed him to earn enough money to take care of himself, his parents and whoever else he comes across. In other words, he's just a regular guy.

   Who Doesn't Love A Good List? For those who saw the presentation or frequent Aaron's site, you know he loves lists. So, here are a few of my favorite observations/quotes from the evening, in list form:

-This was one of AIGA Charlotte's best attended events in the 13-year history of the chapter.

-The food was really, really good. Common Market really outdid themselves. That pimento eggplant toasted thingy? Yum!

-Although Draplin has given this talk countless times (almost 30 in 2013 alone), it still feels really fresh. It was humorous, emotional, interesting and—of course—inspiring.

-"F*ck purple." He really doesn't like purple.

-I had heard about how much he loved to cuss so I thought it would be fun to try to count how many swear words he said. I stopped counting when it hit 60 during the two-hour presentation. 

-"It's not about bigger and bigger," in reference to why he doesn't grow DDC.

-I really enjoyed how unapologetically he adores his parents. Also, they seem pretty cool based on the stories he told.

-"I know how you vote down here." He said it so many times someone in the audience felt the need to defend us.

-He loves the little guy. Just see the awesome work he's done for brands like Cobra Dogs.

-"My friends want to go to India. I want to go to Indiana." He said this when talking about his love of road trips in a van.

-There are parts of his presentation that he wants to keep under wraps (no recording, no Tweeting.) I really hope people respect his request because if they do it means even if someone does a ton of googling before seeing him speak, there will still be some surprises. In this day and age, that's kind of cool.

-Like touring isn't enough, he actually makes a poster for each state he tours to. The NC one is on my wall as I compose this.

At the End of the Night I also had the pleasure of sitting across from him at dinner after the event where he continued to win me over by showing me pictures on his phone of his nephew's birthday party and a giant color-spectrum afghan his mom made him and sharing stories about his perfect idea of a guy's weekend, which was visiting the World's Longest Yard Sale. Like I said, he's just a regular guy.

I just wanted to take a minute and introduce myself, as well as, talk a bit about some of the exciting initiatives AIGA Charlotte has around the corner. My name is John Fuller, and I am the new Design For Good Director for AIGA Charlotte. Design for Good is a platform for applying design thinking to social change. The Design for Good platform creates opportunities for designers to build their practices, raise their visibility in the community, and make a positive impact. We will connect and empower designers through tools, case studies, events, training and resources.

For additional information on Design for Good take a look at this video, produced by dress code, and hear from members of the design community about the importance of design thinking to solve many of the problems facing our society today. Learn how you can make a difference in your local community, your company, and the world.

We are here to help. I would love to chat with you about any social projects you may currently be working on, or any projects you are interested in getting started. Please reach out to me. In addition, the list below contains some resources, templates, and possible funding sources to help get your project off the ground. 

Resources

Organizations - A brief list of organizations with existing programs. Look for some new programs from the AIGA Charlotte Chapter soon. 

Learning Opportunities - Find a training resource or workshop to get you started.

Looking for Funding? Here is a list of potential funding sources.

Survey Please take a moment and fill out this survey about our Design for Good initiatives. Your answers will help to guide us in how to best use our Design for Good resources, and provide you the tools you need to be successful.

Sally Jenkins is a Charlotte graphic designer and the owner of page2studio, a firm she founded in 2010. Visit her site at page2studio.com. She has been an AIGA member since 2009.

Where are you from? I am a true Charlotte native. My parents still live in the same house in Myers Park to which I was brought home as a baby. Thirty years ago their neighborhood was "transitional" so it's been very interesting to see what it has become today. When we moved back after college, my husband and I bought a house in the Chantilly neighborhood, which I didn't know even existed growing up. It's a totally different city over here, with such a vibrant community of young people and a great urban feel. It definitely feels like the right place to be creative and inspired. And who knows what it will look like in thirty years?

What attracted you to the design profession? I have been an artist since I was 4 years old. I can't remember a time when I wasn't creating something on paper. But my type-A side knew that I wouldn't be a great starving artist, so in high school my dad found several local designers for me to follow around for an afternoon. I knew then that graphic design would be the perfect marriage of creativity and business for me. Someday, I would like to get back to the canvas again and see what my style looks like after so many years of computer-based design.

If you could be any super hero (existing or new), who would you be and why? I would be a mix between Superman and Elastigirl (from the Incredibles). I started my own business to be able to keep my creative profession going while also being a great mom to my two kids, who are 5 and 2.5. But that means that every day I am in and out of the phone booth every couple hours, and often every couple minutes, putting my Mom cape on, then my Designer cape, all day and night. I feel pulled in all directions 24/7 maintaining this "balance." But when I look back on this time later, I know I'll be glad that I was able to maintain this creative part of myself while still being very involved in my kids' childhoods. And my kids will see me doing a job that I love that also challenges me every day.

What would people be surprised to know about you? I do all of this with no coffee. I've never had a single cup, it just tastes bad to me. I recently took up green tea just for the caffeine, but I mostly rely on the little sleep I get, the support of my amazing husband and friends, prayers, and adrenaline to get me though each day.

What are you currently working on? I am working on the packaging for a new kid's granola bar that will be hitting shelves later this year. It's been a great branding project for me, involving lots of research into competitors, messaging hierarchy, and the nuances of packaging design. Many of my clients are start-ups who come to me with a great idea and the need for their product or company to fit appropriately and attractively into the right marketplace niche. I love being able to give them the confidence to grow their brand.

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About AIGA Charlotte’s Member Spotlight

You may attend AIGA Charlotte events regularly. You may have volunteered a couple times in the past. You may have even been involved as a mentor in our Mentorship program. You've been drawn to Charlotte's design community over time, and find yourself with a continued drive to do more, become more involved, and make more of a difference. If this sounds like the energy and passion you're looking to provide, and if you are wanting to become more involved with our chapter, AIGA Charlotte wants you!

We invite you to become more engaged with AIGA Charlotte as we begin the election process for our next Board of Directors. We are seeking dedicated design professionals with a passion for advancing our craft and strengthening our creative community. We are looking for folks who crave being involved in something much larger than their daily routines and everyday work tasks. Join our Board of Directors and you too can help mold and shape the future of AIGA Charlotte.

To nominate yourself, or someone else, please send an email to AIGA Charlotte’s President, Kevin Brindley. Include the name of the individual, their email address and phone number, and either a brief statement sharing why you’d like to join AIGA Charlotte’s Board of Directors, or a short recommendation of why the person you are nominating is a good candidate. You do not need to nominate an individual for a specific position. AIGA Charlotte’s Nominating Committee will be tasked with matching nominees to appropriate positions.

Nominees will then be contacted by a Board representative and asked to participate in an informational interview session towards the end of May or first week of June. At this session, current Board members will discuss our Board of Director positions and the responsibilities attached to those roles. Nominees will participate in informal discussions with current Board members to help determine the best fit for each nominee.

To be eligible, individuals must be an active member of the Charlotte Chapter of AIGA and must be good stewards of AIGA’s Standards of Professional Practice.

If you have any questions about the responsibilities of being a Board member, please contact AIGA Charlotte’s President, Kevin Brindley.

The nominations close May 15th.

We at AIGA Charlotte couldn’t be happier to announce that Domtar has agreed to come on as a Chapter partner for another year. Their contribution enables us to continue to provide inspiring events for the AIGA Charlotte community. We’ve asked Ashley Maydak, Domtar's Sustainable Business & Brand Management Graphic Designer & Web Specialist, to fill us in on what they are up to as a company and to talk a little about what the partnership means to them.

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What’s New Domtar is North America’s largest marketer of uncoated printing paper and a leader in environmentally responsible practices. We’re committed to the responsible use of paper, but we’re also committed to communicating paper’s place and value to the businesses and people that use our products everyday. Of all those people, we consider designers to be one of the most important. We understand that designers do more than just make pretty things. Designers play a huge role in communicating important messages to the world and we’re proud to have our products in the equation. Our year as an AIGA Charlotte Chapter Partner has given us a front row seat to this innovative group of individuals and allowed us to better understand the unique struggles and joys faced by this group.

Recently, we’ve launched our Cougar Paper Community, a gathering space for dreamers and doers. On a regular basis for many years, we’ve received incredible printed pieces from designers and printers from all over the United States and Canada. Recently, we decided to give these pieces a home online so we could share them with the world. Even though the site is brand new we’ve already received a large number of incredible submissions and we’d love to receive some from the Charlotte design community.

Our Partnership Being partners with AIGA Charlotte encouraged us to get more involved with the organization as a whole. Last October, we were honored to be the paper sponsor for the GAIN: AIGA Design for Social Value conference in San Francisco, CA. Helping AIGA to promote design and the life-changing impact it can have all over the world was a wonderful experience.

We’re also incredibly excited to facilitate AIGA Charlotte’s relationship with one of the city’s local agencies, Eric Mower and Associates. In early June, Domtar will sponsor a Meet Your Neighbor event held at the EMA offices lead featuring Partner/Creative Director Patrick Short. (Keep an eye out on aigacharlotte.org/events in the next couple weeks.) Patrick is part of the ultra-creative team responsible for the development of Domtar’s PAPERbecause campaign. In addition to generating meaningful ads for us, they’re also always on the lookout for innovative ways to promote the campaign (most recently at SXSW with the Paper Hotspot.)

We couldn’t be more thrilled with their work.

Andrew Lichtenhan is a Graphics Coordinator and Technical Writer at Wix Filters. An AIGA member since 2012, he also takes on freelance work via Tall Oaks Design.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I dislike the use of a Mac for my design and computing devices. I build my own PC Desktops, use an Android phone, and my tablet of choice (should I ever own one) would be a Nexus 7 or 10. It's not that I dislike Apple products, but they do not for the money make technical sense for my experience, skills, preferences, and uses. I also do not use a Wacom tablet at all. My justification: play Counterstrike for a good number of years and see just how accurate and controlling you become with a mouse. While on that note, I loathe the Magic Mouse. I have to have real buttons.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

I would say either film-making or video game design. I have a lengthy background in music (both writing and playing many instruments), photography, art, writing, technology, and storytelling. Those two fields I see many of my skills coming together for large collective projects. Those two media outlets also are the largest sector of entertainment now in our culture. I am amazed how much they borrow from and bridge one another.

What’s one goal (professional or personal) you have for the future?

I feel a position such as an art or creative director would be fantastic. I always felt that my very expansive and diverse learning habits, along with my multi-levels of creativity along many fields, are in ways cultivating me into such roles. I feel in many situations in working on teams (when I have the privilege) that I had a gift of bringing out the best of ambition and skill in my teammates. Outside of work for my personal life, I would love to have the woodworking and carpenter skills that my father and great-grandfather have shown. Time will tell for all, but many dreams exist far and in between.

What’s the best advice you've ever received?

When you critique, never use the words "like" or "love." When I was in school I had some great faculty personally instruct this concept. Their point was that when you use such wording or thought processes you are letting a personal bias cloud your viewing and critiquing of the work. This goes not just for design, but artwork and contextual creativity as a whole among many other fields. I realize that I will always have some bias, but that instructed concept helps me step back further than I might not have before and see a work's effectiveness—even if my personal dislikes are prevalent. When applied to my design, and tastes beyond that for that matter, that piece of advice helps me pinpoint a more effective viewing and appreciation for what a work stands for in and of itself.

What sound or noise do you love?

I have a few that always come to heart and mind. A loud rain or storm echoing through a chambered room; the ocean roar and blowing breeze; those are a few that might sound a bit more cliché. More to my own tastes I'd say I love the rumbling idle-purr and redline roaring of a classic American muscle V8. On a sillier note, the landing noise of a Type 40 Tardis whose pilot leaves the brakes on makes me smile every time.

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