We Need More: Updates from the Road
Ed. note: For several weeks in August 2011, a group of students from Colorado State University embarked on the We
Need More tour, a road trip linking students to studios through visits to AIGA chapters and design centers across the country. Members of the group documented their journey on We-Need-More.com, Facebook
and Twitter, and AIGA posted select highlights from the trip here, with the most recent events at the top.
August 23, 2011: Colorado
All good things must come to an end...from the We Need More Facebook page:
Well, we have returned! It was an amazing journey filled with incredible events, adventures, and people. Thank you to all of you who we met, who helped us plan and pull off events, and who participated by interacting with us online and following our progress. You will see more from this group soon—we have a lot of material to share!
August 20, 2011: Cincinnati, Ohio
Reflecting on the group’s August 8th trip to Cincinnati, Olaus Linn relates design communities to living organisms, thriving around symbiotic relationships with businesses, schools and cities. Read more here.
August 20, 2011: New York
Stephanie Gibson has been told to “never date another designer,” but after a visit to Massimo and Lella Vignelli’s home, she questions that advice:
“As I sat in a chair designed by Lella, and listened to Massimo divulge pieces of knowledge gained through years of creating remarkable work, I realized that the two of them make each other great. To have a person to collaborate with, or even just to filter ideas through, is an incredible advantage.”
Read her full post, The Man (& Woman) in Black.
August 14, 2011: New York
Phew! Time flies. The We
Need More trip has reached its halfway point. With six cities behind them, Eli Marco Hall reflects on the experience thus far (adapted from his full post on We-Need-More.com):
Halfway through the trip, I feel that I have an honest
assessment of the current state of design. The conversations have been equally
strong from city to city, and what has been most surprising is how different
the focus has been across locations…
Kansas City is changing how printers approach
sustainability. St. Louis has had to redefine itself after Anheuser-Busch left
town…Indianapolis offered great insight to a new approach to design thinking.
Cincinnati is simply the branding capital of the U.S. And New York has had the
largest gamut of conversations…
The bottom line is this: All of the experiences are out
there. It's up to you to find them. This journey has most definitely changed my
life for the better. The openness of the designers and the information shared
has proven the value of what we do. We are in no way expendable. Quite the
contrary, the planet needs us, the human race needs us and our future depends on
us.
Also, Anthony Satriano shares gems of wisdom culled from the group’s visits with Pentagram, The Mill and Massimo Vignelli.
August 10, 2011: New York
We Need More has landed in the Big Apple! They spent the majority of their first day at the AIGA national office, where they took a tour of the building and discussed ways to improve the student-member experience. They also graciously offered to help sort through boxes of entries from previous years’ competitions:
“Tearing open these boxes was so indescribable, having no
idea what piece of design history I could possibly have my hands on next. It’s
the anticipation of Christmas as a child, pulling out these things that I have
seen in books or online . . . I can feel my thoughts and visions of design
expanding, and my understanding of my chosen career path increasing.” —Bethany
Chambers, We Need More traveler
The group is in New York for four days, so stay tuned for
more on their trip! You can also check out photos from their trip on flickr.
August 8, 2011: Indianapolis, Indiana
In Indianapolis the We Need More group had lunch with Brian
Crain, a design consultant at Transformation Design. He stressed the importance
of the design-thinking process and, as Anthony Satriano writes on We-Need-More.com,
shared a set of steps he’s found works well:
- Find a problem
- Find Facts
- Define the problem
- Find Ideas
- Evaluate and Select
- Plan
- Accept/Sell an Idea
- Act/Produce
Read more about the group’s Indianapolis trip here.
August 5, 2011: Kansas City, Missouri
Do work every day, get your ideas out even if nobody else will
ever see them, and define your work by your process: That's just a small sample of the advice the We Need More group picked up on their first stop,
in
Kansas City, where they met illustrator and designer Danny Gibson. Three students—Derrick Burton Sean Kessel and Anthony Satriano—share their experience on We-Need-More.com.
August 3, 2011: Denver, Colorado
For their kick-off event, We Need More visited the archives at the Denver Art Museum.
"It was really neat to see what we do...archived like that, handled with white gloves...it really showed what value we have as designers." —Bethany Chambers, We Need More traveler
See highlights from the event here: