Saturday, November 10th, 2012 at NIU
Saturday, November 10th, 2012 at NIU
Registration is now closed. See you next year!
SEEK is a one-day design conference organized by the students of Northern Illinois University and is now in its twelfth year.
In the past, SEEK has played host to widely recognized designers including Paula Scher, Kyle Cooper, Chip Kidd, Jakob Trollbäck, Massimo Vignelli, and Debbie Millman.
SEEK provides an excellent opportunity for students to learn and interact with professionals from the field in which they plan to enter.
SEEK is open to all students, design professionals, and spectators.
#SEEK2012
Dress Code is a small company that does big things for big clients—Motion Graphics, Branding, Video and Web. It was started in 2007 by Andre Andreev and Dan Covert who met while studying graphic design at California College of the Arts. Their work isn't defined by a certain style or limited to any particular medium.
Andre and Dan co-teach Design, Type and New Media classes at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and are on the thesis committee of their alma mater. A book they wrote about transitioning from school to work in the field of graphic design, entitled Never Sleep, is in stores now. They have lectured at over 40 events throughout the US and Europe.
Dress Codes track record with clients stretches across various industries—music and entertainment (MTV, Comedy Central, VH1), cultural (Newsweek, AIGA, Art Directors Club), lifestyle (Nike, Herman Miller, Belvedere), tech (GoPago, Avana, Meet Me) and advertising (BC-United, JWT, EURO Chicago).
Justin Ahrens will explore the art of wonder through film, story and design, examining the ideas and projects that cause you to look at things with a refreshed perspective. You'll get suggestions on how to bring a little wonder, mystery and story into both your life and work, and learn how that one little change can shift the way you view each day.
For more than 10 years, Justin Ahrens has led Rule29 in the firm's commitment to "making creative matter." Through a collaborative approach to both strategy and design, Rule29 has fostered a culture that encourages involvement in many social causes. This is particularly evident by the company's involvement in numerous social causes, including their substantial work in Africa. Ahrens has also been a consistent voice for the design community as it relates to balancing life, design and business.
His obsession for design is only overshadowed by his passion for being home with his wife, Sarah, and their four amazing kids (who think Dad's job is listening to music, drawing pictures and playing on the computer). Ahrens has also been a consistent voice for the design community on balancing life and career: he's the author of Life Kerning: Creative Ways to Fine Tune Your Perspective on Career and Life.
Chris Eichenseer believes in epic and magical visual storytelling, playing drums in a metal band, understanding the present in the context of 3 million years of humanity, and examining our world from the vantage point of the sun. This is no easy challenge, but you are here and there are problems to solve and air to breath; identities, album covers and radical websites to design; the biggest pictures not-yet-created to create, and the tallest tales not yet told to tell.
Chris Eichenseer, founder and creative director of SomeOddPilot, is the photographer, cinematographer and lead designer. His work has been shown in numerous group and solo shows in LA and Chicago, and is featured on more than four dozen record covers. His 14 years of design and branding experience – for international landmarks that include Pitchfork, Merrell, Caterpillar Footwear, and Budweiser – is backed by a deep understanding of marketing and business strategy. Chris' lifelong entrenchment in the independent music and arts communities has given him unparalleled experience guiding clients to a place of real cultural value. The eyeglass grab in his portrait is his idea of a joke and he drums for a metal band called Beak.
Sara Frisk’s talk is based on unexpected learnings. The premise stems from one of her colleagues, who recently quoted a design intern about their experience working with ideo.org. “I’m learning a ton, but not at all what I thought I’d be.” Her talk walks through the serendipitous learning throughout the last 15 years which has provided the foundation for her career.
Sara Frisk believes everything can be made better through design. It's this belief that fueled her transition to IDEO in 2006, with the goal of creating deeper impact on her clients' brands and businesses. As a Portfolio Lead for IDEO Chicago, she thrives on the complexity of how brand integrates with services, products, and digital design across various industries. Her award-winning work has helped such clients as the American Red Cross, Brooks Sports, Sherwin-Williams, Target, PNC Bank, Redbox, and Walgreens grow their brands and develop stronger, more meaningful customer relationships.
An excellence freak with a wicked sense of humor, Sara is an avid cyclist, sure-footed runner, and no-holds-barred color addict. A long-time vocal advocate for all-things Chicago design, she is honored to be AIGA Chicago's president.
Michael Petersen will focus his discussion on the power of collaboration by considering, “what I means.” He’ll explore how each individuals interpretation and insight builds on the other to create powerful, well thought out solutions... Because collaboration is not about any one thing or any one perspective. It’s about everything. And it’s about everybody. We can easily talk about this for an hour... Right?
Mike Petersen is a founding partner of 50,000feet, with more than 18 years of experience overseeing strategic and creative engagements for leading global brands. He plays a vital role in business development and leads creative engagements with Harley-Davidson, MasterCard, BMW, MINI Cooper and Ivy Funds. He directs a wide range of communication assignments, from marketing communications, advertising and broadcast to branding, identity development, and environmental design. Most recently, he has overseen documentary film initiatives for MasterCard, Ivy Funds and Perkins+Will. Mike has practiced design since graduating from Northern Illinois University in the early 1990's. Prior to forming 50,000feet, he led major creative assignments for Ameritech, Chronicle Books, Coca-Cola Company, General Motors and Harley-Davidson. His work has been recognized by major design publications, including The One Show, The Type Directors Club, The Society of Publication Designers, Graphis, ID, Communication Arts, Society for Typographic Arts and D&AD.
Jason Schwartz will be talking about design state of the union, resumes, applying, applying intelligently and the process of finding out who you are and what you want to be when you grow up.
In this presentation Jason will be explaining the correct ways to find, engage and apply for jobs. He will personally talk about what an agency sees and goes through on the other side of the application process.
Come to this breakout if you want to learn the proper way to apply, find out where the jobs are learn about what an agency expects and demands on the other side.
Jason Schwartz, Creative Director of Bright Bright Great (@bbg) loves and lives by design and creative strategy. He has two degrees in product development, including an MFA in Industrial Design focus on Design Education from the University of Kansas. His published thesis "Design Education and Awareness in Elementary Education" brought industrial design methodology and creative problem solving techniques to educational environments for children age 5-8.
Jason is currently Creative Director of Bright Bright Great a creative agency located in Logan Square, runs Logan Square Design Building a collaborative creative space and created the 2 Night Stand event series, a weekend hackathon pairing Chicago's hardest grinding creatives and thinkers for a 2 day jam session. Jason also teaches Interactive Design and Ideation at Chicago Portfolio School.
Katherine will explore how best to engage your design and development community, some tried and true practices of getting involved with projects and people, turning connections into opportunities and most importantly, steering clear of cool and striving for something better.
Katherine is currently a Senior Designer at VSA Partners and has had her work featured in AIGA 365, STA Archive and Communication Arts. She is a pragmatic idealist, as committed to her principles as she is to putting them into action. She sits on the board of AIGA Chicago as Community Outreach Chair and is currently the Director of AIGA's Mentor Program. Katherine co-founded the highly touted and often-inked Quite Strong—an all-female design collaborative focusing on community-oriented events and empowering creatives. She is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. And if you catch her on trivia night, watch yourself. This woman is a pop culture maven. That's not even a joke. They call her "Walker-pedia," for real.
There will be a raffle in which attendees can purchase tickets for a chance to win items. The raffle tickets will be drawn at the end of the conference. Must be present to claim prize
Raffle tickets will be available the day of the conference for $1 each. Cash or credit cards are accepted.
16 GB iPad
4th Generation, White
Logitech Bluetooth iPad Keyboard Case
Compatible with 2nd, 3rd, 4th gen iPad
500GB Seagate External HD
32GB Sandisk Cruzer Flash Drive
Signed Life Kerning Book and Poster
Written and signed by Justin Ahrens, Designed and Illustrated by Kara Ayaram & Justin Ahrens of Rule29
Perfect Pair Poster and Deck of Cards
Designed and signed by Tim Damitz of Rule29
Official Rule29 Zip Up Hoodie
Size large, donated & designed by Rule29
Wonder Quote Posters
Donated & designed by Rule29
29 Reasons 2 Vote Poster
Donated & designed by Rule29
Rule29 CMYK Hat
Donated & designed by Rule29
Storybook Poster Set
Donated by Katherine Walker
Faust Wrapping Paper
Designed by Faust LTD
Never Sleep: Graduating to Graphic Design Book
Two autographed copies donated and written by Dress Code
Three Screen Printed Lecture Posters
Limited edition from the School of Advertising Art, Portfolio Center, and Roger Williams University. Autographed and Donated by Dress Code
Ideas and Buildings - Volume III Book
Donated by Mike Petersen
Harley-Davidson Eaglethon Poster
Donated by Mike Petersen
Harley-Davidson 'Black Book'
Leather-bound, old-school address book,
Donated by Mike Petersen
Harley-Davidson 'Hog Log'
Leather-bound Journal for the Motorcycle Enthuiast, Donated by Mike Petersen