Tag: design

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Hey, Milwaukee, it’s pecha kucha! Let’s all go watch a slideshow!

The media have called pecha kucha — that unpronounceable presentation format created by two Tokyo architects — a poetry slam for designers. Except it’s not just for design folks.

Writers, photographers, and just about every other member of the creative class have devised and shown these six-minute wonders. Shown where, you ask? Over 100 cities around the world have conducted public pecha kucha nights. And this summer Milwaukee will be added to the list.

I created my first pecha kucha in October and became immediately hooked. I dare you to attend its official Milwaukee debut and not be bowled over by its power.

An audience at a recent pecha kucha event

You’ll find more details at the official site, but here are the basics:

WHEN 

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
8pm; $10 register online or buy at door 

WHERE 

Hi Hat Garage
1701 N. Arlington Place
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 

PRESENTERS 

  • Corey Canfield | Milwaukee Recycles (Kind Of)
  • Erica Conway | How a Woman Runs a Business
  • Tom Crawford | Kaszube Ornithological Concern International
  • Peter Exley | Growing Up in a Black and White World
  • Daniel Goldin | Dead Department Stores
  • Nicolas Lampert | Meatscapes: A Travel Log
  • Faythe Levine | Craftivism & Community
  • Aaron Schleicher | The Making of a True American Record
  • Jolynn Woehrer | Unwrapping Chocolate for its (Dis) Contents:
    A Feminist Analysis of its Fetishisms and its Fair Trade
CREDITS 

Hosted by 800ceoread at The Hi Hat Garage
Promoted by 91.7 WMSE and Schwartz Bookshops
Founded by Klein Dytham architecture

Thank you Jon Mueller of 800CEOread for helping to bring this form to Milwaukee!

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Interactive design requires living life with your “eyes wide open”

Our very own interactive creative director Clay Konnor was interviewed yesterday on WUWM FM, Milwaukee Public Radio. You can listen to the podcast, but why not see him live? He’s a co-presenter tonight at the Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design. It’s a panel discussion that’s part of an excellent series by 800CEOread.com. Clay offers this advice for those seeking to excel in the interactive design field:

My chief piece of advice is to practice your craft. Really the best interactive designers I’ve ever run into are just well-practiced. They’ve solved similar issues time and time again.

The other thing I recommend is to go through life with your eyes wide open.

Every day I make a point of reading both the New York Times and RealSimple magazine. I listen to both Pat Metheny and Dolly Parton. In the same day. The idea is to expose yourself to a wide breadth of what’s going on. What are the trends, and how can they be used to cause conversions on a site?

The presentation Business Meets Design: A Panel Discussion begins tonight at 7PM. If you’re in the Milwaukee area, I urge you to sign up online and enjoy some interesting perspectives on modern product design.