my open door.net

I know all my students are out quaffing cold one and celebrating the end of another semester. What they might not know is… so am I. Once grades are filed, faculty members lock up their offices to return to the serious business of summer creative projects. In my case that means doing some book design, letterpress printing, and leading a study abroad program.

As most of my readers know by now, I’m going to spend the month of June in the Netherlands teaching History of Graphic Design and galavanting around. In between galavanting I’ll be posting on yet another blog. Imagine. I hope you’ll all follow the Going Dutch Blog and post lots of comments.

I’ll be back with more graphic design resources, musings, and semi-witty banter later this summer. (Photo by Alejandro Cantarero.)

This Thursday is our annual Showcase event—a one-night-only exhibit of graduate design portfolios. Design professionals drop by to pick up resumes, and families get to see what all the fuss has been about. As usual, David Gilbert has arranged for food and live music. The new AIGA student group is also assembling some very cool gift bags and door prizes. The beautiful poster this year was designed by Franny Priestly.

4-8 pm Thursday, April 23, 2009
Bagwell Center for Art and Media
Pellissippi State Technical Community College

map link

If you share my concern about the high number of undead applicants competing in the job market with our graduates, you’ll be interested in my upcoming lecture. It offers practical advice for dealing with this growing problem. The lecture will be followed by a screening of Sean of the Dead. All humans are welcome.

Zombie Job Hunting
Wednesday, April 29
5:30 pm, Koi Fusion Restaurant

When I was an art student twenty or so years ago, a good friend of mine was a huge Bob Dylan fan. Ronnie Sweenie had this giant poster in his room. It was a big psychedelic drawing of Bob Dylan. In this magnificent poster, Dylan’s hair—is transformed into a garden of hippie delights. Sometime later I learned the poster was the work of Milton Glaser. The Milton Glaser. Pushpin studios. Album covers. Hello? I (Heart) New York? Glaser’s technical pen drawings with flat coloring book fills say: “Here’s line and color. Here’s a drawing. But think about the idea behind it, because that’s the real point, isn’t it?” Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight is a film that premiers May 22nd in New York City and June 19th in San Francisco. An Intern named Aaron Hui contacted me about it, and I’m happy to help publicize a film about one of the most important American designers and illustrators of the 20th century. If you find yourself in New York or San Francisco, do check out the premeire. If you, like me, are out in the hinterlands, stay tuned for more information on this exciting flick. And while you’re at it, e-mail Aaron and tell him we want a DVD!

It’s official—twenty-six Pellissippi State design students are now part of the American Institute of Graphic Arts. These energetic design students recruited members, met, elected officers, and have made themselves into the new AIGA student group here at Pellissippi. They’re planning an off-campus screening of Helvetica, and are helping out with Showcase. Check out their new blog.

If you’re a type geek like me, or even moderately interested in graphic design, you already know about Helvetica, right? Well, maybe. But do you know how it was created? Where do you fall on the Helvetica love/hate scale? And are you familiar with the philosophy and style associated with Helvetica that dominated much of the last century?

I’ll be showing this feature-length documentary film to my Typography class in BA 202 Monday, April 6 at 10:45. We’ll start on time because it runs an hour and forty minutes. Others are welcome to drop in.

Erin Garty just dropped by my office and spilled about Make/Think. It’s an AIGA Design Conference and it’s coming to Tennessee October 8–11, 2009. And no, I’m not planning to miss it. There are speakers, events, and even a graphic design reality show for students.

This just in from AIGA Knoxville. Some of our new student members should go tonight if possible.

PM Meet and Greet | Manhattan’s in the Old City | Tonight at 6PM

Happy St. Patty’s Day! Put on some green and join us tonight at Manhattan’s for some green beer and great conversation. We’ll be talking about a range of topics from Pepsi’s re-branding to Tropicana’s return to their old packaging to the economic situation and it’s effect on the design world. We’ll see you tonight! Photo by Ignacio Leonardi

The latest from our Netherlands trip is the Going Dutch Blog. Group travel blogs are a great way to share the excitement of preparing for a trip. Students can blog about daily experiences, people, places, and photos. The folks back home can leave comments, and it becomes a kind of group journal that can be revisited years after the trip is over.

I was influenced by Dutch graphic design when I chose this simple and clean theme. Check it out and leave a comment. Photo by Svilen Mushkatov.

Monday, March 9, 6:30 PM, UT Art and Architecture Building 109

Robin Easter is owner of Robin Easter Design, a Knoxville-based firm that has served East Tennessee since 1989. Easter received her BFA from The University of Tennessee. Her clients represent a broad section of Knoxville’s corporate and creative endeavors including AC Entertainment, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Elizabeth Eason Architects, Bistro by the Tracks, and the Bijou Theater. Robin Easter Design has specialized in creating logos, corporate identity programs, websites, signage, displays, print materials, publications, marketing campaigns, packaging, electronic communications and more for individuals, companies and organizations throughout the United States.