design conferences

Visual Design Pros Will Find Inspiration at HOW Design Live

Visual design professionals must keep pace with the multitude of changes in technologies, trends, and ideas that are affecting how we work, shop, and live. Because employers and clients expect designers to continually deliver fresh ideas and solutions, the HOW Design Live Conference for visual design professionals has updated the scope and content of its educational programs.

The 2016 HOW Design Live Conference is scheduled for May 19-23 at the Georgia World Conference Center in Atlanta. The conference program will bring together creators from design, art, culture, tech, and business to share their stories and accomplishments.

HOW Design Live Logo

“How Design Live is a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of inspiring speakers — an unbelievable line-up of luminaries,” said Gary Lynch, HOW Design Group Show Director. “Many have referred to the event as the TED of the design and creative community. It’s the best platform for professionals to gather an incredible amount of design inspiration and creative wisdom ”

Six program tracks enable creatives to discover new ways of thinking about their careers and insights into how design influences business strategies. The six program tracks include:

  • Design and Creativity
  • In-house Management
  • Vision and Leadership
  • Branding and Packaging
  • The Creative Entrepreneur
  • Interactive Design
  • Tools and Resources

Some presentations will give you a glimpse into technologies that can affect your work

Sci-Fi Meets Reality: The Future of Design
In a mind-bending keynote presentation, futurist Amy Webb will show how technology and design will soon begin to intersect in weird and wonderful ways. She will explain how algorithms are being used to design products, communities, and experiences. Webb will challenge designers to think hard about what to do now to prepare.

Other technology-related sessions will cover real-time data-driven design, designing for 3D, design challenges for a global audience, cinematic techniques for user-experience design, principles of motion design, and tools for taming the workflow beast.

Some sessions address the fact that many creative professionals want to do side projects that will may lead to new business opportunities or personal fulfillment.

Excuses Holding Entrepreneurs Back
Mona Patel, author of the bestselling book “Reframe: Shift the Way You Work, Innovate and Think,” will talk about four “excuse personas” that cause people to hesitate from pursuing ideas for new businesses.

Just Shoot It: Photos and Videos for Personal and Professional Creative Projects
In this 2-hour, hands-on workshop, designer and author Jim Krause will show how to use your designer’s eye and creative brain to come up with compelling images. Whether you use a pocket digital camera, a DSLR, or a smartphone camera, you can create images that look good enough for professional assignments or personal projects.

Licensing Know-How: Creative New Revenue Streams from Art + Design
The licensing industry generates $158.8 billion a year in worldwide retail sales. In this class, J’net Smith will detail how licensing works and  provide tips for recognizing  potential opportunities to license your art and designs in the marketplace.

Ignite Your Passion Project: A Side-Gig Seminar and Connecting Event
If there’s something you’re burning to create, but feel stuck in getting it started, this evening event might fire up your motivation Conference attendees and presenters will talk about how they have fostered successful side gigs, fulfilled their creative urges, and launched new businesses.

A full list of speakers and sessions can be found at www.howdesignlive.com. Early-bird registration rates are available until April 1, 2016

Conference Panel to Discuss How Art and Design Thinking Drive Innovation

SXSW-EDUA panel discussion at the 2013 SXSWedu (South by Southwest E-D-U) Conference will explore how art and design can drive innovation by deepening the value of technological advances and enhancing the processes of scientific learning. The session, entitled “STEM to STEAM: Full Circle from Education to Economy,” will be moderated by Rhode Island School of Design President John Maeda. The panel will explain why STEAM (adding the Arts to the national imperative around Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) is gaining significant momentum as a pathway to economic competitiveness. They will talk about:

  • How (and why) art and design is poised to transform our economy in the 21st century, just as science and technology did in the last century
  • How art and design methods can be introduced into STEM curriculums, making science and discovery “visible” and relatable
  • Programs that are successfully implementing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) practices for developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary to build for 21st century careers.
  • Examples of how technology is being used in the classroom to enable the creative process

Panelists will include:

  • Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, Senior Vice President of Education and Research, Sesame Workshop;
  • Jon Perera, Vice President, Adobe Education;
  • Matt Goldman, Co-founder, Blue Man Group and Blue School;
  • Ainissa Ramirez, Science Evangelist, Yale University.

The panelists will stress the importance of arts integration, noting that the STEAM acronym provides a visual reminder to include the Arts in a range of disciplines throughout primary and secondary education.

“Twenty-first Century innovation depends on the problem solving, risk-taking and iteration that is natural to the way artists and designers think,” said RISD President John Maeda. “Creative thinking is required to solve the complex challenges of the day, and to communicate, energize, and engage students of all ages in this learning. Sustaining arts education in its own right remains critically important. But equally important is taking a page from schools that have been successful at integrating the arts into STEM curriculums.”

Adobe Vice President of Worldwide Education Marketing Jon Perera agrees, positing that “STEAM plays a critical role in positively shaping the future of education. Tech tools are not means to themselves; their value is directly tied to what they can and should enable – creativity and innovation.”

Sesame Workshop’s Senior Vice President of Education & Research Rosemarie Truglio, Ph.D. thinks it’s never too early to start: “As STEM topics continue to be a critical component of early childhood education, it is important to allow children to explore these concepts through various channels, especially the arts. Incorporating the arts into our STEM curriculum was an exciting and natural addition, as Sesame Street has always used music, visual and performing arts as tools to educate and entertain children.”

“The issues of the future need creative solutions that teaching by memorization will not solve. Schools must create a space for creativity so that students can develop this muscle.” said Ainissa Ramirez, science evangelist and associate professor of mechanical engineering at Yale University.

STEAM is a movement championed by the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). In addition to encouraging the integration of art and design thinking into science, technology, engineering, and math research and K-12 education, the STEAM movement wants to influence employers to hire artists and designers to drive innovation.

LINKS

STEAM

SXSWedu

Rhode Island School of Design