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Faculty of Design quoted by Commercial Appeal
Design group picks Memphis for national conference
For the first time in its nearly 100-year history, an association of designers will hold its national biannual conference in Memphis.

AIGA, the professional association for design formerly known as American Institute of Graphic Arts, will hold its event Oct. 8-11 at the Memphis Cook Convention Center and is expected to draw more than 2,000 design professionals.

"A lot of thought went into choosing a host city, and ultimately we decided that with regard to location, affordability and availability of great things to do, Memphis came out on top," said Michelle Stanek, program curator for the New York-based AIGA. "We're excited about being in Memphis."

AIGA, which was founded in 1914, is a professional organization devoted to graphic design. It counts more than 22,000 members in 64 chapters and has 240 student groups at colleges and universities through the nation.

The Memphis chapter, established in 2005, has more than 150 members. Incoming president Michael Guthrie hopes the group tops 200 by the time the convention comes to town.

"This is huge for our chapter and it's huge for Memphis," said Guthrie, design director at Oden. "The conference will shine a spotlight on Memphis as a hot market in the design community."

The conference will feature educational and professional workshops, seminars, social activities and exhibits. Keynote speaker will be Kurt Andersen, author, co-creator of the Peabody Award-winning public radio show "Studio 360" and former editor of New York magazine.

In addition, the event will allow young designers to interact with professionals in the field.

"This will provide invaluable resources for students and a chance to meet legends in the industry," said Lucas Charles, who teaches graphic design at the University of Memphis. "It'll be a once-in-a-lifetime event for some of them."

To publicize the event, a group of local design professionals has been working on a multimedia promotion.

And Tactical Magic, a Memphis-based brand identity specialist firm, was selected by AIGA to create a print campaign for the conference.

Three ads, featuring illustrations by Ronald J. Cala II, will run in How, Print, ID and other national publications.

"We wanted to come up with something to show that Memphis is home to cutting- edge thought in design," said Tactical Magic design director Ben Johnson, who also serves on the board of AIGA Memphis and was the group's founding president. "We hope to show that design is more than pretty colors; it's a vital business tool that we can help show companies how to use."

By James Dowd, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, July 9, 2009