A big congrats to the GDC/BC PR Chair, Carolina Becerra, who has just joined Science World in Vancouver as Design Manager.

I wonder if the BC Chapter will have a funky new space for local events soon? Hmmmm?

The 2007 National AGM was productive, with a spirit of co-operation we hadn’t seen before. Maybe it was due to the First Nation’s Elder’s blessing that started off the official meetings. Whatever the case, it was a heartening development, and made for some great results.

BC sent a strong contingent again to keep our fingers on the pulse and get some good succession planning in the works. Marga Lopez, Mark Busse, Carolina Beccarra, Steve Mynett and I were there to represent (and I talked too much).

We did all the basic stuff like pass the budget and hear what all the chapters were doing. But in getting things done we took some novel approaches and set out some great policy direction. So here’s what happened, apart from getting kicked out of hotel rooms:
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The Vancouver InDesign community has been maintaining a user group dedicated for sharing ideas, and helping everyone learn InDesign (maybe you’ve heard of this software???) Coming up next week they are welcoming Sebastian Distefano from Adobe to host a seminar on styles in InDesign CS3. For those just getting started and those already knowledgeable about InDesign, be prepared to leave with your head filled with ideas on how you can implement this new knowledge into your own workflow:

• Object Styles
• Text Styles and Text formatting
• Paragraph Styles Paragraph formatting
• Nested Styles
• Apply next Style command
• Text Wrap controls
• Numbered List and Bullets
• Using the Eye Dropper with text
• Table Styles and Cell Styles

Register through the Vancouver InDesign User Group.

Recently a few of us attended the Rock Awards hosted by the Vancouver Island Chapter in Victoria. And what a night to remember. After a delicious locally grown organic meal, the room went dark and was filled with the deep, ominous sounds of a pipe organ. A mysterious silhouetted form appeared and began by reciting words of wisdom from Robert Bringhurst’s Elements of Typographic Style with the tone and charismatic cadence of a half-drunk televised Southern Preacher.

And so with such irreverent lines as “In the beginning, the Great Designer created the heavens and the earth…” began the 2008 edition of  the Rock Awards. And it just got worse better from there. With professional actors serving as this crazed clergyman, a full choir dressed in black robes and a terrific tongue-in-cheek script written by Dylan Petley, the evening proved to be one of the most fun GDC events I’ve ever attended. Congratulations to President Valerie Elliot, Past-President Kirsty Armstrong and their volunteers for putting on a terrific awards show.

If you weren’t fortunate enough to be there in person, check out this video of the 2008 Rock Awards show. It may even save your soul!

The June 2008 issue of GDC eNews is out, with a formal announcement of the new National Board and review of the recent National AGM and a moving letter from our new National President, among other things. Worth a read.

If you don’t already subscribe, you can sign up to receive GDC eNews here.

The Art Institute of Vancouver is having their Graduate Portfolio Review. Be among the first to meet the new grads and see them show off their talents.

Thursday June 19, 2008
Featuring Graduates from:
Graphic Design / Web Design & Interactive Media / Fashion Design & Merchandising / Fashion Marketing & Management/Interior Design

• Portfolio Gallery: 9:00am - 2:00pm
• Meet the Grads: Industry: 2:00pm - 7:00pm

New Location!
The Art Institute of Vancouver, 7th Floor, 1090 W. Georgia St, Vancouver, BC
RSVP to 604.639.3868 or marmstrong@aii.edu

Monday, June 23, 2008
Featuring Graduates from:
Animation Art & Design / Game Art & Design / Digital Film & Video / Professional Recording Arts / Visual & Game Programming / VFX for Film & Television

• Industry Admission: 3:00pm - 7:00pm*
• General Admission: 5:30pm - 7:00 pm

The Art Institute of Vancouver, 3264 Beta Avenue, Burnaby, BC
RSVP to 604.298.5492 ext 5242 or sthummel@aii.edu

Catering for each event provided by The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Vancouver.

For more details, and to rsvp, please visit their website.

Sigh. I’m glad to be back home again, but the HOW Design Conference in Boston was an experience I won’t soon forget.

Two of our local GDC Chapter Execs, myself and our Web Communications Chair, Steve Mynett, attended this year’s conference in Boston keen to discover the latest trends in the design industry, network with like-minded designers from across North America, participate in workshops of all kinds and learn from the best and brightest—not to mention represent GDC and Canadian designers!

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As interactive designers and developers, we’ve been using Content Managment Sytems in our studios to keep our clients websites up to date have always gravitated towards perennial favourites Wordpress and Drupal. Recently I’ve become more interested in Joomla so my interest piqued when I heard about Vancouver Joomla! Day. Run on June 14th, it serves as an introduction and primer for those looking to get acquainted, or more familiar with one of the most popular publishing platforms available. Check it out, and maybe see you there!

Every year, The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, British Columbia, and Metropolitan Fine Printers come together to proudly present the Salazar Awards; a celebration of the best in student design.

The Awards ceremony this year took place on May 9 at the Roundhouse Community and Arts center in Yaletown and we were joined by Stefan Sagmeister who gave the keynote address to a packed house of over 300 people who had gathered to see the awards (along with the students’ awarding-winning work), view the 2008 Graphex Awards exhibit and the Kwantlen University College GDMA grad show.

All this in the same venue (along with the chance to mingle with fellow designers over food and drinks) made for great evening well worth the price of admission!

Sagmeister’s speech, “Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far” was inspirational, witty and, yes, I have to say modest despite his “design superstar” status. Speaking personally with Stefan you quickly realize that he is just one of us (only a little bit better as a designer!), and that he doesn’t feel famous or feel the need to act like a pop star. All of this made me realize the importance of being modest but confident, being truth to your beliefs as a designer and to try new things.

In an evening of many highlights, including of-course the awards themselves and the inspirational work of both student and professional designers, Stefan Sagmeister was a stand-out. For some of us, the night ended with the feeling of having gone to see our favorite band, only to discover a mini-festival that was amazing and