Design Work 27 September 2018
Design//Work: Passion Projects & Your Portfolio
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

AIGA San Francisco

130 Sutter Street

San Francisco

Event is over
schedule
6:30 pm
Doors Open For Mingling And Drinks
7:00 pm
Panel Discussion Begins
8:30 pm
Panel Discussion Wraps Up
9:00 pm
Event Ends // Doors Close

Passion Projects & Your Portfolio

Increasingly designers are putting projects that show their passion for a particular topic in their portfolio. During the job application process, these passion projects often end up making more of a connection with hiring managers than regular client based commercial work.

Join us as we ask our panel the following questions:

  • Why are passion projects so important for your portfolio?
  • What kind of passion projects work best?
  • Where do I find inspiration?
  • Should I look for ‘real’ passion projects?
  • Can I turn a passion project into a job?
  • moderator
    speakers
    Rick Byrne, Creative Lead, Oracle
    Rick has lived and worked in San Francisco, London and Dublin for companies such as the BBC, CBS Interactive, Unity and currently, Oracle. Rick's passion project outside of work is to create logos, usually for non profits or unfunded start-ups. He chose logos in particular as they boil down the enormity of a product, concept or institution into it's most minimal form. In the process Rick likes to look into the problem deeply so that it starts to create it’s own unique solution. He says “hopefully at this stage in my career I've gained enough experience to know when a concept has been pushed far enough or more importantly, not far enough.” Why not judge for yourself: https://www.behance.net/rickbyrne
    speakers
    Ivan Cash, Founder/Creative Director, Cash Studios
    Ivan Cash is an award-winning interactive artist, film director, and founder of Cash Studios, who believes in the power of human connection. His conceptually-driven, genre-bending media projects spark meaningful conversation and impact culture, having been featured in The New York Times, CNN, TIME, The Guardian, Fast Company, Buzzfeed, The Atlantic, and received multiple Vimeo Staff Picks and Webby Honorees. He has been recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 artist, an Art Directors Club Young Gun, and a Print New Visual Artist. His work is in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and has exhibited internationally, from the Brooklyn Museum to the Australian Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences. Recently, he was inducted into the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, becoming one of 15 members responsible for selecting all US postal stamps. He believes talking to strangers can change the world, but nothing would make him happier than if you closed your eyes for 20 seconds and just listened to your breath.
    Tim Belonax, Brand Design Lead, Pinterest
    At Pinterest Tim is working on projects that help people understand what Pinterest is and why it matters to them. Previously, he was a Design Lead at Airbnb and a Principal Designer at Facebook’s Analog Research Lab. He’s launched new brands and redesigned existing ones. He’s an Adjunct Professor at California College of the Arts and served on the boards of the San Francisco Center for the Book and AIGA SF. He holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and recently had some of his posters acquired by LACMA. And here's a link to Tim's latest passion project: Double Issue
    Natalie Hansen, consulting Creative Director, Stamen
    Natalie is a San Francisco based Creative Director who specializes in product innovation and brand development. Natalie has held Executive Creative Director positions at CNET & CBS News, and Creative Director roles at Sony Music and Sega. She has consulted and spent some time at leading design firms such as Digitas, Publicis, and Team One/Saatchi & Saatchi and has developed solutions for brands including: Unilever, Target stores, Lexus, Universal Studios, Sony Playstation, The Home Depot, Better Homes & Gardens, PerriconeMD and Sunset Magazine, among others. Natalie is the co-founder of the Design Intelligence Department designintel.co She’s also an accomplished artist. You can see some of her latest creations via Instagram
    Brian Singer, Artist/Designer, someguy.is
    Brian Singer is a San Francisco-based artist and designer who has received international attention for his provocative social projects such at TWIT Spotting (Texting while in Traffic) and The 1000 Journals Project. He has managed creative teams at both Pinterest and Facebook, and worked with companies such as Apple, Adidas, and Chronicle Books. He’s also won many awards, authored three books, and taught design in the grad program at Academy of Art University. Brian also served on the national board of AIGA, the professional association for design. IG and web: someguy.is
    Tracy Graham, Senior Art Director, Extractable
    By way of Chicago, Tracy Graham is an SF-based Senior AD at Extractable, a digital design agency during the day. Outside of work his passion for photography and design has taken him around the world for various projects, so when he’s not creating web experiences, you can find him venue-hopping, expanding his live music photography portfolio for the online music publication he co-founded, Danger!Sound. Check it out here: The Danger Sound