We hope you will help spread this message by inviting your friends to visit our little spot on the web. We’re continually expanding our website design and marketing services, and invite you to follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

Get out your camera, paintbrush, pen and paper — whatever medium suits your fancy — and submit your 4.25″ x 6″ design to their website no later than January 31^st, 2011.

Whether it’s a Saturday morning at Eastern Market, a romantic get-away to Mackinac Island, or a big weekend at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival — anything you can do or any place you can visit in Michigan goes.

AIGA will print and mail the winning entries to AIGA chapters all across the country.  Additionally, winning entries will be showcased at a gallery event and reception (date TBD).

Visit AIGA’s Wish You Were Here contest for details on submission guidelines, judging process, and qualifications.

It’s no secret that Michigan has gotten a bad rap in the media over the past few years.  With the Big Three fighting on the ropes, plenty of unfriendly lens have been focused on Michigan.  Now’s your chance show the world who Michigan really is.

Learn more about the history of postcards on the AIGA Detroit blog Superscript.

INSPIRATION:

Beulah | Angela Duncan

Beulah epitomizes the beautiful lifestyle of Michigan’s Northwest Lower Peninsula. Its rivers, lakes and forests set the stage for my childhood memories.

Eastern Market, Detroit | Don Kilpatrick

I recently moved here to the Detroit metro area from California to teach, and one of my favorite things about Detroit is Eastern market.

Bonaventure, Farmington Hills | Jessica Phillips

Who doesn’t love a day at the roller rink? It’s the perfect recipe for fun… skating in circles hand in hand, under a rainbow of lights, and dancing to sweet jams.

Sault Ste. Marie | Liisa Salonen

Living in the U.P. makes a postcard seem more relevant, less artifact. Inspired by old post-cards from a second hand store, typography and photos reflect my everyday.

Wilderness State Park, Carp Lake | Lisa Norton

Michigan Wilderness State Park is the perfect place to spend some time enjoying the great outdoors with your four legged friend. The park covers 4,492 acres filled with trees, rivers, and wildlife.

The goal is to raise money at the gallery opening on March 26th, 2011 to help fund the Art for Kids Program – a program that provides art courses at the Art Center to children whose parents can’t afford them.

This is a wonderful opportunity for local and up and coming artists to showcase their work, get funding to do so, and support a great cause.  Artists make money selling and promoting their art, and kids enroll in art classes.  It’s a win-win!

To make a difference and get involved in this year’s 30/30 project, please send samples of your work to Jordan at JGriffin@AnnArborArtCenter.org (tell him Freshtight Designs sent you!)

Commitment deadline is December 1st, 2010

To enter the ticket giveaway, become a fan of Freshtight Designs on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and leave a comment below explaining why we should pick you… it’s as easy as that!  Five winners will be chosen at random at 12:noon on 7/31 and we will see everyone Saturday at PhonoFest!

Also happening on Saturday is Freshtight Design’s featured artist, Jaclyn Schanes‘ first solo exhibition/performance called Show Pony, at the Re:View Contemporary Gallery in Detroit.  She is the epitome of “life as art” and “art as life” and has created everything herself from the soundtrack/score of the event to the watercolor paintings.  This is one exhibit you don’t want to miss.  One woman, two hours, a hundred layers of meaning.  Click here for more information.

At the center of the exhibit are approximately 35 small to medium watercolor self-portraits, which will be uniquely mounted and displayed in a strategic way as to facilitate performance by including the attendees into the experience. Schanes has recently embraced the often forgotten medium of watercolor, bringing both beauty and brutal directedness to her Neo-Expressionism influenced portraits, which will provide one layer of meaning in this two-hour art event.

The conference will consist of presentations and panels showcasing different aspects of game production, graphic design, and digital media; portfolio reviews, and exhibitor space. Freshtight Designs will have an exhibitor space showcasing some of our latest work.

In 2009, there were over 400 people in attendance, but expect 2010 to be bigger and better. Attendees last year included industry professionals, creative professionals, faculty from local and national colleges and universities, as well as students.

Interfaces Conference | May 22, 2010 | 9am-5pm
Troy Community Center
3179 Livernois
Troy, MI 48083
View Map
www.iadtdetroit.com
(Discount tickets available for Students and Faculty)

This year’s speakers include:

Max Voelker – ZeeGee Games, Associate Producer
Brian Menze – Obsidian Entertainment, Senior Artist
Chris Arnold – Carbine Studios, Lead World Artist
Christian Allen – WB Games, Lead Game Designer
Greg Foertsch – Firaxis Games, Lead Artist
Adam Sparkes – Sparkes Photography
Rob Eckert – Ringside Creative Motion Designer
Dennis & Christina Jacobs – Perfect Laughter
Oliver Hoffman – Creative Director
Julie Lang – Campbell-Ewald, Design Director
Trevor Anulewicz – Vectorform, Creative & Experience Director
Peter D’Agosinto – DP & Company, Associate Creative Director

The Interfaces conference is built on student and professional needs in the area. Metro Detroit has a growing digital culture that is encouraging industry to start and grow here. The Michigan State tax incentives create a need for industry professionals and educators to update their skills, and students to prepare properly for a creative and digital career path.

We hope you can join us in this quest!

Sponsors: Garage Games, Cengage Learning, Pearson Publishing, and Target Direct Marketing!

Join AIGA Detroit and Freshtight Designs for Celebrate Michigan Design, an exciting night of informative presentations and informal festivities. This is a unique opportunity not only to look back at our history for inspiration, but also to toast Michigan design as the magnificent force of innovation it continues to be.

Music by Jimmy Edgar, Silkscreening demo by Progress of Design, Gallery show by the Silent Giants, Michigan themed merchandise by Handmade Detroit and Angela Duncan, posters by Freshtight Designs, hors d’ourves and cash bar immediately following presentations.

Michigan hosts a world-class collection of artists and designers who are dedicated to producing great work in a great place. Now more than ever, we should celebrate design as a vital engine in our state’s on-going recovery. Designers are problem solvers. Whether it’s a city designer working to solve the issue of affordable housing, or a graphic designer bringing legitimacy to a non-profit through branding, the range of conflicts designers encounter is infinite. It’s no secret that Michigan has significant problems, however every challenge the state presents is an opportunity for innovation.

$5 AIGA Members / $10 Non-AIGA Members
To RVSP and pay at the door, click here.
To purchase tickets online, click here.
Ticket Services donated by ticketweb.com

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Julie Lang

Julie is Associate Design Director at Campbell-Ewald advertising, dedicated primarily to the Chevrolet account. Through her 18 years in the industry she has worked as an illustrator, art director, magazine design director and as an independent in her own one-woman design firm. Her clients have included Herman Miller, Chevrolet and Detroit’s Epoch Restaurant Group. Her work has been recognized by publications and competitions including Communication Arts, AIGA, the ADDYS, the One Show and The Art Directors Club.

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Jody Levy

Jody Levy is an artist and designer. She has been with experience design firm o2 Creative Solutions since the company’s inception in 2001. Jody works with the multi-disciplinary team at o2 to create interactive and immersive experiences such as live theatrical productions, museum and gallery exhibits, non-traditional communications campaigns and more. Jody is an artist and travel writer. Her travel website, Native Nomad, features the best experiences in cities across the globe.

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Susan Skarsgard

Susan Skarsgard is an artist and designer known internationally for her original fine art works, site-specific installation art, graphic design, artist books, & calligraphy. Her work is widely collected by individuals and institutions which include the United States Library of Congress Rare Book Room; Newberry Library, Chicago, IL; University of Michigan Special Collections, San Francisco Public Library, and Smith College, Northampton, MA. As a lecturer and teacher, Ms.  Skarsgard has conducted workshops and presentations for numerous institutions, organizations, and conferences, traveling extensively throughout North America, Australia and Europe. She has worked for 15 years in the Industrial Design department at General Motors and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan.

They say that Michigan was down for the count. What did they know? Michigan is coming back with a full tank of moxy. Now more than ever, we should celebrate design as a vital engine in our state’s on-going recovery.

Promo credits: Steve Panicara and Scott Waraniak

View Photos |  View all upcoming AIGA Detroit events

Actually, he paints himself to merge with whatever scenery is behind him.  But still, it’s pretty amazing.  In some of the pictures it takes a minute to spot him, and when viewed from a distance in real life, people have stated they don’t even notice him until he moves.

Liu Bolin graduated from the prestigious Sculpture Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai.  He says that his work requires a lot of patience, sometimes spending 10 hours trying to get the details just right.  He says his intention is to show how city surroundings affect people living in them.  He is inspired by “not fitting in to modern society.”  He sees his work as a silent protest against the Government’s persecution of artists.

The Chinese authorities shut down his art studio in Beijing in 2005. Contemporary art was in quick development, but the Government decided it did not want artists to gather and live together.

“The situation for artists in China is very difficult,” he says.  “The forced removal of the artist’s studio is in fact my direct inspiration for this series, ‘Hiding in the city.’”

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We have selected some of the most creative bus stop advertisements that will make you look twice!

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As we already know, logos are identities that are fundamental to building a brand and communicating with that brand’s target demographic.  Many large and well-known companies tweak their logo slightly (or change it dramatically) to reflect the changing times, hierarchy, or just to keep their image fresh and tight within the community.

Below we’ve listed a handful of logo evolutions so you can see how some seemingly minuscule changes actually turn out to be very significant.

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