The event I went to was called “Type x Graphic Design.” The event was presented  by AIGA NY. It took place at the New School Auditorium in Manhattan on 12th street. I chose this event because I want to learn more about typography. I have taken several type courses here at City Tech but still feel that I don’t know how to take full advantage of type in my designs. Other factors that led me to want to attend this event is that it was hosted by AIGA NY, a reputable graphic design association. I knew that having attended an event hosted by them, I would be able to meet serious and talented designers.

Although the event didn’t teach me exactly what I wanted to learn, the information was still extremely useful. I learned alot about the role of a type designer and its relation to a graphic designer. Before coming to the event I had never really thought of the two as separate entities but rather that a type designer was a graphic designer who chose to focus solely on typography. But this event taught me that they are not quite the same but very important to one another. Some graphic designers design their own typefaces at some point in there career. Other’s work closely with type foundries to have a specific typeface developed or purchase one that is already in the works for a current project that the designer is working on. All in all both are very important to one another as type designer provide the language for which graphic designers communicate messages in their designs.

The first individual I met was Orlando Bartolome. A graphic designer, illustrator, and photographer. I met him because he held the door for a ton of us and I returned the favor for him after seeing how long he waited before he could come through the door. At that point I saw an opportunity to talk to him and asked him how he felt about the event and if he was a designer. Having taken place after the event, we were headed to the reception where they served drinks and a light snack. He spoke to me less about the event and more about how they don’t teach you about how to monetize your work in schools. I argued that it wasn’t the case in all schools seeing as how in our class we’ve discussed salaries and jobs on multiple occasions. He told me about his previous job where he’d recently quit. He had developed some branding for them and gave them the rights. They made a ton of money off of it and he didn’t get to see a dime of it because he sold the rights. He felt taken advantage of and decided to leave that job. At this point he decided to partake in some drinks of the drinks being served, (his goal from the beginning) and after nudging me to do so as well his attention was taken elsewhere.

The second individual i met was Ji Young Kim. I met her while waiting in line for the single restroom available on the first floor. We spoke about the event, she told me it was informative and the speakers which was most interesting to her. She wants to develop her own typeface similar to what one of the speakers did. She asked me about my career and school. Our conversation was cut short when it was her turn to use the restroom.

The space that the event was held in was a school, I waited in the lobby of the school for about an hour before joining a line. There were no seats so  I had to stand unpleasantly for that time. I was one of the first one’s there having arrived so early. The lobby was well decorated with art. A statue in the center of the waiting area, and a mural just behind the ID scanners. Once in the auditorium there were a ton of seats as you could imagine. It wasn’t a large space but could fit a fairly large amount of people (the event was mostly packed, with almost every seat taken). It had a circular design to to it was about three to four columns of seats and multiple rows.  I sat toward the front, near where the speakers were sitting when they weren’t on stage.

The speakers mostly spoke about what they do and who they were. The first two speakers were the most interesting ones to me. The others didn’t leave to much of a lasting impression although during the panel everyone gave very informative and profound answers to questions. There were a total of five speakers who each spoke for about ten to fifteen minutes.

The first speaker, who’s name I believe to to be Lisa Smith, is a creative director and VP executive at Chobani. She spoke to us about Chobani’s brand revolution. She told us how Chobani’s product had become lost in what was described as “visual garbage” on store shelves. This led to Chobani needing to rebrand and strategize. I was able to copy down one of their brand platforms. Which was “Fight for happily ever after”. They went on to explain this to mean being optimistic and natural. In their rebrand they redesigned the logo. They settled on a font from a type designer named Berton Hasebe who was friend of the company. They called him up and he just so happened to have designed a font he thought would be great for the company. I believe the font is based on the font Clearface. This taught me that choosing a strong typeface for every project you work on is important if you want to stand out amongst a crowd.

The second speaker was Nina Stossinger. She is a Senior Typeface Designer at Frere-Jones type foundry. She ran her own studio for graphic and book design before coming to work there. In her work as a graphic designer she realized her love and gravitation toward typography. A quote she love’s is “good typefaces don’t just have good drawing, spacing, and kerning  but good thinking too.” One of her and the company she works fors most notable works is designing the typeface for the Essex Street Market. Her talk taught me that you might not think you want do something but will find yourself gravitating toward it and end up loving it.

I really loved attending this event. Although waiting in the lobby wasn’t the best, the event was great experience. Each speaker and the event as a whole was very informative and I learned a lot.  I look forward to attending another event by AIGA NY in the future. If I could do it again, I would have took more notes and talked to more people at the event.