A question I was asked during my visit at the Marc Usa agency in Chicago this Friday, I had voted Apple and Coca-Cola during a conference discussion with the Purdue University Marketing Association and the members of Marc Usa. To little surprise, mostly everyone in the conference room had written down Apple. Rest in peace Steve Jobs.

When considering a product or service that you trust, is reliable, and ceases to disappoint, what would your favorite brand be and why?

 

Here are few of my favorite things to eat:

• Gram crackers
• Cereal (any kind)
• Peanut Butter and Jelly (strawberry jam really)
• Poptarts
• Strawberries
• Sandwiches – How I love my sandwiches!

Comment below and add your favorite things to eat while working.

 

About Justin:

My story begins in the fall of 2007, I had just left an incredible job as an elementary art teacher to attend law school with my brother, who is three years younger. Prior to law school I did not pursue my own artistic endeavors, I just had a passion for art. However, right before finals during my first semester, I very much needed an escape from the books. I picked up a paint brush and subsequently painted a series of work that was much stronger than anything before. Since this time I passed the Indiana Bar Exam and practice a little bit of law but have continued to focus on creating full-time.

I grew up on a small family farm in Northern Indiana and helped farm the very land that three generations of Vining’s had farmed before me. During the late 90′s, with the emergence of larger corporate farms, it become more difficult to manage a small farm and like many of other small family farms in America, This happened in January of my senior year of high school and I can vividly remember the day of our auction. Watching your barns being emptied and everything you have come to know disappear in a day is not something easily forgotten.

Needless to say, this was a difficult time for our family. In the years to come I reflected upon this experience through my artwork and painted a series of old abandoned farm houses trying to express the longing and sadness I have, not only for our lost family farm, but generally, to the end of the era of small family farms dominating the countryside. So, over time these abandoned farm houses in my paintings have evolved and taken new life in the more simplified forms that are common in my work today.

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Call for Art

Studio 659 in historic Whiting IN (20 minutes from Chicago) wants War art from any period of war throughout U.S. history.   We are looking for art, particularly paintings,  that depicts  the horrors of war, the zeal and valor of its participants,  the consequences of battle, or those left behind. The show opens on November 4, 2011 and runs through November 30, 2011.  The show will also include WWII artifacts and authentic WWI propaganda posters.

Artists are invited to submit up to 3 JPG images to: gaylekosalko@aol.com.  2-D and 3-D submissions in all media and styles are welcomed. Please include an image list in your email with title, media, size, year completed, and price.  Paintings need to be wired.  Also please denote any special installation needs in your email. There is no entry fee.

The Studio retains a 20% commission, please factor this into your retail pricing.  An artist reception will be held on Friday, November 4 and all regional artists are strongly encouraged to attend. The gallery reserves the right to decline any accepted artwork upon delivery if the condition or quality is other than represented in the submission. www.studio659.org

Calendar

Submissions due                               Thursday, October 13th

Artists notified by email               Monday, October 17th

Work delivered                                 October  27-28, during regular Studio hours*

Opening Reception                         Friday, November 4th, from 6:59p.m.  until 9:00p.m.

Show closes                                       Wednesday,  November 29th

Artwork pick up                              Thursday, December 1, Friday, December 2nd,  and Saturday,  December 3 during regular Studio hours*

*Studio 659 hours are Thursdays and Fridays from noon until 7p.m. and Saturdays from 10a.m. until 2p.m.

 

Back in August, 2009 I took a long weekend to visit my cousin and partner-in-crime Patita in Austin, TX. While there, I had the opportunity to attend the weekly meeting of Arts & Drafts, a ragtag group of artists, designers, crafters, geeks, and raconteurs who meet up at local watering hole Rio Rita to knit, bead, crochet, sew and plan for the Zombie Apocalpyse.

It is with their blessing, and a promise to uphold the Arts & Drafts creed to be the Most Dangerous Crafting Group in Town that I proudly announce the launch of Arts & Drafts Valpo.

Join us each and every Sunday night, starting on September 11, from 7-9pm at Pikk’s Tavern (62 W. Lincolnway, Valparaiso).

Bring a sketchbook, your knitting needles, pin cushion, or any other artsy craftsy project you’ve been looking for some time to work on. Learn something new, teach someone else, meet new people if that’s your thing. All skill levels welcome. For more information, please contact Melissa orDarlene, or sign up for the mailing list for event update info here. Happy Crafting, and please don’t run with scissors.

 

Artists are invited to submit up to 3 JPG images to: dayofdeadsubmissions659@hotmail.com. 2-D and 3-D submissions in all media and styles welcomed. Please include an image list in your email with title, media, size, year completed, and price. Also please denote any special installation needs in your email. There is no entry fee. The Studio retains a 20% commission, please factor this into your retail pricing. An artist reception will be held on Friday, September 30 and all regional artists are strongly encouraged to attend. The gallery reserves the right to decline any accepted artwork upon delivery if the condition or quality is other than represented in the submission. Artists who ship their work must include return shipment. www.studio659.org

Calendar

Submissions due                      Thursday, September 1

Artists notified by email         Thursday, September 8

Work delivered                       September 22-24, during regular Studio hours

Opening Reception                 Friday, September 30, 6:59 -9pm

Show closes                             Saturday, October 29

Artwork pick up                       November 4, during opening, Saturday, November 5, 10-2pm

 

Well, OK not exactly. Parts of your logo can be made by them. The rest you have to assemble using a spiffy “logo-generator”. LogoGarden.com is “the fastest growing logo site in the world” according to their wesbsite. They sell “DIY logos for Entreprenuers”.  Yay. Just what a designer loves to see.

Sometime this weekend I started to see multiple Twitter and Facebook posts from designers commenting about www.LogoGarden.com. They were pissed. You see, these designers said they never allowed their work to be on this site. On Sunday Jeff Fisher posted this on his Facebook page: “Buyers beware – and designers may want to take a look for their work in the logo design archive of LogoGarden.com I’ve found at least 20 of my original logo designs being offered for sale on the site. These are logos for my retail, restaurant, service, nonprofit and event clients. Numerous internationally recognized logos are unethically being offered as potential logo designs for unsuspecting business owners.”

What unsuspecting clients may not know is that they take on the liability of using their “generated” logo. If they read the Terms of Use on the site they would know…

From their website/Terms of Use:
(2) Trademarks and Copyrights.  User acknowledges that no trademark, copyright or service marks are being conveyed under this Agreement. User acknowledges that LogoGarden has no obligation or duty to perform copyright, trademark or service mark searches to validate the symbol database is not infringing on any trademark, copyright or service marks. Accordingly, LogoGarden encourages Users to perform their own independent searches. User acknowledges that LogoGarden shall have no responsibility to assist User in seeking state or federal intellectual property protection (i.e., trademark registration).  LogoGarden shall not be responsible to assist User to perfect the Users rights.

What’s really perplexing is, that according to their website…”LogoGarden.com founder and president John Williams, a leading logo design expert, literally wrote the book on brand standards for companies like Hewlett-Packard and Mitsubishi. An entrepreneur and former owner of award-winning studio Logic Design, John served as Entrepreneur.com’s branding columnist for over 5 years…” I just don’t get it.

I am really hoping that designers will share this story with everyone. Not just each other. I think the only way to compete with these online DIY design sites is to make their pitfalls common knowledge. If someone knows they may be opening themselves up to a lawsuit, they may think twice. Sure we believe these sites are an inferior solution to hiring a professional designer, but how are budget-strapped business owners supposed to resist a $79 price tag? C’mon that’s a steal.

MORE INFO: Want to see the making of a logo that looks suspiciously like the WWF Panda logo? Check out the Logo Factory article: The perils of do-it-yourself logo makers

 

We believe that a mentor experience is extremely important, even invaluable, to those students still in school and even those just getting out. And we know firsthand that there is a need in the NWI design community for a mentor program. We’ve done the first step in recognizing the need, we’ve even done the second step by having the will and now we need the help of the community to make the way.

Starting this fall, we are proud to be announce the first session of Four11 Mentors. 

We’ve encountered a lot of questions, so here is a basic rundown of the program. Four11 Mentors is a one-on-one mentoring program that aims to connect students, in the last 2 years of a design program, or young professionals, who have just graduated from a design program, with seasoned professionals in the creative industry. The program will run on a semester basis, so the first program will run from approximately September through December. Once we pair a mentor with a mentee, it will be up to both of them to establish their relationship. We will require that each pair meet face-to-face 1-2 times during the program, because the face to face time is how the relationship develops. Besides the recommended 1-2 face-to-face meetings, we have no hard and fast ‘rules’ for the program, nor do we feel we need to. Every person is different, so all mentor/mentee relationships will be very different. As is true in life situations, it is all going to be based on how much they put into it and what they both want to get out of it.

Maybe you were lucky enough to have had a mentor or maybe you learned it all on your own. Either way, we see this as your chance to help our industry and make a difference in the lives of others.

We are excited about the future and can’t wait to hear from you!
Rock on!

Teresa and Ryan

Still have questions? Interested in getting involved?
Visit us @ www.four11mentors.com

 

COME CHECK OUT THE ART. COME CHECK OUT THE SPACE.
The first pop up gallery was such a success that Highland Main Street Commission has decided to pop another one! They were just waiting for the right commercial space for lease. The show features 2 new artists from Highland…

Patti Tobin Davis finds painting nature to be a valuable process to explore her priorities, beliefs, and the natural world. Focusing on her local surroundings, she admires the complexity of nature and its effortless, egoless existence. Painting intuitively, the abstraction of nature reflects her personal inquiries of life, energy and spirit. Patti graduated from the American Academy of Art and has been a graphic designer for over 20 years. She lives in Highland with her husband and two daughters.
Above left: Untitled (detail), 6×6″, Watercolor and Gouache on paper.

Dawn Diamantopoulos feels artwork is therapeutic, both in the making and the viewing. Her paintings often revolve around memories. Most recently, she has been trying to create a happy place to be in mentally, in relation to being a caregiver. To this end, her figurative abstract pieces are beginning to take on a landscape feel. Dawn graduated from Pratt Institute. She lives in Highland with her husband and two sons.
Above right: America, 36×48″, Acrylic on canvas.

THE SPACE
This commercial space is available for lease. Retail center. Approx. 13,000 square feet, can be divided.
8149 Kennedy Avenue next to Plaza Lanes. The owner will be present if you have any questions about the space.

Refreshments will be served.

Website: www.highland.in.gov/popup

 

Image courtesy of theaucitron on Flickr.

Whether you are a designer, developer, illustrator, artist, photographer, or creative, there is something that is special about you that that makes you stand out from the crowd. Whatever that special thing may be, here is your chance for your voice to be heard.

Why do you do what you do? No one else can paint your picture, no one else can build your presence, and no one else can set you apart. You’re what makes you different. Tell your story.