Pivot

If there’s only one event you can attend this year, make it this one. In focused affinity sessions and inspiring general session presentations, the AIGA Design Conference is where you’ll learn new skills, develop your professional practice and address the critical issues in your profession. Increase your knowledge, get inspired, make connections and more—register now!

Thursday, October 13

9:00 a.m. Registration opens

9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Educator workshops (free for attendees; require pre-registration)

11:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Studio tours hosted by AIGA Arizona

12:00 p.m. Design Fair and sponsor exhibits open

12:45–3:30 p.m. Emerging Designers Symposium (free for attendees; pre-registration encouraged)

1:30–3:30 p.m. Pre-conference workshops (free for attendees; require pre-registration)

4:00–6:30 p.m. General session:

• Offensive Play: The Art of the Pick and Roll, Katie Salen, executive director, Institute of Play
• Thinking with My Fingers, a short film by Stephen Doyle, Doyle Partners
• At Your Service? From the Presumptions of Design to the Products of Design, Allan Chochinov, partner, Core77, and chair, MFA Products of Design, School of Visual Arts
• The Critical Role of Collaboration to Achieve Global Nutrition Goals, Dondeena Bradley, vice president of global design and development for nutrition ventures, PepsiCo
• Command X: Season 3
  

6:30–8:30 p.m. Opening Night Reception in the Design Fair

8:00–11:30 p.m. AIGA Arizona Reception at the Phoenix Design Museum

9:00–11:00 p.m. Film Night: Proceed and Be Bold!
 

Friday, October 14

7:15–9:00 a.m. Adobe breakfast workshop

7:30–9:00 a.m. Continental breakfast in the Design Fair

7:45–8:45 a.m. Speaker roundtables 

9:00–10:30 a.m. General session:

• Command X: Season 3
• Worldview, Terry Irwin, head, School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University
• Authentically Unexpected: Presenting Native American Art, Ann Marshall, director of collections, education and interpretation, Heard Museum

11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Affinity sessions (choose one to attend):

• Services are Everywhere, Rachel Abrams, Shelley Evenson and Lesley Mottla
• Transdisciplinarity: Methods for Working Across Disciplines, Nick Durrant and Gill Wildman
• Designer/Client Contracts: An Introduction to the Newly Revised AIGA Standard Form of Agreement for Design Services, Linda Joy Kattwinkel, Esq. and Shel Perkins
• Networked Education, Roberto Greco and Katie Koch
• Competitions: What Role Do They Play When Inspiration is 24/7?, Valerie Casey and Allan Chochinov, moderated by Richard Grefé
• Schesiology, Peter Stebbing
• Expand Your Realm for Success: Grow Giant Ears and Listen for Hidden Opportunities, Bob Calvano
• The Anatomy of a Student Learning Experience, Meredith Davis
• Legitimizing Trash and Gentrifying Icky in the World of Design, Dan Phillips
• Storytelling is Design and Design is Storytelling, Julian Bleecker, Laurence Bricker and Andrew DeVigal
• Conceptual Modeling and Diagramming, Dave Gray and Dan Roam
• Moments and Soundscaping, Michael Montes, and Jakob Trollbäck
• Creating Meaningful Solutions for Social Change, Nicole DeBeaufort and Jay Parkinson

12:30–2:30 p.m. Lunch (on your own); sponsor exhibits open in the Design Fair

1:00–2:00 p.m. Speaker roundtables

2:30–3:45 p.m. Affinity sessions (select one to attend):

• Data Visualization, Shawn Allen and Matt Ericson
• Hell Yes., Dawn Hancock and Michael Lejeune
• Systems Thinking and its Relevance for Design, Terry Irwin and Marc Rettig
• Inspiration: Infringement or Fair Use?, Linda Joy Kattwinkel, Esq. and Shel Perkins
• Bach, Fonts and Rock ‘n’ Roll, Allan Haley
• Engaging Design Community in China, Sarah Burnham and Amy Gendler
• Meaningful Experiences in a Post-Consumer World, Steve Diller
• From Apple to Ammunition: How Great Design Will Make People Love your Brand, Robert Brunner
• Are Designers Certifiable?, Hilary Ashworth, Lionel Gadoury and Richard Grefé
• Grafik Intervention: Sparking Urban Revitalization Efforts through Graphic Design, William Culpepper
• Storytelling and Design for the Future, Julie Beeler, Kevin Brooks and Hugh Graham
• Scripting Improv, Maggie Breslin and Derek Howard
• The Physical World, Todd St. John

4:30–6:30 p.m. General session:

• The House That My Father Built, Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, artist
• Curiosity, a short film by Stephen Doyle, Doyle Partners
• The New Normal, Valerie Casey, founder and executive director, Designers Accord
• What Are you Doing Here?, Chip Kidd, designer, author and associate art director, Knopf

6:30–8:30 p.m. Happy Hour in the Design Fair

6:45–8:00 p.m. Student Portfolio Review

7:30–9:00 p.m. The 2011 AIGA Type Quiz

9:00–11:00 p.m. Film Night: Marian Bantjes, Graphic Artist, presented by lynda.com

Saturday, October 15

7:15–9:00 a.m. Monotype Imaging breakfast workshop

7:30–9:00 a.m. Continental breakfast in the Design Fair

7:45–8:45 a.m. Speaker roundtables

9:00–10:30 a.m. General session:

• Command X: Season 3
• The Future Brand, Karl Heiselman, CEO, Wolff Olins
• Moments, Jakob Trollbäck, president and creative director, Trollbäck + Company

11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Affinity sessions (choose one to attend):

• Designing Fiction: How Design Creates Character, Setting and Mood in Fiction, Kurt Andersen, Akiko Busch, Denise Gonzales Crisp and Alice Twemlow
• One Hundred Years of AIGA, Sean Adams
• Design for Good, Charlie Cannon, Sam Shelton and Manuel Toscano
• Design Education: Challenges and Opportunities, Sandy Speicher and Cameron Tonkinwise
  
• Unleashing Design: How Designers can Help Business Overcome its Secret Fear of Innovation, Hilary Austen
• What’s So Special About Facebook?, Shelley Evenson
• Sustainable Solutions: Developing Products and Services for the Future, Ursula Tischner
• Design for Social Innovation: Triple Bottom Line by Design, Mary McBride
• Standing Out in the New World of Modern Design, Brian Nemhauser
• Branding the Future, Elan Cole, Moira Cullen, Brian Houck and Christine Mau, moderated by Debbie Millman
• Storytelling is Design and Design is Storytelling, Julian Bleecker, Anne Burdick, Laurence Bricker and Andrew DeVigal
• You Can’t Make Me Do It, Ryan Armbruster, Sarah Drummond and BJ Fogg
• Passion and Happiness, Hillman Curtis and Sheril Kirshenbaum
• City as Platform, Malcolm McCullough

12:30–2:30 p.m. Lunch (on your own); sponsor exhibits open in the Design Fair

1:00–2:00 p.m. Speaker roundtables

2:30–3:45 p.m. Affinity sessions (choose one to attend):

• Fictionalizing Design: The role of fiction in design writing, criticism and design practice, Stuart Candy, Denise Gonzales Crisp, Mike Neal and Alice Twemlow
• Data Visualization Tools and Future Directions, Hugh Dubberly and Jeff Heer
• Designing Different, Justin Ahrens and Jason Severs
• DESIS Network: Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability, Kristin Hughes and Cameron Tonkinwise
• Invent the Future: A Workshop to Help Define the Future of AIGA, Richard Grefé and Karl Heiselman
• Design for Democracy and Election Design, Drew Davies, Marcia Lausen, John Lindback and Jessi Long
• The Rise of the DEO: Building the Next Generation of Creative Leaders, Maria Giudice
• The Design of Business Models in a Post-Consumer World, Nathan Shedroff
• Brand, Improvised, Rebecca Gimenez
• Designing Innovative Solutions to Fundemental Problems, Christopher Simmons
• What Happens Next?, John Bielenberg
• Is the Future #Digital?, Henry Newton-Dunn and Eric Nicolas
• Words and Music, and The Muse, Alex James
• Hamilton Wood Type: A Series of Fortunate Events, Bill Moran and Jim Moran

4:30–6:30 p.m. General session:

• Type at the Crossroads, Jonathan Hoefler, president, Hoefler & Frere-Jones
• Infrastructure, Short Film by Stephen Doyle, Doyle Partners
• Design for the Next Context, Stuart Candy, senior foresight and innovation specialist, Arup
• Command X: Season 3—the winner is chosen!

7:30–11:00 p.m. Closing party, sponsored by  

Sunday, October 16

10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Town Hall meeting

Please note: All schedules and speakers are subject to change without prior notice. Registered attendees will be notified of significant changes in the weeks leading up to the event.