Designer Life Box Lunch

Whats it like to be a designer? What do you really do on a day to day basis as a designer these days? Inquiring minds want to know! Thats why we are paring up student designers with professionals to find out. Our chosen professionals will be willing to answer all kinds of questions that you may have. Students, feel free to ask those questions you always wanted to know like - will I ever use calc in the real world? This event will be a random paring of students to professionals to help you grow your network and meet new people!

Robin Bowman - Photo Journalist

Robin Bowman has trained her lens on some of the world’s most troubled places, including Africa, Bosnia, and Israel. Her work, published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Life, Time, and Newsweek, has documented social and political ills from child abuse in America to life after genocide in Rwanda.

Bowman’s latest project was a five-year, 21,731-mile road trip across the US, photographing and interviewing more than 400 teenagers from many backgrounds and regions, including NY gang members, Amish sisters from Missouri and a Kentucky coal miner. The resulting book, It’s Complicated: The American Teenager, won the Gold Medal in the Photography category of the 2008 Independent Publishers Book Awards. Join us for this unique perspective on American youth culture.

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Million Designer March! - well not quite….

but we will have over 400! Come out and be a part of history as we march along the scenic Charles river from the Hyatt to the Antheneum! I think it will be the first march of its kind by this many industrial designers. We will leave from the front of the hotel at 6:15pm on Saturday (weather permitting) and walk along the jogging trail that is between Memorial Drive and the Charles river. It will be a sight to see! Bring your favorite “Pro-Design” Banners and be a part of this peacefull march!

Bunkspeed

Bunkspeed is a leading global provider of 3D computer graphics software and services for design, engineering, and marketing.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, our advanced technologies leverage digital assets and contribute to enlightened decision-making and communication in the design process. Our clients gain a cost effective way to deliver stunningly realistic sales and marketing imagery, and realize significantly reduced product development costs.

Martin Keen - Building, Branding and Launching an Idea

As head of Keen Design Studio, an industrial design firm based in Rhode Island, Martin Keen found himself frustrated and unfulfilled working with footwear brands that placed a premium on disposable fashion and quick profit over function and sustainability. This led Keen to develop a new brand known instead for practicality, utility, integrity and leadership in its social and environmental commitments.

The initial concept was a union of his passion for sailing, simple functional design and ergonomic comfort. Seeking to improve his performance while sailing competitively, Keen developed an innovative “hybrid” sandal that offered greater foot protection, traction and comfort. In 2003 he patented the concept and launched  Keen® Footwear.

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Dori Tunstall - Redesigning America’s Future

Design Policy and the Industrial Design Community

From ballot boxes to the iPod, everyone knows how the objects of design help improve America’s democracy and economy. But the U.S. National Design Policy Initiative is about how design thinking can be infused into American economic competitiveness and democratic governance. As organizer of the Initiative, Dr. Dori Tunstall will demonstrate some of the potential results of bringing design thinking and making into public policy. In particular, she will address how the industrial design community can scale its efforts to drive innovation, support entrepreneurship, and revolutionize government through a national design policy.

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Craft Boston and AD2021

Both Craft Boston and AD2021 will be offering $5 off admission for conference registrants to see their exhibits and presenters the weekend of our conference. Be sure and check out their websites for schedules and times. Both exhibitions are only a T ride away. If your coming to Boston or allready live here,  be sure and stick around on Sunday afternoon to see the shows.