Disrupt Event
“Simply immersing myself with other likeminded creative folk was one of the main reasons I became captivated with design and art.”
I remember a time in my life when I didn't recognize the importance of design. This was many years ago of course, before I went to art school. I lacked awareness of design in our world and how the difference between good design or bad design could influence decision making, thought process, emotion, and many other humanistic behaviors we experience everyday. I knew I was missing something, but I didn't realize the answer was around me the whole time. People. It was during my time at the Art Institute of San Diego that I began augmenting my knowledge from the people around me and understanding that I could positively affect them with great design. Simply immersing myself with other likeminded creative folk was one of the main reasons I became captivated with design and art. It was the passionate people I was exposed to that allowed me to have rich conversations about typography, color theory, layout, and many other important design topics. They helped me to rationalize why I made certain decisions and provide alternative ways of thinking or looking at a problem . I began to start finding value in asking the right questions such as "Why?" and "What does this accomplish for the user?", or "Does this feel like a natural flow?". I learned great design is design that you don't even notice, because it just works.
Having had this great design related experience at school, I've since become obsessed with the idea of bringing creative people together. I enjoy creating platforms where artists, designers, entrepreneurs, and other creative people can share their knowledge and build relationships that help them reach personal growth, similar to the growth I experienced in art school. Considering myself a design nerd, I was beyond excited when InVision announced they were releasing a design documentary called "Design Disruptors". When I learned that InVision encouraged agencies and organizations to host event screenings I knew this was a unique opportunity for our agency. I went straight to my CEO BJ Cook to find a way to have Digital Operative host a free screening of the film for those involved in the creative community.
Needless to say, the event was a success! We had over 120 attendees show up at Moniker Warehouse in the Downtown East Village district to view the film and learn more about the movers and shakers in design today, and the need to design with a humanistic touch . It was an incredibly fun night of networking with local creatives, viewing awesome live art by my good friend Hugo Fierro from the Art Institute, and sippin' on some delicious brews from 32 North Brewing & kombucha beer from our friends at Boochcraft.
Below is a short video I put together at Digital Operative that recaps the event and the behind the scenes of the promotional lettering we created for the event.
I've also included some of the few pictures I was able to shoot during the event (mind you I had a beer in one hand at all times)
