When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Cathy Monetti
I only remember NOT wanting to be a nurse. Ever.

Teresa Coles
A Barbie doll fashion designer. Evening gowns were a specialty.

Kevin Smith
I wanted to drive an ice cream truck.

Ryon Edwards
An architect.

Julie Turner
A medical examiner just like Quincy.

Will Weatherly
Frontman for a world-renowned rock band.

Kevin Archie
An artist, according to the drawing I made in first grade.

Jody Piland
I wanted to be a lawyer. I could argue, no matter how wrong or right I was, until I was blue in the face.

What did you want to be?

What decade would you like to be living in right now?

Julie Turner
This one. I am master of my own destiny and have a beautiful family and inspiring group of friends. The eighties were fun and all but I’ll take now hands down.

Kevin Smith
The 80′s of course. It was a wonderful time for television. Commercials were never better.

Cathy Monetti
I’m pretty happy in this decade. The world is changing so fast, I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Maria Fabrizio
Early 60′s. I’d be able to do everything by hand since the computer wouldn’t exist yet and I’d also like to have beehive hair.

Will Weatherly
40′s: Music and film, but mostly to be a fly on the wall during Kerouac’s US excursions.

Ryon Edwards
1960′s – for the music, man. Peace.

Jody Piland
The 80′s. Awesome music, awesome clothes, awesome hair. Need I say more?

Kevin Archie
The 1940′s have always resonated with me because of the music — big band swing and the beginning of bebop jazz — but I would much rather be living in the present where I can enjoy that same music without having to live during a world war.

What’s your ideal decade?

If you could have a super power for one day,
what would it be?

Cathy Monetti
I would like to be able to fly.

Kevin Smith
Time travel.

Ryon Edwards
Super beard-growing power.

Julie Turner
To be able to fly to and visit far-flung places across the planet. But, I’d want to do touristy things, not let commuter trains ride across my shoulders because some crazy wanker blew up a bridge.

Teresa Coles
Turbo power. I could get so much work done in one day, I could take the rest of the week off!

Maria Fabrizio
To be able to hit command + Z and have it apply to real life.

Kevin Archie
I would have the unheard of superhuman ability to avoid procrastination.

Pete Anderson
Flight, both on Earth and through space.

Illustration by Ryon Edwards

Pete Anderson
Poor/job I love.

Julie Turner
You can’t fully enjoy bathing in one hundred dollar bills if you loathe what you do for most of the day. I’d choose poor with a job I love.

Kevin Smith
Of course I’d choose to be poor and work at a job I love. I specialize in being rich without actually having any money.

Kevin Archie
If you can find a job you love, I think you’re lucky to be there regardless of pay.

-AM. Cassandre, translated by Michael Taylor

AM Cassandre, "Dubonnet" - 1932

In a few days I will be traveling to Paris for a vacation and I wanted to familiarize myself with the history of French design, but I found no books or blogs on its history. This is, perhaps, due to France’s overwhelming amount of cultural history in painting, cinema, food, and fashion. Though French design seems to play a smaller role in France’s cultural history when compared to so many other facets of artistic expression, it’s advertising (publicité) and typographic (graphisme) legacies are by no means insignificant to a broad popular culture. (1) Below you will find an assortment of beautiful French posters that represent a rich cultural history of French graphic design.

Toulouse-Lautrec, "La Chaine Simpson" 1890's

Roland Ansieau, "Berger" 1935

Raymond Savignac, "Autorail Paris" 1937

Ramond Savignac, "Cigarettes Collie" 1952

Bernard Villemot, "Orangina" 1953

Congratulations, you just won the hypothetical lottery and you’re now a billionaire. What will you do with the money first?

Jody Piland
First I would buy this,

and then I would pay off my student loans.

Pete Anderson
Purchase a Major League Baseball franchise. And maybe the Jacksonville Jaguars, depending on how much of a billionaire I’ve become.

Julie Turner
Become an anonymous benefactor of as many schools, nonprofits and community groups as I can feasibly support.

Kevin Smith
I thank the lottery and get the money safely in the bank. I’d then invite my co-workers to my house for an offsite planning session (with drinks). Our session would be titled: “Finally rich, a strategy and implementation plan for Kevin.” It would be based on a $1 billion budget. Riggs Partners’ strategic planning fees would be 20 percent of my overall budget.

Ryon Edwards
$250 million spread equally between non-profits in our state (earmarked for marketing budgets, of course)
$150 million to invest, start a few foundations, etc. (through CCCF)
$75 million for a startup business
$25 million to share with my facebook friends
$50K cash just to carry around in my wallet.
$50K for a new car
Remainder would probably be taxed, and I’d probably be OK with that.

Kevin Archie
I would start an online film processing business similar to Netflix that would allow people to send in film and get awesome prints back for cheap. Either that or I would buy out Kodak or Polaroid and make them good again.

Kevin Smith
Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” which just finished playing on Radio Paradise – wow

Julie Turner
Also Sprach Zarathustra

Ryon Edwards
“no time” by the guess who

Kevin Archie
“Either Way” by Wilco

Cathy Monetti
Unworthy, by Cheryl Wheeler

Jody Courtney
A theme song isn’t enough, I’d need a whole soundtrack.

Brainstorming is a vital step in the creative process. How do you do it?

Cathy Monetti
I think you have to take apart an issue. Strip it down until it’s bare, then see how it can be rebuilt in a new way. Having said that, I have to say my best ideas come in the shower. (I think that’s kinda funny.)

Kevin Smith
Outside the office, I walk my dog or find retail/branding inspiration. In the office, I draw diagrams on our dry erase board.

Julie Turner
Wildly, caffeinated and on a white board with colored markers.

Peter Anderson
With (FDA approved) chemical stimulants, a greaseboard, and poor illustrations.

Ryon Edwards
Gather team
State the objectives
Ask questions
Encourage collaboration
Know that any idea is worth consideration/discussion
Encourage crazy ideas
Write on whiteboards/sketchbooks
Sketch out
Discuss
Ask more questions
Discuss

Let the ideas incubate for day or two and gather as a team again to:
Discuss
Ask questions
Refine
Bounce ideas off of client (or better yet, include them in brainstorming)
Have fun

Kevin Archie
I stare at a blank screen/page until something magically appears.

I recently acquired a “new” camera from someone in California via Ebay. It’s called a Yashica T4 and it’s ugly, used, and requires FILM. Why would I waste my time and money on such a thing? Because being the good graphic designer that I am, I have a passion for all things print and I couldn’t bear to see my life pass before me on a screen. I wanted my memories to be something more than pixels on a facebook page—something tactile that I could hold in my hands and keep with me in a shoebox or a hand-made photo album. The Yashica T4, with its sharp Carl Zeiss lens and its waist-level “super scope” viewfinder, was my answer. It’s a compact camera that takes beautiful photographs with one click.

So having finally received it in the mail last week, I committed to shooting a roll of film to test out its quality. I was not disappointed in the least. The photos below are some samples from my first roll. The scanned quality doesn’t come close to the actual prints, but I’m ok with that because the Yashica is ultimately fulfilling its destined purpose: to capture my life in print.

-Kevin Archie, Design Apprentice

We’re only halfway through the month and CreateAthon has already traveled to Washington, DC to help launch the A Billion + Change initiative. There they joined forces with companies like Starbucks, Capitol One, and Microsoft to promise to create $1 billion in pro bono services by 2013. To add to this already incredible month, AIGA highlighted CreateAthon in their Design for Good movement as a way to get involved in pro bono designing. The support from these two initiatives will do wonders in helping spread CreateAthon’s message.

Welcome to the team, Andrea!

Just when we didn’t think November could get any better, Peyton Rowe, CreateAthon’s Chief Evangelical Officer, brought Andrea Goulet Ford to our team. It has only been a few weeks since Andrea joined us, and she already has our heads spinning with her amazing ideas. With her help, CreateAthon is on the path to even greater success.

It’s exciting to see how much CreateAthon has grown this year. What’s even more exciting is seeing how many people want to help CreateAthon succeed. Today is only November 15 and I am overwhelmed by how much support our program has gained this month. I can’t wait to see what the rest of November has in store for us.

by Jody Piland