AIGA SB’s first design showcase, “The Designer Behind the Design,” opened with a reception at the historic Acheson House Gallery on May 20. The venue, home to local chapters of organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara (AFSB), hosts six-week-long exhibitions of art and architecture and is an occasional stop on First Thursdays.
For this exhibition, AIGA SB chose to start small and yet be inclusive. This was not a juried show, but it was a professional show; we asked our membership to self-curate, and restricted the entries to professional (as opposed to student) work. We asked each AIGA SB member to choose a significant piece of work created during their career, with “significant” defined loosely. Perhaps an entry represented a designer’s best work, or it was a successful team effort by a particular firm, or the designer learned a new skill in creating it, or it was well-known as a design but the designer was not.
Twenty-four AIGA Santa Barbara members from Ventura to Santa Barbara to Santa Ynez shared their design work for this showcase: publication, packaging, illustration, logos, identity, signage, posters, websites and more. To view the showcase in person, visit the AFSB Gallery at Acheson House on 229 East Victoria Street in Santa Barbara. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The AIGA “Designer Behind the Design” exhibition will be up until June 23, 2016. The work, along with creative statements and credits, can also be viewed online here.
AIGA SB thanks Jeremy White and Allison Marcillac from the AFSB for connecting with us, opening their gallery and collaborating on this event. Thanks to our event attendees from AIGA and AFSB. We also recognize three of our board members with HUGE thanks for creating this show and making it a hit: Treasurer Patty Devlin-Driskel, Sponsorship Director Tom Hinkle, and new Secretary Marianne Cothern. As always, thanks to our chapter sponsors for making this event possible. Special thanks to Elizabeth Stewart for highlighting the showcase via an interview on KZSB AM 1290 with board members Keir DuBois and Patty Devlin-Driskel for her “Art and Antiques Radio Program.” Listen via the player below.
Last but certainly not least, thanks to our membership for sharing their work: Scott Anderson, Norman Clayton, Marianne Cothern, David Cowan, Patty Devlin-Driskel, Holly Dickens, Cya Nelson Drew, Keir DuBois, Andy Engel, Lee Ann Engle, Danielle Fox, Aaron Funke, Tom Hinkle, Irene Hoffman, Jennifer LeMay, Jon Leslie, Susan Levine, Cassi Lindberg, Jenny Loui, Daniella Manini, Mark Oliver, John Silva, Jacob Tell, Jean-Paul Tummler, and Cory Yniguez-Pironti.
Rock Star Gig Rating: On a scale of “zero” to “insane,” this one was like those concert-ending all-star jams where everyone’s on stage blasting through a classic tune, each taking an eight-bar solo and doing their own thing with it.
Photography by Keir DuBois and Patty Devlin-Driskel.
