Making your living in today’s world is challenging, but add the desire to create and you really have your hands full. It’s not enough to produce beautiful work—you need to know how to market, price, and budget it too, because strong business skills are a must for survival in this competitive market. Join AIGA Santa Barbara, returning moderator Wayne Kosaka, and our panelists sharing their personal stories and roads to success. The lineup will be offering their observations on the state of the industry, the ups and downs of design and business, and why that matters!

Our Panelists

Barbara Brown
President & Founder, BBM&D Strategic Branding

Barbara Brown is the President and founder of BBM&D Strategic Branding. She has worked with brands including Patagonia, Kinkos, Brown/Jordan Furniture, General Motors, Princess Cruises, Wendy’s, 3M, and Bloomingdales. Her award-winning work has appeared in a number of publications including HOW magazine, Rockport Press, and Northlight Press. She taught graphic design at UCSB and takes pride in engaging in the fun stuff, like working with colleges to develop their design curriculum, offering internship programs, providing Green Miles to employees who walk or bike to work, and fueling creativity for staff with Caffeined Creative and Font Fridays. She also gives back to the design and arts community and encourages staff to participate on boards for design and art non-profits. She is currently acting Chair for the City of Ventura Public Arts Commission.

Justin Carroll
Partner & co-founder, Hamagami/Carroll, Inc.

As Chief Creative Officer, he oversees the vision for all the firm's creative development, and leads its brand strategy initiatives. In a previous life, Justin worked as an Art Director at GSD&M Advertising in Austin, Texas, and as a freelance illustrator/designer in Los Angeles. (He’s very old.) Along the way he's been an instructor at Otis Art Institute and Art Center College of Design in LA, and served his rookie season as Vice President of AIGA Los Angeles. Founded in 1989, Hamagami/Carroll is a premier brand identity agency with offices in Los Angeles and Dallas and a staff approaching 60 creative souls. Its focus is building identity systems for consumer product brands, primarily in the worlds of video games and entertainment. The company has four divisions: NoodleHaus – A/V and broadcast, Open Bar – digital marketing, PicturePlane – digital illustration and 3D modeling, and the parent company Hamagami/Carroll – brand strategy and design.

Wayne Kosaka (moderator)
Owner & Creative Director, Kosaka Design

A creative professional in the advertising and design industry for over 25 years, Wayne’s experience spans a diverse range of business segments such as retail, hospitality, high-tech, financial, food and beverage, nonprofit and performing arts organization. His work includes corporate identity systems, logos, integrated marketing programs, collateral and website design. Wayne has been recognized nationally and internationally for his work. His award-winning designs have appeared in many industry publications including the prestigious Graphis International Design Annual and one of his designs resides in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute. He is past President of AIGA Santa Barbara and operates his design/consulting office in San Rafael, California.

Cya Nelson
Owner, Cyan Design Studio

Cya honed her skills as an art director for a notable design firm in Los Angeles with such clients as the Disney Channel, Honda/Acura, the MGM Grand Las Vegas, and Nintendo among others, until a near-death experience caused her to reevaluate her priorities and definition of success. Seven years ago, she moved to Santa Barbara and formed Cyan Design Studio. The recipient of a Bachelor of Arts degree in both English and Fine Arts, Cya's graphic design education is largely self-taught and also acquired through experience. The majority of her current clients, such as University of Southern California, are located in Los Angeles. Her experience includes a broad range of projects — from corporate identities, collateral, and illustration to websites, and event graphics. Examples of her work have appeared in Communication Arts, HOW, Graphis, Rockport books, and other graphic arts publications.

John Silva
President & Sr. Creative Director, DuPuis Group

John joined DuPuis in 1993 after completing his BFA from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Now, he leads the firm as a strategic shepherd and creative director in branding & innovation business. Complementing his passion for blue-sky thinking, John brings comprehensive knowledge of design activation from ideation through production. He is also Co-Chair of the annual FUSE Branding & Design Conference. Having co-authored "Package Design Workbook: The Art & Science of Successful Packaging" with Steven DuPuis, John is also a zealous writer and in the midst of completing his next book.

Schedule
6.00–6:30 Meet and greet
6:30–6:45 AIGA Welcome
6.45–7.30 Panel Discussion
7:30–8:00 Q+A session

Cost
$8 Students with valid IDs
$12 AIGA members
$18 Non-members

Purchase tickets here.