AIGA KC is inviting you to our main event of the Scout KC Series, our annual educational event. Scout KC Virtual Portfolio Workshop, on Friday, April 1st to Saturday, April 2nd, is a 2-day virtual event supporting students, recent graduates, emerging designers, anyone looking to enter the Design Profession. Attendees are encouraged to come and go as they please throughout the weekend. Scout KC Virtual Portfolio Workshop offers a time to meet area designers, design leaders and recruiters through lectures, roundtables, and breakout sessions. Check out our event details below:
Friday, April 1
9:40: Welcome
10:00: Studio Showcase with Carpenter Collective
Carpenter Collective is led by partners, Jessica and Tad Carpenter. The pair have been collaborating together since the day they met in design school over a dozen years ago. Since then, they’ve earned a national reputation for creating powerful brand experiences and unique visual storytelling with a whimsical wink. Carpenter Collective strives to create brand experiences that emotionally engage and connect with consumers. "The best brand strategy is developed as a partnership between the client and design team. This is a key component to establishing a road map that will guide us in expressing your brand attributes to your consumers through design. The best identities require courage and a strong vision." Join the studio showcase and come with questions for Tad and Jessica.
11:00: Think Big: Designing for Spaces with Jenny O'Grady of Populous
Join Jenny O’Grady to learn about translating graphic design skills to a three-dimensional space, and seeking experiential design as a career. If you like the idea of taking brands to the next level and creating experiences that bring your designs to life in the physical sense, this session is for you. Jenny O’Grady is an Experiential Graphic Designer at Populous, a world-class sports architecture firm out of Kansas City. There, she works to activate brands and create immersive environments for sports stadiums, training facilities, arenas, events, and other places people love to be together. Some of her most recent work includes designing the new locker room for the Kansas City Chiefs, activations throughout Climate Pledge Arena (the home of the new NHL franchise - Seattle Kraken), and creating unique environments for multiple power-five university’s athletics training facilities and locker rooms.
12:00: Design Director Roundtable. Join a roundtable discussion on how to tell your story, tailor your work and experience to connect and make a lasting impression. Come with your questions!
1:00: Studio Showcase with Design Ranch
Join the Design Ranch team to learn about how they go about creating a brand that works on every level, at every touchpoint, in every outlet. Design Ranch helps brands stand out in this complex, consumer-driven world. They will go through a couple of design case studies and talk about what a typical day at the Ranch looks like. Take notes and come with questions.
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Saturday, April 2
9:50: Welcome
10:00: Freelance Check
Thinking about taking on freelance? Join our panel of freelance designers and Babes Helpin' Babes diversity, equity, and inclusion educators, Edwing Mendez, Abby Kallenbach, Maddy Best, and Kathleen Murray, for a roundtable discussion on the freedom and pains of Freelance. They will discuss why they decided to go freelance, go through a checklist of things you need to consider before taking the jump yourself, and what to know before you bring in your first freelance pay check
11:00: Be Bold. Be Brave.
Roundtable with Young Professionals. Join Jacob Gaunt (Whiskey Design), Lauren Murphy (Garmin), and others for a lively discussion on what they expected, what was expected of them and key things they learned their first years in the profession. What they wished they would have taken advantage of while they were in school and what they had to learn the hard way. Come with your questions and get some answers.
12:00: New Realities and the Future of Design
Mason Barry is a Motion/Graphic Designer and 3D Design Specialist at Whiskey Design. At Whiskey, Mason works on a variety of projects that include work on branding, motion, AR, 3D, and more. Some of his most recent work has been for clients such as Boulevardia, Parade of Hearts, Restless Spirits, and Sporting KC. Mason also serves at the Associate for Mentorship for AIGA KC. He earned his BFA in Graphic Design and Illustration from the University of Central Missouri. Join Mason Barry as he shares his experience with incorporating 3D design with more traditional graphic design and illustration skills. As we know, this industry is continuously advancing and changing. With that, 3D tools are becoming more user friendly and easy to access. Learn more about how you can add this skill to your portfolio. Also, get a quick tutorial on how to make your very own Dancing Tom!
12:45: Wrap Up
