Special Interest Groups on Meetup.com

Seattle Graphic Design Meetup Group
(634 members) This group is relatively large and attended mostly by design students and independent designers. There is networking, education (technical and professional), an opportunity for sharing and learning as well as just making friends.

Seattle Barter Network
(104 members) This group is open to all individuals and/or business owners who have something to trade: Advertising, Artists, Consultants, Restaurant Owners, Electricians, Plumbers, Painters, Coaches, Graphic Designers, Web Designers, Tax Preparers, Tutors, House Cleaners, Auto Mechanics, Marketing Professionals, Handymen, Landscapers, anyone who has something in their professional repertoire, their attic, garage or basement worth trading for!

Northwest Freelancers Association
(232 members) The Northwest Freelancers Association is a forum for all freelance professionals in the Pacific Northwest to connect, discuss freelance related issues, learn, and grow your freelance business. Freelancers looking to start their own freelance business, already established freelance professionals, and those who support the freelance community are welcome and will fit right in.

Seattle Area Photoshop User Group (SAPUG)
(1031 members) The Seattle Area Photoshop User Group (SAPUG) has a mission to connect, inspire, and inform Photoshop, Lightroom, and Bridge users in the Seattle area. They meet the third Tuesday of the month.

Seattle WordPress Meetup
(394 members) A monthly meeting of WordPress users and devs. They welcome every proficiency level. Its purpose is to offer support and share information, best practices, techniques, tools and resources. Their members are new users, graphic designers with basic HTML and CSS skills, developers new to WordPress, and experienced WordPress developers.

AAA illustration of your travels agents ready to assist you. AAA travel agents must be so busy booking travel reservations, that they don't time put their faces on. Some how this creeper then the putty-face clone students of Pink Floyd Another Brick in the Wall.

Maybe not, but at least they have eyes, a mouth and some what of noses.

My first real blog posting.

The Golden Ratio Explained in Three Minutes

Where Good Ideas Come From

Seattle Urban Sketchers/World Wide SketchCrawl

Saturday, April 16th - 10am Elliot Bay Bike Trail/Amgen Foot Bridge

What is the "World Wide SketchCrawl"?
The world's creatives are invited to spend the day sketching and then posting their efforts on the WW SketchCrawl site.

In short, roughly every 3 months they put a call out to people around the world to join in, put pen to paper on a given day for as long as they can (be it 20 minutes or 8 hours) drawing, sketching, journaling about their day and what's around them. For a day, slow down, look around you, see ... and draw or write. Record your day. No specific level of skill is expected ! Anyone is welcome.

View January's World Wide SketchCrawl

???? contact Mark Ryan

Highline Portfolio Show Poster - Ocl Gomez, designer

AIGA Seattle

Mark Ryan mentioned the AIGA in an earlier post, and I wanted to make a comment on that. I know that it's expensive to join, but if you can afford it and plan to get involved, it will be worth it for you. If you can't afford to become a member, nearly all events are also open to non-members and there are some really interesting and fun things to go see and do - not to mention the best networking opportunities.

The next event is this Friday and it's titled 'Pixel Punch-Out: Round 1' http://www.aigaseattle.org/events/pixel-punchout-round1

"The Elite Eight"

Watch, learn, and whoop as eight of Seattle's top design talents go the distance in round one of this three-round tournament. Designers race against the clock (and each other) as they design their pixels off! Who will  go down for the count Who will survive to to face the next challenge? At the end of the night, majority decision decides which four designers move on to the next round.

The Elite Eight are Nate Johnson of frog, Bryan Mamaril of Hornall Anderson, Zach Pfriem of Ascentium, Brian Piper of Tether, and Anasazi Wade and Jeff Barlow of Starbucks Global Creative, Josh Peters of Cicada, and Tara Lee of Graphiti.

Come out Friday to cheer them on, then get ready for Round 2 Friday, April 15 and the champion-crowning Round 3 Friday, May 6. Opening bell is 7:00 P.M. and time will be called precisely at 8, so don't be late!

It's $8 for student non-members, free to members.

April 22nd - Chris McInerney

Chris McInerney from Blend Seattle, a prestigious local design firm will give a presentation about his story - how he got from a student at the Art Institute to now owning a design firm with a 30+ year history.

Blend is a full service agency mixing classic design with new technology. Award winning branding, packaging, interactive and event graphics.

Starts at 10am Friday, April 22nd till he's talked out. It'll be in the midst of the Business class, and in the computer lab, but all are welcome.

How To Make A Tape Cut

What is the AIGA?

The American Institute For Graphic Arts - The professional association for design.

From their website:

Our mission is to advance designing as a professional craft, strategic tool, and vital cultural force.

Founded in 1914, AIGA is the oldest and largest membership association for design professionals. Today the national organization represents more than 20,000 designers participating in 65 local chapters and more than 200 student groups.

AIGA supports design professionals, educators, and students at whatever stage they are in their careers. The association spans the many varied branches of the profession: from book design, typography, and other types of traditional communication design to newer disciplines such as interaction design and experience design.

AIGA has become a forum for design professionals to exchange ideas and information, participate in critical analysis and research, and advance education and ethical practice.

When you become a member of AIGA Seattle, you join forces with nearly 700 designers across the state of Washington and 20,000 designers nationwide. AIGA Seattle unites designers from all disciplines and areas, from the tech-focused Puget Sound area to the Design for Democracy campaign in Olympia.

Joining as professional designer will cost you $295 per year in membership dues, joining now as a student gives you access to luncheons, events, and resources for $75 per year.

More information can be found at Seattle AIGA.

Upcoming Event - Seattle Art Walk Thursday, April 7th

Noon to 8pm
The first Thursday of every month galleries of the Pioneer Square area roll out their new exhibits for public viewing. Check out Seattle's newest art offerings in a festive atmosphere where you are likely to be entertained by performance artists and musical groups as you stroll between galleries. Don't forget to visit some of the more grittier street art offered up in Occidental Park.

Click here for more information about Seattle's 1st Thursday Gallery Walk.

Design the next Club Blog Header

We invite you to design the next header and blog title for the site. Submit your design with the following requirements:

1. jpg format
2. 910 pixels wide by (up to) 400 pixels high
3. Must contain the title - Highline Design Club Blog
4. We will put up a new Header design the first week of every month

Send submissions to Mark Ryan - markryan@studiobistro.com