At last ...

The AIGA "GAIN" conference has begun! Took the subway into Midtown at 9 am to register for it. Six months of waiting are over! I follow the event signs down the hotel stairs to a large desk where a water table is set up and an associate in a yellow fleece zip-up and jeans asks my name. He hands me a badge on a lanyard and a tote bag full of goodies! Then explains the contents of my bounty and what to take with me to the studio tour later in the evening. "So after registration, where do I go next?" I ask. I'm told that that's it for today, just open registration. I nod to show understanding, but the inside of my head is stunned. "Isn't there something going on from 10am–3pm?" Clearly I had not been awake when I read the conference itinerary emails. 10am to 1pm is open registration time and 1pm to 3pm is reserved for the Pre-Conference Workshops (which I had read about, decided to think about, then forgotten about until this very morning). Ok, so that means free time until the studio tour. Hmmmmmm ... whaaaaaat toooooo dooooo ... ?

So after shopping I decided to head back to the hostel to rest before heading to the event that I actually did reserve a spot for: the studio tour of 2x4.

I get to the studio a half hour early. A tall man with a kind voice invites me to sit in an empty conference room with glass walls. When the other guests arrive, I learn that this man is founding partner, Michael Rock. He shows us a short presentation of past and current projects, then opens the floor to our many questions. Before we know it our hour is up. Hadn't really gotten to the actual tour part, so Michael encourages us to walk around on our own, observe, and converse if people weren't too busy. But everybody at the studio seemed pretty busy, so with permission i shot a couple of pics of the rain from their office windows. I posted my favorite below. I circled the studio a few times, asked for Michael's business card and headed out into the rain.



On the train I noticed how people tend not to follow instructions :)


And here's the content of my goody bag from earlier today. A sweet tote and official badge, magazines, passes, and perfect-bound booklets of the event attendees and itinerary.


But this little thing I liked best of all. It's an old poster that's been folded and glued into a package.


Inside are accordian-style fold outs and perforated cardstocks encouraging sustainability.



These are four sheets of sustainability vocabulary cards! Just cut along the dotted edges and begin use.



Continuing with the interactive theme, these sheets (from left to right) pop out and fold into a vocabulary card storage box and a bird-in-flight animation game.


Last but not least is a call to action for designers to consider the large impact of small actions. For example, printing less can reduce other things.