HOW Design Live is well-known as the largest annual gathering of design professionals in the world. HOW Design Live 2016 in Atlanta promises to be an extraordinary experience, with speakers including Stefan Sagmeister, Ayse Birsel, Matthew Manos, Maurice Cherry and more. We at PRINT are always thrilled to experience the magic of HDL from beginning to end — and we’re especially keen to hear from editorial and creative director Debbie Millman (check out her brilliance in the recently-released Regional Design Annual) in her keynote.
Here are a few more highlights we’re particularly looking forward to:
Type Camp Typography Workshop
With Dr. Shelley Gruendler
Dr. Shelley Gruendler, founder of Type Camp, is a typographer, designer, and educator who teaches, lectures, and publishes internationally on typography and design. is quickly becoming one of our favorite sources of typographic insights and inspiration. We’re thrilled to get a live taste of her type and lettering education work in her typography workshop at HOW Design Live.
Some of Gruendler’s students’ work (Image credit: Amanda Schutz, Curio Studio)
Unboxing the Toy Box: How to Create In-House Boundary-Pushing Branding and Packaging In-House
with Vanessa Dewey, Art Director at Mattel
Do you remember your first Mattel toy? Was it a Barbie, or, maybe a Hot Wheels? Most of us have childhood memories involving Mattel toys. This play-minded session will cover what it’s like to create branding and packaging for an iconic American Toy Company. Traditions are hard to break and it can be difficult to push through “conventional thinking” to take risks. But it is best-in-class creative that can move the needle.
Through packaging and branding case studies you will learn how Mattel packaging has been able to push boundaries in branding and packaging, despite mounting odds that might normally be intimidating. In the end, top notch creative teams are able to craft amazing break-frame solutions.
Branding Passion: How to Create a Compelling Campaign or Project for Social Change
with Justin Ahrens
How can we use design to create positive social change? As creatives we have the ability to shift perspective and to create impact. But making this impact can’t only happen with passion – there needs to be a strategic and defined process to carry the concept to real successful outcomes while not overwhelming you.
In this session, Justin will take you through his approach and project samples like their Wheels4Water project which has helped bring safe water to thousands of people in Uganda. In the end you will see how doing these types of projects can change you, your company and how YOU see the world.
with Michael Janda
In this session, Michael Janda teaches the principles and techniques for showcasing work that have enabled him to succeed on thousands of design projects for some of the world’s most revered brands including Disney, Google, Warner Bros., NBC and ABC. You will learn how to outperform your competitors, amaze your clients and create repeat successful engagements using Michael’s work delivery, presentation and showcasing techniques.
Michael Janda was recently featured as one of PRINT’s Designers of the Week. Read about him.
With Tim Belonax, Graphic Design Lead at AirBnB
Why does one of the largest tech companies in the world have a letterpress in-house? Why does the hottest hospitality start-up need a hot foil stamper? The answers to these questions and a host of others will highlight how new companies are championing design, from the inside out.
In this session, Tim will be talking about the practical and impractical lessons he’s learned from working in two different in-house analog studios within technology companies. He’ll discuss why they exist, what projects they handle, how to hire for them, and what you should do when Martha Stewart asks to visit.
Tim Belonax was recently one of Print’s Designers of the Week. Read about his work and his approach to design.
Oh, and we’re also looking forward to learning more about “Goat Heads, Ostrich Eggs and Rainbow Unicorns” with Jacob Escobedo, VP of Creative Design at Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang. We’re intrigued.
We would be honored to see you at HOW Design Live, May 19-23. Learn more at