It’s just around the corner. November 5-7th, Print Mag’s sister brand, HOW, will host their third annual HOW Interactive Design Conference. This design event targets print designers looking to move to the interactive medium, as well as established interactive designers looking to improve their digital chops. Don’t wait, register now! This show is for virtually every designer!
Why should you consider the interactive conference?
As a designer, you’re someone who realizes the power of design and the ever-present factor of change that impacts your work. The interactive conference is all about finding the best tools and design methods (used by the best in the biz) to improve your skills. As more designers move beyond the print medium it’s important to understand where you’re headed and how to identify the best resources to help you transition.
In preparation for the show, I caught up with James Victore, a self-taught artist and designer who knows quite a bit about change—and why embracing change as a designer is so critical. As our keynote speaker for this year’s interactive event, we think Victore’s “take no prisoners” attitude is the message that our audiences at Print and HOW are ready for…
First thing’s first: You’ve had quite a robust design career. What are your thoughts for designers who want to grow their interactive skill set (or move from print media)? FEAR! This is what makes the transition hard. But we can’t let that stop us. Just jump in and GO. Change or die!
Change has played a big role in your career success—and spawned a lot of evolution of your craft, I can imagine. As a self-taught designer, how have you approached education in your own career? My education is extremely important because of the fact that I failed out of school. Education was made precious to me. There are pros and cons of ‘self taught,’ but the biggest pro is that I don’t know the rules, was never taught the rules, so the world was open to me.
Besides the obvious reasons for designers to continue learning and fine-tuning their craft, what are some other benefits you’ve experienced from the conference setting? I’m a shut-in. I like to hole-up in my studio and work. BUT, I manage to push myself to go to conferences and am always a better designer for it. I always ask myself the hard questions after a good conference.
How important is community in the work that you do? I never work alone. I need the give-and-take of my studio. And I try to be open to outside criticism, even if I disagree (although I am very thin-skinned…)
Thin-skinned is hard to believe! Well, let’s end with an inspiring project you’ve worked on. Is there one that you’ve been especially excited about? I always like the one I am working on now. I have a new public project that is starting January 2014 called “Cubicle Activism,” a free monthly-downloable poster. We are making motivational/ propaganda-style posters for the cubicle sect. It’s based on the success we had with our New York City Department of Probation project. It’s going to be really powerful.
We have no doubt it will be powerful, James!
Speaking of cubicle activism, take some much-needed time away from your cubicle at the 2013 HOW Interactive Design Conference in Chicago, November 5-7. Register now to see James Victore in full force and get that motivational shot-in-the-arm you’ve been looking for!