Rose’s Youth Design Experience
Rose at Harvard University Press
Notes from Rose: This summer so far at Harvard University Press has been an amazing experience for me. In just a few weeks, I’ve gained so much more insight into the world of book publishing and design than I ever could have imagined. From the beginning, my mentor, Eric, and the other designers at HUP have kept me hard at work doing tasks such as paperback conversions, photo research, and archiving. I’ve also learned about color correcting, and am still amazed at the detailed attention each image in a book receives to make sure the colors in it will print just right. I love seeing the process of book cover and interior design, and again, am amazed by the detail of it. As for paperback conversion, its been a fun challenge for me to figure out how to stay true to the original jacket design, while still fitting all of the elements into a paperback format. I can’t wait to walk into a book store sometime this fall and see a book I worked with on the shelves!
Youth Design at Stuff Magazine
Youth Design Students at Stuff Magazine
Notes from Katie: On August 5th, we took a trip to STUFF Magazine which works with the Boston Phoenix. I found out later that my mentor, James actually used to work for STUFF which was pretty funny. They showed us around their office space which consisted of a labyrinth of stark gray cubicles. The space itself used to be a parking garage which can be easily seen by the huge pillars in he office. It was a really cool place, although easy to get lost in. We got to talk to one of the graphic designers and how he actually has a T-shirt line in Karmaloop, who we’d met with last week for our Professional Development session. He told about the contest he was doing for some games or something and it was really cool. Then we went into a conference room and they told us all about working for STUFF magazine. They told us about how they are very hectic, running around like crazies because they pumped out a new magazine every two weeks instead of every month. They showed us some digital layouts of previous editions and they were really cool. The colors were really vivid and popped really well. I really liked how they explained what type of design went into the magazines they shoed us. Like how the newest one was the heat of the summer, so they had to show that through out the entire magazine. It was so simple how they portrayed it through the magazine, they used pipes, and AC’s, and Thermostat dials! Very simple and understandable. I really liked that presentation because I learned a lot about what type of things graphic designers do for work and it was a really great experience. Thank you STUFF Magazine!
Youth Design Graduation 2010!
Join us for Youth Design Boston’s 2010 Graduation! This event will be held at the ICA Boston on Thursday, August 19th from 10am to 12pm. RSVP to amy@youthdesign.org
Jethro on his Youth Design Experience
Jethro at Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Hi, my name is Jethro Michel I’m 18 years old and I recently graduated from Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. I am very grateful to be participating in Youth Design, and am interested in becoming architect, so my internship at the architectural firm Leers Weinzapfel Associates is a great fit for me! I have really enjoyed my experience at Leers, and consider myself very lucky to be able to do what I love throughout this summer! The people at Leers are very nice, I enjoy the challenge of learning new things and really appreciate their support! I’ve learned a lot throughout my internship, and with the guidance of Mr. Joe, I’ve gained a lot of experience in the programs VectorWorks and SketchUp — I’m really excited that I learned these programs so fast! This internship has made me realize that if I don’t become an architect, then I will do something very similar…maybe a civil engineer? I want to thank Mr. Joe, Jared, Alisa, Denise and everyone else in the Youth Design community.
John’s Experience with Youth Design
John with his mentor Elizabeth at Proteus Design
Notes from John: This Thursday we went to Cloud Place in Copley to meet with Dennis Todisco of Karmaloop and Brendan Boyd of Society. I had never heard of Karmaloop or Society before Youthdesign, but I was very interested in all the cool things Karmaloop and Society have done. Dennis told us about how he started out with Karmaloop as a Rep, and was recognized as the # 3 Rep in the country, before being officially hired! We then learned how Greg Selkoe started Karmaloop, against some pretty high odds! Dennis also spoke about a recent collaboration between Korn Design, Karmaloop and the Boston Ballet — a party to celebrate the recent re-branding of the Boston Ballet. We watched a video of the party at the Liberty Hotel and it was amazing, simply amazing!
Brendan explained to us how he and his partner Marcel started Society, and told us about the story behind the Society’s bicycle logo — an icon that people of all backgrounds can connect to. Brendan then showed us some upcoming sample clothes from Society which will be sold later this year! Brendan also talked about marketing, and how he reaches his clients (and future clients) through viral marketing, like music videos and YouTube clips.
In the end, just when I though I was off the hook, Amy asked me to talk about the Cloud Foundation, as I am a current participant in the Boston 100k Artscience program. This takes place during the school year and into the summer for 10-12 graders, and it is a competition to create and develop ideas in the arts and design. I talked about the idea I created called Emuse, a device that reads brain-wave activities to find songs that you like, and how I won $1000 to develop my idea further!
Youth Design with Karmaloop and Society
Carlos and Quela with their mentor Dennis
Notes from Carlos: For our fourth Professional Development Session we went to The Cloud Foundation in Copley. There we met with Dennis Todisco from Karmaloop and Brendan Boyd co-founder of Society. Dennis,who is also my mentor, is the Director of Marketing at Karmaloop and Brendan,who wears many hats, is also the marketing director and sales manager of Society. We got to learn about how Karmaloop and Society were born, and what it takes to be from Boston and succeed in the clothing industry. They each talked about how they started from nothing and built their careers from the ground up. Dennis mentioned how hard it was for Greg Selkoe, the founder of Karmaloop, to start an online business at a time when people feared online shopping. Brendan told us how he sold t-shirts from the back of his trunk, when no one really knew who they were, where today Karmaloop is the number one online clothing store for street apparel and Society is among one of its hundreds of brands. With success that has celebreties such as Travis McCoy, Wiz Kalifah, and The Kids in the Hall representing them. After taking in their experiences and seeing where they are now with the hardwork and dedication it took, both Brendan and Dennis have become very inspiring role models for me.
Youth Design at the ICA
Notes from Quela: Today was our third Thursday of profesional devolopment. We spent the morning at the ICA where we saw exhibits by artists Dr. Lakra and Charles Ledray. Both were shows very impressive in their amount of detail, but it was Charles Ledray that I can honestly say was like nothing i’d ever seen before. The Ledray exhibit was very personal and featured snapshots of every day life in a way I had never expieienced before. Ledray sews and assembles miniature clothing garments to convey very personal messages. In addition to making the clothing he also makes all the nesseray objects needed to dispaly his work from hangers to tools to dress forms.
Through working small he has a special way of displaying objects in a way that makes everyday items seem precious. Staples of everyday life such as magazines and books make you feel like your seeing them for the fist time. Ledray makes you believe they are delicate.
Pieces such as “Party Bed”, an installation where Ledray constructed a bed complete with a box spring, mattress, bedding and rug. The bed was complete with coats piled high, made to assimilate the all familiar bedroom of a person hosting a party. It gave me the sense that it fullfilled one of arts many purposes which is to bring people together. It was an emotional exibition. There was humour, presicion, innocence as well as a sense of darkness, an exhibiton that I will never forget.
Ivan’s First Day at Tank Design
Notes from Ivan Richiez: First day at Tank was GREAT. As soon as I walked into their building I felt welcomed and excited to meet everyone inside. The environment was extremely welcoming and the interior of the building didn’t seize to amaze me as Kelly gave me a Tour. The commute was a little annoying with the usual MBTA “traffic”, and the swarms of early workers in and out the train- but I made it in time to find my way around Cambridge to find the somewhat hidden building. I got the sense of a normal day here but still have a lot to get used to . I got comfortable in my corner and began to get to work, got my schedule straight and began to put my ideas for the Youth Design competition. I talked to Andrew about the ideas I had, and he provided me with some books as resources to give me much more ideas- and they did. First day here got me even more excited for what’s ahead of me this summer.
Youth Design Boston / Summer 2010
On Tuesday, June 29th we officially kicked off Youth Design Boston’s 8th summer program! For the first time, all 16 students and mentors came together at MassArt for orientation, to prepare them for the journey ahead!
Youth Design Wins a Civie!
On Thursday, April 22, 2010, Youth Design attended the Civies award ceremony at Blackman Auditorium at Northeastern University, presented by the Young Civic Leaders program of Mass Vote. Civie recipients are nominated by members of the community, for their work in various fields of youth leadership and youth development in the city of Boston.
YD received the Arts Civie, as an organization that makes a difference in the lives of youth in the community. Youth Design was previously nominated in 2009, and is delighted to be honored alongside other Civie 2010 winners such as: Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz; Sociedad Latina, Beantown Society, and Boston Community Center for Justice.
Former Youth Design student Lisa Wang is a member of the Young Civic Leaders program and presented the award to Youth Design Founder Denise Korn and Director of Operations Tara Oremus.