IMD Begins Book Tour

Yes, Insight has been published. Not in an artsy little zine that three people in San Francisco read. Not in a brochure of Addy® winners. Not in a book we created ourselves (good idea, though).

In fact, Insight's work now appears in two books so legit you can find them at your local big box bookstore, or order them from your favorite local independent bookstore. Or online.

They're big books. The kind you'd find on a coffee table in a really cool house. Or in the art department of an ad agency.

The Big Book of Green Design, 2009, Collins Design, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing, New York, includes four pieces created by Insight.

1. Insight’s Eco Bags, made of 100% recycled materials, were sent to clients with a list of “Top Ten Ways to go Green at Work.”
2. The Bike Rack Art Call for Entries for the City of Sioux Falls was created to solicit designs for original bike rack sculptures.
3. The Fueling Revolution poster for the American Coalition for Ethanol publicized the organizations 2008 National Conference and Trade Show.
4. Ethanol Today is the publication of the American Coalition for Ethanol. Insight designs each issue; The Big Book of Green Design shows the Insight-designed cover of one issue.

Edited by Suzanna Stephens and Anthony Stephens, The Big Book of Green Design features top green design materials created worldwide.

Another title in the "Big Book" design series, The Big Book of Self-Promotion from the same publisher, also hot off the press, contains several pieces from Insight. These include holiday books A Classic Christmas Tail and A Classic Christmas Tail 2.

The Big Book of Self-Promotion contains work from more than 500 design firms worldwide, showcasing the freshest, most inventive ideas used by these companies to promote themselves.

Downtown Events

Heads up!

This Saturday be sure not to miss the Sidewalk Art Festival.

Word on the street:

"Yeah, they have stuff out along the sidewalk downtown from 14th street to 9th street. Tons of people checking out art...way cool."
 - Doug

"what?"
 - Brandon

From SiouxFallsEvents.com
"It's the largest one-day outdoor festival in the region with more than 250 fine art, folk art, craft and food booths. Proceeds support the Washington Pavilion's Visual Arts Center. Visit the Children's Garden Studio, where kids can make and take art projects. Tickets for these activities are $2 each or $10 for all. Admission to the Kirby Science Discovery Center is also free for the day! Children must be accompanied by an adult. Please check in at the box office for admission stickers."

The shindig starts at 9am and after you get done checking out the art hang around for Grmanfest.

Send in the Right Font for the Job

As a designer, I'm always looking for a good font. However, what is it going to look like on a finished product, and can I see some examples before I commit to it? FontShop has the answer. They have an awesome blog that showcases many fonts in real-world scenarios. Perfect for brainstorming your next design.

Sometimes the font can be the place to start your next creative masterpiece. Try it, you'll like it!

SculptureWalk

If you haven't had a chance to check out the SculptureWalk around Downtown Sioux Falls, you owe it to yourself to take the time over a lunch and take a stroll.

Here's the link my shots from today's excursion.

Diluting our Profession?

Recently I've been checking out sites that sell stock video effects.

As I was looking around these sites I thought to myself, "I could take some of my time, create a couple of really nice projects and rake in the dough."  However something I heard in college started to replay in my mind as I was concepting projects to sell. It was something one of my instructors told us: "Some of the biggest competition you will face in your field are desktop publishers -- people who think they can sit down and design a brochure or business card."

And can they? Yes, though not many can compete with a trained Graphic Designer. Now more than ever this is true with video, too. There are countless Bobs and Jims at home in their basements with a decent HD consumer camera and a version of Final Cut or Avid Express, who can shoot well enough and edit well enough to put a video together.

As I thought about the numerous jobs that have been lost to Bob and JIm, because they are cheaper, I started to think, why do I want to create a great motion graphics piece that I can sell for $25? Maybe some day I will bid a job and it will be awarded to Bob or Jim because they can do it cheaper, and they'll buy my template to complete the job. So not only would I lose a bid for a job that would surely cost more than $25, but now the person who won the bid has used my idea/work to complete the project.

Don't get me wrong -- stock photo, video, illustrations are great assets to us as creatives. They allow us to give our clients what they want at a lower price. But in a world where almost everyone has a copy of Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut, etc., and statements like, "I'm a designer, web designer, video editor" are thrown around with wreckless abandon, are we as artists slowly making everyone an "artist?"

Submitted by Matt Muldoon, Broadcast Producer

When Vandalism Becomes Art

I think we have all become very familiar with the image on the left over the past couple months, or years. It’s a great piece of art and has become an icon for our new President, Barack Obama.  

But how many of you are familiar with the image next to it?

If you have ever lived on the West Coast then you probably know it well. Both images were created by the same “vandal,”  Shepard Fairey. Why would I call this great, dare I say, "American artist" a vandal?

Because for the past 20 years he has been a graffiti artist. He's been vandalizing buildings and property, and has the rap sheet to prove it. He was actually arrested in Denver at the DNC for wheat pasting his now famous Hope poster.

I shudder to think what we all would have been missing out on if after one of his many arrests he decided to stop doing graffiti. I respect the fact that the person's property that is being "vandalized" might not be so happy, but instead of punishing these artists, why don't we help them rechannel their art to approprate avenues? Because none of us knows what these artists will produce in the next 20 years. Maybe a national icon, maybe the next Mona Lisa...

Help Support The South Dakota Arts Council

One of Insight's special interests is the arts.

That's why Mel and I attended a meeting at the Horse Barn Arts Center on Friday.

It was an emergency meeting called in response to the Governor's proposed elimination of the South Dakota Arts Council. Because state funds are matched, this means losing almost $750,000 in federal dollars, plus nearly $14 million in private funding.

That's just a tiny portion of the economic story. You can find more information on the Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society's site. Just as important to many of us, however, is the quality of life story.

Legislators will make the ultimate decision -- particularly the Appropriations Committees of the House and Senate.

Please let your representatives know that you support the South Dakota Arts Council.

Say Hey to Jill

Today I'd like to introduce you to another new Insight employee, Jill Smith.

Jill grew up in Egan, SD, and went to school in Arizona. She returned to South Dakota after graduation (although I bet she's wondering why these last few days).

As our new Designer/Web Developer, Jill will handle a multitude of tasks involving design. She also experienced the dreaded Initiation Interview, and here's what she revealed.

Q: What’s your favorite song? Or top 3? And why?
A: I have always migrated back to the only India Arie CD I have. I purchased it on a whim, and it's turned out to be one of the best ever. All of the songs are so peaceful and calming, at the same time as giving a message of self-empowerment and worth.

Q: What was your most embarrassing moment?
A: Might have to be kindergarten or 1st grade, don't remember which...mandatory bathroom breaks. I didn't have to go, but they made everyone go in and "try". So I went in and stood in the stall. I didn't want the monitor to see I was just standing there (in case she looked under at our feet) so I sat down on the stool...and fell in! Who leaves the seat up in the girls' restroom!? Darn janitors. Needless to say, my pants got wet and it looked like I had pee'd in them. Luckily, it was right after recess, so I had my jacket to tie around my waist.

Q: If you could have dinner with anyone in the world, who would it be?
A: Probably my husband. No stress, no expectations...just a nice quiet meal together. At Olive Garden. (He hates it, but I love it!)

Q: If you could redo one thing in your life, what would it be?
A: Nothing really comes to mind. Each experience has taught me something different. I wouldn't be the same person had something not happened just as it had. Well...maybe I'd check that toilet seat before I sat down.

Q: Where is the love?
A: At home! With family!

Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: I can watch "The Grinch" every holiday season. I even watched it without words one day with my daughter because I didn't know how to get the surround sound speakers to work. All we had was the tiny background music coming out of one audio channel. Have you ever realized how much music is layered behind all of the speaking!?

Q: What is your ideal vacation?
A:  I've always wanted to travel to Australia and the Galapagos Islands

Q: Who plays you in the movie made about Insight?
A: Hmm...Angelina Jolie. Because she'd give me a little of the alter-ego bad-ass that we all wish we had.

Q: What are three things you want to achieve during your lifetime?
A: One - raise my daughter to be a respectful and kind-natured person. Two - Make a measurable impact towards the cause of an organization that is important to me, through the use of my skills as a designer. Three - Live my life in a way that my children can look up to, and can say "I want to be just like Mom when I grow up."

Q: What is your favorite PMS color and why?
A: Oooh...there are so many. It ultimately depends on what I'm going to use it on. I've always liked red....so I pick PANTONE 18-1454 TPX Red Clay. It's not overpoweringly flashy and has a bit of a sophisticated air.

Q: What is your favorite font and why?
A: I really like Avant Garde. It's just "nice."

Q: Who is your favorite artist?
A: I'll have to say Bob Ross. I watched his show on PBS when I was a kid and he's the reason I started painting, which was one of the multiple reasons I decided to pursue a career in the arts.

Q: Which car are you most like and why?
A: A Jeep Liberty of course! I drive one and I love it. Versatile enough to make everyone happy (room for the kids, groceries, the occasional 250+ pound English Mastiff), and yet still able to hit some rough terrain and make it through in one piece.

Doodle to Win

Insight supports the arts.

That’s one reason the Sioux Empire Community Theatre is one of our pro bono clients.

Another reason is that it allows us to do some award-winning advertising we’re very proud of.

And, last but not least, we get comp tickets to great shows like Arthur Miller’s classic, The Crucible.

We’ve put this ad in the playbill for The Crucible, running November 7-9, 14-16 and 21-23 at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Sioux Falls.

The ad provides space for doodling. And it asks readers to upload doodles for a chance to win two tickets to Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, the Sioux Empire Community Theatre’s next production.

Anyone can enter the contest; you don’t need the ad. Just doodle. Scan your doodle. And then upload your doodle to our site. Our team will handle judging and all entries will be posted on Art Circulator.

So doodle up!

Art Circulator Success

Insight has been engaged in our Art Circulator project for several months now.

And so yesterday evening was the big night! We hosted the Art Circulator Show – which was a combination of a gallery opening reception, a silent auction and a concert.

We had a great selection of artwork on the walls of our makeshift 8th & Railroad east dock gallery. Local musician Pete Good and his excellent friends played tunes on the loading dock. Jerry Hauck from Monk’s House of Ale Repute served up wine and specialized malt beverages. A scrumptious spread from Food & Fermentation was a work of art in itself.

And we had guests – over 100 visitors, artists and buyers.

The weather was great, the music perfect and the ambience artsy but not pretentious.

My favorite moment occurred when a crumb happened to drop down my shirt and one of our guests (you know who you are) whispered to me that if I wanted to take food home, I didn’t need to hide it there.

Best of all -- just this week we learned that all the funds donated to Children’s Home Society art programs through Art Circulator would be matched one-to-one through a grant from the Messengers of the Healing Winds Foundation.

When somebody asked me last night how we happened to decide on having an art show, I really couldn’t explain it in less than 500 words. Not your average “elevator speech,” although probably just right for the elevators in our building. The full speech is here. 

Now that the party’s over, the online auction begins. Visit the auction site and bid on your favorite piece of art before June 29!

by Clara Jacob