Ricky Irvine
Member
Okay, so I haven't been to an LGDA event to date, so I can't say that any of their events are not worth going to, but this one looks especially good. And if we're at all interested in design (yes?), we should make a point to be there!
Joel Katz will be talking about wayfinding design. This is something encompassing ideas surely transferrable to the web.
It's TOMORROW NIGHT! And it's FREE!
Bryan V.
Member
I've been to a couple, some were great, some not some much. I've been planning on hitting this one up for a while. I'm sure it's going to be print-focused, but I'm also sure that there will be quite a bit that is relative to the web.
Todd Budnikas
Key Master
I would enjoy going to this, although won't be able to this time around. I studied Joel Katz in college, and he'll likely have good insight and information for any designer. His information design is impressive and hopefully will cover some of his process and planning. This is probably the first LGDA event I've seen advertised that I'm bummed I'm missing.
I will say I'm glad to see that there are some peeps around that are interested in some events. Might get me out of the house for more if I can roll with some others.
Thommy
Member
Wish I could go =/
Ricky Irvine
Member
Back from the Katz lecture. Bryan and I made it, anyone else we didn't see?
Katz didn't really talk about wayfinding at all, which was what I thought he'd talk about it, but instead talked generally about the design of information/data. He showed a lot of maps (city maps) and some other political maps. Very good, overall. I took a lot of notes. Hopefully I'll be able to write some more about it later.
Also of interest, Bryan and I talked with Jason Clark (VIA / LGDA VP) a bit about LGDA and Refresh. Regarding the upcoming LGDA website, in a nutshell he said we'll all be disappointed with what's coming. There are some diplomatic issues at hand, so he said there will be a phase 2 of the site in which he hopes something more useful will be made of it.
I know that LGDA and Refresh have completely different goals of being gathered, one being focused on "graphic design" and the other "web design/development," but are they really that different? From my perspective they are both aiming at dealing with issues of design, praising the good, criticizing the bad (and hopefully doing something about it). I think there's good reason for all of us to have interest in both organizations. Both have tremendous power of shaping, for better or worse, the face and function of this city.
That said, Jason mentioned the possibility of Refresh and LGDA working together, for example, to start bringing in high profile speakers about web design/development to Louisville, allocating LGDA funds to make it happen. This will be incredible if it happens. If that sounds good to you, show some interest! Mention it to Jason. Show up for LGDA events. Get involved.
I think Louisville's old school design mentality is seeing its last days.
That's all for now.
Amber
Member
I'm really sorry to hear that negativity and unsettled that it has found it's way to public record. The LGDA is working on combining several disciplines into the new site and has plans to slowly incorporate more robust functionality. In defense of the back-end I had previously planned to make a CMS with classic ASP (ack, I know it's dated, but it is easy) that would accomplish the most basic functions that the LGDA need to perform and we intended to blog using a customized Tumblr blog. After discussion the project has been pushed to incorporate WordPress. My interest in learning new things has won over speed and ease. While I do not know that much about WordPress, it seems to me that the time it'll take to develop the style well exceeds the time it would take for me to build from scratch. From what I've gathered the addition of functionality with WordPress is robust, but if you most likely are not going to utilize the majority of it, why go through the trouble? In this industry we all search to follow the trends in hopes of choosing the right one that grows and flourishes as time goes on, but alas everything seems to beget something with greater promise. While it is smart to use tools that are painstakingly developed, the variety of options out there make it hard to locate those with the right ratio of ease of implementation and use. I think part of the focus of this forum is to encourage discussion that helps us all learn and grow. With this in mind I'd like to know your suggestions for moving forward with the site functionality, albeit they may not be used. If Refresh Louisville is to work with the LGDA in the future, I hope that we're able to move forward with more positive aim and leave the disparagement behind.
Todd Budnikas
Key Master
I don't have time to discuss in depth. However, the talk of mixing LGDA and Refresh is something that is an interesting idea, but not something I'm ready to even explore right now. This group has a goal, and it's very focused. I don't, at this time think that the LGDA and *many* of it's members have an understanding of our industry. This doesn't make them bad in any way, and doesn't mean that I don't want each and every one of them to join our group and learn, the door is open. We've done little to get this small group off the ground, and sure there may be ways we can work together in the future, but it's not on my list of goals.
As stated time and time again, I'm not the ring leader here, just trying to get this group off the ground. If there is some benefit to this that I'm not seeing, please clearly point it out. 2 groups in the same community with different goals and standards certainly can coexist.
I do agree with Amber about keeping positive focus here, and none of my comments here have anything to do with shortcomings or fault in LGDA. It is a great group that serves a purpose. A purpose that's different than ours. They are just not Refresh Louisville, and that doesn't matter to me.
denniss
Administrator
Building on what Todd said, this group is so small and has the potential to explore a great deal and learn together. But if the center of our exploration becomes 'graphic design' I don't think we will be very successful at refreshing our local web-smiths. I agree with the different goals and standards comment that Todd made.
My interests in becoming a better web professional extend far beyond graphic design so I would prefer to be involved in a like-minded group. The LDGA is good for the city but it seems to have a different focus.
Just my opinion, as I am also not 'the leader' :)
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