Sean Adams Recap

Sean Adams, the President of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, provides insight on many topics pertaining to graphic design and the graphic design industry. In the interview presented in class, Sean Adams discusses the history of AIGA, his experience as a teacher, the techniques that aid in forming ideas for design and the tools to get started in a career in design, to name just a few of the topics discussed. AIGA began in 1914 and currently has 25,000 members and 66 chapters across the United States. The AIGA has expanded since and has now opened a space in the Middle East. Adams really stresses the importance of creating space for permanent archives for artists. These archives allow artists to see and integrate ideas from history into contemporary designs. Adams is a firm believer in the idea that you don’t choose design, but rather design chooses you. Despite the fact that Sean Adams is a professor at the ArtCenter, he doesn’t necessarily believe that a degree in Graphic Design will make you successful. His design-chooses-you mentality suggests that building a good, simple portfolio is highly important. A good understanding of typography is key in becoming a hirable graphic artist. Sean Adams continues on to discuss the techniques he uses to come up with good ideas. The first thing he mentions is to listen to the client, as they do not always know how to articulate their ideas. This is the point where the artist chimes in. Relentlessly writing things down and thinking outside of the box for design ideas is also stressed. Adams also discusses the importance of learning design history. Knowing the history adds to the artist’s language, and seeing older methods can be helpful in solving contemporary design problems. Last for my recap, Adams discusses the importance of networking in the graphic design industry. The graphic design industry is small, and it is extremely important to become involved in the art community and AIGA. Keeping up current trends, especially by researching websites and discovering the plethora of links that each website offers, is also a great way to stay involved in the world of graphic artists.