In contribution to this year’s NEON Festival, AIGA Hampton Roads is bringing back SPARK — a juried exhibition & silent auction of posters exploring the most pressing issues in our communities. We’re reaching out to our creative community to ask: “What’s an issue in your community that’s meaningful to you?” With this in mind, design an 18”x24” poster that only you could make!

On Thursday May 11th, AIGA Hampton Roads will host Becca Clason - a stop-motion lettering artist, at O'Connor's Brewery. Chew this over - Becca's clients include Disney, Target, The Washington Post, Citibank, Mattel, Sabra Dipping Co., General Mills’ Lärabar, American Express, Kellogg’s Special K, L’Oréal and many more! Take a bite out her lecture - We chatted with Becca about the ins-and-outs of her design career, her favorite materials to work with, and what she does when she’s not playing with her food.

On Thursday, April 6, Hampton Roads will host Aaron Draplin – legendary designer, author, and founder of Draplin Design Co. Aaron has designed for Field Notes, Nike, Burton, Red Wing, Ford Motor Company, Bernie Sanders, and the Obama Administration. In partnership with AIGA Hampton Roads, Aaron Draplin will host an evening lecture on Thursday, April 6.

Aaron Draplin is a graphic designer, author, and founder of Draplin Design Co. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he is now based in Portland, Oregon. His clients include Nike, Burton Snowboards, Esquire, Red Wing, Field Notes, Ford Motor Company and the Obama Administration. His book, Pretty Much Everything, is a mid-career survey of his work including case studies and advice which was released in May 2016. On Thursday, April 6, we are hosting 2 exciting events with Aaron Draplin: a workshop & a talk. Continue reading for more information!

This month's member spotlight is a talented illustrator and storyteller who has managed to blend her two passions into a freelance career. Cherilyn Colbert is a Hampton Roads transplant with over a decade of working as a graphic designer and freelance illustrator. We caught up with Cherilyn recently to see what she has been up to and to also understand how her profession evolved into blending her love of illustration and her love of storytelling.

We’re excited to introduce you to Rob Green. He will be presenting "Building Brands for Digital Platforms" on March 23rd at Hatch in Norfolk. Here's an insight into Rob's background and his influences as Creative Director at his company, Mobelux.

So, you're going to be your own boss. Congratulations! That's great, but now what? The most common first step is to register for a business license from the locality you're operating in. Another common form of registration is for state and local taxes – either general business, personal property, sales or some combination of those. (Registration for licenses and taxes may be the same or they may be different processes.) Lastly, some business types may need an additional or special licenses.

At the 2016 Norfolk NEON Festival, Sway Creative Labs and AIGA Hampton Roads partnered to host SPARK, a juried exhibition and silent auction of posters celebrating the New Energy of Norfolk. Top submissions were displayed in the exhibition along Magazine Lane during the festival.

We’re excited to introduce you to Jarrett Beeler. He will be presenting "Slashing Your Title" on November 16th at Hatch in Norfolk. Here is an insight on how Jarrett's path to where he is now and where he is going both personally and in his work.

We’re excited to introduce you to Randy Hunt. He’s presenting ‘From Lascaux to Snapchat: Design for a Complex World’ on September 28 at Central Library in Virginia Beach. We recently sat down with Randy to talk about his day-to-day work and play.

SPARK is a one-night exhibition & silent auction of 30 posters from local artists, designers, and students celebrating the New Energy of Norfolk. The exhibition takes place during the NEON Festival on Friday, September 16 from 6-9pm. The exhibition will take place outdoors along Magazine Lane, right across the street from the Glass Wheel Studio and Work|Release – both of which we encourage you to check out the night of the exhibition!

With all of the talented souls making Hampton Roads a creative community, we wanted to highlight one of our AIGA Hampton Roads members. Allow us to introduce, Scuba Steve, or Scuba, as he is known by friends and family.