AIGA Cincinnati’s first Green Salon provided an exciting opportunity for Cincinnati-area designers to share ideas, learn and discuss trends in design through the innovation of sustainable practices. Moderated by Marc Alt of the Center for Sustainable Design in New York, the panel provided varied business and design perspectives and fielded questions from the sell-out crowd of over 120 design professionals and students from around the region.
“This idea has been a long time in the making,” says AIGA Cincinnati Sustainability Director, Nikki Mayhew.
Mayhew serves as the first Sustainability Director for the organization and hopes this event is only the first of many that will draw national attention to the area as a leader in sustainable design. She sees the salon as an opportunity for designers to begin to think about these issues. “We want to inspire our designers to know it’s not as hard as they may think it is. And can actually save money as well.”
Thomas Gilmore currently serves on eco|shift, the AIGA Cincinnati sustainability initiative, as well as the green salon event planning committee. Tasked with recruiting panelists, Gilmore focused on drawing design professionals from around the country. “The Cincinnati design community has a great deal of interest in the sustainability issue. I felt that we would create an even greater buzz around the event with panelists from different locations,” said Gilmore.
In addition to Marc Alt, the panel included: Aaron Keller, Managing Principal, Capsule in Minneapolis; David Lemley, Creative Director and Founder of Lemley Design Company in Seattle; Tanya Blasko, Senior Design Manager at Procter & Gamble and Matthew Kennedy of Kennedy Creative & Sustain Brands.
“The event was promoted almost entirely with social networking sites Facebook and Linkedin, building upon email blasts from AIGA Cincinnati, attracting a capacity crowd,” said Gilmore.
Past President of AIGA Cincinnati, Andrea McCorkle stated, “I have heard such awesome feedback regarding the event. It definitely raises the bar on future programming efforts for the chapter.”
