Seek Conference
Since 2000, I have served as the director of the annual Seek conference. Seek was initiated as a way to get students at NIU more engaged with the professional community, and to help raise funds for the AIGA Student Chapter. AIGA student president at the time, Chris Von Ende helped launch Seek and it’s been held at Northern Illinois University until 2016 when it became a privately organized event held in Chicago at Morningstar and the Chicago Design Museum. Seek now attracts both professionals and students from around the country.
Seek has hosted nationally recognized designers:
Stefan Sagmeister
April Greiman
Paula Scher
Rick Valicenti
Massimo Vignelli
Debbie Millman
Aaron Draplin
Eddie Opara
Sean Adams
Danny Yount
Dan Covert and Andre Andreev
Matteo Bologna
Bryony Gomez-Palacia
Noted Chicago based designers featured at Seek have included:
Dawn Hancock of Firebelly
Kim Knoll and Kyle Eertmoed of Knoed Design
John Pobojewski and Bud Rodecker of Thirst
Steve Ryan of VSA
Kevin McConkey, Grip Design
IA Collaborative
Camm Rowland, Digital Kitchen
Dre Szymczak, Fjord
Robert Zolna, Gravity Tank
David Sieren, Alex Fuller, Sam Rosen, Rod Hunting; The Post Family
Bob Faust, Faust LTD
Nick Lo Bue, Razorfish
Jeremiah Chiu, Plural
Sara Frisk, IDEO
Mike Petersen, 50000 Feet
Chris Eichenseer, Some Odd Pilot
Jason Schwartz, Bright Bright Great
Katherine Walker
Brad Vetter
Seek is a more intimate conference limited to about 200 persons, and features presentations and workshops.
For most of it’s existence, Seek was coordinated by me and one or two students whom I allowed to assist in speaker selection, design of the promotional website and other materials, and help define the nature of each years conference. In addition, many students volunteer with all the various tasks involved with the conference, and it could not happen with out the generous giving of their time and energy.
Seek 2014 opening video by Adam Kelsey.
Signature Awards
This was an initiative started in 2014, which was a student only design competition. There were three judges, Rick Valicenti, Aaron Draplin, and Sarah Frisk. Over 300 entries were received from around the nation. One one judge had to accept a work for it to be awarded. Work that received acceptance from multiple judges were recognized, with the highest achievement being selected by all three judges.
