Dec 23, 2013 2013: Year in Review
2013 has been a pretty big year for us here at Imprint, with lots of highlights and accomplishments to look back on and learn from. We thought we’d send the year off in fine style by featuring some of the highlights here. So without further ado, let’s find out each Imprinter’s favorite post for 2013.
Long Beach Work in Progress Recap
Imprint’s managing partner, Tanya Raukko, opted to recall the biggest Imprint event of the year, when we invited a cross-section of artists, entrepreneurs, and city planners to join us at the historic Edison Theatre in Downtown Long Beach, to discuss what makes Long Beach great, and what’ll make it better. Speakers included John Jay from W+K Garage, authors Cara Mullio and Jennifer M. Volland, Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold, and many more.
8 Questions With: Benjie Escobar
Imprint partner Jeff Staple selected my 8 Questions interview with talented LA-based artist/illustrator/design Benjamin Escobar as his favorite Imprint Culture Lab web post of 2013, explaining, “I am a fan of his work, his pedigree, his history and his need to continue his journey beyond. I love the forklift video too.”
8 Questions With: Ayah Bdeir of LittleBits
Imprint contributor, zine maker, and content curator for #LBC13, Martin Wong decided to highlight Tanya’s 8 Questions interview with Ayah Bdeir, CEO of innovative company LittleBits, which manufactures awesome modular educational and fun electronics kits. As a parent himself, the LittleBits kits seem to have invoked some nostalgia, “Which not only affected me as the parent of a five-year-old but also reminded me of when I was a little kid watching my dad build computers from the motherboard up. A very cool mix of entrepreneurship, education, and hacking!”
Imprint manager Kevin Kim chose our post about the great Knockaround Class Acts effort to fundraise for art education in local schools. The initiative employed crowd-funding to cover the manufacturing on a pair of sunglasses designed by a 5th grader. Kevin explains, “Love anything philanthropy related, so when it actively engages the public for a good cause, it just puts the icing on the cake. Nice to know also that the people we invest in have these thoughts top of mind. ”
Imprint’s talented NY-based graphic designer Jerry Hsiao opted to highlight Tanya’s 8 Questions interview with Potluck – a design agency founded by Eric Lai and Ko Nakatsu. We ended up working closely with them on our IVL Becomb investment, and in the process, we discovered they have executed some really cool crowd-funded projects including their successful Hiya tea and Versir accessory holder Kickstarters.
Photos From Imprint Presents: David Choe
And for my own pick, I’ve chosen Martin Wong’s photo recap from our #IMPRINTPRESENTS @Davidchoe event, held at the Japanese American National Museum in Downtown LA on 10/17. I wanted to choose an #IMPRINTPRESENTS either way, because we conceptualized and launched the series of shorter talks in 2013, and the new format was exceedingly well-received. We launched with Levi Maestro, which was great. The David Choe one was intense and entertaining and Martin really summed it up amazingly well in his recap.