Dec 19, 2014 2014: Year In Review
2014 has been another exciting year for Imprint, with some great new speakers, successful events, new partnerships, fresh learnings, expanded networks, and much more. Much like last year, I asked the Imprint team to each choose one highlight from 2014, thinking we’d send the year off by featuring some of the best moments here. So without further ado, let’s find out each Imprinter’s favorite post for 2014.
Imprint’s founder, Julia Huang, very diplomatically asked if she could say she really, truly liked all the Imprint posts. “I love it when an Imprint Talk is over and we summarize it. I love it when AFD exhibitions are over and I’m in euphoria of how exquisite the exhibitions are. I also loved when we were doing the Fast Pitch and we posted the video of our accomplishment (not to mention getting brownie point from John Jay personally.”
Managing partner Tanya Raukko chose to highlight our talk with John Maeda, an award-winning creative leader whose career bridges the intersections of graphic design, computer science, art, leadership, and education. John is currently a Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins and he was kind enough to come to LA to discuss his roots as a Japanese American, and what he’s learned about his father through closely observing Japanese pop culture, and seeing shades of grey versus black and white.
Imprint partner Jeffstaple, principal of Staple Design, Staple Pigeon, and Reed Space, chose to highlight our 8 Questions interview with artist/musician Mike Shinoda. Jeff put us in touch with Michael who was kind enough to chat about everything from his artwork to his music and even his work for social good in Haiti. Fascinating stuff, which explains why this was one of our most-visited interviews of the year.
Josh Mills on Fun Lovers Unite
Esteemed Imprint contributor and resident punk historian Martin Wong chose one of his own posts, which I can respect tremendously. Nothing wrong with digging your own work! “Maybe it’s tacky to pick one of my own pieces but I am still really stoked on my Q&A with Josh Mills. It’s not that I interviewed him so expertly. Rather, I love how Josh is taking both a leap into the unknown (creating a benefit and joining movement) and a stand for something that matters to him (the sensible treatment of guns). In these days of blacklists, boycotts, and party division, it is easy to feel frozen, disillusioned, and powerless. His example is a rebuttal to that notion–and his event was awesome, too.”
Imprint Presents Jan Chipchase
Imprint manager Kevin Kim chose the Imprint Presents Jan Chipchase talk we organized in Downtown Los Angeles back in August. “Imprint Presents Jan Chipchase was particularly exciting because, in my mind, he represents that rogue and adventurous character that everyone dreams to be. Some take metaphorical risks, but Jan takes life or death risks that make more than just a difference in his life. Basically, he’s a badass.”
Imprint Presents Jeff Hamada Video
Imprint’s trusty go-to graphic designer and resident tech blogger, Jerry Hsiao, chose to highlight our video from the Imprint Presents Jeff Hamada talk. “I’ve been a fan of Jeff Hamada’s blog Booooooom (that’s 7 o’s). I love his cultivation of everything I love into one blog; he always curates the best of the best. So when Imprint invited him to do an IP talk, I was psyched. Unfortunately, not being able to actually attend, the video of the event would be the next best thing. It was a true glimpse of what goes on in the mind of a blogger who I admire so much.”
All Aaron De La Cruz Everything
Imprint’s newest team member, Associate/Designer Calvin Nakamaru couldn’t narrow his selection down to any one Aaron De La Cruz-related post in particular, and asked if he could select all the Aaron De La Cruz-related posts, as there have been quite a few this year. Since we get to work in front of Aaron’s incredible work every single day, it’s only fair that we share.
Imprint Presents Koichi Suzuno Video
And for my own choice of the post-of-the-year, I’ve selected the video from our Imprint Presents Koichi Suzuno talk. I must admit I wasn’t very well-versed in the realm of architecture before coming aboard at Imprint. Through our involvement in Architecture for Dogs, I’ve had a tremendous education in contemporary architecture (with an emphasis on Japanese starchitects, many of whom I’ve been fortunate enough to meet through the project). Torafu Architects are one of the contributors to the project, and Koichi is one of two co-founders at this innovative Tokyo-based firm. In spite of the language barrier, and thanks to Julia’s expert on-the-spot translation (which I can promise you is very hard to do this smoothly), Suzuno-san presented some stunningly original thinking in his approach to design problems. Spending some time with him while he was in town was an added treat for me. And let’s not forget Torafu created the impressive Wanmock Kit.