Speakers

Mark Brickey

HOSTED BY MARK BRICKEY

New for WMC Fest, we have a celebrity host! If you don’t know Mark Brickey, you should. As host of the Adventures in Design podcast, he will be on stage all day every day before and after each speaker. Also, don’t miss the live recording of the AID Podcast on Saturday at 8pm.

Mark Brickey is the co-host of America’s favorite design gossip podcast Adventures In Design. During the day Brickey can be found designing, illustrating or printmaking alongside his wife Beth, as co-owner of Hero Design Studio located in sunny Long Beach,... Read More›

Mark Brickey

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Mark Brickey is the co-host of America’s favorite design gossip podcast Adventures In Design. During the day Brickey can be found designing, illustrating or printmaking alongside his wife Beth, as co-owner of Hero Design Studio located in sunny Long Beach,… Read More ›

  • Talk Title: How I Didn't Become A Millionaire At Graphic Design
  • Description: Adventures In Design will be recording a live show at Weapons of Mass Creation. Mark Brickey, Billy Baumann and James Flames will all be in attendance on the big stage doing what they do best... bullshitting about the industry that we all love so much. Be on the look out for special guests and a fun audience participation games like guess the French Paper. If you're not familiar with the AID live show, imagine Late Night with David Letterman but all about design.
  • Venue: Cleveland Public Theatre

Jon Contino

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As a New York native, Jon Contino has been under the influence of corporate mass marketing and inspirational street art since his first breath. Not surprisingly, he has garnered considerable attention for his unique approach to design utilizing hand-drawn lettering… Read More ›

Jacqui Oakley

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Jacqui Oakley was born and currently lives in Canada, but spent her formative years watching BBC reruns and animé in Bahrain, England, Zambia, and Libya. Her illustration work has included editorial, advertising, and book projects for clients like The New… Read More ›

  • Talk Title: The Substance of Style
  • Description: The word “style” is constantly thrown around in the design and illustration communities, but what does it really mean? A unique look or feel can help you market yourself to clients who will seek out that particular magic only you can provide, but clinging to stylistic techniques or tropes can easily become gimmicky or boring, both for you and your audience. Style isn’t about pursuing what’s popular—about putting a bird on it—but should reflect your individuality and interests. Easier said than done. In a world already full of amazing imagery, how do you develop a unique style? How do you reflect what you like without ripping off your idols? How do you find a balance between developing a personal voice and connecting with a larger audience? How can you maintain a distinctive look and yet continue to evolve as an artist?
  • Venue: Cleveland Public Theatre

Brandon Rike

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Brandon Rike is a freelance graphic designer specializing in the music apparel industry. With over a decade in the business, designing merchandise for everyone from Slipknot to The Beatles to Mumford and Sons, Rike has become one of the top… Read More ›

  • Talk Title: Betray The Institution
  • Description: Doing what you love is a fight - an ongoing battle against every influence that wants you to conform. There is no solace in the conformity, only a blurred view of what you set out to be. Spend your life creating something. Betray the institution.
  • Venue: Cleveland Public Theatre

Valerie Mayen

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Valerie Mayen’s journey into fashion began when she was born into a Guatemalan household in Corpus Christi, Texas. Turning hand-me-downs into coveted fashions as a child, she would find herself trekking all over the continent to get her undergraduate degree… Read More ›

Kristy Tillman

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Kristy Tillman is a communication designer at international design firm IDEO in Boston. In her role, she has worked across a variety of industries to translate complex ideas and evolve the understanding of graphic and information design over both printed… Read More ›

Nick Disabato

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Nick is an interaction designer and publisher from Chicago. He’s probably most known for writing Cadence & Slang, a very small book about interaction design; and for publishing Distance, a quarterly journal for long-form essays about design and technology. He… Read More ›

Alonzo Felix

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Alonzo Felix is an art director, illustrator, and type designer living in vibrant Brooklyn, New York. After earning a BFA in graphic design, he studied typographic application and theory in London, and also earned a postgraduate certificate in typeface design… Read More ›

Kern and Burn

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Kern and Burn is an online and print publication by Jessica Karle Heltzel and Tim Hoover that curates discussions, interviews and essays. We invite design entrepreneurs—those who pursue self-initiated projects, think for themselves, and channel personal passions into self-made careers—to… Read More ›

Lisa Congdon

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San Francisco fine artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon is best known for her colorful paintings and collages. Her vast catalog of work includes illustrations for Chronicle Books, Harper Collins Publishing, and Simon and Schuster, among others. Lisa is also known… Read More ›

Adam Garcia

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The Pressure is the studio of creative director, designer and illustrator Adam R. Garcia. After attending the Minneapolis College of Art & Design he worked in the record industry, at branding agencies, at Nike Sportswear designing footwear and most recently… Read More ›

  • Talk Title: The F Word
  • Description: The F Word explores the one big F word that drives a lot of us creatively: FEAR. From mortality and legacy to the everyday little fears that can eat you alive. Thinking about insecurities, confidence, and the constant negotiation one's place in our creative universe. This talk will also go through overcoming insecurity through making, and learning to just be your damn self. I think. Still working on it.
  • Venue: Cleveland Public Theatre

These are Things

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Feeling burnt out by client work just one year after graduation, they spent a frigid Ohio winter creating the modern map of their dreams. To their surprise, the poster sold out instantly, launching their new careers as Professional Amateur Cartographers… Read More ›

  • Talk Title: Three Weird Old Tips For Unlimited Success & Happiness
  • Description: Inspiration Overload Syndrome (IOS) is a debilitating and misunderstood condition that affects 99.9% of artists worldwide. The worst symptom? Crushing fear and doubt that leads to a complete inability to create. Discover the common, everyday behaviors that secretly sabotage your creative endeavors and learn three weird old tips that will help you achieve unlimited success and happiness. Guaranteed.
  • Venue: Cleveland Public Theatre

Stewart Scott-Curran

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Stewart is an Art Director, Graphic Designer and Illustrator from Glasgow, Scotland who is currently based in Atlanta. He lives with his wife and 4 year old daughter. He is currently Art Director for CNN Digital. Previous experience includes stints… Read More ›

Rena Tom

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Rena Tom is a strategist for creative business owners. She assists makers, buyer and sellers with the intricacies of small-batch manufacturing and boutique retail. She also loves to connect people and encourage them to work on awesome projects, which led… Read More ›

Troy DeShano

Troy DeShano

After battling cancer throughout his twenties, Troy created Strong Odors to share his story through both writing and illustration. Through he’s discovered that many others identify with his struggle in some way and also take great pleasure or pride (or… Read More ›

John Jennings

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John Jennings is an Associate Professor of Visual Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. His research and teaching focus on the analysis, explication, and disruption of African American stereotypes in popular visual media. His research is… Read More ›

  • Talk Title: The Souls of Black Comix: The Secret Origins of Representation as Resistance in the Black Age of Comics
  • Description: In the last decade a new generation of black scholars, publishers, creators, archivists, documentarians, and curators have come forth with a re-imagined vision of what it means to depict the African American experience via the comics medium. An underground movement has been operating unseen; flowing in tandem to the mainstream but showing very different levels of depth and experience. “The Black Age of Comics” is an attempt to shift the paradigm of how black images and stories are portrayed in the medium. The lecture will deal with examining some of the major creators and events in this robust and exciting visual culture.
  • Venue: Cleveland Public Theatre

Stephanie Landes

Stephanie Landes

In the ad business, the ability to have a big idea is vital. However, it means very little if you can’t successfully explain it to your creative partners-in-crime and work collaboratively to turn your brainchild into something even more amazing… Read More ›

Caroline Moore

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I’ve worked as a designer, photographer, educator, and veterinary technician. I’m technically an award-winning filmmaker, but I have a hard time saying so with a straight face. I’m more attached to Illustrator than a person should be to a piece… Read More ›

  • Talk Title: How Punk Rock Made Me a Better Entrepreneur
  • Description: In an interview for a young entrepreneurs group, I was asked what influenced me to start a small business. I muddled through some kind of an answer, but it stuck with me, and I spent a long time thinking about it. As it turns out, most of what I learned about running a business, I learned from the DIY punk scene. This talk will feature obscure punk references, distressed fonts, and business advice that involves Juggalos.
  • Venue: Cleveland Public Theatre