2008 AIGA Fellow Awards.

My first AIGA event in DC was at the Corcoran Gallery in honor of a freshly-minted AIGA Fellow, Antonio Alcalá:

The Fellow award program
is a means of recognizing mature designers who have made a significant
contribution to raising the standards of excellence in practice and
conduct within their local or regional design community as well as in
their local AIGA chapter. The areas of education, writing, leadership
and reputation, as well as the practice of design are given equal
consideration in measuring significant contribution.

The speeches given on his behalf were phenomenal, in and of themselves testament to what a good person this man must be, and at the end of the soirée, he invited anyone interested to visit his studio in Alexandria, VA. Apparently, he’s known for his large, and in some cases rare, collection of design books.

Last Friday, I got the chance to take him up on his offer, taking the blue line down to his charming studio – Studio A – which is a little colonial rowhouse near Old Town Alexandria. His book collection was indeed worth taking the trip for, but what struck me most about my visit was how nice, humble and accessible this man was, unlike a lot of other designers of his stature whom I’ve met. He spent about 45 minutes showing me around and generously allowed me to browse through his books afterward (unlike one of my design professors who got totally freaked out if you so much as looked at one of his design books the wrong way, let alone did anything to cause it to become dog-eared and therefore, beloved). And when I was done browsing (had to get home to tend to the Weims!), he offered me a ride to the subway stop.

I got back on the train, encouraged and inspired: A really great designer who wasn’t a conceited, aloof, self-aggrandizing jerk. It was quite refreshing.