AIGA Minnesota

For May, we’re swapping our usual Solos Meetup for something a little different — Side Quests! Solos are encouraged to get out and engage with your community. Attend an event or workshop, volunteer, listen to a lecture or talk, or visit a museum. These can be solo or social side quests, and they don’t need to be design-related. Catch a play, a concert, or even a sporting event. Drop a note in the Solos Slack channel to share what you’re attending. We’ll come back together in June to talk about what we experienced. Here are a few ideas to get you started: • AIGA MN Cocktails with Creatives (May 14) • UMN College of Design Showcase @umndesign (May 13–15) • Art-A-Whirl @nemaamn (May 15–17) • Local exhibitions, workshops, or community events Reminder: No Solopreneurs Meetup this month. Instead, take on a side quest (or two) and grow yourself! 🌱 ✨

Spring is back, and so is Cocktails with Creatives! Join us at @modistbrewiing May 14 | 5–7 PM Whether you’re a seasoned creative or just getting started, come out for an evening of connection and conversation with your design community. 🍻 Arrive early and the first 50 drinks are courtesy of Fjorge, a team of problem-solvers building web and mobile solutions that are Built Right. All are welcome, AIGA members and non-members alike. Cheers!

AIGA MN Solos Show & Tell is back for spring! 🌱 Join us this Thursday for a virtual meetup to share what you’ve been working on — or just come to listen and connect. You can: • Share your latest project • Share what you’re excited about • Give a little insight into your process • Discuss challenges and lessons learned • Get feedback from peers This is a fantastic space to connect with fellow solopreneurs, exchange ideas, and support each other’s work. Interested in presenting? Reach out to Leah at [email protected] and we’ll send you the sign-up link.

Cocktails with Creatives returns Thursday, April 9 at @dualcitizenbrewing ! 🍻✨ Join us for an evening of conversation, connections, and shared creative energy. Whether you’re a familiar face or new to the design community, this is a space to show up, meet others, and share ideas. This month, enjoy a photo booth from Dual Citizen, musical trivia following the event, and a food truck on site. Free and open to all. Come as you are, and bring a friend! Interested in sponsoring? We’re currently looking for partners to support this or upcoming Cocktails with Creatives and connect with Minnesota’s creative community. Sponsoring is a meaningful way to show your support while gaining visibility with a thoughtful, engaged audience of movers and shakers. Learn more at the link in bio.

Share a project. Get feedback. Keep going! Virtual Portfolio Jam 📅 Thursday, April 2 🕔 5–7 PM (CT) Portfolio Jam is a virtual, low-pressure space to share work, get thoughtful feedback, and connect with other creatives. Students and emerging designers are invited to share one project in a small group setting. You’ll present your work, then open it up for live discussion with peers and professionals — leaving with a stronger sense of where to take it next. You’re also welcome to attend, listen, and join the conversation. Sharing is optional, but presentation spots are limited. Apply to present or RSVP to attend via the link in bio. We’re also looking for reviewers! See the link in bio to submit interest.

UPDATE: This lecture has been cancelled due to unexpected travel issues. Ticket holders will be automatically refunded. INSIGHTS XL — March 25 Hassan Rahim Join us Wednesday evening as Hassan Rahim closes the 40th anniversary season of Insights. New York–based creative director Hassan Rahim describes his practice as “in opposition to culture’s obsession with speed.” His work resists immediacy, incubating over time as he builds a body of work shaped by memory, mortality, and monomania. Rahim is the founder of @1201.am , an anti-disciplinary creative studio operating across design, image-making, and cultural production. He has collaborated with clients including Netflix, Nike, Apple, Sony, Herman Miller, Adidas, Carhartt, and SSENSE, as well as filmmakers such as the Safdie brothers (Uncut Gems). His work also extends into music, creating album and single artwork for artists including Lorde (Solar Power, Melodrama) and Nine Inch Nails (Bad Witch). Lecture in the Walker Cinema. Public reception to follow. Tickets via link in bio. xt Insights is copresented by AIGA Minnesota and the @walkerartcenter .

INSIGHTS XL — March 18 Michael Cina @michaelcina Join us Wednesday evening as Michael Cina continues the 40th anniversary season of Insights. Michael Cina is a multidisciplinary designer and artist based in the Twin Cities, working across branding, visual communication, custom type design, and contemporary art. Cina Associates, the studio he founded in 2010, is the center of this practice, where experimentation and discipline converge in a visual language shaped by fine art, typography, branding, and design. Over the past two decades, Cina has shaped identities for global clients, created hundreds of album covers for Ghostly International, and developed original typefaces through his foundry, Public Type. His design work has been nominated for a Grammy and won an Emmy. His art practice explores internal worlds, texture, perception, and the quiet narratives that emerge through process. Across mediums, he is driven by curiosity and a commitment to making work that holds meaning over time. Lecture in the Walker Cinema. Public reception to follow. Tickets via link in bio. Insights is copresented by AIGA Minnesota and the @walkerartcenter .

Creative block happens to everyone. Join Solos tomorrow as we tackle the challenge of getting unstuck. Whether you're struggling to generate fresh ideas, finding your design work less fulfilling lately, or you’ve developed strategies for pushing through creative ruts - this conversation is for you. Connect virtually with fellow creatives and talk openly about this timeless challenge. Share what’s worked for you, hear how others navigate these moments, and walk away with new ideas and actions to take when you hit a wall. Free and open to all creatives! Link in bio to learn more.

INSIGHTS XL — March 11 Zak Kyes @zakkyes Join us this Wednesday as Zak Kyes of Zak Group (@zakgroupoffice ) continues the 40th anniversary season of Insights. Zak Kyes is a Swiss American creative director and founder of Zak Group, a London-based design office working across fashion, art, sport, technology, and culture. His practice brings together strategic positioning, visual identity, spatial design, and cultural research through a research-led approach. For over a decade, Kyes served as art director of the Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) in London and has taught at ECAL in Lausanne, Switzerland. At Zak Group, he leads projects for partners including Nike, Chanel, Prada, Frank Ocean, Anne Imhof, Virgil Abloh, and institutions such as MMK Frankfurt and Hartwig Art Foundation. His work has been exhibited globally, and he is also the co-author and editor of publications including Forms of Inquiry, CryptoPunks: Free to Claim, and Zak Kyes Working With… Lecture in the Walker Cinema. Public reception to follow. Tickets via link in bio. Insights is copresented by AIGA Minnesota and the @walkerartcenter .

Join AIGA MN this Wednesday for Cocktails with Creatives, a happy hour to connect with fellow creatives before heading to the Insights Design Lecture at the Walker Art Center later that evening. 🗓 Wednesday, March 11 🕔 5–7 PM 📍 Insight Brewing & Taproom ✨ In-person raffle ✨ Enter for a chance to win two tickets to the Insights Design Lectures. Must be present to receive tickets to Wednesday’s lecture featuring Zak Kyes of Zak Group. We’ll also be raffling tickets for upcoming speakers on 3/18 and 3/25. Find fresh connections, conversations, and an outpouring of creative energy. Arrive early — the first 50 drinks are on us! 🍻✨ Whether you're a familiar face or new to the community, this event is free and open to AIGA members and non-members. Come as you are, and bring a friend! See more at the link in bio.

INSIGHTS XL — March 4 Kirsty Carter and Emma Thomas @apracticeforeverydaylife . Join us tomorrow at the @walkerartcenter as A Practice for Everyday Life (APFEL) opens the 40th anniversary season of Insights. Founded in London in 2003, APFEL works across creative direction, brand identity, editorial design, and type for clients including Aesop, JW Anderson, Erdem, and major cultural institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art. Launched in 2020, APFEL Type Foundry develops bespoke typefaces alongside a growing retail collection. Recent projects include the identity for the Venice Biennale 2022, branding for the Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian in Lisbon, custom type for Elle, and major monographs spanning Lee Miller to Yoko Ono. Carter and Thomas currently serve as co-presidents of AGI UK and are working on the new brand identity for the British Museum. “APFEL is the art world’s favourite studio.” — The Observer Lecture in the Walker Cinema. Public reception to follow. Tickets via link in bio. Insights is copresented by AIGA Minnesota and the @walkerartcenter .

The Insights Design Lecture Series is back! This year’s series brings together designers working across art, fashion, music, publishing, and global brands. Featured speakers: Kirsty Carter and Emma Thomas (A Practice for Everyday Life), Zak Kyes (Zak Group), Michael Cina (Cina Associates/Ghostly), and Hassan Rahim (12:01AM). The series runs March 4–25 at the Walker Art Center. Copresented with @aigamn .