AIGA Maine DesignFest 2025
On August 8th, Meg and I (it’s Kaitlyn, hi) ventured north to Portland for the final day of the AIGA Maine DesignFest 2025. Our journey started like any other, with donuts from Lovebirds on the drive up. After enjoying our breakfast of champions, we found parking in a garage and headed to the Portland Museum of Art.
First, we took a (totally intentional) little walk around the building to find the entrance and headed downstairs, where the fun was kicking off. We got very professional-looking name tags on lanyards, and a DesignFest tote bag filled with goodies! The talks were starting soon, so we found some seats (near the front, but not *too* close to the front) and settled in for a day of fun, creativity, and all things design.
Going in, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Most of the conferences Meg had been to before were with senior living clients – a very different vibe – and I had never been to any sort of conference before. We knew who the speakers were and that they would have lunch for us, but we didn’t know much else.
Following a short introduction by Emily Foran, President of AIGA Maine, Kirk Wallace and Adam Danielson spoke about their creative work together and how their working relationship has changed over time with their friendship. Meg was very excited to hear what they had to say, being a fan of Kirk’s work already. He has a little skeleton mascot for his brand, BoneHaus, who is just adorable and reminds her of Frank.
Then, Jordan Dené Ellis from Adobe talked about getting your creative work noticed online. Following her presentation, we took a little break to stretch our legs and explore the area outside the auditorium that they had set up for us. We found a table of stickers, which we of course snagged, and a pen bar! Meg and I each made a pen with a cutie encouraging phrase on it (mine says “built with passion”).
After the break, Rachel Gloria Adams and Ryan Adams talked about their collaborative murals. I loved seeing their work and listening to them explain a bit about their creative process, both individually and as a team. Next, Rebecca Broker spoke about Design through a queer lens. It was really touching to see all the research Rebecca and everyone at the Queer Design Club has done to make sure no one’s voices are silenced and forgotten, something particularly important in our current political climate.
As a non-designer myself, I hadn’t really heard of any of the speakers and wouldn’t have known their work without being told. It was so cool to watch their presentations, see pictures of their work, and realize that I’ve seen it in real life before. Kirk Wallace specifically has done a ton of work for large companies that I’ve seen (Welch’s, for example), but he’s also done a lot of work around Boston (where I went to college). I found myself recognizing his style, and sure enough, when I looked him up, he had done work for Chase Boston, UberBoston, and Fenway’s Time Out Market, which I had seen around the city!
The murals by Rachel and Ryan Adams also hit home for me. One that they shared is at the top of the Prudential Center, a mall I visit at least once a month (although I’ve never done View Boston). It was fascinating to learn about the messaging behind their work and get a sense of how they collaborate on artistic projects while being a married couple.
Then, it was lunchtime. Meg was pleased to find that everything being served was gluten-free, so she could eat her heart out. We made a couple of friends who came over to sit with us while we were eating, and then we headed back down into the auditorium.
We were especially unsure about this post-lunch period, since it seemed like it was going to get a bit more interactive. So far, the audience had mostly only participated at the end of each presentation to ask questions. That was about to change.
Our first mistake was not knowing how to count and choosing to sit in the row in front of where we had been before – the third row. As Anne Ditmeyer started her workshop on creative connections through mapping, she asked those who wanted to participate more heavily to come down to the first three rows. Oops. Meg and I are both pretty introverted, not the biggest fans of audience participation or discussing things in breakout groups – which we had a feeling would be happening for these last two talks.
But all turned out well. The people Meg and I talked to were all lovely, and we were happy to share both our mind maps and our banana maps. Lastly, Andrew Edwards did a short lecture on AI ethics in design before having us split up into – you guessed it – small breakout groups to discuss our thoughts.
The true end of the day was the door prize drawing, conducted by the man you would absolutely want to hire as a hype man for any occasion. He was the best. Unfortunately, Meg and I weren’t lucky enough to win.
As we headed back south, we kept talking about AI and other topics that were brought up throughout the day. That’s how you know it was a good discussion, when you’re still thinking about it after. Overall, we both had a great time and were very glad we went, even though we weren’t sure what to expect going in. 10/10 would recommend.
Massive thanks to AIGA Maine, the speakers, and all the other attendees who made this event such a great experience for Meg and me. Here’s to hoping we’ll be able to attend another event like this in the future and see some familiar faces!
