2007 CONFERENCE RECAP

Take 3,500-plus graphic designers; place in a design-savvy city. Add 50 inspiring speakers. Stir in a generous pinch of paper samples, swatchbooks, T-shirts and giveaways. Season with a hand-clappin' gospel choir. Finish with a liberal sprinkling of fun at the closing party.

That's the recipe for a hugely successful 2007 HOW Design Conference. Thousands of creative professionals descended on Atlanta for nearly four days of sessions, networking and, yes, fun.

The event opened with a proclamation by the Atlanta City Council that June 8—15 was officially declared "Atlanta Design Week" — in recognition not only of the HOW Conference but of an entire week's worth of activities organized by AIGA/Atlanta. The conference's first day included 11 intensive workshops on a wide array of creative and technology topics, plus two Studio Tours that took attendees inside Atlanta's top print and interactive design studios. Following an opening Networking Happy Hour, conference-goers got an earful from keynote speaker Karen Salmansohn, who jump-started the crowd with entertaining and useful advice on getting ahead in their careers.

Days Two and Three brought a full schedule of sessions covering six broad subjects and featuring some of the top names in the design world: Chip Kidd, Deborah Sussman, Kit Hinrichs, Sharon Werner, Marc English, Steff Geissbuhler and more. Several speakers who were new to the HOW Conference this year delivered out-of-the-ballpark presentations: Kevin McConkey, Steve Gordon and Shelley Armstrong had attendees buzzing long after their sessions ended.

The annual closing party perhaps set the standard for HOW events to come: The "Descenders' Ball," a type-themed bash, was held at the Georgia Aquarium. Designers decked out in their typographical finest (someone came as a Font Pirate, another as a corrupt font; others dressed as their favorite typefaces) and wandered among the awe-inspiring marine exhibits at one of the country's best aquariums.

Following a closing session where speaker Sheila Campbell urged—demanded, even—that designers take time to recharge their creative batteries by turning off the BlackBerry and leaving the office at 6 p.m., conference-goers packed up all their Resource Center goodies and headed home. Many are already making plans for the 2008 HOW Conference in Boston.