Design, Art, and Technology Symposium 2009

At the Design, Art, and Technology Symposium 2009 at High Point University, I attended the Alexander Julian keynote presentation and the Art, Creativity & Entrepreneurship workshop.



Alexander Julian began his career as a fashion designer. He grew up in Chapel Hill, NC, and his family owned a tailor shop called Julian's. By growing up around clothes in the shop, Julian gained a talent and an interest in clothing design. In the early part of his career, he designed with mostly beige and neutral tones, but later he began to add color. This is what he is known for. Julian has a talent for putting many colors together into a pattern to create something unique and beautiful. Julian is also the first fashion designer to also create his own patterns, textures, and fabrics.



Now, Julian is not only known for his clothes. He also designs furniture, bedding, paint colors, a baseball stadium, and much more. He even has his own wine. All of his designs are inspired by clothes. He explains it as putting an outfit together. An example of this is the argyle pattern in this bed frame.



Lowes Paint colors...



The argyle pattern is one of Julian's favorites. This is because people respond to it well. This, as well as many other patterns Julian uses, are timeless. They never go out of fashion, and people always are atracted to them. Julian carries out the argyle pattern in sports as well. The UNC basketball uniform was designed by Julian, and the argyle pattern on the side is now a symbol for UNC sports.




After the presentation by Alexander Julian, I went to the Art, Creativity & Entrepreneurship workshop. My favorite speaker in this presentation was John Murphy, the creator of Stupid Creatures. These creatures are stuffed animals made from old children's clothes. The different fabrics are sewn together to create unique and creative stuffed creatures that children love.



Murphy not only created the stuffed animal creatures, but he has expanded Stupid Creatures to an online comic. This helps to market the creatures. Many toys are sold because they are based on a TV show or a movie, so Murphy made a comic strip to go along with his creatures. There is also a kit you can buy to create your own Stupid Creature. It comes with a book and some socks and tools.