Design Kompany is a brand design studio. We do: corporate identity, brand identity, branding, logo design, corporate communications, creative marketing.

Korner returns.

At least, for next week, anyways.

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Design Kompany will host our LAST Designers Korner on July 16 at Golden Belt, an interesting looking collection of both artist studios, officelike space, and living areas. I’m curious to check it out because Third Friday is art walk here in Durham. Golden Belt will have a pretty large collection of folks there, it’s kind of a destination it seems, and Korner wants to check it out.

Also, the good folks at Golden Belt said we could camp out at one of their large tables outside to find a spot for the doodling sessions. I hear they’ll have beer from the OnlyBurger truck, too. It’ll definitely be a one-of-a-kind Korner! LAST ONE!

Dipika & Akira & kush

***SHORT NOTICE ALERT***

I will be in Seattle this week, and will be hosting a one-time-only Designers Korner reunion at Stumbling Monk in Capitol Hill. All are welcome, usual rules (bring pens, drink beer, doodle!) apply.

Special Designers Korner Seattle reunion
Tuesday, June 22
6pm
Stumbling Monk, 1635 E Olive Way
Seattle, WA 98102

Looking forward to catching up with all of you.

Cheers,
Akira

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Thanks for coming to June Korner at our Porch!

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The next un Designers Korner is:
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TBA

After July we will not be doing “Designers Korner,” but we’re hoping to do something even better.

We want the new get-together to be BIG. There’s lots of talk in the background gathering momentum, and we want this event to mark a milestone in the rise of Durham creatives.

Suggestions, interests for volunteering, gifts (!) are welcome to letsplay@design-kompany.com

History

Here are some pix from the years we hosted this in Seattle, at the lovely Stumbling Monk and also at Vermillion.

Here in Durham, we’re timing Korner to coincide with 3rd Friday Art Walk in Durham. Just sayin’.

A new chapter

Starting with our April’s Designer’s Korner Durham event, we joined Beck Tench, Director for Innovation and Digital Engagement at Museum of Life and Science at her Office Hour.

Beck, besides having the coolest name I’ve come across in ages, is an accomplished web designer, user experience thought leader, group drawing advocate, and all-around cool person. Her Office Hour, which she holds every Friday, draws a regular crowd of the museum workers (who are awesomely skilled and knowledgeable in fields as diverse as zoo keeping, physics, teaching to people watching) as well as patrons and friends.

They should be there, too. We’ll be at the back deck of Pinhook, a cool bar/music venue/hangout in downtown Durham, from around 5:30PM. We will be drawing (possibly on the museum’s newly acquired iPad), gossiping and generally making merry for a few hours.

3rd Fridays in downtown Durham is art walk Friday. Galleries and shops will be open on extended hours showcasing local art.

The origins of Korner

Designers Korner is a casual get-together hosted by Design Kompany and friends. Sometimes we talk about industry-related trends, jobs, gossip. Sometimes we just hang out and draw. It’s different every time, depending on who’s there. It’s for people who care about connecting with other designers, and mixing it up.

It started with four or five people who do graphic design and multimedia. Over time, some people brought friends. Some people brought dates. Some brought pens. One of my favorites was the time we got a request to draw Naruto. Here are the drawings we sent back.

We’ve had loads of random conversations. Topics range from ninja turtles to Speak & Spell to people who prefer sudoku to sex. One time DK brought some samosas. I thought they would go well with gin. Check out the tracing paper doodles and coaster drawings we’ve done together, too.

Special thanks to Narisa Spaulding and Urban Faubion for co-hosting Korner with us from 2006-2009 in Seattle. Miss y’all!

Change is good

We used to meet at Stumbling Monk but decided to change it up over the winter holiday in 2008. Still, DK is still pretty fond of that place and we’ll enjoy the memories of many pints there. Especially in the summertime. In 2009 we started Korner at Vermillion in Seattle. Now that DK is in Durham, we’re at Pinhook. Same idea, different spot. Looking forward to meeting some of y’all there!

But I can’t draw!

No pressure. It’s not a contest. Just come hang out with us, who knows what you’ll create. After a few pints everthing looks amazing, doesn’t it? It’s like, I can’t speak French, but at Korner I get fluent.

More recent Korners

The next Designers Korner is set for Friday, May 21 at Pinhook in Durham.

This bar has the kind of mellow atmosphere that we like for a casual gathering of creative people to talk shop, or not talk shop, depending on the mood. And doodle on beer coasters. Bring your favorite pen, and be prepared to tell us why it’s better than Sharpies and Microns!

Elsewhere

Join the Designers Korner group on LinkedIn if you have an account there.

We’re also putting events on our Design Kompany Facebook page. Keep up with us there!