Photo taken by @pgleger Hopefully you were one of the many flannel-wearing creative minds in 1776’s packed room. If not, grab your Wacom tablets and Moleskine notebooks. Here are 7 key takeaways you should know about the DC Design Community. While people may associate DC with stodginess and red tape, the DC Design community proves the opposite. Agencies, design shops and freelancers have and will continue to push the limits of what the public and private sector can do. “Local firms [like Rock Creek] have created State of the Union graphics that have dominated Twitter for their visual creativity,” shares Leyzerovich. Perhaps this is due to the 2-year DC cycle theory or because of the fact that we have agencies who simply do great work. But it will eventually get easier because of these initiatives. “Every 2 years it’s a new cycle here. A couple of major DC agencies spun off of political campaigns. The Presidential Innovation Fellows this year have been working on innovative contracting tools and RFP-EZ to make it simpler to work with the government. Right now it’s hard to jump through hoops [with the government] but eventually it’ll get easier.”– Maxim Leyzerovich, Senior Experience Designer at nclud
To find local design events, check out: Eventbrite and MeetupKeep an eye out for events from: nclud, iStrategyLabs, DC AIGA, Refresh DC, UXPA, ixda.orgJoin these Meetup Groups: UXBookClubDC, Design Thinking DC, Robotics DC MeetupFor the ladies: Check out DC Web Women and sign up for the DCWW mailing list.Take these upcoming design-related GA classes: User Experience Design, Design Thinking Bootcamp, Adobe Illustrator: Tips, Tricks & Tools for Non-Designers
“You may think there’s less freedom for an institution [that] has been here for a long time, [but] there’s tons of creative freedom [and] opportunities to reinvent style guides,” explains Axios, who expresses the given challenge in working with government clients. “We’re trying to set the curve in the right direction for other agencies and push the envelope on what the government can do.” Curious to learn more about the DC community? Check out the recap article for the Intro to the DC Startup Community event and make plans to go to the Intro to the DC Data Science Community later this month.
