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Washington, DC --
Contact: National Office 202-659-3918
DesigNation-
Organization of Black Designers Second National Conference
October 31-November 3 1996 Philadelphia, PA
Details on attending and registering for the conference.
SUMMARY
The second national OBD conference will be held in Philadelphia from October 31st to November 3rd of 1996. The title of the conference is DesigNation. We are inviting designers from the Native American, African, Asian, Hispanic, and European American cultures to participate in a vibrant multi-cultural celebration of interior, fashion, graphic, and industrial design.
The agenda for the conference is BUSINESS:
It is our intent to extend the dialog of design and designers beyond the rather narrow and limited one that presently exists. Indeed, as there is a new genre of music called world music, OBD is the purveyor of "World Design". There are so many international cross-cultural, and cross-ethnic influences on design today, we see an exciting new environment emerging that really captures the idea of design without borders: World Design.
In a "culture of many cultures" like America-as well as in an increasingly global marketplace- it has been duly noted by many professionals that there is a significant lack of participation in the design disciplines by people of color. In a similar light, there is little good design or advertising that specifically converses with the cultural dynamism of Americas diverse cultures.
Society-at-large, and specifically the design professions, have not sought to fully nurture the unique cultural perspective and gifts that African Americans and other people of color can bring to the various design disciplines.
While many design styles and trends are created by people of color, very few of the products of that authorship are actually produced and owned by people of color. For instance, there is a significant African American presence in the fashion design industry, but there are virtually no major fashion brand names owned by African or Hispanic Americans. How can this be when African Americans spend approximately $90 billion dollars annually on apparel of a combined gross disposable income of $399 billion? Not to mention the fact that large segments of the fashion industry appropriates styles and trends created in the Black and Hispanic communities.
Of approximately 15,000 industrial designers in America, less than 300 are African American. There are 33,000,000 African Americans in the United States.
What of Hispanic Americans? What contributions are being made by Hispanic fashion, graphic, interior and industrial designers? Why don't we see more of them? Where are they? And, who are some of the Native American designers? What aesthetic sensibilities are they contributing to design? Americans all, yes, but we all see the world through the filters of our own unique cultural and ethic substance.
And what of our Asian American colleagues? What are the cultural forces that drive so many Asian American to pursue design as a career? So much so, that they comprise a percentage of design practitioners far exceeding their percentage of the general population.
Some of the questions and topics we will explore are:
OBJECTIVES
The objective of the DesigNation conference is to provide a forum for the exploration and formation of educational, economic, and cultural parameters through which all designers, but especially designers of color, can have a much greater and more meaningful impact on design practice both nationally and internationally.
Through the interaction of the multi-disciplinary membership of OBD, we anticipate a more diverse and invigorating dialogue than is usually evidenced at more monolithic professional gatherings. OBD membership includes graphic, interior, industrial, and fashion designers.
Our goal is to have attendees come away from the conference with a clear understanding of what it means to be a designer in today's multi-cultural world. What contribution our unique voice timbered by our singular and group experiences can make to the new globalization of design. What contributions we can make to our immediate communities. How we can influence design education to make it more inclusive and more relevant to the quickly changing ethnic and racial demographic of America.
In keeping with the founding goals of the OBD, we will formulate initiatives that will:
The Organization of Black Designers is a national professional association of 3,500 industrial, interior, fashion, and graphic designers dedicated to promoting the visibility, empowerment and interaction of its membership and the understanding and value that diverse design perspectives contribute to world culture and commerce
OBD membership is open to all design professionals; individuals, affiliate, trade, education, corporate or institutional
The OBD is presently seeking sponsors for its DesigNation Conference to be held October 31 - November 3, 1996 in Philadelphia.
Information inquiries should be addressed to the OBD at:
300 M Street, SW Suite N110
Washington, DC 20024
Phone: 202/659-3918
Fax: 202-488-3838
E-mail: OBDesign@aol.com
1996 OBD Conference: DesigNation
OCT 31, 1996 - NOV 3, 1996
CONFERENCE PROGRAM SCHEDULE AND TOPICS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Conference Details
The DesigNation conference will be held at the Philadelphia Convention Center/Philadelphia Marriott Hotel in downtown Philadelphia.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEE
$245 before October 20, 1996
$295 after October 20, 1996
$135 for students with current student ID (photocopy required)
All payments are to be made by check, money order, or...
Credit Cards! We now accept Credit Cards. MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover.
Now your can print out a CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM and send it in to us!
Send to:
OBD at 300 M Street, SW Suite N110 Washington DC 20024
For Info please call: 202-659-3918
HOTEL RESERVATIONS
Philadelphia Mariott Hotel
Phone: 800-320-5744
Room Rates:
$129 Single Occupancy
$139 Double Occupancy
OBD has reserved a limited number of rooms for October 31-November 3 (Thursday, Friday, & Saturday nights) at the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel.Rooms will go very quickly. PLEASE MAKE YOUR ROOM RESERVATIONS EARLY. VERY EARLY.
AIRLINE RESERVATIONS
Magellan Travel
Contact the OBD Desk at: 800-323-9230 Ext:3012
9:am - 5:pm EST