Here’s a couple of pics we’ve taken throughout the trip, hope you guys enjoy them as much as we enjoyed taking them

The trip has been amazing!!!, i cant really put into words how great this experience has been. Not only we got to attend the icograda conference and had the chance to interact and learn from fellow designers from all over the world, but we’ve met wonderful people along the way, experienced new things and seen things from a new perspective which im 100% certain will change how we lead our lives from now on. I’m very thankful and fortunate to be a part of this and would like to thank all of those who made this possible and the people that are supporting us from afar

Over the summer Maggy and I met Mariah Schuemann, an english instructor moving to Xi’an as part of the University of Lincoln Nebraska’s China Initiatives, and made arrangements with her for her students and ours to meet. Her students would act as our tour guides during our visit to the Terracotta Warriors.

This experience proved to be more than we had hoped. Not only did the Chinese students had an opportunity to practice their english but our students learned about the chinese culture from a much more personal perspective. I think traveling to Xian brought our students a whole different opportunity.The Icograda design conference fed their thirst for intellectual knowledge while their visit to Xi’an provided them with a more personal growth.

Watching our NWSA students in Xian interact with the students here, was an inspiration. There were no language barriers, not barriers at all. They discussed their schools, art, politics and even shared their personal stories. I was amazed how fast and how simply their friendships were established – lifelong bonds were made.

At the end of our day, which included visiting the amazing Terracotta Warriors, we said goodbye to the students and their faculty. E-mails and phone numbers were exchanged through cards, pieces of paper and through technology of course, with the students entering the information on their cell phones. Hugs were given [not a tradition in China] and one of the Xian students came up to me and said “we will miss you.” That very moment confirmed that not only our students life had been impacted, but we had made a difference in the life of these Chinese students.

Really, no comments are necessary, the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy.

Finally, I was able to download the wordpress app for my iPhone until now, due to internet restrictions, but here i am again, and this time with photos taken with my iphone so far. See you later my ninjaaaaaas!

Finally, I have a chance to post something for you. Internet connection here is not as accessible as in the U.S.
Being here has been quite an experience, it’s totally another world in a good way. The Icograda world design congress was a great platform to interact with renowned and inspiring international designers, a lot of them still new for us. The presentations were great, one more impressive than the other.

I learned that
• A country without design, is a country without initiative.
• Design is about taking risks.
• We as designers should collaborate more with innovators, technologies, and manufacturers to make positive change.
• Design is going to be the engine of China’s industrial transformation (Created and Made in China should be complimentary).
• I saw good examples of Companies that merge their economic strategy with helping the world a better place.
• “One in two, two in one”…”One in many, many in One” (I forgot the author of this quote, sorry
• We have very bad habits as designers, citizens, consumers, and we need to start changing them… seriously.

I’m really satisfied and happy, that after waiting over a year for this trip, we are living it and experiencing. No words to describe this experience. Also I want to thank everybody who help us make this happen, including you, for reading our entries and supporting us with those great comments.

I’ll try to post more later, about the new friends students we made today from the Xi’an Jiatong University City College and Mariah Schuemann, our lunch and the magical visit to the Terracotta Warriors.

Cheers!

we’ve been having sooo much fun, the whole experience of trying to communicate what we need without speaking the language has been really interesting.

There’s been a lot of mention about typography, signage, and communication at the conference. Visuals, visuals, visuals everywhere. It’s been an amazing thing to hear discussed outside of the classroom, especially since we’re very passionate about the subject.

Garson Yu of yU+co in New York showed highlights of his title sequences for movies such as The Hulk, Bee Movie, and his latest: The Vampire’s Assistant. They were so inspiring and creative, especially with the usage of typography.

Michael Vanderbyl of Vanderbyl Design in California showed off many of his furniture and exhibition designs, as well as highlighting his students’ work from California College of Arts. It was great to see the work of designers my age, across the U.S.

In such an international event, I’m glad to see a strong American presence. But that’s not to say that I haven’t seen some amazing work from Australia, China, Korea, Sweden and more. Looking forward to posting some of those photos soon. Until then, check out some of these type samples we’ve seen around here. Great stuff!