Riptide

ROLE: VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS TIMELINE: AUG - NOV 2022 TOOLS: FIGMA, ADOBE (Ai, Ps)

An annual design and tech conference to educate and empower young creatives to design mindfully, accessibly, and impactfully.

SUMMARY

A design education summit to empower young creatives.

Innovative Design at USC, a student-led creative agency, hosts Riptide each year for young creatives interested in learning about design and technology. Creative professionals of all kinds are gathered to provide speaker events, panel discussions, and workshops during the half-day event.

I had the honor to plan and host Riptide 2022, working closely with my Co-VP and an incredibly talented team of designers. We brought together 10 industry experts, partnered with Figma and Notion among many organizations, and received 100+ RSVPs from students across southern California.

PLANNING

Research & Gather: Questions, Themes, Connections

Surveying current young creatives with their questions and qualms inspired us to broaden the scope of our theme. After several rounds of researching and gathering feedback from the community, we landed on the theme of Unblocking the Creative Block.

We sought to bring together professionals of all kinds, primarily from untraditional design backgrounds, to share their experiences with navigating creative roles. Within a tight six week timeframe, we secured speakers including the president of AIGA LA, product designers from Apple and LinkedIn, and designers from various social impact fields.

We partnered with Figma, Notion, and the founder of Innovative Design to host creative workshops with prizes provided by Notion. Promotional partners included AIGA, Design for America, Innovative Design at UCLA and several other creative organizations at USC.

MARKETING

Spreading the word to college students across southern California.

I met with our marketing and tech team weekly to direct the creative vision and refined designs to ensure alignment with our theme. We refreshed our social media, created merchandise, and delivered a new website to promote our event, reaching 1,000+ students across southern California.

Biggest thanks to Megan for bringing our creative direction to life alongside our talented designers, Erin, Sarah, and Jayden, and Anna-Katherine for developing our website!

THE FINAL EVENT

Unblocking the Creative Block: A Design Education Summit

We received 100+ RSVPs and were able to successfully deliver Riptide 2022: Unblocking the Creative Block. We shared vulnerable, honest, and insightful conversations on navigating creative burnout, advocacy in the workplace, and tapping into your creative niche. Our speakers and panelists reflected our audience, all with unique backgrounds and stories that brought them to one core motivation: to cultivate their creative interests to make meaningful impact in their communities.

Thank you to our photographer, Anthony, for capturing these moments from our event!

Thank you to my Co-VP, Ashley, for being a wonderful partner in this endeavor! Riptide was definitely a community effort and wouldn’t have been possible without the culmination of skills and talents of our team at Innovative Design.

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