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Re: AIGA Minnesota
Since AIGA Minnesota's 30th Anniversary was celebrated in Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 9th, 2007, and, since the national AIGA celebrated its Centennial in 2014, the following may also be of interest:
Patrick Redmond's term (January 1979 through the February 13, 1980 election of Tim Larsen) leading AIGA Minnesota included serving as the first person to hold the title "President" of what was formerly known as the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Minnesota Chapter, now known as "AIGA/Minnesota" (http://www.aigaminnesota.org/), when it was known as the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association (MGDA). Patrick Redmond was the fourth head of MGDA following other Minnesota design community leaders: Tim Larsen, "Founding Chairman", 1976-1977; Jim Johnson, "Chairman", 1977; and Peter Seitz, "Chairman", 1978. Various MGDA printed material from the period, including exhibition brochures, etc., shows that each of these previous heads had held the title "Chairman". Though Patrick Redmond was not first to lead the organization, he was first to have (and use extensively) the title of "President" of MGDA since, during his 1979 term, the MGDA Charter was changed to read "President" rather than "Chairman" (in 1979). Elected at age 28 (he may have been the youngest male to serve as President of MGDA/AIGA Minnesota in the history of the organization [note: verification needed]), Patrick, prior to the 1983 election of Heather Olson, was also the youngest person to hold the title "president" of AIGA Minnesota when it was known as MGDA, the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association, which had been founded in 1977.
A member of MGDA or AIGA Minnesota for many years (beginning in 1977, continuing membership during various years, and, more recently, from 2005 to 2007 and 2009 through 2023), Patrick also served as:
a publicity committee member and first editor of the first MGDA newsletters (later known as AIGA/Minnesota "Issues," now known as AIGA Minnesota "Distiller"), 1979-February 1980;
First Lutsen Design Conference committee, 1980; Lutsen Design Conference committee member, 1984 (note: the Lutsen [MN] Design Conference became what is now known as AIGA/Minnesota's Design Camp®, which, according to aigaminnesota.org is "the most successful regional design conference in the country, attracting an average of 300 professionals from the Midwest, the United States and across the world");
Design For Society Award committee, 1983-85, Chair, 1985. Note: with 1985 MGDA president Bruce Rubin, Patrick Redmond presented MGDA's "1985 Design For Society Award" to Gordon Salchow of the University of Cincinnati Department of Graphic Design at the MGDA's 1985 Lutsen Design Conference.
Patrick Redmond was a founding member of the AIGA Minnesota "Veteran Designer" [working title] committee, later known as the "Expert Designers" committee.
For a brief history of AIGA/Minnesota see www.aigaminnesota.org > about.
1979 firsts for AIGA/Minnesota (when it was known as the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association):
First out-state (or "greater Minnesota"), non-Twin-Cities-metro member [Phil Mousseau, Moorhead State University] Note: recruiting and including out-state or greater Minnesota members, broadening membership beyond what had originally been membership from the Twin Cities metro area, was one of Patrick Redmond's priorities as president, having lived and worked in greater Minnesota from 1970-76 (as an artist-in-residence in rural communities, Parkers Prairie and Eagle Bend, Minnesota area, 1970-1974; as a graphic designer-in-residence, Grand Rapids, Minnesota area, 1974-1976). This effort would help the organization to truly become the "Minnesota" rather than the "Minneapolis" Graphic Designers Association. -pr
First out-of-state (non-Minnesota) member [Stu Doty, Wausau, Wisconsin]. Note: recruiting and including out-of-state, members who were not living and working in Minnesota, broadening membership beyond what had originally been membership from the Twin Cities metro area and the state of Minnesota, was one of Patrick Redmond's priorities as president. Patrick believes Stu Doty, then living in the Wausau, Wisconsin area, went on to become the organization's first out-of-state (non-Minnesotan) officer when Mr. Doty was elected to the 1980 position of "Vice President/Membership and Communications". -pr
First AIGA/Minnesota ("MGDA News") newsletter, later known as AIGA/Minnesota Issues, and, more recently, as AIGA Minnesota Distiller (February 1979). Editor: Patrick Redmond; Design/Production: Patricia Dunn. Note: editorial content was requested from members by the editor, collected and/or written and/or edited then simply turned over to respective volunteers who then designed, typeset (or had typeset), and produced each respective issue, with no proofreading by the editor. With this approach to the publication, proofreading was the responsibility of each respective volunteer designer for each respective issue. After providing the volunteer member with the content, the next time the editor and other members would see the newsletter would be when it was finished and delivered. Each issue during 1979 and the February 1980 issue looked different from the other since each volunteer had complete design and production freedom. An issue-to-issue design format was intentionally not established. Patrick Redmond wrote and designed the February 1980 issue of the newsletter.
First contact and serious discussions regarding affiliation with a national design organization including STA, the Society of Typographic Arts, Chicago, later known as the American Center for Design, Chicago, with MGDA, the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association eventually becoming affiliated with AIGA, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the national organization based in New York, as the Minnesota Chapter.
First year the organization promoted and co-promoted design-related speaker events (forerunner of "Insights" lecture series). Note: admission: $5 nonmembers; $1 students; free for members. source: 1979 MGDA newsletters
First female officers: Sandra Johnson, Vice President; Pat Dunn, Secretary
First time the gender-neutral terms "President" instead of "Chairman" and "Vice President" instead of "Vice Chairman" formalized as titles of these two MGDA officer positions
First member benefits, i.e., special discount on Walker Art Center membership; free or reduced admission to guest speaker events, etc.
First proposal to include a "People Seeking Positions, Positions Seeking People" section of the newsletter
First formation of the following committees: "programming, newsletter, education and exhibit" [during Patrick Redmond's term as president] (source: MGDA Newslettter, February 1979, p. 3.)
First MGDA membership certificate, designed by Eric Madsen (source: Minnesota Graphic Designers Association News, The Newsletter for the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association, November 1979, p. 4)
First suggestion that the MGDA exhibition catalog include images of work in show, not only text identification and credits (source: MGDA Newslettter, April 1979, p. 3.)
First exploration into the possibility of an office for the organization (now located in International Market Square, Minneapolis)
Further related comments and notes:
Some have commented that during 1979 MGDA [later and more recently known as AIGA MN], the organization's meetings and gatherings were dedicated to business in general and business matters related to the organization. For further perspectives, the 1978 "Making Connections" IDCA (International Design Conference at Aspen, Aspen, Colorado) was business-related. This theme had developed, in part, related to Patrick Redmond's initiative in proposing and creating an ad hoc panel – moderated by TED co-founder, Richard Saul Wurman – on the topic "Designers As Entrepreneurs" ["Designer As Entrepreneur'] (a term coined by Patrick Redmond at the 1977 IDCA) at the previous year's 1977 "Shop Talk" IDCA. [Note: This is documented in 1977 IDCA archives at The Getty Research Institiute].
Also of note, for further context: around this time, Patrick Redmond had also been involved with field research regarding early stage Artificial Intelligence (AI) related to business; he was a member of the Minneapolis Area Chamber of Commerce's first Small Business Trade Fair committee; he was a member of the Minneapolis Mayor's Small Business Task Force; and he was an alternate delegate re: The Minnesota Governor's Small Business Conference. Patrick was also studying "Project Management" at the University of St. Thomas Management Center.
Some of the MGDA meetings did focus more on business and organizational matters and concerns but it is also important to keep the perspective that MGDA was still a fledgling organization needing that kind of focus and attention to continuing to create the groundwork, the foundation for what is now known as AIGA MN. (See February 1980 MGDA Newsletter summarizing Patrick Redmond’s term as MGDA President).
While this was, in part, accurate, since it was still a relatively new organization and related organizational concerns needed to be addressed, the following inclusions are often deemphasized, omitted or not noted... at various meetings also during Patrick Redmond's term as MGDA [AIGA MN] President:
- for example, the November 15, 1979, MGDA gathering/meeting at MCAD featured a presentation by Frank Thornburg, Manager of Corporate Identity at 3M, who addressed the need for corporate graphic identity audit and the updating of a company identity program.
Other MGDA meetings included or featured, for other examples...
- MGDA members viewed the films “Saul Bass On Titles” and Charles and Ray Eames' “Powers of Ten”
- guest speaker, Fred “Bud” Weil, Jr., a financial management consultant
- guest speaker, Terrance Westmacott, a design management consultant
These offerings during Patrick Redmond's term as President – with special thanks to the MGDA Board and members, presenters, various volunteers, and host institutions such as MCAD and the Walker Art Center who helped make these possible –- could all be considered, in some ways, and at least in part, forerunners of the first MGDA Lutsen Design Conference (later known as AIGA MN Design Camp®) and of the AIGA MN/Walker Art Center “Insights” lecture series. During 1979, MGDA [AIGA MN] offered its first Walker Art Center membership benefits to members (details are provided in one of the 1979 MGDA newsletters).
MGDA may have had a decline in membership during 1979 into early 1980 but a factor that is rarely considered and is important to remember for context was that an economic recession in the U.S. was underway and some members may have been trying to save money by delaying, not renewing or, in respect to prospective members, not joining the organization. In part, related to this recession, during Patrick Redmond's term, member benefits were increased while, at the same time, membership dues were intentionally not increased. A further note regarding recessions' influence on nonprofits' memberships: as an example, one small town Chamber of Commerce lost nearly half of its memberships during a recesssion, so, realistically, it is also not surprising that a then still relatively new organization like MGDA (MGDA had been founded only two years earlier, in 1977) would lose some memberships during a recession.
The organization was still in its very early years of becoming known... as more prospective members became aware of MGDA [AIGA MN] and the benefits of membership, membership increased.
Of further note: Patrick Redmond's experience working with nonprofit and community organizations, prior to being elected to lead MGDA [AIGA MN], also included serving as a Loaned Executive with United Way, helping – with another Loaned Executive, United Way administration and staff, and with respective leaders and employees in various businesses – to coordinate the fundraising campaigns for United Way in the "Paper, Print, and Media" division, working with Minneapolis area paper companies, printing companies, and media companies, to assist them in successfully reaching their fundraising participation and goals. [In addition to his ongoing independent work in the field of design, he was a "Loaned Executive" during the United Way campaign, "on Loan" from diversified retail company Gamble-Skogmo, Inc., where he had also held a corporate, creative position in the advertising department (1976-1978)].
Other:
With the intention of making membership more affordable to a wider range of members and prospective members, dues were kept at $30.00 before a 50% increase in late 1980.
A summary of 1979, including a list of identified needs for the future, appeared in the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association Newsletter, February 1980.
MGDA's largest nonjuried exhibition, 2nd MGDA Show: "Minnesota Graphic Design 79" ('79 in title, even though show opened December 15, 1978). Note: "19 designers represented by 31 display panels". Committee members: Bob Fleming, Tim Larsen and Jim Johnson. Source: MGDA News, April 1979, Vol. 1, No. 1, p.1.
1979 MGDA Officers: Patrick Redmond, President; Sandra Johnson, Vice President; Pat Dunn, Secretary; Peter Seitz*(1978 MGDA Chairman), Board Member; Robert J. De brey* (1978 MGDA Vice Chairman), Board Member. Jan Nuedeck and Tim Larsen served as 1978 MGDA Co-Secretaries. Jan Nuedeck had moved out of state and was not available to serve as a Board Member; Tim Larsen was also a 1979 Board Member since previous officers became Board Members.
First time "The Gold Book, Twin Cities" (Prime Publications) included a separate listing for "graphic designers"... in earlier editions, graphic designers had been listed under "artists" and "art studios" categories.
Thank you to all who were members of MGDA during 1979 and for all of the dedicated effort and accomplishments of the various officers, members, and volunteers.
– Patrick Redmond
* Earlier in his career, Patrick Redmond had worked for Robert De brey at De brey Design (1969) and for Peter Seitz at InterDesign (1970). Peter Seitz is the first AIGA/Minnesota Fellow.
A perspective:
1979 was... 5 years before the Apple® Macintosh® 128K computer, with Mac OS 1.0 system software, was introduced. It was "in production from January 1984 to October 1985" at a cost of "$2,495.00" [or, based on a U.S. inflation calculator, about "$6,139.21" in 2019 dollars] Note: "In December 1983 Apple Computers ran its famous "1984" Macintosh television commercial on a small, unknown station" the month before "the same ad ran during the NFL Super Bowl." source: Bellis, Mary. "Inventors of the Modern Computer" http://inventors.about.com;/ 2019 dollar calculation source: "CPI Inflation Calculator", https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl
6 years before Aldus® Pagemaker®, later known as Adobe® Pagemaker®, was "developed for the Mac." source: Howard Bear, Jacci. http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/beginners/f/when_dtp.htm
8 years before the first version of QuarkXPress® was released (1987) source: http://www.quark.com/about/profile/history.html
20 years before "Adobe® began to ship InDesign® 1.0" (1999) source: Joss, Molly W.http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/19066.html For further information, contact Redmond@PatrickRedmondDesign.com.
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Patrick Redmond Bibliographic Citations
Re: AIGA Minnesota and MGDA (Minnesota Graphic Designers Association) publications
Redmond, Patrick. "An Inside Look at the Graphic Work in Norwest's 'Modernism' Corporate Art Collection," AIGA/ Minnesota Issues, Minnesota Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Minneapolis, March 1989, cover, p. 2.
Redmond, Patrick. "Letter to the Editor," MGDA Journal, Minnesota Graphic Designers Association (later known as "American Institute of Graphic Arts [AIGA] Minnesota Chapter"), Minneapolis, Summer 1985, p. 3.
Redmond, Patrick. "Letter to the Journal," MGDA Journal, Minnesota Graphic Designers Association, Minneapolis, Winter 1986, p. 5.
Redmond, Patrick, ed. MGDA News, The Newsletter for the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association, Minneapolis. April 1979. Cited: "MGDA Elects New Officers," p. 1; cited, various items, p. 3. (documentation re: Patrick Redmond elected president of MGDA, later known as AIGA Minnesota).
Redmond, Patrick, auth. and ed. Minnesota Graphic Designers Association Newsletter, Minneapolis. February 1980. [Note: Majority of issue consists of "A letter from the president" summarizing 1979 in respect to MGDA during Patrick Redmond's term as the organization's third president. MGDA became the AIGA/Minnesota the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Minnesota Chapter in 1987.]
Redmond, Patrick, ed. Minnesota Graphic Designers Association, The Newsletter for the Minnesota Graphic Designers Association, Minneapolis. November 1979; cited: "Moorhead State University Design Students Visit Twin Cities," p. 1.
Redmond, Patrick. "Retrospective Perspective," AIGA/MN Issues, The Official News Paper [sic] of AIGA/MN, The American Institute of Graphic Arts, Minnesota Chapter, Minneapolis, November 1999, p. 11.
Redmond, Patrick. "Selecting a graphic design curriculum that is right for you," MGDA Designers Offer Their Advice brochure, (Edited by Phil Swensen), Minnesota Graphic Designers Association, Minneapolis, 1985, p.16-17. (photos of author, outside back cover is 1968 Pius XI High School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, yearbook photo; p. 16, Fall 1985 photo by Paul Shambroom. Includes selected bibliography compiled by author, p. 17).
Redmond, Patrick. "The Perennial Paisley: Notes on Peg DeLamater's Lecture 'The Paisley: A Study in Design Evolution and Transformations'," MGDA Journal, Minnesota Graphic Designers Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Fall 1986, p. 3.
Redmond, Patrick. "The Design Mentor," AIGA/MN Issues, The Official News Paper [sic] of AIGA/MN, The American Institute of Graphic Arts, Minnesota Chapter, Minneapolis, August 1999, p. 2, 6.
Redmond, Patrick. "When Your Career Becomes Your Hobby...," AIGA/MN Issues, The Official News Paper [sic] of AIGA/MN, The American Institute of Graphic Arts, Minnesota Chapter, Minneapolis, January 2000, p. 2.
Redmond, Patrick. "Virtuoso Vignelli," AIGA/Minnesota Issues, Minnesota Chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Minneapolis, May 1993, back cover.
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The following "third person" description is provided re: a career in the field
A creative director, designer, consultant, artist, and author, Patrick Redmond (b. 1950) is founder and owner of Saint Paul, Minnesota-based Patrick Redmond Design (PatrickRedmondDesign.com), an independent brand identity and design firm, a consultancy tracing its beginnings to 1966 when Patrick began working in the field.
Patrick's career, to date, has included providing design for over 130 clients through his firm; and, in addition to owning and operating his own ongoing business, has included positions as: senior layout artist and special projects designer at $1.5 billion diversified retail corporation Gamble-Skogmo, Inc.; creative art director, Norwest Corporation (now known as Wells Fargo); a senior art director, Carlson Frequency Marketing Company, Carlson Marketing Group, Carlson Companies; designer for the University of Minnesota's Department of Design, Housing and Apparel (DHA) and the Goldstein Gallery (now known as The Goldstein: Museum for Design) [note: DHA is now part of the University of Minnesota's new College of Design]; independent consulting art director/designer for publishers Mid-List Press and Dos Tejedoras Fiber Arts Publications; co-founding and serving as vice president of pioneering computer graphics firm COMCEPT (a spin-off of Patrick Redmond Design).
He taught at the University of Minnesota (for many years in the evening extension program); the College of Visual Arts, St. Paul; MCAD (Minneapolis College of Art & Design); Augsburg Weekend College; and University of Wisconsin-Stout, Wisconsin's Polytechnic University.
In addition to his ongoing business, earlier in his career he served respectively in rural and greater Minnesota communities as artist-in-residence in the small town of Eagle Bend, Minnesota, and as a graphic designer-in-residence in the Grand Rapids, Minnesota area. Patrick was the first person to lead the graphic design sessions at the University of Minnesota Design Institute's first "Design Camp" in 2000.
Design by Patrick Redmond has been included in Graphic Design+, Japan; Graphis Annual and Graphis Packaging, Switzerland; Biennales of Graphic Design, Brno, Czech Republic; Print Regional Annual; SIGGRAPH; Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition; and in competitions including New York Art Directors Show; Society of Publication Designers; Creativity, Art Direction magazine, New York; Desi (now known as the American Graphic Design Awards), Graphic Design: USA magazine, New York, and American Corporate Identity 23; and The Show, Advertising Federation of Minnesota & Art Directors/Copywriters Club, Minnesota.
Patrick's early career included working for industrial designer Robert J. De brey, at De brey Design (Robert De brey is a graduate of the "New Bauhaus" Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago) and for Peter Seitz, at premiere interdisciplinary design firm InterDesign, (Peter Seitz, AIGA Minnesota's first AIGA Fellow, is a graduate of Hochschule fr Gestaltung Ulm (HfG Ulm), Ulm, Germany, and Yale). At 20, Patrick had even worked on a freelance project for Ron Siechrist, founder of Portfolio Center, Atlanta, and Miami Ad School.
He has presented at National Council on the Arts/National Endowment for the Arts, icograda and UNESCO conferences. At the 2013 AIGA National Conference "Head, Heart, Hand" in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he was a panelist in the affinity session moderated by Su Mathews of Lippincott on the topic "Designers Mentoring Designers" with his protégé, Pamela Mead (at the time of the 2013 Conference, Director of User Experience, Telefonica Digital, Madrid, Spain) and AIGA Medalist Michael Bierut, with his protégé, Jennifer Kinon, a past president of AIGA New York.
Patrick Redmond coined the term "Designers As EntrepreneursTM" at the 1977 International Design Conference in Aspen, Colorado (see DesignersAsEntrepreneurs.comTM, "Intersection of design, creativity and businessTM").
A member of AIGA Minnesota for many years (beginning in 1977 and continuing membership during various years, renewing membership 2005 to 2007; 2009 through 2023, Patrick was President, MGDA, AIGA Minnesota, 1979-1980, and a Board Member, 1979-1981). He is a member of the College of Design Alumni Society, University of Minnesota Alumni Association (he served as a Board Member of the College of Human Ecology "CHE" [formerly known as the College of Home Economics with DHA "Design, Housing and Apparel" later becoming part of the University of Minnesota's College of Design] Alumni Society during the early to mid 1990s... he served as Co-Chair of the CHE Alumni Mentoring program). He is a former member of AdFed (the Advertising Federation of Minnesota, AdFed.org, a member club of the American Advertising Federation, AAF.org), and the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
v.12282023 (a working draft version)
Note: "AIGA Minnesota" was formerly known as "American Institute of Graphic Arts, Minnesota Chapter"
Credit: The MGDA (AIGA Minnesota) 1985 Design for Society Award honoring Gordon Salchow handout was designed by Patrick Redmond.
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