Erica Clark, Senior Vice President of International Initiatives, opened the morning by uniting the crowd with a unified and refreshing yell. The Studios were a busy beehive of success, explained Erica. Folks silkscreened with a torrent of activity, the archetype press worked with antique types, airport security systems were redefined, “whatever you pick up here [be it crayons or markers],” one studio leader remarked, “it’s not for your children. It’s for you.”

Then something rather curious happened, Pecha Kucha happened. Pecha Kucha is the Japanese word for the sounds of conversation and was a form of presenting developed to allow designers to present their work in a concise way, a great way to welcome the diverse faculty of the Art Center, fifteen shown for ten seconds each: Nik Hafermaas, Dean of Communcation Design, explained communication guerrilla tactics, and elucidated the true value of an Art Center education: 256,000 burger flips. Karen Hofmann, Director of the Color, Materials and Trends Exploration Lab, discussed choosing meaningful palettes even before form is designed. Marty Smith, Chair of Product Design, combined unusual product functions like sticks battling stones. Anne Burdick, Chair of Graduate Media, peaked our interest of communication technologies and their affects on peoples’ lives. Mariana Amatullo, Director of Design Matters, explained how strategic partnerships, with the World Bank for example, can bring model health clinics where they are needed most. Stewart Reed on transportation design, and not just cars but imaging future alternatives, rather what would Bugati do? Ann Field, Chair of Illustration, explained drawing as the primal root of all ideas but reminded us that we all need humor, don’t we? David Mocarski, Chair of Environmental Design, on designing the complete spatial experience.

John Hockenberry welcomed our next speaker, the modern day Homer, Doug Campbell (our backstage reporter made it to the stage!), who shared with us his storytelling prowess. With custom made tuxedos, Doug and his comrade traveled the world, spreading bowtie love and charity work from England through Europe, Central Asia all the way to China. With just two fools, one adventure, and no idea, Doug shared with us his powerful and playful experiences in distant villages. “Stay playful friends!”

Leaping from the real world to the world of academia we welcomed John Maeda, a truly serious player and new President of the Rhode Island School of Design. Who knew it had all started in a tofu factory in Seattle. John relished in the early computer and its complete freedom to create, because you had to. Remember? John said, you’d plug your computer in and nothing would happen. There was no software, you had to build it yourself. And it was this simplicity / complexity duality that continues to inform his work. Fish constructed from iPod nanos, lights built from Bento boxes, beautiful installations with its centerpiece a PalmPilot.

Maeda’s next challenge, as the President of RISD is sure to bring the famed college into the new age of creativity. When asked if he was going to bring RISD into the future, as he is conceived of now as a technologist, he remarked, “I want to bring the future back to RISD!” When asked about the role of designers he “you don’t just mix A, B and C and get a stamp,” he gesticulated wildly, “let’s improve the designer. The best creators are people who are free, so how can we make more free time?” Backstage reporter, our Tuxedo traveler and RISD alum Doug observed, “more free time at RISD? That’ll be the day.” But in all seriousness, Maeda couldn’t be a bigger advocate of education, as he explained to Chee, we need to get it back into academia. The RISD community can look forward to a refreshing take by the technological, yet so human, marvel.

The next surprise guests were Fritz Grobe & Stephen Voltz, from the ‘Mentos+Diet Coke’ viral video YouTube fame, who showed their epic symphony of explosive experiments. Then they pulled some protective glasses out of their stark white lab coats and showed us their Patent-pending Mentos Delivery System, aka, a couple of PVC tubes which they attached to a warm bottle of diet Coke (note to self: warmth is critical for geyser success). They flipped a switch and stepped back. Coke shot up into the air as the ingredients interacted in nucleation wonderment.