AIGA SDTJ (wee)Y Design Conference

Highly regarded for leading with heart, and a spirit of collaboration, Theresa has a proven track record of inspiring teams to deliver 360 brand systems for launches, social impact campaigns, consumer products, publishing, digital products, and themed entertainment. Theresa’s passion for education is demonstrated through her generous participation on educational advisory boards, speaking engagements, as well as adjunct professor. Theresa is curious about the world, and passionate about travel, and always loves coming home to Brooklyn.

instagram: @tttfitzgerald

https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-fitzgerald/

As the former VP and Executive Producer at MSG Sphere Studios in Las Vegas, Eric built and managed the Concept and Design group, which concepts and designs experiences and content at the Sphere.

Eric's extensive expertise in design, production, and technical supervision allows him to lead interdisciplinary teams of designers, architects, artists, developers, and engineers to concept, design, prototype, and build immersive spatial experiences. His innovative work has earned recognition, including award-winning projects such as the Museum of The Future exhibit at the World Government Summit, Tónandi for Magic Leap & Sigur Rós, Nike Camp Victory, and HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

In addition to his professional achievements, Eric is a dedicated photographer and art enthusiast. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and inspiration through leadership, mentorship, and collaborative efforts in the industry.

He calls his minimalist style of illustration “messymod,” short for Messy Modernism. It’s born from his love of geometry, patterns, negative space, Bauhaus, Miró and a little too much caffeine. He explores the spaces between art and design, complexity and simplicity, organic and machined, static and kinetic, familiar and surreal.

Currently, he’s pushing his studio into new and strange directions with the addition of his illustrations and continues his unhealthy obsession with all things design. When he’s not designing and illustrating, he’s designing and illustrating. He needs to get out more.

Shortly after graduation, she moved from Tucson and joined the Board of Directors of AIGA Seattle where she served as their Community Outreach Director, bringing together local designers with children in need. She called the outreach “Art with Heart” and led it for six years under AIGA before officially branching off to reform it as its own 501c3 organization.

During her tenure as CEO and publishing director, Art with Heart helped over 155,000 children facing trauma and hardship. Built upon the foundation of cognitive behavioral and art therapies, her innovative activity books, workshops, and professional development trainings were adopted by mental healthcare providers internationally because of their ability to nurture positive mental health and turn pain into possibility. Her work merited four Sappi Ideas That Matter grants, totaling over $120,000 to support the development and printing of the books.

In 2015, she took a short sabbatical and traveled to Mexico to study under a contemporary primitive painter. It was during that class that her own creative spirit was rekindled. Since then, she’s created almost 700 paintings along with numerous art journals. Her style has been described as visually ambidextrous, offering a mix of contemporary primitive and neo-expressionist. Her work can be found on a four-story building in Bethesda, in a private VIP tasting room in Napa Valley, and in private collections in the states as well as in London and New South Wales.

Shortly after her sabbatical, she transitioned back to her design roots and now works at an international consulting company as a Design Manager and illustrator. She occasionally leads hands-on art workshops that invite personally meaningful expression and still paints whenever she can.

Unbeknownst to him at the time, David Conover nurtured a career in design at a young age; drawing The 007 logo along with heavily-outlined drop shadowed typographic renderings of bands’ names. At the time he never quite grasped the power of design when a rendering of a fascist’s regime’s propaganda mark was confiscated by his middle school principal. He hadn’t yet connected the dots, both figuratively and literally. Many rock band logos later, he earned his BFA in Graphic Design at Arizona State University, a school whose motto he still believes is: “You gotta fight for your right to party”. After years of setting type on typositors, rubbing down transfer type for ad headlines, developing negs in darkrooms, pasting up page numbers in horticultural publications and designing video game spaceships with 5 pixels, David — and his infinitely more talented wife, Cecelia — opened their design studio together. Since 1985 they’ve been able to keep the doors open, pay their bills, worked with numerous respected associates, have fun at what they do and spend time with their children. Gratitude, Acceptance — and a bit of Intestinal Fortitude — keeps him moving forward.

Host or Publisher AIGA San Diego