Design in the Open

In a series of short, sharp talks, designers explore what happens when identity - graphic, cultural, institutional, or personal - is pushed into public view. From rebranding a national news network under intense scrutiny to reshaping TriMet buses for Hispanic Heritage Month, from browser tab confessionals to working with your hands outside your comfort zone, designers share how they navigate creative exposure in a time of feedback loops, cultural complexity, and digital vulnerability.

MSNBC Rebrand

Institutional identity meets public reaction + internal politics

How do you evolve a decades-old news brand with deep cultural roots — and survive the backlash? In this talk, Ventura Castro, Creative Director at MSNBC, unpacks the high-stakes redesign of the network’s identity into MSNOW. From navigating internal politics to managing public perception, this is a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to reshape a brand etched into the national consciousness — and what happens when that shift meets the internet’s reaction in real time.

The Trimet Siempre Pa' Lante LIFT Bus brand

Cultural identity celebrated through public design + national recognition

How does a childhood shaped by Puerto Rican and Dominican roots evolve into an award-winning piece of moving art? Designer David DaCosta traces how the values of Family, Hard Work, Joy, and Warmth became the foundation of his creative practice — and the driving force behind TriMet’s Hispanic Heritage Month LIFT Bus. From translating cultural pride into bold visuals to balancing storytelling and design, this talk explores how lived experience became a public celebration of Latine identity across Portland’s streets.

Return Form Artist Residency

Reclaiming creative identity beyond client work

Before art became work bound by deadlines and deliverables, it was simply play. Return Form is a residency and studio show inviting artists back to that beginning to curiosity, to unfinished work, to the thrill of experimenting as the heart of what makes art a vital part of life. Co-founders Naomi Bensen and Fabian Molina share how the program became a living experiment in building a soft structure for a steady creative practice.

Open Tabs

Personal identity reflected in creative inputs

Go incognito with The Jacky Winter Group and friends. In this fast-paced, lighthearted exploration of trends and internet pop culture, a hand-picked collection of local creatives bravely bare their souls (and computing devices) to share their current internet obsessions straight from their open browser tabs and talk about what’s shaping the world of art and ideas today. Four creatives, ten browser tabs, ten minutes.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher AIGA PDX