Web developer Drew
Gourley joins Oxide

I am pleased to announce that Drew Gourley has joined the Oxide team as a full-time web developer. In his own words, Drew is “a graphic designer turned web developer with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.” He’s a graduate of the University of Nebraska Kearney, finishing just three semesters after Oxide designer Adam Torpin. Secretly, we had our eye on him for quite a while.


Drew Davies elected to AIGA
national board of directors

I am honored and humbled to announce that I have been elected to serve on AIGA’s national board of directors for a 3-year term. AIGA — the professional association for design — stimulates thinking about design, demonstrates the value of design, and empowers the success of designers at each stage of their careers. (If you’re interested, AIGA does a very good job of succinctly explaining the board nomination process.) After serving the AIGA Nebraska chapter as a vice-president, president, and advisory board member, I’m excited to take this next step of leadership with an organization for which I have a deep level of respect, and looking forward to joining a great slate of comrades. I’ll start my term on 01 June at AIGA’s 2011 Leadership Retreat as the only Nebraskan to have ever served on the AIGA national board.



The inside story of Oxide being
featured in The Big Book of Packaging

Recently, Oxide had the honor of not only being selected for inclusion in The Big Book of Packaging, but also having our work highlighted in a four-page case study in the book. Published by Harper Design, the Big Book “showcases the most innovative packaging designs today… by the top visionaries in their field.” Since I’d always wondered how firms got selected for the special features in these kinds of books, I thought others might be curious about the process as well.


Meet the Pros Questionnaire

I spent last Monday afternoon talking to students at Meet the Pros, a two-day event held annually at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. I decided it might be helpful to pass along what I shared to those students who read our blog but weren’t able to attend the event. I was able to attend the event each of my final two years in school and was thrilled to be invited back to speak on the Art Directors panel. Below is a sample of questions asked by the students along with my replies.




Happy Holidays

Here at Oxide, we love the Holidays. There are a lot of things that bring us joy this time of year, besides having a great reason to buy new LEGO sets.

Adam

  • College football bowl season
  • Overindulging in food is a perfectly acceptable practice
  • Having plenty of free time to spend with my wife
  • Time with my family, especially my nephew Sam!


Oxide ninth anniversary

This month Oxide celebrates our ninth anniversary, which also happens to coincide with this 100th post on our News blog. I’m proud to have reached this milestone of sharing so many stories, projects, and opinions in such a relatively short period of time. But I’m even more proud that Oxide’s been around one more year — we’re on pace for another record year, and we’re enjoying ourselves more than ever!


Oxide in Communication
Arts Design Annual 51

We are pleased to announce that the design work of Oxide has been selected for inclusion in Communication Arts’ Design Annual 51. You’ll find the logo we designed for Cultures East on page 139 of the September/October issue. This marks our fifth time winning CA, and Oxide is this year’s only honoree from Omaha. Based on entries selected out of the total number of entries received, the CA Design Annual is the most exclusive major design competition in the world.