After a rousing night of karaoke at the Northwoods Pub, (I must say, my fellow Design Campers have both talent and guts. Mostly guts.) I rushed over to listen to DJ Stout’s speech the next morning, unfortunately missing breakfast. My recollections may be a little spotty as a result.

Stout started by talking about some of the agricultural industry magazines he has redesigned for Pentagram, including such page-turners as American Quarterhorse Journal, Dairy Herd Management, and the periodical that I remember him for, Dairy Today. Instead of having poorly conceived, ultra-literal cover designs like so many of these magazines do, Stout opted to instead feature portraits of individual cows. As a result to this unique approach, Dairy Today moved from third to most popular dairy industry rag. Another example of what good design can do.

read on….

Well folks, 3 days of camping, talking, twittering, networking, drinking, learning, mind-expanding, and laughing are regrettably over, and I’ll be nursing my design hangover for days. As for the full coverage I promised in the previous post, the lack of internet access in my hotel room greatly hindered my ability to effectively cover the conference in real time. The room did however have a whirlpool tub, a multi-directional shower, and 1000 square feet, so blogging fell a few spots on my priority list the second I got one of the hot water jets to loosen that knot I had in my back. I hope the blogosphere can forgive me.

read on….