Camp Firebelly 2010

So, here it is: the final blog post from Camp Firebelly 2010. I’m writing this on the bus back to Madison, and it’s strange to think that just 10 days ago I was meeting the other campers and Firebelly crew for the first time with no idea what to expect. Side note: since when do buses have wireless internet?

Most of our morning was spent cleaning up from last night’s awesome kegger/gallery show/fundraiser/impromptu dance-off event. It was great to meet former campers and Chicago-area designers, and raise money for Reason to Give. Thanks to everyone who showed up to see our work and support the cause!

Overall, Camp Firebelly was a fantastic experience. I don’t think I’ve ever accomplished so much in 10 days—probably because I’ve never slept so little in 10 days! But seriously, the past week and a half has been a whirlwind of design activity. Among other things, the 10 of us designed three logos, a poster, postcards, and a brochure for YWEP; visited Threadless, Thirst, The Post Family, Delicious Design League, and Believe Inn; rocked out; toured a chocolate factory; designed and screen-printed t-shirts with Mike Fretto from Rosa Loves; ate a TON of delicious food (thanks Lindsay!); met a bunch of cool peeps; and organized the party mentioned above.

Now, we’re parting ways and going back to our normal lives, but—once we get a good night’s sleep and make it through the stages of Red Bull withdrawal—I think we’ll find that they look slightly different than when we left. It has been inspiring to design for a good cause, and to see how we can use our unique talents to make a difference. Plus, I know Dawn’s subconscious campaign to convert us to Chicagoans succeeded in several cases (myself included). In this sense, the conclusion of Camp Firebelly is not an end, but a beginning. I sincerely apologize for the cliché, but I think it’s the truth.

The 2010 campers would like to thank: Lara Brooks and YWEP; Mike Renaud and Zach Dodson; the team at Elevate; Mig Reyes and Threadless, Rick Valicenti and Thirst; Delicious Design League; The Post Family; Mike Fretto and Rosa Loves; Shannon Medic and Reason to Give; Matthew Hoffman; Salsedo Press, Inc.; Andrew Dembitz and Unisource; Chris Kirzeder; Brenda Rotheiser Bergen, Alli Nash and Vosges Haut-Chocolat; AIGA Chicago; and everyone else who helped and inspired us along the way.

Most importantly, we would like to extend a huge thank you to the Firebelly crew for being our gracious hosts, chefs, motivators, and babysitters. Dawn, Alex, Lindsay, Darren, Will, Ryan, and Coffee…you are the bomb (especially Coffee).

And finally (thank god), thanks to you, reader, for sticking it out through this novel of a post and having any interest whatsoever in our shenanigans. If you are thinking about applying for camp next year, DO IT. And if you are hiring, e-mail me. Just kidding (but not really).

In summary: Camp Firebelly 2010 was awesome, and thanks!

P.S. The competition was fierce, but I won last night’s dance-off. Sorry ’bout it.

sorry this is a day late, but we had our grand finale fundraising party yesterday and it ran into the wee hours of the night!

It’s crazy that this is all coming to an end! This entire trip has been such a paradox–its been the longest ten days ever, yet they completely flew by. And in those ten days we got a lot of great things accomplished, which were all on debut (and on sale!) yesterday.

Thank you to Mike Fretto of Rosa Loves for endlessly printing shirts last night so that we could raise money for the three families of Humboldt Park. Everyone supported the great cause and partook in all of the festivities. We ended up raising over $450 thanks to everyone’s generous donations and raffle ticket sales.

We also took some great photos in our make believe camp site, which will soon be up on Flikr! Wow….I really can’t believe this is all ending. This has been such a great experience, and there are so many people to thank, who have made all of this possible.

This is going to be the worst blog ever…. LET’S GO!

I think we all rolled outta “mattress” around nine-ish and had some awesome French toast with honey glazed apples. A delight.

No crazy deadlines today, but little did we know what an adventurous day was played ahead, and as always… Dawn didn’t share a peep.

Chris Kirzeder came to the camp to bestow some wisdom about the workings of photography. Which was perfect for me since I know nothing about making photos look beautiful.

After that, we all packed in the van and took a trip to Chicago’s version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory at Vosges Haut-chocolat; and just like Charlie all of our eyes were wide eyed like precious moments dolls. They fed us with little candy yum yum’s and gave us free design samples. I was also super fortunate to keep my beard net. For more info check the twitter.

Keeping with our busy day, we took a trip to Salcedo Press to proof some of collateral work for YWEP. Got to see some old school Heildberg printers pump out our work at extreme speeds.

As always… we had some awesome dinner. Including the liquid oatmeal frozen smoothie delicious cinnamon crazy good drink. I’m not sure what the actually drink is called… but my taste buds will never be same.

Currently, we are trying to make our camp firebelly show super gnarkill. We have some very cool ideas, some fun activities planned… but in true camp firebelly form… we are tied… have little time… and are going to be up all night. Luckily, we have red bull and the blue ribbon. See you tomorrow. Bring money to donate and positive vibes.

PACEEEEEEEEEE

After having our first full night’s rest we proceeded with the usually cornucopia of breakfast foods.

Soon after we had a workshop with Mike Fretto, co-founder of Rosa Love , where we discussed and planed our next project. After Mike told us a little about himself he then expalined that Rosa Love is a company that would create and sell t-shirts, and then donate a percentage to good causes. We were to come up with 3 tee-shirt designs that then would get printed and sold.

Shortly after the brief we broke up into groups and was assigned a “story“. The stories are a part of Reason to Give, where is headquartered in the Puerto Rican neighborhood of Humboldt Park, Reason To Give seeks to educate people about our neighborhood’s residents, history and culture while providing a simple, innovative way to lend a hand to the community. Each story that we heard was simply inspirational and breathtaking.

Lunchtime came and went and we soon discussed with Mike our experiences with each person. Then the time came to split up and work in our groups. After a few hours of brainstorming and going over what we experienced, it was time for dinner- Italian food, yum!

The rest of the evening contained with continuing working on the designs. With help from Mike and the Firebelly staff we were on our way! After our hard work we broke and headed out to Believe Inn . What an experience! A brief tour and some shopping in the studio and we were on our way once again.

Rockin’ out in Chicago in the white van we headed to have some gelato. A few giggles here and there and we were back home. A few beers and some rockband ended this great day…

Day five, six … does anyone know right now?

Day five began without warning at 12:01. We were just beginning to stretch our legs in the design marathon that was ahead.

After meeting with the client, there were some requests that challenged us in such a way that the only—successful—route was an all-nighter. All teams and facets of the communication materials had to shift after some enlightening knowledge was discovered. After working through the night and the morning, we were able to send the pieces to press. The job and efforts experienced were a maximum collaboration shared by all and championed by the amazing and dedicated staff at Firebelly.

Without a moment to spare, we were out the door to an awesome talk from legendary designer Rick Valicenti and his crew at 3st/Thirst. Rick failed to disappoint as always. He shared some of the teams work and explained how the core of their process was a dedication to creating Real Human Presence.

After our time at Thirst, we were back in the van headed for the Delicious Design league. Here we had an awesome opportunity to learn the craft of screen-printing from their passionate team. After a brief how-to, we were allowed to jump in and pull the colors on the posters created for the Young Women’s Empowerment Project. I think you will be impressed.

Dawn treated us to a delicious tapas dinner for passing and conversation.

We retired back to the camp for some Rock Band which was a catalyst for us to stretch our legs into the some bonding despite a lack of sleep.

And, without warning, we were into day six …

… And we’re functioning on an average of two hours of sleep. (Most of us didn’t make it to bed until around 4 am and got up at 7 am.) Not pretty, but we’re holding up pretty well.

At 8 am, we got a surprise visit from the Elev^tion team! They offered some great advice about creating client briefs and delivering engaging presentations. Biggest lesson: Be enthusiastic and prepared.

No time to waste! After our guests left, we went right back to preparing for our creative brief with our client at 1 pm. We ate at our computers, worked really hard, and delivered a successful creative brief. Whew.

This success was followed by a surprise trip to Threadless! Touring the studio/warehouse and speaking with the employees was an amazing! Huge thanks to the staff for their friendly reception and to Mig Reyes for being our tour guide.

Next we returned to our campsite and began processing the feedback we received during the creative brief. Then we ate an amazing Indian dinner and regrouped shortly thereafter in order to begin designing for the many YWEP components (logos, poster, postcard, etc.).

We’ve chosen our typefaces and color palette… Now to begin developing designs in our designated groups. Sorry to be brief but it’s already 2:25 am… Have to work faster!