AIGA Colorado Presents: Felix Sockwell September 2, 2008

AIGA CO Presents: Felix Sockwell
Liberal Designer and Conservative Illustrator

An established designer and illustrator, Felix Sockwell has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the industry. Always one to tell it like it really is, Felix will candidly share some of his more awkward and unusual experiences working in the biz. With politically charged clients like the New York Times, the US Olympic Committee, Apple, Bill Clinton, Ralph Nader and the GOP, Felix will reveal some recent successes and share advice for making it work and getting it sold. AIGA CO looks forward to providing a peek behind the curtain with one of the industry’s most outspoken designers.

About Felix Sockwell

A native of Texas, Felix Sockwell began his career in advertising with stints at DDB and the Richards Group (Dallas), before moving on to San Francisco and a chance meeting with advertising potentate Brian Collins. "I guess the meeting went well," laughs Sockwell. "Next thing, Collins and I had jetted to New York and were starting up this new design component at Ogilvy & Mather called The Brand Integration Group. 14-hour days, it was a meat grinder but it paid off."

After a year Sockwell opened his own office (in 1998) and has since been working in NY and Maplewood, NJ, where he lives with his wife, two kids and dog named Kitty.

Getting his studio up and running after leaving Ogilvy was tough. However, luck intervened when Sockwell snagged a big account from Paula Scher - the LeParker Meridian Hotel on 57th street. "I worked with them for a year doing all of their design materials. That paid the bills until I began getting steadier editorial jobs." Nowadays his work ranges from editorial illustration to logo and icon design to advertising and packaging for a number of tasty clients, including Herman Miller, Sony, Amex, hotels.com, The New York Times and he has just finished icons for Apple‘s new iPhone.

Like many of his contemporaries Sockwell sees design as a collaborative process - not only between him and his clients but with other designers as well. In recent years he has teamed up on a number of projects with various designers, including Stefan Sagmeister, Nicholas Blechman, Thomas Fuchs, Christoph Niemann and James Victore.

Sockwell is savvy, clever and opinionated (the work he does for the New York Times Op Ed page attests to that). And he's concerned about the societal effects of his work."Although I do a lot of political messaging, I've come to realize that my function as a designer is largely service-oriented. That's OK as long as the brands I'm developing are good public citizens. Many aren't. For instance, I did some illustration work for a law firm some years ago. Later, I found out the firm employed Jack Abramoff (former lobbyist who is now in prison for corruption) and was legal counsel to George Bush in the 2000 election. Ouch. That was my wake-up call. Since then I've been careful to research my clients more thoroughly."

>>Felix's bio has been excerpted from the publication Novum.

Felix is our second speaker from AIGA CO: 08-09 Speaker Series, LIVE: From the Archives. Attend this event to meet a designer who's work has been nationally recognized and is a part of the permanent collection of AIGA's National Design Archives housed at the Denver Art Museum.

AIGA CO will be hosting a "networking hour" located at the wine bar at Mad Greens located across from the Hamilton building from 5:30-6:30pm. Felix's speaking engagement will begin at 7PM in the Sharp Auditorium.

Official Website: http://www.aigacolorado.org/eventdetails.aspx?eid=176