Hello all!

I'm going to be liveblogging the Friday keynote of Geekend here at http://obviouslybenhughes.com
Follow along below!

The Keynote opens with the creators of Geekend talking about the way the conference came to be, and the people who were supportive of the endeavor.

Sloane Kelly talks to us all about the vision they had for this conference.

The Keynote speaker Aaron Draplin is giving us a presentation (Adobe PDF) about his adventures and the ways that he came from Michigan to become a Graphic Artist. Starts with awesome type-based slides which are incredibly funny.

In an unexpected turn, he mentions that David Carson was supposed to be the speaker, but he isn't here (of course) "So F*** 'em."

Talking about Growing up in Michigan, then in Oregon, and now talking about different projects that he worked on when he "didn't know" he was a graphic Designer, "because no one ever told me"

Moved to California and got his first real job as a designer while living in Laguna Beach, then was "rescued" back to Oregon, "back home again".

Now talking about "What I do"
"A lot of the guys that I sat with on a chairlift are now making things and heading up companies..."

"Working within very tiny budgets, what could we make?" "We were just about showing our friends and the ways these kids wore their hats and jackets." "99 out of 100 won't do what the pros do" (in ads) "but they will be" (lounging around, being normal, relatable to the real life people who are seeing the ads)

When he started Snowboard Magazine with friends he was trying to relate it to the 99 percent of people, the ones who wont be doing the insane tricks and such.

Tips for the ways he designs: don't "muck" with the photo. leave it alone. let the beautiful girl just be naturally beautiful, don't lay type over her face, just show the products and don't make it overly complicated

"So here I was working with my friends, on stuff that wasn't that big, and then going out and selling this stuff to the big box store."

Now were getting to the stuff I do that didn't make one penny, and I just love to work. I work a lot. This is my favorite project of the summer months: Richmond Fontaine type/jacket/disk CD design project, and he did it because he's been in love with their music for a really long time.

One of my favorite things is making logos. Making identities. Some of them are 5-grand, but some of them are nothing. (Writer's note: it's nice to see that he doesn't mind doing projects for people who might not be able to get them done well, and that the big-name brands and the small ones all get the same amount of awesomeness in their designs)

"That was a job. I wasn't really in to it, and the reason it's next to the logo for M&L (couple who got married) is because I just wasn't as "in" to it as much." (talking about his Nike Air Max 360 logo)

Favorite Logo: Cobra Dogs
Funnest Logo: Redwing Farms (Logo done for John Hughes, without him ever knowing that it was anyone other than "Mr. John", until after the job was finished)
Biggest Logo: The Stimulus Package and TIGER logos

********My laptop's battery died then, and the guy working the event wouldn't let me plug in my power cord. Gawsh.********

All in all it was a really informative, well thought out, provocative Keynote that made me think about he design that I do and how I want to change my point of view.

Oh, and here's Aaron Draplin himself lifting me up for a photo op. Yep.

Good night everyone. See you all at the conference tomorrow!