2010 AIGA DC Fellow Award Presentation Attendee List

Honoring Tamera Lawrence and Rodney Williams

Please join us Wednesday, October 6th, for our 2010 AIGA DC Fellow Award Presentation honoring Tamera Lawrence and Rodney Williams for their outstanding achievements in design for our community. The AIGA Fellow is a national program through which each chapter can recognize one or more mature designers who have made significant contributions to the local design communities and their chapter by raising the standards of excellence in practice and conduct.

80% of the proceeds from this event will be donated to the AIGA DC Continuum Design Scholarship in our Fellows' honor. Click here for more information about Continuum.

Registration opens at 6:30 PM, and the event begins at 7:00 PM. 

Members, $10 ($15 at the door), Non-members, $15 ($20 at the door), Students, $5 ($10 at the door) 

If you can, come early to view select pieces from our Fellows' portfolio. 

There will be an after party to follow at The Ritz-Carlton Degrees Bar (3100 South Street, N.W.).

Attire: Creative-Formal

Metered street parking is available nearby, in addition to parking garages with entrances at 30th Street and Thomas Jefferson Street. Public transportation is available via the DC Circulator bus on M Street, or by Metro at Foggy Bottom (15 minute walk).

About the Fellow Award

The AIGA Fellow is a national program through which each chapter can recognize one or more mature designers who have made significant contributions to the local design communities and chapter by raising the standards of excellence in practice and conduct. In measuring significant contributions, the areas of education, writing, leadership, and reputation, as well as the practice of design, have equal consideration. A Fellow Award nominee should be:

• A practitioner and/or educator with more than 15 years of experience in the profession * A member in good standing
• Making or has made a significant contribution to AIGA      
• Making or has made a positive impact within their local or regional design community      
• Advancing or has advanced excellence in graphic design as a discipline, profession, and cultural force

About This Year's 2010 Fellow Award Winners

Tamera Lawrence earned a BFA in Visual Communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Design in 1988. Upon graduation, she began her design career working for Johnson Design Group in Falls Church, VA. After spending three years there, she started her own company, AM PM Design, and won numerous AIGA National Design Awards for brand/identity systems and promotional/marketing systems. In 1996, she joined the AIGA DC Chapter board as a program coordinator. Two years later, she became President of that same chapter. After the completion of her term, Tamera continued her volunteer commitment by becoming an AIGA DC Advisory Board member in 2000. When the opportunity arose, she moved from Northern Virginia to DC, co-founding O2 Design in 2003, a branding and marketing communications company. During that same time, she began teaching graphic design at the Corcoran College of Art. In 2005, Tamera shifted her focus from corporate design to retail design and started Cirque Studio. It was within this company that she began developing a mobile greeting card line that reflected her love of words and iconography. In tandem, she co-founded SingleTease.com, a company focused on developing and designing products as conversation starters for singles. With the growth of this business, she recently moved to Los Angeles to expand the brand and to build a social cause marketing campaign.

Rodney C. Williams, President of RCW Communication Design Inc., has over 40 years of experience in the field of visual communication. Founded by Rodney in 1987, RCW has grown into a recognized and respected full service graphic communication company that provides to a diverse marketplace in the areas of branding/identity, advertising, copy writing/editing, graphic design, marketing, publications, exhibit graphics, internet and multimedia design. Prior to starting RCW Inc., Rodney served as Art Assistant to Design Director at multiple national magazines including Science 85 Magazine, CHICAGO Magazine and OUI Magazine, an international male magazine published by Playboy Enterprises. While at OUI, he received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Mr. Williams has continuously employed, encouraged, and mentored young designers just starting in their careers. He has served as a member of Northern Virginia Community College Communication Design Advisory Board for over 12 years. He is active as a panelist, judge, portfolio reviewer, mentor, and career speaker. During his career Rodney Williams has received awards from numerous organizations such as AIGA, American Graphic Design & Advertising, Art Directors Club, Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, The Communicators Award, Graphic Design USA, Print Regional Design Annual, The Rx Club, and the American Association of Museums. He continues to make design an integral part of his life and career and has emerged as a leader in the design field.

Past AIGA DC Fellow Award recipients include:       

• Tom Suzuki, 2000
• Pat Taylor, 2001
• Stephen Kraft, 2002
• Terrence McCaffrey, 2003 
• Charles Michael Helmken, 2004 
• Ethel Kessler, 2004
• Judy Kirpich, 2005 
• Beth Singer, 2005
• Sam Shelton, 2006
• Antonio Alcalá, 2008
• David Franek, 2009