Freelance Designer :: San Francisco, CA

"She really likes design. It's weird."

–Prashant Samant, Director GiveChange
 

© 2010 Madelin Woods

Champaign-Urbana Design Org

 

CUDO was born into this world with a vision of community, and big city opportunities for small town folk.

In the Fall of 2009, three designers decided it was time to shake up our local scene a bit. We set out to establish a professional organization with networking, inspiration, and community in our minds. In less than 6 months, our team of three grew to an esteemed board of ten, a membership of 50+, and events with audiences of 400+. We’ve really been able to tap into an active and supportive network of people interested in design that nobody knew was there.
Through CUDO, I’ve learned about the power of voice and vision; motivating and managing teams of volunteers; the importance of building and being involved with a strong community; how to network and present ideas to business and community leaders; and how to collaborate with design professionals.

 

 

 

Pecha Kucha Night, CU

Sept, 2009; Jan, 2010

The 217 area code of Champaign-Urbana got a whole new meaning when PechaKucha Night, CU made its debut as the 217th city to enter the realm of PKN. As one of the first small cities to be granted the honor of official PKN status, we’ve done pretty well for ourselves.

» What’s a Pecha Kucha?

Pecha Kucha Night is an international phenomenon that was started in Tokyo, Japan by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham. These nights of lightning fast presentations happen in big cities all over the world. 8-12 presenters are allowed 20 slides and 20 seconds for each slide to talk about their passions.

Our first event in September 2009 pulled in over 350 attendees, and our second in January 2010 gathered an audience of over 400 people. Pretty big numbers for little ole’ Chambana!

We’ve had plenty of excitement around our self-proclaimed “hottest event in town”, and have been lucky to work with PKN Chicago on a mobile PKN as well as being broadcast around the world for PKN Haiti.

Being an organizer for PKN has opened my eyes to what it means to inspire people. The stories and experiences from both presenters and audience members are what really drive motivation.

I’ve even been able to flex my marketing and public relations muscles a bit, writing press releases and media kits, optimizing our postering techniques, and a lot of viral marketing.

CUDO Gives

February, 2009

Sometimes designers like to do good things for people, too. We especially feel for those with non-existent or particularly unfortunate logos. CUDO Gives was a great way for designers to give back to the community by donating a bit of their time and talent to a local non-profit.

Based off of the model from Project: Philanthropy in Chicago, we gathered a team of 20 generous and talented designers, copywriters, web developers, and art directors.

We spent one day designing print materials (logo, brochures, poster, tshirts, business cards, letter head, etc) and website for the Wesley Evening Food Pantry.

I participated as the project manager for the brochure team. Taking concepts gathered from the client, directing our team of 4 designers, and working with the other teams, we eventually produced a brand-consistent piece that Wesley could use to recruit and inform potential donors and volunteers.

After our first CUDO Gives, we decided to re-work our structure and partner up with a local non-profit consulting organization to make a more sustainable project. See what we’ve got coming!

Other events

2009-2010
  • CUDO’s launch event
  • Cupcakes & cocktails gallery exhibit
  • abCU alphabet show
  • Amos Paul Kennedy Jr, workshops, gallery show, and poster sale
  • Studio visits
  • Social mixers
  • Workshops

Word on the street

Pecha Kucha Buzz