Now in its 4th year, WMC Fest is a must-attend event for creatives in the Midwest. Its goal is to inspire and enable the creative mind and will feature 20 speakers, 20 designers, and over 30 bands over the weekend. Between three days of art, music, and industry talks, there is more than enough to do, and Midwest Action is here to help you sort through some of it.
You’ve made it through the Friday evening kick-off, and now for everything to really kick in gear. Saturday marks the start of the Weapons of Mass Creation artists’ lectures and workshops, and the continuance of great music. We’ve sifted through the Saturday schedule and picked a few note-worthy events by Midwestern souls.
Check out our Saturday preview below:
12:30-2:30 | WORKSHOP WITH NATE UTESCH OF FEROCIOUS QUARTERLY
Nate Utesch | Ferocious Quarterly | Twitter
Nate Utesch will be joined by Dan Cassaro of Young Jerks and Dan Christofferson of Big Cartel in this workshop. Workshops are new to the WMC Fest line-up and are intended to be more intimate sessions with a smaller audience. “Good Times and Collaboration” offers participants an opportunity to create pieces for an upcoming WMCFest exclusive Ferocious Quarterly issue. The WMC Fest website states:
The room will be divided into teams of letterers and illustrators and we’ll find ourselves in the middle of a clumsy interpretation of America’s favorite schoolyard past-time (or one of ‘em anyway). At the end of the second day, you’ll have created a piece to be published in a forthcoming, WMC Fest exclusive issue of Ferocious Quarterly. And if we’re lucky, we’ll make a few friends while we’re at it. [credit]
This workshop continues on Sunday from 12:30 – 1:30.
3:15-3:45 | NICK DISABATO
Nick Disabato | Twitter
Nick Disabato is a interaction designer based in Chicago, IL. He wrote the book, Cadence & Slang, and contributes to Distance, a quarterly journal about design and technology.
His talk, in part titled “..Including the Parts That Are Too Uncomfortably Personal to Responsibly Share at a Professional Conference“, will touch on his work as an interaction design consultant and sounds like it’ll be very entertaining.
5:30-6:00 | BRANDON RIKE
Brandon Rike | Twitter
Brandon Rike hails from Westerville, Ohio. While mostly designing shirt graphics for bands, Rike will dabble elsewhere but always works with what he excels at – type. He has worked for clients as varied as Led Zeppelin, Bad Religion, Katy Perry, and Eminem. Brandon’s talk is titled “Betray The Institution” and will touch on doing the work that you want to be doing and creating something of value to you.
“Whether I’m doing art for Deftones or Billy Joel, I get excited, all the same. I live and breathe this stuff.” [credit]
7:30-8:00 | ANNABEL
Facebook | Bandcamp
Annabel is a four-piece emo outfit from Kent, Ohio and no stranger to Weapons of Mass Creation, having performed at the festival the past few years. They released their second full-length album, Youth in Youth, this past November. Filled with heart-felt lyrics and powerful, yet sometimes delicate, guitar work, it has gotten wonderful reviews. Don’t miss this Midwestern quartet as they take the Jakprints Stage.
8:00-10:00 | ADVENTURES IN DESIGN LIVE
Official | Twitter
Personally, I am ecstatic that AID will be at Weapons of Mass Creation Fest this year! Having listened to the podcast from the first few episodes, I feel like a proud parent watching Mark and Billy (and now James Flames) grow this podcast into something that is both educational and entertaining. Shall we say ‘edutaining’? Nope? Didn’t think so.
Whatever you find yourself doing Saturday night, make sure to head to the Jakprints Stage before 8 to catch some design wrestling.. or just a normal podcast. Or maybe actually some wrestling; Hollywood Brickey is quite the entertainer after all.
11:00-11:40 | BRAID
Facebook | Bandcamp
The influential emo band, Braid, will take the AiR Stage later this evening. Braid formed originally in 1993 in Champaign, Illinois, and after a few early line-up changes and a break-up, reformed in 2011. Most recently, Braid released a split with Balance and Composure. Listen to their EP, Closer Than Closed, below in which the band expands their trademark sound with new layers and textures. Or even better, see them live at Weapons of Mass Creation on Saturday.
There are plenty more performances, workshops, and talks scheduled than what has been previewed above. Almost too many to count, but we’re not complaining! There’s no limit to inspiration. Is your Saturday already mapped out? Who are you seeing?
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