Michael Osborne Talk

AIGA DC sponsored a talk by Michael Osborne tonight at the Charles Sumner School in DC.  Focused mainly on the steps leading towards the creation of Mr. Osborne's non-profit studio, Joey's Corner, the inspiring talk relayed to the audience of designers how Osborne has used his big heart and wonderful design skills to make a huge impact on the lives of others.

Michael Osborne's original studio, Michael Osborne Design, designs packaging for many food and beverage companies such as Jack Daniel's, Kettle Chips and Williams Sonoma. He has also had the privilege of designing a version of the famous "Love" stamps for the US Postal Service. He simultaneously runs the non-profit Joey's Corner out of the same office, bouncing back and forth between the two entities. While the studio consists of 8-10 designers, Joey's Corner consists of one designer, one intern, and Osborne himself as the driving force.

One of Osborne's first notable non-profit designs was done while he was getting his MFA at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. This was a tee-shirt logo promoting the prevention of AIDS transmission for a group of young kids in Malawi. He was able to deliver 1500 much-appreciated shirts using shirt donations from Gymboree and Nike.
In honor of his late son, Joey, Osborne developed the non-profit Joey's Corner in order to deliver pro-bono design solutions for organizations promoting health care, children, and social issues.  Since its creation, the studio has designed for a number of important causes including the Alzheimer's Memory Walk, the California Music Project, and Heart to Heart, which sends surgeons over to Russia to give proper infant heart surgery training.

Osborne has been very generous in his artistic endeavors. Although there are a lot of challenges in running both a high-end design studio along and a non-profit, his efforts seem to come from the heart and this allows seemingly anything to happen. I found his talk incredibly inspiring as far as seeking out a higher meaning and purpose to using one's design capabilities. He embodies the success of having a purpose, an open mind, and using your resources smartly to realize a greater vision.