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As a spinoff of STEP’s coverage of Speak Up we have created our own version of the 5Ws. Speak Up participants tell us who they are, what Speak Up means to them, where they are at the moment, when they first encountered the site and finally why they keep coming back to Speak Up.
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Who
Big-daddy
What
Speak Up has become a lifestyle for me
Where
Chicago
When
Winter '02
Why
Because I can't stop now
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Who
Unassuming
What
Speak Up is my opportunity, as well as inspiration
Where
Chicago
When
Through my adoradtion of the work by Patric King
Why
It has become like air and water, a necessity
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Who
Speakupauthorwannabe
What
Passion, period
Where
Charlotte
When
Somewhere between "The Swoosh: Symbol Beyond Redemption?" and "a nickel...two dimes..."
Why
I have a persistent itch
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Who
Umm...
What
It's a mini-break
Where
Minnie-so-tah
When
Don't remember
Why
I have ADD
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Who
Pica Enforcer
What
an opportunity to question
Where
Edmonton
When
November 2002
Why
It's like coffee, the more you get - the more you can do
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Who
CrazyAfro
What
Intrinsic motivation
Where
Nordeast(mpls)
When
Typecon 2003
Why
It's impartive to know what is being created and talked about in the design community
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Who
Big-cheese
What
Mosh pit without the bruises
Where
Anywhere
When
During a heated discussion about the AIGA: Business Perspectives for Design Leaders seminar
Why
There is no other place like it
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Who
Boss Hog
What
Home away from home
Where
San Francisco
When
In a dream
Why
Wonderful design related discussions
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Who
Slacker
What
Outlet. Inspiration. Intimidation. Intelligence. Passion. Creativity. Experience.
Where
New York
When
Fall '02
Why
It's the current design authority.-- Graham Wood
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Who
She-devil
What
Inspiration, challenge, fascination, provocation...oh yeah, holds me accountable
Where
The tallest building in Gotham City
When
Google. My firm's work was called "a pair of turds"
Why
Changed my life, truly...it's a destiny thing
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Who
Designo-hippy
What
A place to get all foo-foo about design & people understand
Where
Hicks-ville (Edmonton)
When
One year ago, purely accidental
Why
It's like having co-workers, but you can tell them to screw off without getting fired
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Who
Viajero
What
My morning coffee companion (all of them)
Where
Venice
When
When I most needed it
Why
The writing, the raving, the reasoning, the ranting... and Armin
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Who
Wind
What
A monkey, a boar, a dog, a donkey, a stag, a camel, a horse, a bull, a bird, a goat a lynx, and a group of rabbits: the latter under a branch on which sit an owl, another bird and a squirrel
Where
A scrap of fabric from Napoleon's tent in Egypt, "captured" in 1833, from an exhibit in the Luxembourg museum in Paris
When
Strays from the Orion Nebula ether revealed to man 600 B. C.
Why
In our time, no one has the slightest conception of what is great.
it is up to me to give them an example
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Who
Covert-Ops
What
A mystery warped on a Macintosh
Where
33rd Latitude
When
Microfilm, Leningrad, 1946. Would tell you more but then I would have to kill you
Why
Imagine sitting at a table with hundreds of the most inspiring people you can think of... Why not?
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Who
Mokemonster
What
A chance to eavesdrop on the cool kids
Where
Denver
When
Right about when idealism met reality
Why
To be reassured that the two can co-exist
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Who
Questioner
What
It's the design community I've been looking for for 15 years
Where
Island
When
I found Speak Up when I was wandering, a little lost; it made me loster, then it showed me the way
Why
Because it affirms that I'm a liar when I tell people I no longer care about design
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Who
CaddyDaddy
What
Speak Up means engaging, interacting, and exploring the creative community
Where
Oakland, CA
When
11-03
Why
It's addictive--in a good way
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Who
Graduate Student
What
Lifeline to the "real world"
Where
Kansas
When
Looking for Jeff Keedy and found Rant book club
Why
Learning as much as I can from as many people as I can, plus it makes look smart in class when I know whats going on
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Who
Big-daddy's-DesignerDad
What
An open space to hear, learn, speak up
Where
Mexico City
When
When it was hatching (or is it embrionic phase?)
Why
There is so much going on and you feel part of "design world". It has that "immediacy"
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Who
Kal-El
What
A connection to my home planet, where my superpowers mean nothing and I am free to be merely one among many
Where
San Jose, CA
When
Googling for an Ex Libris holiday project, Nov 2002
Why
it's the best design seminar I never attended
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Who
Coolest
Perhaps the coolest of all of us. He certainly has the coolest tattoos. -- Tan Le What
A break from, what often seems, a frivolous workload
Where
Seattle, WA
When
Winter '03
Why
I have no other place to go
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Who
Prude
What
Speak Up means to me information, cool ideas, and a chance to think intelligently about design
Where
Bradenton
When
I found out about Speak Up when cool Rebecca GimÈnez said, Hey, check out Speak Up
Why
I drop by to learn stuff
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Who
Blank-slate
What
Having always been strong enough to fight myself but no one else, I discovered an arena where my opponents taught me more than I ever could to myself
Where
Beigecarpetland
When
Armin's continual damned mass-emails. I could never figure out how I got on the list, but I didn't care--the subject matter was provoking
Why
I hit the wall but it fell down before I could stand up
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Who
Opinionated
What
Speak Up means that others share my need to have a a dialog about visual communication
Where
Savannah
When
After Emigre's Rant issue
Why
Because as an opportunity to communicate with peers - to influence and to be influenced, inform and be informed - it is invaluable...and addictive
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Who
Design Bully
What
It's 11pm. I'm surfing late-night TV and get a craving for a snack. So I head to the fridge and rummage through my freezer. Sigh...there's nothing but frozen veggies and balls of tin-foil. But wait, what's that I see? It's an orphaned ice-cream sandwich, wedged in the back between the fish sticks and the peas. Score!...yes, SU is exactly like that
Where
At the crossroads of career, fatherhood, and life
When
When my rage and disgust over the rebranding of UPS had reached a stage that I had to talk to someone -- even if it was a bunch of strangers from a blog I'd never heard of before
Why
To remind myself why I love this profession
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Who
Shutin
What
Speak Up is where you go the remind yourself why you do design, and refresh that young designer in you who had goals and passion about what he was doing
Where
Seattle
When
The Art Chantry Interview
Why
Always interesting content with a youthful drive and innocence to it
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Who
Photo Dude
What
A chance to read intelligent, well thought out, gramatically correct dialogue
Where
Lotus Land (Vancouver)
When
About 6 months ago, while trying to find interesting sites worth coming back to
Why
To learn more about design
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Who
Curious
What
Inspiration, passion, direction, validation, family
Where
The Beach
When
I don't remember when, but for some reason it feels like always
Why
I'm addicted... I can't stop... my therapist says admitting it is the first step to recovery... but I'm not sure I want recovery... I guess that makes Speak Up my designer drug
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Who
Design-addict
What
A community of people who give a crap
Where
Boston
When
Summer '03
Why
See Who answer
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Who
Is it okay for me to be a consummate generalist?
What
Speak Up projects the voices and opinions of todayís movers and shakers in design
Where
I am everywhere, just like graphic design
When
After reading Emigre no.65, I caught a blurb that advertised the site and have made it my home page ever since (thanks for spreading the word, Rudy)
Why
I come back to SpeakUp every day because the site's visitors possess a voice and attitude that most design discourse lacks
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Who
Freelance journeyman
What
A check against the day‚to‚day
Where
At the gate way to the west
When
First: a look to see the use of unibody. Next: a daily addiction. Now: a daily glance to see the pulse and to welcome virtual company into the office/apartment
Why
Much like in any reality tv show: To see what Tan will say next
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Who
Catwoman. (no, reallyó ok, ok, i just wanted to sound sexy)
What
It's one giant, extended design family: disfunctional at times, but at the end of the day, full of wisdom and heart
Where
Earth
When
Once upon a time...
Why
"It is not for us to question why, but just to do or die"
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Who
Trapped in SLC
What
The constant flow of pure intelligence
Where
Still trapped in SLC (please, somebody, get me out of here!)
When
Veer-directed, logo smackdown hooked, everything since reeled in
Why
Because no one else around this place gets it
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Who
Someone's Mom
What
24/7 design ju-ju
Where
SinCity
When
Stumbled onto it on Veer's idea page in summer of '03
Why
The open advice and thought provoking discussion on every design topic you could ever think of
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Who
Student
What
A resource for creative discussion
Where
Salt Lake City (not trapped, but loving it)
When
Last Summer
Why
I love this stuff
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Who
Me
What
Speak Up is a living voice and barometer of graphic design thinking today
Where
San (Francisco)
When
I was looking online for inspiration
Why
Though it is difficult at times to keep up, Speak Up is like a common-room of colleagues or fellow students, where we get to mix with mentors and professors and discuss/argue amongst ourselves
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Who
THE wife
What
Life as I know it. Life as I love it
Where
Chicago
When
Late night pillow talk
Why
Passion, love, lifestyle, companionship, ideals, life
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Who
Disconnected
What
An oasis of discussion in a desert of silence and apathy
Where
San Francisco
When
AIGA Conference in Vancouver
Why
More discussion grist for the local design community mill
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Who
Brainstormer
What
Speak Up is truly the life of the mind at work -- an entertaining place for the exchange of visual ideas and pithy criticisms, a digital home for those graphic designers constantly looking to be inspired and challenge their own thinking, and a community usually free of hype-for-the-sake-of-hype
Where
Online, on the south side of Chi-town
When
During the summer of 2002 through a post on a Web log, Speak Up's became a part of my life organically -- a lurk here, link here, everywhere a post, post
Why
It's good, cheap (but not always clean) fun, damn it
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Who
Still-Bill
What
A designer's peephole
Where
Cubicle
When
I accidentally found it while surfing for info on Paul Rand
Why
Because I'm a design pervert
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Who
Persistent
What
Speak Up is a low-key cocktail lounge with a smart vibe and the best entertainment
Where
Chico (California)
When
While burning the midnight oil
Why
Speak up is my link to the world design community without the ego and black turtlenecks
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Who
The masses
What
A place where we can discuss design without wearing all black and smoking clove cigarettes
Where
Everywhere
When
We found Speak Up just as it was about to choke on it's own pretentiousness, but we saved it via the Heimlich manuever
Why
We need to keep those hoity-toity design snobs grounded in reality
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Who
Designer
What
It's like being in an office with 200‚300 people who love design as much as I do
Where
Kansas
When
In the beginning ‚ Armin was posting on Typographica at that time...I just followed him to Speak Up
Why
Everyone who inspires, enlightens, offends, defends, teaches, snarls, shows off, supports and cares
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Who
Myself, naturally
What
A brain
Where
Wherever I can be
When
When I start thinking
Why
cause it feels good
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Who
UltraVirgo
What
It's a direct connection to a wide variety of designers and their opinions
Where
Home in NYC
When
I really don't remember when I found Speak Up. I just realized one day it was bookmarked and I was reading it every day
Why
There's a new opinion every day, if not every hour |
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