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Chicago International Poster Biennial Night
Guest Editorial by Mig Reyes

For two days, eleven esteemed international jurors whittled over 1,600-plus poster entries down to just 100 for the Chicago International Poster Biennial (CIPB). As a board member for the STA (Society of Typographic Arts), an official sponsor of the CIPB, I had the opportunity to work the jurors opening night celebration. While the judges were winding down the last of the Biennial finalists at the UIC Innovation Center this past Saturday morning, the rest of the madness was at Crown Hall at the IIT Campus setting up for the opening reception.

Unloading the posters.

The day started with an unnecessarily big U-Haul delivering to us over 50 beautifully framed juror posters. I can safely say that there’s a certain sensation that you get when you’re handling an original piece of work that you simply just can’t get when you view the piece on screen, or even in a book. Lifting and hanging posters three times our size was literally a labor of love.

While founding CIPB president Lance Rutter was running all around, we spent over five hours deciding on which juror poster to hang where, unwrapping the frames and finally mounting them — all while folding paper cranes out of the CIPB posters. It was down to the wire, but I’d say that the opening reception ended up going off without a hitch.

CIPB-03.jpg

The soiree was a casual night of mixing and mingling with poster fans, Chicago aficionados, designers, and jurors alike. Lance opened the night up with a brief introduction explaining the drive behind the CIPB. Everyone was then let loose to enjoy over 50 of the jurors’ works, with an open bar and live music to boot.

The CIPB Dress.

All of the attendees were also treated to a rather engaging designer fashion show. Roaming the floor, several lovely ladies displayed one-of-a-kind hand made dresses by Miki Shim-Rutter. Each dress embodied a select poster from each juror to be silent auctioned later within the evening.

CIPB-04.jpg

At the end of the night, donors and supporters did not walk away empty handed. The tasty CIPB poster was given away, as well as the “Top Dogs” collectible book, which features the works of the 11 jurors. The poster and book were also available for purchase.

If you weren’t able to make it out to Chicago for the night, fear not. The jurors poster exhibition is scheduled to be on display in Chicago’s always amazing Millennium Park. After that, Lance had mentioned opportunities for the poster exhibition to be a traveling road show of sorts.

So now the real question is, “Did my poster(s) get into the biennial?!” Well, if you happened to have been at the opening reception, you might have been able to spot your work on the on-going winner’s slideshow. For everyone else, you’ll just have to wait until September.

Until then, it’s highly recommended that you witness Shigeo Fukada getting his groove on (embedded above) as well as other tear-jerking video moments. For enough photos to make you feel like you were there, check the Flickr.

Mig Reyes is a young designer roaming the city of Chicago, heavily active within the AIGA and STA communities. When he’s not designing or animating, he spends his spare time in search of the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

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ENTRY DETAILS
ARCHIVE ID 4896 FILED UNDER Review
PUBLISHED ON Jun.11.2008 BY Speak Up
WITH COMMENTS
Comments
Lance Rutter’s comment is:

Mig,

Thank you very much for posting this. Your help setting up and removing the exhibition was invaluable. But your photos and video--especially the "Live Auction" clip--are really priceless. How many times can you see a reserved, 76 year-old Japanese design master get so moved that he cries... and then starts to dance in a dress? It's amazing. If you shorten from the end of the bidding to the end of the video, this is good You Tube material. I wonder what the JAGDA crowd will say about it. Romain Ichbiah, the guy who bought the dress, is extremely generous.

One quick correction: the 127 posters that the jury selected as finalists will be exhibited in Daley Bicentennial Park, not the jurors' work from this show. We will try to post a gallery of the finalists on the Biennial website by end of next week. Thanks for everything.

On Jun.11.2008 at 05:17 PM
Mig Reyes’s comment is:

Lance,

It was certainly an awesome time. Can't wait to see the finalists in the park, keep us posted!

On Jun.11.2008 at 06:39 PM
Kyle LaMere’s comment is:

Mig,
Great article. I had a great time at the show. I wish I owned all those dresses, of course not to wear for myself...or maybe...haha!
It was a great event and hope to see more of these events in Chicago.

Cheers!

On Jun.11.2008 at 11:33 PM
Greg Bodfish’s comment is:

Lance,

I had an awesome time being a part of all the CIPB fun and hope the success of this year will continue to grow in years to come! Like Mig said, "Keep us posted!"

Mig,

Nice article and I enjoyed following all the links to relive the experience in photo and video form!

Thanks to all at CIPB and to the sponsors for making this thing happen!

Greg

On Jun.12.2008 at 03:14 PM
Lance Rutter’s comment is:

Next step... most of this collection will be going out to Terminal 5 at O'Hare for a 6-month exhibition (that's the international terminal) next week. If anyone can help with that installation early next Thursday morning, let me know. Thanks.

Lance

On Jun.13.2008 at 09:27 AM
Armin’s comment is:

O'Hare? That's brilliant. As one of the busiest (aka most delayed) airports out there, people will have ample time and motivation to stare at anything other than business people screaming into their earpieces.

On Jun.13.2008 at 09:48 AM
Billy’s comment is:

I am very excited that it will be shown in the int'l terminal. It is a great showcase for Chicago design.

On Jun.20.2008 at 03:57 PM
Joy Burke’s comment is:

Mig, what a beautifully-written piece on such an extravagant event. It was an honor for us all to be part of the very first (of MANY more to come) CIPBA's. Kudos, dear friend.

A special thanks here also to Lance, Yann, Miki, and Aude for organizing this incredible experience from the get-go. Their efforts have already inspired and assembled the passion of designers across our entire world... how crazy to think about! More kudos.

On Jun.21.2008 at 12:48 AM
Joy Burke’s comment is:

Mig, what a beautifully-written piece on such an extravagant event. It was an honor for us all to be part of the very first (of MANY more to come) CIPBA's. Kudos, dear friend.

A special thanks here also to Lance, Yann, Miki, and Aude for organizing this incredible experience from the get-go. Their efforts have already inspired and assembled the passion of designers across our entire world... how crazy to think about! More kudos.

On Jun.21.2008 at 12:48 AM