Ignite CreativePro

Come join us for dessert and some late night, after-dinner tips, tricks, and fun! Or sign up to present 20 slides in 5 minutes. It’s your opportunity to have 5 minutes in the spotlight, in the relaxed and friendly confines of an after-hours get-together with your colleagues, and laugh your butts off.

When: Tuesday, June 5, 8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Where: The ballroom at the Sheraton (the conference hotel)

Who’s Invited: All conference attendees, speakers, sponsors, paparazzi, etc.

Cost: Free!

We’re putting on our annual fun “IGNITE”-style show and need your help! Do you have …

  • An unusual design or production-related technique that you use?
  • A “from the design trenches” anecdote to share — funny or serious?
  • Some hard-won lessons you’ve learned? Or wish your clients would learn…
  • Tips for getting the most out of a conference?
  • An incredibly complex table you created, or special effect, or the world’s best workspace?
  • Advice for designers or computer users or ?
  • Something else InDesign- or Photoshop-related that you’re passionate about?

Yes? Then take this opportunity to share it with your colleagues in 5 minutes or less! Only 12 spots are available, and it’s first-come first-serve, so don’t wait till the last minute. We’ll confirm via email with our final roster of 12 Ignite presenters and 2 alternates by Friday, May 25. If you’re not sure of a topic yet, but definitely want to do this thing, then fill out the form with a placeholder idea NOW to save your spot! You can fill it out again later (before May 25) once you’ve decided on a topic.

Rules

Sign-up for your slot below, but first read the rules:

  1. This event is mainly for ATTENDEES: No prior speaking experience required. The newbier the better. The audience is very supportive, not to worry.
  2. Create a series of exactly 20 pages or slides in landscape format, which you will export to PDF and we’ll project it on screen during your talk. The first one’s your opener, the last one is your closer. Email the 20-page PDF to us or bring it with you on a USB Flash drive. Keep the slides simple!
  3. Content: Your topic must be about something related to the field of design or production, hopefully incorporating Photoshop somewhere in there — tools, projects, tips, rants. It’s okay to be funny, but keep it clean and appropriate. Please don’t use this as a sales presentation or portfolio review. Violators will get “the hook”! If in doubt, ask Anne-Marie (amarie@cpn.co), your friendly MC, beforehand.
  4. Be prepared to talk about your topic for 5 minutes while we project your slides on the screen.
  5. The slides will auto-advance every 15 seconds! That’s the Ignite rule. And what makes it fun for the audience, too! 20 slides x 15 seconds = 5 minutes.
  6. When your 5 minutes are up, take a bow, enjoy the applause, and hand the mic back to the MC.

That’s all… nice and simple! Fill out the form below to sign up for fame, fortune, and hilarity. (And did we mention all IGNITE speakers earn a special conference keepsake for their efforts?)

Notes

2018 CreativePro Ignite Sign-up Sheet

Welcome Reception

Welcome Reception

Monday, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

Join us for drinks, nibbles, and a fun opportunity to meet the speakers and fellow attendees! Plus don’t miss this opportunity to fill out your bingo card and win.


Vector Master Class

Vector Master Class

Tuesday, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

This class will give you the foundation needed to create anything in vector form. We’ll cover such topics as Where to Start?, The Clockwork Method, Shape Building, Helpful Shortcuts, Amazing Plugins, Coloring Tricks and Tips, and other best practices for bolstering your vector building skills so you can leverage them for a lifetime of creativity. All attendees will get a free digital copy of my ‘Vector Basic Training Second Edition’ book (including 4GB or resource files and 7 hours of HD screencasts). This class puts the ‘Ai’ in a no-brainer.
  • ideation and sketching techniques
  • making the most of Adobe Illustrator’s tools
  • color exploration
  • rejection: flexing your internal critic
  • beyond Illustrator

Compositing for Creative and Commercial Design

Compositing for Creative and Commercial Design

Tuesday, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Somewhere between the decisive moment and moving pictures lies the world of digital compositing — where multiple images captured at different times layer together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. During this Master Class, Julieanne will demonstrate flexible and efficient ways to organize, construct, and manage multiple images on layers including complex effects using the multitude of key feature that have been added to Photoshop CC.

Learn essential techniques for blending images together including color and tone, scale and perspective, quality and direction of light, structure and focus and more. From novice to advanced, both you and your clients, will benefit from the skills you learn in this session.

Topics to be covered include:

  • Layers and Masking
  • Selections and Adjustment Layers
  • Layer and Clipping Groups
  • Smart Objects and Filters
  • Warping and Transformations
  • Advanced Blending and Layer Effects

Three Minutes Max

Three Minutes Max

Monday, 4:45 pm – 5:30 pm

Still hungry for more?! Watch our presenters each take three minutes max to show off their best tip, trick, or technique! Which one will blow your mind? You get to vote and shower one lucky attendee in the room with prizes… it might be you!

I Wish I’d Known That! Photoshop Power Tips and Tricks for Designers

I Wish I’d Known That!
Photoshop Power Tips and Tricks for Designers

Monday, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Everyone knows Photoshop is full of amazing features — but where are they hidden?! And which ones are worth using when you really need to be efficient and productive.
Join Jesús in this information-packed session where he will share his best Photoshop tricks and power shortcuts for designers!
In this session, you will learn timesaving keyboard shortcuts, little-known features, and better ways to work with the tools that you already use. This session will leave you saying, “I wish I knew that years ago!”
In this session, you’ll learn:
  • Time-saving keyboard shortcuts.
  • Better ways of working with color.
  • How to make blending modes work for you.
  • …and much more

Selections, Channels, and Masks (Oh my!)

Selections, Channels, and Masks (Oh my!)

Monday, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

One of the most important skills in Photoshop is making selections and masks – and doing it quickly and without too much effort. In this session you’ll learn the most important tools and techniques for selecting and masking, and the role of channels. You’ll see how to use selection tools individually and together as a ‘selection toolkit,’ how to fine-tune your selections, and how to take full advantage of layer masks and channels. You’ll learn
  • how to “end up with” a great selection
  • the power of channels for making challenging selections
  • tips for getting the most out of layer masks
  • how to mask a mask
  • …and more

Vector Art with Organic Flair

Vector Art with Organic Flair

Monday, 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

How do you create vector-based artwork that has a handmade quality to it? In this session, we’ll explore several ways to imbue your designs with an organic flair, so they avoid that cheap vector clip-art feel and look more aesthetically authentic while retaining full resolution independence for ease of use.
  • patterns and symbols
  • AI add-ons you need to know about
  • techniques for incorporating scanned images

Simple Techniques for Building Complex Shapes in Illustrator

Simple Techniques for Building Complex Shapes in Illustrator

Monday, 2:15 pm – 3:00 pm

Logos, infographics, and simple vector illustrations are best created in Illustrator, but for some, using the pen tool and creating detailed drawings from scratch is daunting. In this fast paced session, Laurie Ruhlin will lead you through panels, tools and menu commands you may not realize can help you create your next stunning logo or illustration from a few simple shapes.
We’ll explore:

  • Shape Builder Tool — tips to merge and extract shapes, and control the fill color
  • Pathfinder Panel — combine objects, permanently vs. how to keep it editable
  • Add, Delete & Simplify Anchor points on a shape — tips and tricks
  • Split an object perfectly into multiple shapes

Speed Up Your Work in Photoshop

Speed Up Your Work in Photoshop

Monday, 2:15 pm – 3:00 pm

You love working in Photoshop. But are you still performing repetitive tasks? Do you find you have to go through the same processes again and again? Do you keep reaching for menu items that don’t have keyboard shortcuts? Don’t you wish someone could do all the drudge work, while you concentrate on your creativity?

This session will show you how to work faster, how to avoid repetitive operations, and how to spend less time searching for menus and files on your hard drive when you can do it all with a single press of a key.

We’ll cover a load of tips and tricks, including:

  • Mastering keyboard shortcuts, and defining your own
  • Getting up to speed with Actions
  • Instant effects with Adjustment Layers
  • The magic of Smart Objects