Join Chicago Dribbblers for a monster mash meetup on October 19th at the Devbridge HQ. Costumes are welcome and encouraged. Rebound the meetup shot for a chance to win swag at the event. More info and RSVP link here.
In advance of the meetup, we spoke with the folks at Devbridge about the Chicago design scene.
Tell us what you love about Chicago.
There is such a strong sense of community and a lot of diversity. The Midwestern hospitality really fosters creativity and helping your fellow neighbor, which is something we care about deeply as user experience designers. Everywhere you look in Chicago, there’s something inspiring; the architecture, the food, the people. There’s always something to do or people to meet, revolving your interests — and we definitely capitalize on enjoying our summer months in the best ways.
Tell us where you work, in relation to the rest of Chicago.
The Devbridge office is located in an area of Chicago called River North. It’s north of the river (we’re very creative with our names here) and is not technically downtown. It’s a cool little pocket of town with the ability to get anywhere you need to go quick. According to Google, “It hosts the largest concentration of art galleries in the United States, outside of Manhattan.” So that’s cool! There’s a lot of amazing restaurants in the area and the famous Merchandise Mart is basically in our “backyard.”
Tell us about Chicago’s design scene.
From a market perspective, Chicago’s design scene continues to be on the rise. There are a number of notable agencies located in the heart of the city, and we continue to attract a lot of design talent that is both humble and strong. Each individual brings his or her own unique experience both from the print and digital realms, and as such has brought tremendous creativity and design expertise to the digital products that we produce for our clients. Chicago has such a rich advertising history that permeates throughout; most designers have worked at an ad agency of some sort at one point in their careers, which means that everybody knows somebody. Chicago may be a fairly large city, but the design community is close knit. We also think it’s really cool that there are more start-ups popping up in the Chicagoland area.
Choose three shots from Chicago Dribbblers you admire, and tell us what you like about each one.
Project Dark Card Back by Jenna Blazevich, above left.
Jenna Blazevich is a talented designer who is meticulous about the small things—the important things!—that really drive her work home. As a company dedicated to seeking mastery and making great things, we feel that she encompasses these values in her own craft as an illustrator and hand-letterer.
MyLacroix.com Stickers by Michael Mesker for Nelson Cash, above center.
If life was an actual 90s-rom com and Devbridge and Nelson Cash were at the high school dance, we’d hope Nelson Cash would ask us to dance. A creative studio with roots in Chicago, New York and LA, Nelson Cash delivers amazing work to its wide range of clients while also managing to do fun stuff on the side like this Lacroix gif to promote their Lacroix flavor stickers or their Stranger Things generator.
Finances by Mark Luderman, above right.
Our very own, Mark Luderman, always makes the cut in our list of Chicago Dribbble designers. Mark is one of our design leads and has an extensive background in both print and digital. This shot in particular is, as Mark would say, “The hot sex!”
GO CUBS GO!
Can’t make it on Thursday, October 19th? Find Devbridge Group on Dribbble, Twitter and at devbridge.com.
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