Kali Nikitas is a very funny and interesting individual. I found her presentation to be much different from any gauge event I have attended thus far. When we first walked into the lecture hall everyone was given three index cards and three envelopes. No one was aware of the purpose of these things but everyone was quite curious. The presentation started a little late because there were issues with the computer apparently but hey that's typical. Once we started Kali instructed us to write global on one envelope, personal on another and professional on the last envelope. Then, she instructed us to write on one side of the card for global what we want to change/ make better globally she told us to basically reach for the stars and have no limits with our wishes and desires. Once we finished our lists of wants we were to draw an image on the back that represented what we said, basically a symbol. We repeated this for each card and once we were done we sealed them. She told us to keep them and one day open them up and see how much of what we asked for actually became a reality. She basically let us know that in life you have to ask for things, put your desires out into the universe and surprisingly we'll find that for the most part they become true. I found this exercise to be very interesting and different, I enjoyed it.
She then took us on a tour of her personal website, showed us some of her works and talked about a the masters program that she started at Otis where she teaches. She explained that just because you study design doesn't necessarily limit you only to design practices. I thought this was an interesting idea. She explained that having the mind of a designer makes you a problem solver and no matter what field you end up in you will find yourself using much of what you learned in design school. Not everyone in her masters program are graphic designers. She stated that she loves to travel because it shapes her mind, she has been many places.
Kali has found that over the years she has become more interested in conversations about what's successful and what isn't when it comes to her work then simply making something that looks nice. In school she wasn't really taught to think, ask question, to be analytical. I found this interesting because it seems like that is being taught here at Cal State La, and though sometimes it can be frustrating it is only going to help us in the end to become better thinkers, better presenters, more confident, and overall better designers. Towards the end of her presentation she showed a part of her website in which I found most interesting was the section in which people would submit photos of themselves and explain where they got each piece they were wearing, if there is an interesting story attached to it they would state it. She had a ton of funny submissions, it was interesting to see. Overall I really enjoyed this presentation because it was unique, entertaining, and informative all at the same time.
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