Ultimate List of Design Conferences, Tradeshows, and Expos
Attending Conferences, Workshops and Trainings is a great way to stay up to date on what’s going on in your field. They’re also a great way to network and stay in touch with other professionals in your field. So here’s a list of a bunch of conferences all over the US and even a few international conferences. They’re roughly split into Graphic Design conferences and Web Design conferences but there is a lot of crossover and a lot of good stuff that anyone could pick up in both industries.
Graphic Design
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HOW Design Conference
June 24-27, 2009 – Austin, TX – The 2009 HOW Conference program features a wide range of sessions on everything from getting new clients to boosting your creativity. The sessions are divided into seven tracks—Creativity, Design Disciplines, Business, Your Career, In-House, Technology & Production and the HOW Learning Center.
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Re-Thinking…Design
June 17-18, 2009 – San Fransico, CA – Re-Thinking … Design is an opportunity for the community of smart designers to collaborate on the leadership role that Design should take to shape our future. We will examine how Design thinking is becoming a change agent for transforming the deep fissures in our cultural and business systems, and creating emerging opportunities to elevate the impact of our contributions.
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TypeCon2009: Rhythm
July 14-19, 2009 – Atlanta, GA – Presented b the Society of Typographic Aficionados this conference is for the designer that wants a conference all about typography.
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ATypI Conference
October 26-30, 2009 – Mexico City, Mexico – ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale) is the premier worldwide organisation dedicated to type and typography. Founded in 1957, ATypI provides the structure for communication, information and action amongst the international type community.
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Make/Think: AIGA Design Conference
October 8-11, 2009 – Memphis, TN – “Make/Think,†the 2009 AIGA Design Conference, will explore the dual roles of designers as makers of beautiful things and strategic problem solvers. Join us in Memphis to celebrate design excellence, reinforce friendships and connections and stimulate thinking about the critical issues that surround design practice.
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ad tech
Various Locations – Various Dates – ad:tech is an interactive advertising and technology conference and exhibition. Worldwide shows blend keynote speakers, topic driven panels and workshops to provide attendees with the tools and techniques they need to compete in a changing world.
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Compostmodern
February 21, 2009 – San Francisco, CA – Compostmodern 09, an annual interdisciplinary conference for designers and business leaders dedicated to promoting sustainable design solutions. The one-day event explores the current and future potential for ecologically sustainable growth and responsible design, focusing on real world solutions and practical applications of design thinking.
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Better: Design for Social Causes
February 28, 2009 – Princeton University – Do designers have a responsibility towards shaping our society’s conscience? How can design compel disaffected audiences to take action on social issues? BETTER, the second-annual Princeton University design conference, brings together students and renowned professionals together to confront these questions.
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Plus
November 5-8, 2008 – Birmingham, England – Plus is a unique design-led festival showcasing all that is innovative, pioneering, and novel in the world of international typo/graphic design.
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DXR 09
May 1-9, 2009 – Raleigh, NC – DXR ’09 will be a week long celebration of the incredible designers who call North and South Carolina home and the innovative work being created in these two states. The theme for this year’s event is “Designing Change.†We have a powerful and wonderful design community – it’s time we show the rest of the world what we’re doing to mold our future.
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Photoshop World Conference & Expo
October 1-3, 2009 – Las Vegas, NV – You’ve never seen a training camp like this! Photoshop World is the ONLY Photoshop and digital photography conference designed to put you at the top of your game with fast and furious classes from the world’s leading experts. Photoshop World is where Photoshop Users go to learn hard and play even harder!
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SEGD09: Society for Environmental Graphic Design
May 2-30, 2009 – San Diego, CA – Design is increasingly global, pan-disciplinary, multi-media, and amorphous, defying traditional boundaries or categories. Where does architecture stop and graphic communication begin? At the 2009 SEGD Conference + Expo— themed “Blurring the Boundariesâ€â€” we’ll celebrate the dynamic, category-defying state of design today.
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Technical Association of the Graphic Arts
March 15-18, 2009 – New Orleans, LA – Organized in 1948, TAGA is the only global professional technical association for the graphic arts industries. TAGA focuses on graphic arts systems, software, and computer technology developments, as well as the more traditional areas of press, ink, and paper engineering applications.
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SIGGRAPH 2009
August 3-7, 2009 – New Orleans, LA – Stimulate. Collaborate. Create. SIGGRAPH is the highest quality, most timely educational experiences the community has to offer, presented by the most powerful and most engaging leaders in computer graphics and interactive techniques.
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FUSE Design Conference
April 22-24, 2009 – San Francisco, CA – This year, at the 13th annual FUSE design conference, we focus on authenticity by celebrating the power of collective knowledge through collaboration. You will hear REAL stories about creative directors and brand strategists who plan to unite to meet the challenges posed by our uncertain future.
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Gain: AIGA Business and Design Conference
2010 – TBA – There’s a recap on the 2008 conference but no info on the 2010 conference yet – At “Gain,†attendees heard today’s success stories from a select group of business and design leaders from a variety of industries, who teamed up to share their innovative approaches to generating greater return on investment, fostering emotional connections and providing positive brand experiences for customers.
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View Digital Convergency
November 4-7, 2009 – Turin, Italy – VIEW Conference is the premiere international event in Italy on Computer Graphics, Interactive Techniques, Digital Cinema, 3D Animation, Gaming and VFX.
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Design City 2009
November 12-14, 2009 – Ontario, Canada – Stay on top of your industry! Visit Design City and see the latest graphic design tools, services, and products from the world’s largest vendors. You’ll see and test software that you’ve been wanting to try, you’ll meet the people that you talk to on the phone every day, and you’ll be wowed by some of the latest technology created for your profession.
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Intergraphic
January 12-14, 2010 – Paris, France
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Design Indaba 2009
February 25-27, 2009 – Cape Town, South Africa – By attracting the world’s brightest talent, Design Indaba has become a respected institution on the creative landscape and one of the few multi-sectoral events that celebrates all the creative sectors –graphic design, advertising, film, music, fashion design, industrial design, architecture, craft, visual art, new media, publishing, broadcasting and performing arts.
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5d:09 The Immersive Design Conference
October 1-3, 2009 – Long Beach, CA – Join renowned designers and thinkers for three days of inspiring, educational and career-enhancing discussions and networking focused on the challenges of world-building and the evolving nature of entertainment content creation and story-driven architectural environments.
Web Design and Development
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MIX09: Web Design and Development Conference
March 18-20, 2009 – Las Vegas, NV – Take your web development and design skills to the next level at MIX09. Now in its fourth year, the MIX conference is a gathering of designers and developers who are building the world’s most innovative web sites.
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World Wide Web International Conference
April 20-24, 2009 – Madrid, Spain – The World Wide Web Conference is the global event that brings together key researchers, innovators, decision-makers, technologists, businesses, and standards bodies working to shape the Web.
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Voices That Matter: Web Design Conference
April 27-30, 2009 – San Francisco, CA – At the Voices That Matter: Web Design Conference to be held in San Francisco, California, in April, you can sharpen your skills and strengthen your resume with new techniques and strategies from the most respected professionals in the Web design industry.
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Web Design World
July 20-22, 2009 – Seattle, WA – The design conference for the here and now. These days, everyone’s having to do more with less. We get that. That’s why Web Design World Seattle is all about teaching you what you need today. Like CSS and markup that’s easy to maintain and broadly accessible. Web typography that carries your message and is beautiful to look at. And more…
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An Event Apart: For People Who Make Websites – Seattle
May 4-5, 2009 – Seattle, WA – Join Eric Meyer, Jeffrey Zeldman and special guests to gain a deeper understanding of web standards and best practices. Be inspired by fresh ideas and creative new directions. Spend two days with the greatest minds and hottest talents in web design today.
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An Event Apart: For People Who Make Websites – Boston
June 22-23, 2009 – Boston, MA – Join Eric Meyer, Jeffrey Zeldman and special guests to gain a deeper understanding of web standards and best practices. Be inspired by fresh ideas and creative new directions. Spend two days with the greatest minds and hottest talents in web design today.
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An Event Apart: For People Who Make Websites – Chicago
October 12-13, 2009 – Chicago, IL – Join Eric Meyer, Jeffrey Zeldman and special guests to gain a deeper understanding of web standards and best practices. Be inspired by fresh ideas and creative new directions. Spend two days with the greatest minds and hottest talents in web design today.
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An Event Apart: For People Who Make Websites – San Francisco
December 7-8, 2009 – San Francisco, CA – Join Eric Meyer, Jeffrey Zeldman and special guests to gain a deeper understanding of web standards and best practices. Be inspired by fresh ideas and creative new directions. Spend two days with the greatest minds and hottest talents in web design today.
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Future of Web Design London 2009
April 30 – May 1, 2009 – London, England – It’s that time of year again, FOWD is back to London! We’ve got some amazing speakers lined up for you this year and a few more to be announced! It’s gonna be bigger and better than ever. Don’t miss out!
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In Control 2009: AIGA Cincinnati
June 11-12, 2009 – Cincinnati, Ohio – Learn from a diverse array of Web experts to use modern tools and techniques to refine your Web design craft now. Harness creative inspiration to unlock your potential, amplify innovation, and broaden your reach. Immerse yourself in two days of idea exchange with potential business partners who are as forward-thinking as you are.
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Future of Web Apps Tour 2009
May 27 – June 3, 2009 – Various Cities, England – That’s right folks, we’re taking FOWA on the road in 09. We’re hitting four UK cities in May and June 2009 to bring you a FREE workshop on “Cloud computing” and an afternoon of web apps and speed networking. Don’t miss out.
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Big (D)esign Conference
May 30, 2009 – Dallas, TX – The Big Design Conference is an intense day of learning within the scope of Strategy, Social Media, User Experience, and Code Development. Experts from across the country will gather to present theories, research, experiences, and best practices to students, professionals, and executives looking to stay on the bleeding edge.
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Usability Week 2009
Various Dates – Various Locations – Usability Week 2009 takes you beyond the typical conference experience, offering a three-day usability camp, a three-day intensive session on interaction design, and several specialized, day-long tutorials on core usability topics.
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WebVisions
May 20-22, 2009 – Portland, OR – Explore the future of Web design, user experience and business strategy at the Oregon Convention Center for three days of mind-melding on what’s new in the digital world. Get a glimpse into the future, along with practical information that you can apply to your Web site, company and career.
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Web 2.0 Expo – San Francisco
March 31 – April 3, 2009 – San Francisco, CA – Web 2.0 Expo is a conference and tradeshow for everyone who cares about embracing and extending the opportunities created by Web 2.0 technologies.
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Web 2.0 Expo – New York
November 16-19, 2009 – New York, NY – Web 2.0 Expo is a conference and tradeshow for everyone who cares about embracing and extending the opportunities created by Web 2.0 technologies.
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CRE8 Conference
April 14-16, 2009 – Orlando, FL – Improve Your Marketing & Creative Effectiveness
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Web 3.0 Conference
May 19-20, 2009 – New York City, NY – The core idea behind web 3.0 is to extract much more meaningful, actionable insight from information. At the conference, we will explore how companies are using these technologies today, and should be using them tomorrow, for significant bottom line impact in areas like marketing, corporate information management, customer service, and personal productivity.
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The Next Web Conference
April 15-17, 2009 – Amsterdam -The Next Web 2009 is the fourth edition of the conference that began in 2006. 900+ Internet professionals gather for 3 days to enjoy Amsterdam, the conference and to do business.
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The Web Design and Developer Conference
October 15-16, 2008 – Orlando, FL – The Web Design and Developer Conference brings the entire workflow together — from design and prototyping through development and testing. Whether you’re targeting the desktop, web browsers, or mobile devices, you need to deliver your solutions quickly and efficiently.
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Web Developers Conference
October 21, 2009 – Bristol, England – The Web Developers Conference is a chance for students and professionals to get the latest on what’s going on in the Web Industry.
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webdu 2009
May 21-22, 2009 – Sydney, Australia – The conference offers the opportunity to get hands-on technical training, gain new skills, hear breaking news from the Web Industry, network with peers and industry leaders, and ultimately become more successful developing and delivering web applications. Nowhere else in ANZ can this audience find the volume and quality of information available under one roof at webDU.
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IxDA Interaction 09
February 5-8, 2009 – Vancouver BC, Canada – Join several hundred Interaction Designers from around the world as we address the design of interactive systems of all types: applications (web and desktop), mobile, consumer electronics, digitally enhanced environments, and more. Start your year off with stimulating talk, fun parties, and smart discussions about our growing field.
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FITC 2009
April 25-28, 2009 – Ontario, Canada – From Flash to motion design, to Flex and AIR, to design and inspiration, FITC events stand as unique and exciting events that educate, challenge, and inspire. The idea behind all of our events is to bring like-minded people together. Presenters and attendees who have a passion for the industry for, flash, design and the new and exciting.
Other Conferences
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Macworld Conference and Expo
February 9-13, 2010 – San Francisco, CA – Macworld Conference & Expo is a five day celebration that will educate, entertain, and immerse you in the Mac community.   With two full halls of exhibitors, Macworld offers access to hundreds of Mac products and services, paired with expert advice, demonstrations and instruction.
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Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2009
June 8-12, 2009 – San Francisco, CA – The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) provides developers and IT professionals with in-depth technical information and hands-on learning about the powerful technologies in iPhone OS and Mac OS X from the Apple engineers who created them.
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BlackBerry Developer Conference
November 9-11, 2009 – San Francisco, CA - If you’re already developing applications for the BlackBerry platform, about to get started with your first project, or just want to know more about the technical advantages of this world-class platform, the BlackBerry Developer Conference is the place to be.
What is the best conference you’ve ever been to? Are there any big ones that we missed? Do you think these conferences are worth the time and expense?
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