Well they’re here..in Hawaii! I was amazed at the talent that was represented at this years State Finals of the Skills USA Art Board Competition. I was privileged to be a guest judge along with two others from Pacific Sign and Graphics. There were about 15 professional young men and women – each of whom represented their high schools with their winning design pieces. The winners will move to the national level competition and represent the State of Hawaii.

As designers we try to get inside of the creators mindset and process. We saw a lot of thoroughly developed ideas and sketches, which for me is worth more than any award. I felt privileged to listen to these students passionately present their hearts. These students are taking design to a whole new level. The winning piece was a Sci-fi inspired 3-D poster that represented the Skills USA program in an extremely intriguing way – this student hand crafted her own 3-D glasses, USB towers, Skills USA students as citizens and a glaring Godzilla-like satellite man. Here at Orangeroc, we love connecting design back to our communities and do all we can to stay involved with the students and upcoming talent. We see it as our responsibility to teach the skills and fuel the fire of young designers.

I stumbled across this website today and I wanted to share it with everybody. It’s an online contest sponsored by Volkswagen and you can see it for yourself at www.thefuntheory.com. “This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.” Below are a few examples and if you want to see more just go their website. Remember to have fun in everything you do too!

OrangeRoc supports the National Guard and Reserve and we are honored to have Andrew Jackson who is both a part of our creative team and also a member of the Hawaii Air National Guard, 154th Wing, Public Affairs Division. His skills transition from military duty to the public sector as a videographer with the talent to contribute from creative to production and finished video product by masterfully working in Final Cut Pro. He often shares his stories; relating to us how the two hats he wears have helped both parties and contributed to his skill and vision.

As a surprise, OrangeRoc was honored on Monday March 8, 2010 with a presentation from the Department of Defense as an ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve) company. For me personally, it’s never been a second thought other than to support Andy and his duty and service to the military. He makes everyone smile with his personality. He also has had a few shockers here and there, like, “I’m going to Thailand for 3 weeks.”  When?

Support our troops.