RSVP.

© Siggi Eggertsson

© Son & Sons

© Aaron Byrd

© Mariel Childes

© Farbod Kokabi

© Josh Boston

© Kevin Byrd

© Michelle Haft

© Justin Van Hoy

© Mike Cina

Each of our ten featured artists has created an original piece of art to benefit our ten charities:

• Aaron Byrd – MAPS
• Farbod Kokabi – Jimmy Rane Foundation
• Kevin Byrd – Noah’s Ark
• Mariel Childes – Atlanta Community Food Bank
• Siggi Eggertsson – Camp Sunshine
• Justin Van Hoy – Rural Studio
• Josh Boston – Atlanta Habitat for Humanity
• Son&Sons – The Empty Stocking Fund
• Mike Cina – Dashboard Co-Op
• Michelle Haft – Pink Ribbon Story Foundation

Artists:

Aaron Byrd
Graduated with a BFA from the Ernest G. Welch School of Design. He cut his print and web-design teeth at the multimedia architecture firm Lightroom, where he earned two Regional Design awards in Print Magazine. Aaron then moved to Turner Broadcasting, where for two years he designed commercials for Cartoon Network. Now at Armchair, Aaron specializes in video, motion graphics and sound design.

Farbod Kokabi
A graduate of the Ernest G. Welch School of Design, Farbod was born in Tehran and migrated with his family to America in the mid-‘80s. As a designer for Armchair, his work is incorporated into nearly all of the company’s wide-ranging projects. Additionally, he co-operates and serves as primary designer for the Atlanta-based boutique record label Geographic North.

Justin Van Hoy
A designer/curator based in Los Angeles, California, Justin’s studio, The Dutchpress, practices various forms of print design and direction. He organizes artistic projects independently and as a co-founder of the gallery THIS los angeles, an upstart space which hosts a variety of exhibitions in diverse disciplines. Since 2006, Justin has worked as an Art Director for Swindle Magazine, as well as a designer.

Josh Boston
An art director and designer living in Portland Oregon, Josh currently works for Wieden + Kennedy. Future plans include starting a real-life happiness factory that is not associated with Coca-Cola, telling stories, and making people smile. The plans include a mixture of toys, art, and empathy. Then he will die.

Kevin Byrd
Born in Charleston, SC, Kevin now lives and works in Atlanta. By day, he is the art director at Armchair Media; by night, he’s a crusader of interdisciplinary art-making. His work bridges graphic design, photography, film and interactive design. Kevin also produces the quarterly CHIRP sound series and serves as Creative Director for the Modern Atlanta’s design symposium. At home, he makes one delectable frosty Clementine.

Mariel Childes
Hailing from the Midwest, Mariel migrated south for school and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Savannah College of Art and Design. Since 2010, she has been an integral force on some of Armchair’s largest projects, balancing the creative and cerebral for clients like the College Board, Phillips-Van Heusen, Cartoon Network and Coca-Cola.

Michael Cina
Michael is an internationally respected, cross-disciplinary creative director based in Minneapolis, MN. His 15-year career has spanned from leading the online design movement in the early years of the Internet to creating branding and design work for some of the world’s most prestigious companies and lifestyle brands. Michael co-founded famed online design retailer YouWorkForThem, and over the years his work has been featured in hundreds of design books and magazines worldwide.

Michelle Haft
Born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Michelle is a designer, twin, and lover of all miniature things. She spent her childhood reenacting scenes from Joe vs. the Volcano and making toilet paper dresses for her Barbie dolls. After receiving her Master’s Certificate from the Portfolio Center, Michelle worked at Armchair Media, creating meaningful digital experiences for the College Board, Georgia Pacific, and Intercontinental Hotels. She is currently a designer at SYPartners in San Francisco.

Siggi Eggertsson
Born in Akureyri, a small town on the north coast of Iceland, Siggi studied at Iceland Academy of Arts in Reykjavik. While there, he met and worked with the typographer Atli Hilmarsson and developed his skills as a typographer, designer, illustrator and image maker. He has worked in New York, and he has studied at Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee in Berlin. He currently resides in London, where he works for the Big Active family and contributes to publications like Dazed and Confused, The New York Times and Arkitip. Commercial clients include H&M, Stussy, Nike and various music projects.

Son&Sons
A creative resource for visionary leaders and unreasonable people who are hell-bent on leading change. They do this by hatching brand-shaping ideas, identities, interactions and communications that make people care, engage and act.

Charities:

Atlanta Community Food Bank
Founded in 1979, the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) currently distributes almost two million pounds of food and other donated grocery items monthly to more than 800 nonprofit partner agencies in 38 counties in Metro Atlanta and North Georgia. ACFB supports a wide range of people in need, from children to the working poor. Food pantries, community kitchens, childcare centers, night shelters and senior centers are among the agencies that receive product from the Food Bank and provide food and other critical resources for low-income Georgians who suffer from hunger and food insecurity. The Food Bank also operates several community projects to aid our agencies in community building, technical assistance and advocacy efforts.

Camp Sunshine
Founded in 1982, Camp Sunshine enriches the lives of Georgia’s children with cancer and their families through recreational, educational and support programs. Camp Sunshine provides year-round programs which allow children with cancer and their families to share similar experiences and to participate in activities that promote normal childhood development as they cope with the challenges of childhood cancer. Although Camp Sunshine began as a summer camp, programs now also include family camps, sibling camp, teen retreats, preschool and school age programs, support and educational programs for families, hospital based camp and a variety of activities throughout the year.

Dashboard Co-Op
Offering free promotion and professional development to artists of any medium. Their goals are to engage broad audiences by providing free, non-traditional ways to interact with art, and to be a platform for emerging artists. In addition to putting artist profiles and images of their work on the organization’s virtual gallery, Dashboard Co-Op hosts two large exhibitions per year, giving members a platform to showcase a body of their best work. Shows take place in raw, underused spaces in Atlanta, are free to the public, and highly promoted. If an artist sells work, they keep 100% of the proceeds, Dashboard takes nothing.

The Empty Stocking Fund
The Empty Stocking Fund has been bringing holiday cheer to metro Atlanta’s underprivileged children since 1927. The Empty Stocking Fund’s mission is to empower parents and guardians of children living at or below the poverty level in the communities we serve by providing them with an opportunity to give their children gifts at Christmas time. Through relationships with wholesale distributors, the Empty Stocking Fund purchases brand new items in sufficient quantities to offer a variety of age- and gender-appropriate choices. In December, we invite parents and guardians of children from birth to 13 years of age to visit Santa’s Village and select gifts for their children.

MAPS
Its Mission is to service the needs of youth who are seeking employment, by assisting them with learning skills/ trades to earn an income and by helping to develop them into responsible stable citizens of our community.

Noah’s Ark
Founded in 1978, Noah’s Ark Animal Rehabilitation Center works in concert with its sister organization, Noah’s Ark Children Care Homes, to bring children and animals together for the purpose of providing unconditional love, unconditional service, and a future full of hope. The facility is home to over 1,000 animals and is licensed by the State of Georgia to provide residential care for up to 24 children. The wildlife from the rehabilitation center and the children from the Children’s Care Home play a vital role for each other. The children participate in pet therapy, nurturing the baby wildlife as the animals are rehabilitated in hopes of eventually being returned to their natural habitat.

Atlanta Habitat for Humanity
Founded in 1983, Atlanta Habitat for Humanity partners with working families, sponsors and communities to build affordable quality homes and to provide support services that promote successful home purchase and ownership. Atlanta Habitat has built over 1,100 homes – primarily in the City of Atlanta & Fulton County, housing approximately 4,000 individual family members. Atlanta Habitat homes are constructed using green building standards, producing energy-efficient homes that reduce utility bills. Homeownership applicants complete a rigorous selection process including: Investing 250 sweat equity hours building his/her home & others, making an affordable down payment, attending 12 homeowner education classes, leasing the home for the 1st year, & making timely payments during the lease period. They must prove steady income, show good credit, be first time homebuyers, sustain a savings account over 6 months, be citizens or legal residents and live or work in Atlanta or Fulton County.

Jimmy Rane Foundation
Dedicated to providing college scholarships to deserving students and strengthening communities through education projects and grants. The Jimmy Rane Foundation was created with a simple, yet powerful idea. “It’s about giving something back,” Jimmy says. And that’s exactly what he’s done. Since being established in 2000, the Jimmy Rane Foundation has awarded over 170 college scholarships to outstanding and deserving students. This is done with the idea that they will one day return the favor to someone else in need.

Pink Ribbon Story Foundation
Founded in 2011 by individuals from diverse niches of the medical field, the Pink Ribbon Story Foundation travels around the country to film breast cancer patients (and their families) to enlighten others about the disease, the effects of coping with a major illness, and the associated pathologies that are often a consequence of a life-threatening disease. In addition to educating the public, PRSF seeks to inform other breast cancer patients about their breast cancer treatment and reconstruction options, and in the long run, improve breast cancer recovery overall.

Rural Studio
A design-build architecture studio run by Auburn University which aims to teach students about the social responsibilities of the profession of architecture while also providing safe, well-constructed and inspirational homes and buildings for poor communities in rural west Alabama, part of the so-called “Black Belt”. The studio was founded in 1993 by architects Samuel Mockbee and D. K. Ruth. Each year the program builds five or so projects – a house by the second-year students, three thesis projects by groups of 3-5 fifth year students and one or more outreach studio projects. The Rural Studio has built more than 80 houses and civic projects in Hale, Perry and Marengo counties. The Rural Studio is based in Newbern, a small town in Hale County. Many of its best-known projects are in the tiny community of Mason’s Bend, on the banks of the Black Warrior River.

Sponsors:

Octane
Named by Bon Appetit magazine as one of the top 10 boutique coffee shops, and listed by Travel & Leisure as one of America’s coolest coffee houses, Octane is a community of passionate coffee, food, cocktail and beer lovers.

Fallen Arrows
A direct to garment print shop in Atlanta. They are actively focused on being community oriented, environmentally conscious and artist driven. Similarly, Fallen Arrows wants to forge partnerships with those who share these priorities. The shop serves everyone they come into contact with: the artists they promote and produce clothing and canvas prints for, the customers they provide unique and high-quality products for, and the employees who make all this possible.

Geographic North
A record label birthed in the Winter of 2007 by F. Moghaddam, F. Kokabi and R. Power.

Red Bird Ink
An art, design, and letterpress studio located in Atlanta, Georgia. They design and produce limited edition art prints, stationery, and home goods. Their perspective is what makes them special. They see familiar things in unexpected ways and our ability to simplify and filter out the inessential gives our clients the opportunity to appreciate everyday life from a fresh frame of reference.

Jason Travis
Through his ability to harmonize solid technique with organic creativity, Jason has earned exhibitions at some of Atlanta’s most cutting-edge galleries, including Beep Beep Gallery, MINT Gallery, and Puritan Mill. He was featured in Atlanta Celebrates Photography: Ones to Watch 2010 Auction. His Persona series garnered praise at SXSW 2011 where he teamed up with CNN. See the interview HERE. Jason also shoots a monthly feature for The Atlantan magazine.

SMFD
Representing the new school of young designers and creative pioneers in Atlanta’s growing modernist movement.

{Poem88}
Opened in October 2010 as guest curators at Tanner-Hill Atlanta Project Space. Now fully independent, we moved to our present location in the White Provision District in May 2011. Under the curatorial direction of Robin Bernat, {Poem88} represents emerging and mid-career artists, and presents thoughtful and innovative explorations in a new artistic frontier.

As a designer at Armchair, let the changin’ begin!

Animated gif by Jason Travis.

Photo by Jason Travis.

Photo by Jason Travis.