Eric and I returned to the Maryland Institute College of Art last month to lead a weekend workshop with the Graphic Design MFA program. We challenged the students to expand their definition of data visualization by using text as a data source in their design work. The students powered through a fast-paced design process to create an amazing series of posters that visualize news headlines from the past year.

In late September, Soso Boston had the pleasure of hosting a tour during HUBweek, a weeklong event that celebrates art and technology in the Boston area. Our tour led visitors on a journey through Kendall Square in Cambridge, where three of our works reside.

On June 18, we participated in Design for the Senses, a Third Thursday event presented by the Gardner Museum and AIGA Boston. The evening featured talks by designers who go beyond the visual, including our very own Eric Gunther. Eric spoke at the design panel alongside Meejin Yoon of Howeler and Yoon Architecture and Sara Hendren of Alber. We had a great time, enjoying live music in the courtyard of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a maker workshop on creating with Little Bits, and lots of opportunities to connect with friends in the Boston design community.

A few weeks ago, Eric and I visited the Maryland Institute College of Art to conduct a weekend workshop with the Graphic Design MFA students. The students were tasked with creating posters to visualize the transcripts of the State of the Union Addresses, from Washington to Obama. The State of the Union is a lens into a changing America and a changing world, giving insight into national priorities over past 200+ years. With the upcoming presidential elections, we thought this was a timely topic and an opportunity to get thinking about the role of a designer in shaping political conversation.

Our San Diego studio hosted the monthly UX Speakeasy meetup on Oct. 2nd, where Justin showed some Soso work, and talked a bit about physical UX design.