DesignChat Guest - Kate Bingaman-Burt

This Wednesday, July 28th, DesignChat welcomes Illustrator & Graphic Design Professional Kate Bingaman-Burt — Author of “Obsessive Consumption” and Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University.

Bingaman-Burt’s career continues to light-up the DIY, twee-style, & craftism movements with sometimes colorful, but always beautifully-simple, illustrations — illustrations that really capture the feelings behind each image, whether that be guilt, envy, greed or sometimes lust. Think school notebooks full of lovingly-drawn spontaneous sketches. It’s a movement captured by her pen and embodied by current cultural touchstones like “etsy.com“, “Renegade Craft fair” and “ReadyMade” magazine; a magazine for whom she’s created several headers and titles in her recognizable style.

Her other works include illustrating the book “Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft and Design” as well as promotional materials for the documentary of the same title.

She continues to teach Graphic Design as an Assistant Professor at Portland State University as she shows her work with artist representation. Her illustration and much of her Obsessive Consumption works are available through 20×200.com an endeavor that’s “making art available for everyone” — worth a look for affordable contemporary artwork you CAN afford.

Most importantly, Kate Bingaman-Burt seems to be living and documenting her life as a statement about consumerism. Not really preaching about it, but instead just observing her own consumerism and taking us along for the ride. Screen printing, education efforts, illustrations, zine workshops, and soon-to-be museum exhibits, all seem to hold a mirror up to society. Bingaman-Burt truly embodies the quote “An unexamined life is not worth living.”

Join us, and Kate Bingaman-Burt, this Wednesday at 7pm CST here at

http://designchat.info/chat, for a live video and text chat.

We’re already “obsessing” over what to talk about first.

Other places to learn about Kate Bingaman-Burt:

• http://katebingamanburt.com/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/kateconsumption/
• http://twitter.com/kateconsumption
• http://www.20×200.com/artists/kate-bingamanburt.html
• http://www.swiss-miss.com/2010/03/obsessive-consumption.html

Limited editions of “Obsessive Consumption” that include an original drawing are available via PayPal from her website for $35 here.

Join DesignChat every Wednesday night.