Shake Your Munny Maker

Yesterday I mentioned I would write a little more about the Munny Maker fundraising event that took place this past Saturday at the Fine Silver Building in San Antonio. It was both hosted by, and for the benefit of, AIGA San Antonio. AIGA (American Institute for Graphic Designers) is a professional designers’ association. In Texas, they currently have chapters in Dallas, Austin, and Houston, but not in San Antonio. The design community in San Antonio is working to hard to start an officially recognized chapter of their own.  I must say, they have put in some tremendous work, and it’s starting to pay off. The guest speaker was Brian Flynn, one of the top designers in the States, founder of Hybrid Design, and, might I add, a pretty cool guy.

Since I’m not a designer, at first I planned only to attend the event, but when I saw the tweet asking for volunteers I decided to see what I could do. For me, volunteering at events is much more rewarding than simply attending them. I like being able to see all the passion and effort that goes into coordinating and executing events such as this. Also, the people that put these things together tend to be the those willing to go the extra mile—the kinds of people I like to be around. I got a chance to meet some really cool people I otherwise might not have the chance. Among them were Rolando Murillo or Murillo Design, Cesar Rivera of Chimaera Design, and Karmen Vidal of Picoso Creative, among several others.  These are the people you often hear about in the industry, but It’s cool to work alongside them and see them with their hair down.

Munnies were crafted by both local and non-local designers and sold during a silent auction. Some of the top munnies went for over $100. Check out some of my favorites below. Good luck AIGA San Antonio! Feel free to let me know if you need any help with future events.

Is Taxing Soda The Way To Fight Obesity?

It’s no secret that obesity is a major problem. Diabetes, heart disease, and other life-threatening ailments are occurring much more frequently as a result of of the increased prevalence of obesity. There are many root causes perpetuating the problem: lack of school funding leading school administrations to seek money from fast food restaurants and corporate sponsors, lack of physical activities, changes in tastes and preferences, the desire to eat more, lack of safe places to play, long workdays, etc.

To effectively fight obesity will take a combined effort among many disciplines as well as personal responsibility. Several states are trying to put in place a “soda tax” to thwart the consumption of beverages. I do feel that things need to be done to help educate the public about sodas and their place in an overall balanced diet, but I don’t think that taxing it is a way to solve the obesity problem. What do you think? Below are two articles about taxing sodas. One is for. One is against.

For

Against