What role does TLC hope to play in Austin’s design community?
We hope to serve our community as a studio that helps businesses move towards their “next normal.” We have clients who are rebranding and are seeing the pandemic as a metamorphosis for them, with the intention to come back better—and sometimes different—than before. Other clients are maintaining what they were doing before the pandemic, and continuing to rely on us as a trusted partner that’s there for them when they need us. New clients are coming to us with many different needs, including virtual event websites, digital campaigns, microsite experiences, and brand refreshes. There are so many opportunities to shape the design we do to support a greater need.
What drew you to Austin Design Week, and why has TLC continued to support ADW for the past five years?
A design week in Austin had been on our radar since 2011, when Erin was ending her term as the President of the AIGA Austin Chapter. Holding an event like this had been discussed for a number of years but had never come to fruition.
Beyond her presidency, Erin continued to stay involved in the design industry, including an AIGA National Chapter Advisory Council role for 2 years. However, she also wanted to find ways to contribute in a more philanthropic way to the local design community.
When the Austin Design Week founding members opened a call for entries to produce the event branding in 2016, Erin saw this as the perfect opportunity to accomplish that, all while allowing others at The Label Collective to collectively (pun intended) contribute.
One of the biggest reasons TLC continues to support Austin Design Week is because of the sense of community and inclusivity of all types of design. ADW brings the best and most design-focused individuals from many different disciplines into a single forum, inspiring them by the skills and knowledge accessible to everyone who attends.