Tuesday, May 13 at 7:30AM-10:00AM: Business of Design II - Jake Nickell and Jeffrey Kalmikoff of skinnyCorp Jake Nickell, founder and CEO of Chicago-based, community-business-centric skinnyCorp, and Jefferey Kalmikoff, partner and Chief Creative Officer, have used their entrepreneurial skills to turn projects such as Threadless.com into a thriving multi-million dollar tee shirt business. The Threadless business model, which uses a "call for design submissions technique," is one of the first successful stories in using concepts such as crowd sourcing and user innovation. Alliance Francaise, 54 W. Chicago Avenue, Chicago. AIGA members $20, Student members $10, Non-members $40. Register online.

Martino Gamper at Wright
Party Friday, 16 May 5 to 9pm
On-site studio 14 -17 May 10 to 5pm
Wright welcomes designer, innovator and mastermind Martino Gamper to Chicago the 14th -17th of May. Gamper will create a series of unique and functional pieces of furniture for Wright's auction room utilizing cast-off shipping materials, crates, and discarded furniture and objects found in Wright's warehouse. Part performance, part workshop, Gamper's process welcomes experimentation, spontaneity and interaction: Gamper's on-site studio will be open to the public and all are invited to meet the artist and watch while he works. 1440 West Hubbard, Chicago, Illinois 60622

Wednesday, May 21 at 5:30PM-8:00PM: Think Outside the House Join six of Chicago's finest residential companies to learn about the trends that are driving the design of outdoor living. Jayson Home & Garden, 1885 N. Clybourn, Chicago. Free. RSVP to morgan@jaysonhome.com.

Wednesday, May 21 at 6:30PM-8:30PM: From Theory to Practice: UIC’s Interdisciplinary Product Development Program and its New Innovation Professor Al Page will describe the IPD program and the IC in detail, explaining how they both operate. He will also show many of the new product concepts that have been developed by the student teams over the past six years. Gleacher Center, Room 100, 450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive, Chicago. Free.

Thursday, May 22 – Friday, May 23: Strategy Conference Design, with its ability to understand users, redefine problems and create systemic, human-centered solutions, can help companies better understand their customer's daily lives, and lead directly to valuable (and valued) offerings that are effectively tailored to their market. Now in its fourth year, the Institute of Design Strategy Conference continues to work to build a stronger bridge between design and business strategy. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. $1350-2950. Register online.