News
Aly Khalifa consulted by NC General Assembly on encouraging Creative Small Business, March 25, 2010
The North Carolina’s House Select Committee on Small Business had Aly Khalifa as one of three speakers from the state discuss how to encourage small business in the state. In particular, Khalifa was asked about how to encourage the “creative economy” of NC. Khalifa continues to be recognized as a leading voice in the local creative economy.
Aly Khalifa speaks to the Leadership Triangle Executive Program, Feb 18, 2010
This prestigious group of Triangle leaders asked Aly o present his vision for the Triangle and how to encourage the creative economy to take root. Having led efforts in Gamil, Designbox and SPARKcon, Khalifa has become a leading advocate of recognizing creativity as a vital economic asset.
Aly Khalifa featured as a Top 20 innovator at NC Emerging Issues Forum, Feb 8, 2010
Challenging the audience about designing for local economies over designing for maximum profit, Khalifa presented a new footwear manufacturing project to NC leaders at Governor Hunt’s Emerging Issues Forum.
Gamil Collaboration with Sagmeister nominated for 3 Grammys, December 17, 2009
The nomination list for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards included the album by David Byrne & Brian Eno “Everything that Happens will Happen Today” which received 3 nominations. The nominations were for Best Alternative Music Album, Best Recording Packageand Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. Gamil Design worked with Stefan Sagmeister to bring to life the deluxe CD package for the album. Check out our post (with video of the package) and our writeup on the project.
Aly Khalifa a Panelist at Urban Next Summit in New Orleans, July 25, 2008
Organized by CEOs for Cities and NOLA YURP (The New Orleans Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals Initiative). The Urban Next Summit was a gathering of emerging urban leaders along with established leaders to discuss a number of questions around cities including: “What creates a culture of opportunity? How do you draw ambitious people to a city? And how do you engage them on the issues that matter most?” Leading a discussion with Carol Coletta and Diana Lind, Aly presented the theoretical and technical basis for SparkCon as a catalyst for energizing local talent within a city. See complete post.
Aly Khalifa quoted in News & Observer, April 21, 2008
News and Observer’s Peder Zane searches for cultural progress in Raleigh, and quotes Aly on his impressions in a recent article. Peder points to three obvious signs of the community embracing its creative talent in Raleigh, all of which Gamil is involved.
Gamil and Sagmeister win AIGA award March 5, 2008
A collaboration between Stefan Sagmeister and Matthias Ernstberger of Sagmeister Inc., Nick Herman, Aly Khalifa and Robert Shanks of Gamil Design, and FineLine Prototyping, the Vilcek Prize design was in itself given an award by the AIGA for 365:28 in Typographic Design.
Designbox becomes a test market for Pepsi‘s “Tava.” February 1, 2008
Releasing its new fruit seltzer, Tava, Pepsico (apparently via agency Element 79) set up a stand of free drinks for gallery attendees at Designbox during the First Friday show of “Some of the Parts.” Designbox is the home of Gamil, Gamila and other design offices in Raleigh. This test was the premier event initiated in the Raleigh area. Informal impressions of the drink were mixed.
Gamil Design exhibits at ISPO. January 26, 2008
Gamil has been exhibiting at ISPO with the IDEAS group since 1998, and once again joined this exclusive Active Sports Network of designers to present trends and portfolios for the Winter Market of Sporting Goods. ISPO is the largest sporting goods show in the world and provides a broad perspective on the entire industry. For more coverage see this post.
Aly Khalifa a Finalist for the Eisenhower Fellowship. December 12, 2007
Aly was nominated and then became a finalist as an Eisenhower Fellow. This program is to have “emerging leaders from around the world” create a program for international learning and networking.
Great Holiday Market: Brand Fandango at Designbox. Opens December 7, 2007
Open Monday through Saturday through December 21, the Brand Fandango store at Designbox has a host of great holiday gifts designed by over 15 local artisans. Opening night, Friday, December 7, was festive and very successful. We’ve done Brand Fandango for 6 years, and this year has been our most diverse selection and highest sales so far.
Blog.Gamil Reaches its First Million Visitors. November 25, 2007
We’d love to think that everyone showed up on purpose, butsince we only started this a month ago, we’ll take our realistic lumps. Yea, since Nov 1 our counter from gostats says we’ve hit a million. Most of you have quickly passed by, but lots of you have introduced yourselves and we’re happy to know you. We hope to get better and better at blogging, so y’all come back.
Gamila Releases Facemods- “Illusionary yet Real” Candlesticks Created from Your Face. November 23, 2007
Using state of the art computer software and the very latest in digital manufacturing technology, Gamila announces the ultimate in custom products: Facemods.Inspired by the work of Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin, Gamila has taken a famous optical illusion of two people’s profiles facing each other and turned it into a real candlestick. Simply submit a photograph of your profile and the Gamila system will do the rest: trace your profile, revolve it into a 3 dimensional shape and output the result in a proprietary ceramic material. See full post.
Pacific Design + Gamila Product Launch Party at Designbox. November 2, 2007
Pacific Design, out of Austin, Texas, and Gamila have partnered to create the “Indie Artists Collection” for iPod cases and PSP gaming cases. The Indie Artists Collection is launched under the Pacific Design brand and features 2 local Raleigh artists: David Eichenberger and Paul Friedrich. The First Friday show was a celebration of these cases being launched nationwide and sold in Circuit City throughout the country. The party was a smashing success. Ty Rarick and Alexandra Elliott (both of Pacific Design), flew in from Austin for the event. Paul and David were both here signing cases, and Chad Wilkins of Gamila orchestrated all of the logistics. We had incredible music with old school vinyl spun by DJ jasonjohns, great food from the RedRoom, and the always popular Big Boss beer. Breakdancers showed up and made their own dance floor, and a local bike club arrived with 35ish cyclists and at least 3 inline skaters. The party went late (of course) and the feedback and sales of all of the artist cases was very positive. We also showed a line of 6 Mila Art Jackets at the event. These are also cases designed for iPods with local art as the main graphic. They are all under the Gamila brand. See all of the products at the Gamila site.
Gamil Design Creates blog.gamil. November 1, 2007
In an effort to better connect with the design community, we’ve launched our very own blog. It’s here that we plan to log “elements of inspiration and moments of distraction from our small design firm.” We plan to have multiple authors from our group of Gamil Design and Gamila Company discuss design in their day-to-day research and everyday lives.
ARC’TERYX party at Designbox. September 27, 2007
Gamil Design members particitpate in the Arc’teryx Evening of Innovation party hosted by Great Outdoor Provision Company and held in the Designbox gallery and offices. About 150-200 people came to see the new line and learn more about this cutting edge mountaineering brand.
Gamil launches a new Gem of a Teastick. Sep 24, 2007
After 2 years of great success, the new Teastick GEMS collection takes the original Teastick design to exciting new colors, materials and functionality. The Gems are made out of FDA grade polycarbonate that allows the tea-lover to see their tea blooming as it steeps. Especially great for herbals!
Aly and Beth Khalifa facilitate workshops for Spark Con ’07. September 14-17, 2007
Spark Con 07 was much much bigger than the first. As core organizers of the brand and message, Beth and Aly also found time to help facilitate tables of registrants to focus on how to make the Triangle area more conducive to creativity across many different strata -from copyrights and open source technology to integrating neighborhoods and making transportation more accessible.
Gamil Design, designs the web and print collaterol surrounding Spark Con 2007. August 2007
Beth Khalifa was Creative Director for the branding of the SparkCon 07 creative conference. She and fellow Gamiler, Britt Hayes, designed all of the collateral, including everything from the website to maps of the city, programs, name badges, posters, and managing lots and lots of information across the efforts of 63 organizers and 12 different “Spark” components!
Aly Khalifa contributes to award winning project. July 2007
ID Magazine’s 2007 Annual Design Review, July/Aug issue, gave design distinction to The Vilcek Award trophy (given annually to American immigrants who have made lasting contributions in the arts and sciences). Aly was hired by Stefan Sagmeister to be a part of the design team for the trophy, each of which is a unique form stemming from the prize-winner’s name. Gamil used their design and engineering expertise to revise a fragile initial design with a unique mathematical model. Gamil also changed the materials, using laser processing and nickel plating on the piece.
The Teastick in Southern Living. July 2007
The Teastick, designed by Aly, and concepted by Aly and Ty, was featured in the “Carolina Clips” section of the July issue for Southern Living magazine.
Aly Khalifa featured on downtown revitalization. July 25, 2007
This article by Zack Smith in The Independent tells the story about how Aly and Isaac Panzarella created Designbox’s new space and other opportunities to do similar things.
Gamil gets a new 3D printer! June 2007
3D Printing is not just for the magazines anymore. Gamil Design now has in-house capabilities of going from sketch to 3D model with their new ZPrinter. This has created a new speed record for us- a full design cycle of a client need to a part in their hands in 3 days!
Kelly Myers joins Gamil Design, industrial design team. June 2007
Part biomechanic, part designer, and full-on clear thinker, Kelly brings incredible expertise to the Gamil Design team.
Raleigh City council approves the City Plaza design! May 15, 2007
The City Plaza design charette, in which Aly and Beth Khalifa, and Ty Beddingfield facilitated (among other facilitators, including Designbox members, Spark Con members, The Urban Design Center, and Kimley-Horn) took the ideas produced during the charrette and refined them into a series of illustrations for a presentation to City Council. The proposed City Plaza design consisted of a foundation for a “creative play space” for the city, including water, electricity, kiosks, stage abilities, and large pedestals for ever changing artwork and community events. City Council voted unanimously to approve the design at the May council meeting.
Gamil Design creates “The Walla-be”. April 2007
The new Designbox offices houses more companies than our old location, and is an open space. We couldn’t just settle for ANY furniture…or wall either. So we designed our own hybrid. The Wallabe’s are constructed out of aluminum frames and customizable to each of the different companies needs. Some are used as shelves and others pin-up space.
Gamil Design moves to bigger, better and customized office. March 2007
The new office is bigger and better than before. We are in a swell part of downtown Raleigh so come visit us on a First Friday! Check the gallery schedule on the designbox website!
Aly Khalifa leads a design charrette for City Plaza in Raleigh. January 2007
Designbox and Spark Con members, including Aly and Beth Khalifa, and Ty Beddingfield, at the request of the Urban Design Center, facilitated a charrette to spark ideas about the City Plaza space in downtown Raleigh.
Gamil is in the News & Observer for our website’s traffic. December 16, 2006
Ryan Teqgue Beckwith, of the News & Observer, writes an article “Typo is Web page’s windfall” about our web traffic due to the mistyping of Gmail.
Gamil The Mila! November 1, 2006
A few years ago it was The Teastick, now it is all about the Mila Case! Mila Case’s provide a fashionable protective cover for your iPod or other MP3 player.
Aly and Beth Khalifa facilitate workshops for Spark Con ’06. Sep 14, 2006
We’re not sure what it’s gonna be, but we’re excited about the possibilities as we work with well-known creative professionals to chart a path for creative talent for the Triangle.
Gamil Design creates the web and print collaterol surrounding Spark Con 2006. September 2006
Beth Khalifa is Creative Director for the branding of the inaugural year of Spark Con. Beth, Britt, and sometimes Kelly and Aly all got into the act of designing a system of “Spark People” representing all of the different creative components of this multi-faceted Conference. Beth and Britt also designed and maintained all of the collateral – everything from website to posters, to badges and more.
2005 Smart Commute Campaign, wins Transportation Award. August 2006
Gamil Design’s work on all of the collateral for the Smart Commute Campaign paid off, as the Triangle Transit Authority was recognized for their good looking and effective marketing and design.
Britt Hayes joins Gamil Design, graphic design team. May 2006
A stellar graphic designer from NC State, Britt has taken the reigns to condense numerous channels of information – from Gamil Design, Designbox, SparkCon, and Gamila – to create some stunning work.
Aly Khalifa lectures at Industrial Design Conference in Atlanta. April 21, 2006
Aly Khalifa attended the IDSA Southern Chapter Conference in Atlanta to present how designers can embrace their community to create sustainable relationships. Khalifa also took part in a panel discussion focused on globalization and the impact designers can have on the changing nature of manufacturing.
Aly Khalifa lectures at Tasmeem Design Conference in Qatar. Feb 24, 2006
Aly and Beth Khalifa travelled to the prestigious Tasmeem Design Conference in Doha Qatar, where Aly gave a presentation entitled: “Empowering Community through Creativity.” Khalifa shared the stage with top talent from around the world, including Bruce Mao, Stefan Sagmeister, Steve Badanes, Mario Gagliardi, and Saki Mafundikwa.
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