“EPIC gives creative people the raw, real exposure of seeing just how powerful they can be through their work,” says Mark Drozd, Partner/ECD, Simple Truth. “It restores to nonprofits some of that hope that they themselves so freely give their constituents. EPIC work comes from, and touches, the heart. How can you not support that?”

How could we not love Simple Truth?

Thank you, Mark and the entire Simple Truth team, for your silver-level sponsorship.

On the heels of announcing our partnership with HOW and Print, this is the first of more articles to come about our work and mission. Many thanks to senior and online editor of HOW, Jessica Kuhn, for so beautifully capturing the essence of EPIC. Check out her article below, which was originally published in HOW’s “Designing Change” column.
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EPIC EMPOWERS CREATIVES TO IGNITE CHANGE
Posted on January 12, 2012 by Jessica Kuhn

Everything about EPIC (@iamepic), an organization that unites creative professionals with a nonprofit client, truly embodies the powerful word that signifies heroism.

Since launching in 2009, EPIC has successfully united 170 volunteers from the advertising and design industries with 21 nonprofit clients dedicated to education, children and families. This equals about $2 million in marketing support—all pro-bono.

MAKING PRO-BONO AN EASY DECISION
EPIC board president Tiffany Meyers acknowledges that people are really busy, but have the desire to give back. EPIC helps make this desire a reality by adding structure and establishing a finite time commitment to these partnerships creatives enter with nonprofits. They do this by organizing creative rallies, or 8-week windows where selected creative volunteers join forces with the nonprofits to devise marketing solutions for the clients’ needs. With a distinct beginning and end to the commitment, creatives can feel good about lending their skills pro-bono for a predetermined span of time.

On average, creatives donate about five to ten hours per week for eight weeks, which includes a two-hour weekly meeting, plus three to eight additional hours of time. During these intense weeks of collaboration, a volunteer team leader (usually a creative director or studio principal) kicks the wheels into motion by directing the group to match unique skills to complete the client’s needs.

Are you interested in volunteering for an EPIC rally? Learn more.

“Epic is self-selecting. It attracts people with huge hearts and huge talent,” says Meyers, of those who apply to be a part of these rallies. “We’ve watched this mission we have line up with hearts and minds of creatives.”

EPIC 2010 from EPIC on Vimeo: Listen to founders, board members and participants talk about EPIC.

THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING EPIC
The seed for EPIC first started when Erin Huizenga, founder and executive director, studied at The Portfolio Center under the wing of Hank Richardson, director of design. “They built in ethos and [emphasized] how design can change the world. That kind of education that he [Richardson] built into people was a part of my thoughts,” says Huizenga.

That seed grew as she worked at SamataMason, currently called smbolic, for Greg and Pat Samata. The firm also is known for their dedication to the nonprofit sector (read about their nonprofit Evan’s Life Foundation, built to honor their deceased son, in the March 2012 issue’s Designing Change column in HOW).

As Huizenga’s career continued, she felt the pang to do something more in addition to her full-time job. She found that other creatives battled the inner question ‘how can I do both?’ Then, she started to imagine both groups—creatives with a desire to do more and nonprofits—coming together in a collaborative environment. The idea for EPIC took root and started to bloom in 2008 when Huizenga finalized her strategic model for EPIC and started to build a dedicated board of directors. That’s also the year that she recruited the ever-energetic Meyers to join the board.

“Erin called me out of the blue,” recalls Meyers. Huizenga had seen Meyers’ work in a design magazine and knew she was in Chicago, so the two met for coffee. Instantly, the duo gelled. “I knew that an HR person would tell me to sleep on it,” says Meyers. Instead she went with her gut and asked “when can we start?”

EPIC’s first client, a nonprofit called Girls in the Game, promotes the health and well-being of young girls. When embarking on this first rally, plenty of kinks were expected to arise along the way. But they didn’t. In fact, it went smoothly. “It was an important moment,” says Meyers, as they realized just how powerful their signature model could be.

For Huizenga, EPIC’s success instills a sense of personal and professional pride, a sentiment she’s sure that all those involved also walk away feeling. “It’s the professional love of my life,” she says.

In addition to fostering these rallies where creatives partner with nonprofits, Huizenga says EPIC also is helping nonprofits understand the value of good design in furthering their missions.

AND THEY’RE JUST GETTING STARTED
As word spreads about EPIC projects, so does the thought that the organization could be something more far-reaching. Meyers points out that a huge part of their success traces back to a local sensibility, which sits at the backbone of this venture. Chicago-area creatives are paired with Chicago-area organizations with big missions and small marketing budgets. Everyone is working to promote good within their own communities.

“As we grow, we’re interested in modeling what we’ve done in Chicago in other cities,” says Huizenga. Meyers adds that they want to keep that local sensibility at the forefront of any growth.

What does that mean for you? For now, keep EPIC on your radar and help spread the word to potential supporters. Because you never know if this organization that has proven successful in Chicago will be coming to a city near you!

You can look forward to hearing more about projects resulting from EPIC rallies both on HOWDesign.com and in the Designing Change column of HOW magazine. Read more about HOW and Print’s partnership with EPIC.

Initially, 11hundred was conceived to provide design support to organizations that normally couldn’t receive it due to budget constraints. While our mission and client focus has changed over the years, partnering with EPIC allowed 11hundred—along with the team of creative volunteers from EPIC—to focus our energies on a nonprofit that not only deserved it but that could greatly benefit from it.

For me, working with organizations that, at heart, are about helping others—in this case, children with cancer—is a welcome relief from the day-to-day activities of running a studio. And the dedication that this amazingly talented group of people brought to the project—throughout the eight-week EPIC rally process and beyond—is truly inspiring. It’s a reminder that some organizations have missions big enough to drive us all to do great work—no matter how busy we seem to be.

Take a look at the results; you’ll agree.

 
The Amazingly Talented Group To Which David Refers
(A.K.A. CREDITS)
Client: Compass To Care, Chicago
Creative Direction: 11hundred, Chicago
Writing and Strategy: Kelly Butler, Alexis Finch
Information Architecture: Vikram Agadi, Nick Lacke
Illustration: Ciara Panacchia
Design: Kurt Cruse, David Handschuh, Nick Lacke, Wade Niday, Chris Roeleveld
Development: Kurt Cruse, David Handschuh, Kellyn Mitchell
EPIC Team Coach: Tim Hogan, EPIC Board Member, Partner/Creative Director, The Royal Order of Experience Design

The backstory: CASA of Cook County was one of EPIC’s earliest probono clients. Rick Valicenti of Chicago design collaborative Thirst served as the creative director for EPIC’s volunteer team of creative professionals, which completed an eight-week “creative rally” on behalf of CASA of Cook County. 

After the EPIC rally, Thirst continued working on behalf of CASA with production company Mode Project. Together, they brought to life a script written by EPIC volunteer and writer Kelly Butler.

The spot uses animation and live-action to tell the story of a boy whose life is changed by a CASA volunteer.

CASA of Cook County : One Boy’s Story from Mode Project on Vimeo.

CREDITS
Title CASA of Cook County: One Boy’s Story

Agency: EPIC
Agency Liaison: Thirst/Chicago, Rick Valicenti
Writer: Kelly Butler

Production Company: Mode Project
CG Modeling and Animation: Mode Project

Director of Photography: Derick Smith
Stylist: Pamela Dawn

Music: The Mayfair Workshop
Sound Design: Vagabond Audio

So, friends, we’ll see you tomorrow, November 10, for a night of: Drinks and drafts by Death’s Door Spirits and Finches Beer … a silent auction with drool-worthy items* … a gallery exhibition of probono work produced by EPIC teams over the past year … and, most of all, a gathering of talented, fascinating, forward-thinking people from the nonprofit and creative communities. See you there.

* Original art, travel packages, an autographed Brian Urlacher jersey and more. Proceeds ensure that EPIC will continue rolling out its programs in 2012.

Email your resume and a note of interest to Katie Kowaloff and Tiffany Meyers.

INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTION:
+ Assist with programming efforts, helping to plan seasonal parties at the start and end of eight-week rally projects.
+ Manage EPIC contact list, including master list for newsletter.
+ Assist with management of EPIC creative applications, coordinating with resourcing committee at the start of each rally season.
+ Aid in social media outreach on EPIC’s facebook, twitter, blog and newsletter.
+ Opportunity to write or design content for EPIC according to your skills.
+ Opportunity to grow within the organization.