100 Hoopties: A Y Conference Story | AIGA San Diego Tijuana

If you’ve attended the AIGA San Diego Y Design Conference the past 7 or 8 years, you have probably met Jenny Beatty, the designer who rides her bike down from Los Angeles.

Last year, Jenny didn’t attend the Y Conference because she was earning a Masters in Branding at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

Several years ago while attending the Y Conference, Jenny had the privilege of sitting down with the late Doyald Young, a master logotype designer and educator with over 55 years of experience and skill, who was a cherished friend of the Y Conference.

“Doyald Young was one of the most influential designers throughout my career,” says Jenny. “Not because I was one of his students, but because Doyald spent nearly two hours with me at the 2010 AIGA Y Conference in the most sincere and inspirational manner.”

“He changed the way I thought about education and craft and is one of the reasons why I chose to pursue a masters degree. The world is a less bright place without him,” she explains. “Before I could thank Doyald for changing my life, he passed away unexpectedly in February 2011.”

“Design is everything in my life and everything is design. 100 Hoopties has been all about design and how it converges with my passion for cycling. It couldn’t be a more fitting poster to wrap up this project.”

-Jenny Beatty

Jenny and her fellow students in her master’s program were invited to participate in Michael Bierut’s 100 Day Project. (Michael Bierut will be speaking at this year’s Y Conference.) The premise of the 100 Day Project is simple—undertake a project for 100 days, conceptualizing, executing, and documenting some task every 24 hours. The only restrictions on the operation you choose is that it must be repeated in some form every day and that every iteration must be documented for eventual presentation.

Jenny bridged her two great passions—cycling and graphic design—by reimagining iconic works of art out of scrapped bicycle parts in a project titled 100 Hoopties. The goal of the project was to brand herself. Each piece that Jenny recreated has played a role in shaping the designer and cyclist she became. Considering her Manhattan apartment was above a bike shop, she had an endless source of materials for her project.

Jenny completed her 100 Hoopties project by recreating Design is Everything is Design, a poster created by Josh Higgins and Jessica Hische as a tribute to Doyald Young. Proceeds from the original poster sales supported a design scholarship created in Doyald’s name.

Bike chains laid out to spell "Design is Everything is Design"

Now back in Los Angeles, Jenny plans on riding her bike down and attending the Y Conference once again this year. We can’t wait to see her! We hope to see you there as well!