Kelley Indy junior earns grant for marketing students to attend Indy Design Week

Guest blog by Mackensie Neumann-Affolder

Mackensie Neumann-Affolder, BS’26, is a junior at Kelley Indianapolis studying marketing and international studies. She is also the president of the Kelley Indianapolis Marketing Organization, vice president of Women in Business at Kelley Indianapolis, and a marketing intern at Market Wagon. Mackensie applied for a grant to fund admission to Indy Design Week for all Kelley Indy marketing students who wanted to attend.

A Thank You

Thanks to the opportunities that Indiana University Indianapolis has to offer, like the Student Organization Undergraduate Educational Enhancement Grant, I was able to help the Kelley Indianapolis Marketing Organization secure funding to send four Kelley students to Indy Design Week. Keep reading to learn all about our experience!

About Indy Design Week

Indy Design Week is a week-long, city-wide festival celebrating and exploring the practice of design across all disciplines and industries. Their mission is to celebrate and elevate the Indy design community while increasing awareness and building appreciation for design and the impact it has on business, culture, society, and people. They have created an annual event that not only celebrates design of all disciplines but also aims to bring designers and design enthusiasts together for a week of collaboration, learning, making, and overall celebration. It gives participants the chance to explore Indianapolis with events at places like the Indiana Landmark Center, The Stutz, Union Campus, The Indianapolis Propylaeum, and so many more iconic Indianapolis locations.

My Experience

I learned about Indy Design Week last year, thanks to my mentor Alli Donovan. She is a part of the volunteer board that organizes and runs the whole week. Through her (and a free ticket, thanks to More Magazine), I attended my first Indy Design Week in 2024. After my experiences that week, I knew I needed to help connect more students to opportunities like this one.

Every year Design Week is growing. This year, there were over 30 events, ranging from workshops, speakers, lunch-and-learns, and keynote speakers to virtual talks and coffee meetups. There is quite literally an event for everyone! Having so many events made it super easy for us students to attend events around our class schedules (and even my work schedule!)

The first event I attended this year was a lunch and learn titled, “The Architecture of The Old Northside,” hosted by the Indiana Landmark Center. An architecture talk may seem like an odd event for a marketing student to attend. While it does seem… odd, learning about other design disciplines is refreshing. While I knew nothing about architecture, I was able to learn about historic styles and about the history of the Old Northside. The talk was very easy to follow along with, and I learned that I love Italianate style! After a meal and discussion, we got to take a walking tour around the building and the surrounding neighborhood. There, I learned about the history of the building (an old Methodist church) and see examples of the styles we just learned about. A bonus was the orange cat that came to say hi while we were on our walk. The Indiana Landmark Center works on restoring historic buildings throughout Indiana. If you have an interest in learning more about the history of architecture in the area, consider booking one of their tours. I can attest: It was amazing,

I also attended the morning keynote session on Friday. Just a few steps away from campus at The Amp at 16 Tech, I got to shop local makers and listen to four amazing speakers. Of the four speakers I heard from, two really stood out to me. The first was a talk called “The Lost Logos of Indianapolis,” given by Jordan Ryan, a City-County Archivist for the city of Indianapolis. Through her hour-long presentation, we took a walk through time, starting back when Indianapolis first became a city. As we walked through the city’s history, we got to see how logos evolved over time: From stamps, to circles, to including the monument on Monument Circle. It was amazing seeing the different trends and preferences in logo design.

The second event was “Color Raises the Dead,” given by Madeline Mackinnon. Madeline was raised in Mexico and Puerto Rico and now owns her own flower business called Frida’s Flowers. Her talk didn’t focus on flowers, but on color. Madeline is a strong believer that color is what brings life. Throughout this presentation, we walked through different colors and discussed how they made us feel. Some people felt joy with blue because of the ocean or confidence with the color red because of red lipstick. I never knew how many different emotions one color could make people feel. One quote that stuck with me was, “Color can trigger healing on a soul and cellular level.”

We wrapped up a week of learning with a day of fun. Saturday was workshop day. All day long, there were multiple workshop sessions, including Graffiti, Sneaker Design, Sneaker Art, Floral Design, and Live Screen Printing. I had a lot of fun with Frida’s Florals, designing my own bouquet. Her talk the day prior was the highlight of my week, so getting to learn her craft from Madeline herself was amazing. Now a bouquet that is a representation of me, made by me, gets to live in my home. I also participated in the live screen printing. I got to pick the color of my paper—pink of course—and spread the ink myself! I have never screen printed before, but it was fun!

Kelley’s Connection to The City

Kelley’s proximity to downtown makes opportunities like this possible. At no other school would it be possible for me to work, learn, and participate in a week like Indy Design Week. Because I am so close, I can continue to foster my connections with the designers I met this week. I can meet with them face-to-face over coffee or meet them in their space and continue to learn. Learning can be done in the classroom, but the things that really stick are attached to a connection and an experience. Take what you are learning in the classroom and bring it into the real world.

Mentorship

A big thank you to Alli Donovan. Because of her mentorship, I feel welcomed in the design spaces and like I have someone on my side. Connections, like mine with Alli, are priceless. Alli graduated from IU Indianapolis in 2018. During her time here, she was also a big part of the Kelley Indianapolis Marketing Organization. Having a mentor who knows what Kelley is like (aka I-Core) has been super beneficial. It automatically gives us something to talk about, and she knows what it means to be going through the Kelley program.

My Biggest Takeaways

1. Get yourself into the city. Make those connections. Find new places to explore.
2. The colors that heal us need to be incorporated into every aspect of our lives.
3. Take time to learn something completely left field. Making yourself more well-rounded is a great way to avoid burnout!