If you haven't already heard, last weekend I headed to Creative South 2013 for my first design conference, and I had a blast!

The conference only had about 170 people, which made for an intimate setting and gave us the chance to meet all of the speakers and most of the attendees. I didn't sit through a bad talk during the entire conference, and had the chance to hear from many great designers including hand-letterers Ryan Hamrick and Sean McCabe, illustrator Eric Mortensen, screen printing studio Mama's Sauce, and graphic designers Mackey Saturday and James White of Signalnoise. My only regret from this weekend is that I didn't get a chance to see all of the speakers!

Not only was the conference amazing, but it was held in the most amazing southern town. Seriously, if you have never been to Columbus, GA, it's a must see. It's a renovated mill town with beautiful, hipster streets that run along a river, and every restaurant has a Foursquare special. It was heaven I tell you, heaven.

I left the conference feeling incredibly inspired and ready to get to work. Perhaps my favorite part of the conference though, is the little community we've seemed to have formed since we've been home. It's amazing how incredibly nice, encouraging, and constructive everyone has been on Twitter and Dribbble since we've returned. I now feel like if I ever have a question, or need some feedback, I've got a group of wonderful designers behind me to help me out!

Above are a few pictures I took of fellow NMC designer, Lenny, and I at the conference and hanging around Columbus. I only wish I had taken more, I guess that will be saved for next year! See you in 2014 Creative South!

(Oh, and if you haven't gotten enough, I also blogged about the conference here.)