By Marie-Elena Schembri

For several weeks in early fall, Amanda Sanchez won’t be reachable for anything other than one thing: the planning of Design Week Sacramento.

Capitol Creative Alliance’s annual event aims to inspire and empower designers, creatives and business owners with a two-day professional development conference from Oct. 18-19 at The Urban Hive in downtown, along with a whole week of activities starting Oct. 14. Sanchez, a graphic web designer, is the co-founder of Capitol Creative Alliance and Design Week is her brainchild.

Attendees will learn how design can transform their small business, sense of community or working relationships at Design Week. From seasoned professionals to amateur designers, attendees can connect with local creatives and learn from industry experts to amplify their own creative endeavors.

The birth of Design Week Sacramento

Design Week Sacramento was born in 2019 out of Sanchez’ need for a creative community. After graduating from Sierra College in 2017, followed by a move from Midtown to Citrus Heights, Sanchez found herself “removed from the creative community” and missing opportunities for connection, discussion and inspiration.

Having attended a similar conference in Portland, Sanchez saw a need for more support for creative designers in Sacramento. Design Week gives creatives opportunities to network, learn new skills, show and discuss their work and be inspired by other artists and professionals across several fields. Not just limited to graphic design, the event also caters to professionals in fashion, web design, media and art.

This year’s lineup includes keynote speakers David C. Baker, author and business adviser, and Megan Morgan, California Arts Council’s race and equity manager. Workshop sessions include topics such as branding strategy, business relationships, self-care and managing burnout.

Additional community events hosted by organizations and businesses throughout the week include a design exhibit at California Museum, an Adobe Express workshop at CLARA, craft workshops, exhibits and more.

Experiencing Design Week

While the event was developed for creatives in design, Sanchez believes that any business owner can benefit from attending, from sourcing local talent for projects to earning skills to help market their business and “seeing the value that the creative community can bring and the amount of talent that we have in Sacramento,” she said.

For professional visual artist Michelle Dahl, this rings true. Dahl, a 41-year-old resident of Loomis with a studio based in Sacramento, first attended in 2023 as a speaker, sharing her perspective on speaking about your work. Dahl, who is an oil painter, found the conference to be “a treasure trove of information” that she could apply to her practice. Dahl is looking forward to making more connections and finding more inspiration at this year’s event. 

“My biggest overall takeaway is that the art community here in Sacramento is a lot more vast than you think it is,” Dahl said, adding that the creative community is “equally inspired to collaborate and support one another.”

Landon Lee, the 41-year-old co-owner of Sacramento-based Noble Creative Collective, has worked in graphic design for over 15 years, and specializes in motion graphics. Lee has attended Design Week Sacramento twice before, where he was a panelist and presented on motion graphics, presenting work and online portfolio building.

Lee said that he found himself learning even as a presenter at the event, enjoying the opportunity to network with other creatives and encountering different perspectives.

As a 2016 graduate of the Sacramento State design program, Lee is also a mentor to younger creatives entering the field through the college’s Grids design club. While he doesn’t claim to be an expert, he loves to share his experiences when he can, something he says is actually common in the design community and evident during Design Week Sacramento.

“Pat on the back to the CCA team, because they are really great people and they really care about the design community and fostering that sense of community,” Lee said.

For Sanchez, the week’s events also provide a unique opportunity to learn about businesses you may not have been aware of and get a “behind-the-scenes look” at creative spaces in Sacramento.

“Then you get to join your people for a full two days where you’re getting professional growth and networking and learning new skills,” she said. “I mean, there’s not really anything like that throughout the year.”

This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.