Amy Jo and MaeLin Levine have been running Visual Asylum together since 1987—and spending nearly as long proving that fearlessness is a San Diego AIGA tradition. In the early days, the chapter had $500 in the bank. A board member named Guy said: take money off the table and dream big. The answer became Y Conference, which ran for 26 years and inspired chapters across the country to launch their own events.

This is a conversation about framing Soviet posters when the USSR fell, following Bennett on an epic Toronto restaurant walk where people dropped like flies, and why Terry Marks couldn’t get a date. It’s about saving a chapter post-COVID with one email (not a single person said no), winning a World Design Capital bid during a pandemic, and the direct line from AIGA leadership to starting charter schools. Also: why you should never, ever suggest auctioning lawn chairs at a board meeting.

Key Takeaways

• Fearlessness becomes culture: When your chapter starts by importing Soviet posters during the fall of the USSR, you set a precedent for taking on big challenges.
• Remove money from the equation first: The Y Conference was born when someone said “take money off the table—what would you want to do?”
• Sell sponsorships to cover costs, sell tickets for profit: This funding model sustained Y Conference for 26 years.
• Leadership retreats create lifelong bonds: AIGA friendships lead to weddings, godparenthoods, and collaborations that last decades.
• What you give comes back tenfold: Ron Muriello's advice proved true—AIGA leadership builds confidence and opens doors you never imagined.
• Chapters need to pass the torch: The generation that built these programs is getting tired of schlepping water bottles—new leaders need to step up.

Key Moments in This Episode

03:20 – Framing Soviet posters: How MaeLin got recruited to work shoulder-to-shoulder with San Diego’s design who’s who

06:00 – The posters that wouldn't leave: When the Soviet Union fell, there was nowhere to send them back to—so the chapter kept them for 25 years

14:00 – Bennett’s epic restaurant walk: When 40 people started following Bennett in Toronto and only 6 made it to the end

17:00 – Terry Marks and the STD billboards: Why Seattle’s gorilla suit guy couldn’t figure out why no one would date him

19:00 – That one intimidating retreat: When MaeLin walked into a room with all the Michaels and Jennifers—and felt like the only normal person there

21:00 – Following Jesse and Terry to start LINK: How a leadership retreat conversation led to 30+ years of San Diego’s mentorship program

24:00 – The backyard that birthed Y Conference: Guy’s challenge to dream big when the chapter only had $500 in the bank

26:00 – We are NOT auctioning lawn chairs: MaeLin’s breaking point that redirected the chapter’s energy

31:00 – 26 years of Y Conference: How San Diego became the first chapter outside New York to run a major design conference

32:00 – The email that saved the chapter: When MaeLin asked former board members to help save AIGA post-COVID, not one person said no

35:00 – World Design Capital bid: How AIGA experience gave MaeLin the confidence to chair a world-class designation—during a pandemic

45:00 – What AIGA gave back: From Harvard Business School programs to starting charter schools—the direct line from leadership to life-changing opportunities

About Our Guests

Amy Jo Levine is co-founder of Visual Asylum, past president of AIGA San Diego-Tijuana, and former Y Conference chair. A typography expert who teaches advanced typography and wayfinding, she spent 17 years on the AIGA board—about 15 of which involved moving, reinstalling, or shipping those Soviet posters. She specializes in environmental design and making spaces actually communicate with people.

MaeLin Levine is co-founder of Visual Asylum, an AIGA Fellow, and incoming President’s Council Chair for AIGA National. She helped San Diego Tijuana win the World Design Capital 2024 designation, co-founded the Y Conference, and started Urban Discovery Academy, a K-8 charter school in San Diego. She’s been proving that designers can lead anything since she walked into a room to frame Soviet posters in 1987.

Featuring

Guest Amy Jo Levine, connect on LinkedIn

Guest MaeLin Levine, connect on LinkedIn

Host Erik Cargill, connect on LinkedIn

Host Rachel Elnar, connect on LinkedIn 

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