New York-based Rod Berg brings us the first of a series of posts on careers advice and interviews with up and coming creatives. Rod is a professional visual arts career coach and also has worked since 2003 as Associate Director of Career Services at Parsons The New School for Design.

Rod recently had the pleasure of teaming up with Frank Espinoza, an amazing conceptual illustrator and artist, with expertise in comics, graphic novels and animation. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Frank is a rising star in the industry and recently completed a wonderful comic strip promo for Rod’s consultancy.

In this week’s edition of PSFK’s series of ‘Creatives of the Week’ chosen from ARTS THREAD’s visual communication graduate portfolios, the spotlight falls on Sam Smith, a 2011 graduate of Winchester School of Art. Read the interview here.

ARTS THREAD will be at Student Film Festival London next Friday 3 February to Sunday 05 at London College of Communication – drop by our stand to say hello! We are alongside our partners Prime Cuts with whom we will also be handing out an award – more on that later! In the meantime, we preview the festival and the work of up and coming international student filmmakers, set designers, animators and more – and highlight the key events that bring together industry experts and young creatives.

Mathematics: A Beautiful Elsewhere is a wonderful exhibition created by the combined minds of eight mathematicians and scientists alongside nine artists. The Fondation Cartier also invited ideas from a selection of prestigious scientific institutions such as the European Space Agency (ESA) and Institut Henri Poin- caré (IHP).

From our Call for Entry winners, here are the first six designers (still awaiting a few confirmations) who will be at Designvillage with Designersblock from next Sunday January 22 to the 25 2012 at INTERIORS UK in Birmingham.

“The final year students of Visual Communication in 2011 have set a staggeringly high bar of achievement with their enquiring, challenging, and intelligent approach to graphic design practice,” says Gene Bawden, Course Coordinator for Visual Communication at Monash University. Typography, branding, image, colour and narrative were just some of the elements that students were encouraged to employ and master in their work to communicate effectively.

The thirty-plus degree Melbourne weather did not deter revelers from joining the celebration at RMIT’s Graphic Design Diploma graduate show, Absorb and Reflect.

ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) is a special place for anyone into film. Located in the heart of Melbourne, the centre aims to celebrate and showcase the moving image with an endless program of film screenings, exhibitions, festivals, workshops and many other special events. This month, ACMI was also the location for RMIT’s 2011 Animation and Interactive Media graduate show, Easing Out.

Extended Play was ARTS THREAD’s last taster of onedotzero’s Adventure in Motion festival, which ran for five days last week. The programme of nine films looked at the potential of visual narrative to create dramatic effect, pushing the boundaries of traditional storytelling.

Wow+Flutter is onedotzero’s signature programme at the Adventures in Motion festival, and this year’s showcase included 34 films that challenge the idea of what ‘moving image’ means. ARTS THREAD popped along on Thursday to discover some innovative explorations in motion graphics, characterisation, narrative and typography by established and emerging talent from all corners of the globe. The selection was brilliantly curated, spanning a diverse spectrum of styles and topics, with a welcome dose of good humour thrown in. Here are some of our favourites: