Art Directors Club to Honor Toms Shoes

The Art Directors Club is holding Designism 4.0, its annual forum exploring the responsibility of creatives and designers to drive social, political and ecological change through their work, on Nov. 18 at the ADC Gallery in New York. This year's event will recognize Blake Mycoskie, chief shoe giver and founder of Toms Shoes, which gives a new pair of shoes to a needy child for every pair it sells.

In conjunction with the event, ADC is sponsoring the Walk the Walk online fundraising auction. The eBay auction features Toms Shoes that have been re-envisioned and redesigned by renowned creatives and graphic designers. Bidding for the shoes begins at $100 a pair, with all proceeds going to the ADC Scholarship Fund. The auction is being handled by the charity arm of eBay, so no processing fees will be added to the bids.

Shoe designers include Louise Fili, Louise Fili Ltd.; Jessica Helfand, Winterhouse Studio; Ellen Lupton, designer/writer; John Maeda, Rhode Island School of Design; Christopher Niemann, illustrator/graphic designer; Scott Stowell, Open; and James Victore, Victore NYC.

"In keeping with the spirit of Designism 4.0, the Walk the Walk auction is an example of how words and ideas are only as powerful as the actions they inspire," said Doug Jaeger, ADC president and innovation director at Taxi, New York, in announcing the auction. "Some of the world's most accomplished designers and creatives volunteered their time to create these one-of-a-kind works, and we greatly appreciate their assistance in helping build the ADC Scholarship Fund as a result."

Designism 4.0 will honor Mr. Mycoskie, who was inspired to create Toms Shoes, with its matching donations, during a trip to Argentina in 2006, where he befriended children with no shoes. Since its inception Toms has given more than 140,000 pairs of shoes to needy children and plans to give more than 300,000 pairs of shoes to children this year.

Other speakers at Designism 4.0 will be Bill Drenttel, partner, Winterhouse Studio and Design Observer; Paula Scher, partner, Pentagram and 1998 inductee in the ADC Hall of Fame; and Mark Randall, principal, Worldstudio.

Designism 4.0, which is open to ADC members and nonmembers alike, will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. (ET) at the ADC Gallery, 106 W. 29th St., New York. Tickets are available online.