Portland illustrator Kate Bingaman-Burt is best known for her work examining consumer life—the things we buy thoughtlessly, the objects we know we purchase but are afraid to face when they turn up on the credit card bill, and even the things we steal. But she also helped plan the Pioneer Courthouse Square HQ for Design Week Portland—a project which figures prominently in her personal agenda for the Oct 4-11 cavalcade of design events.

Kate’s picks Design Week's epic HQ program:

1. HQ Conversations in the round, moderated by Namita Gupta Wiggers. 

Starting on Monday-Friday at 4:00pm

Monday: Mira Kaddoura

Tuesday: Eric Karjaluoto 

Wednesday: Susan Szenazy 

Thursday: Lisa Congdon 

Friday: Adam Arnold

"Namita Gupta Wiggers is a curator, writer, and museum consultant and will moderate HQ Conversations, a series featuring ranging from fashion to graphic design. Namita is a tremendous conversationalist and was our first choice when we first conceived of this idea. We are so happy that she graciously said yes, and we are even more happy to have this incredible line up of designers.”

2. HQ Podcasts. Monday-Friday at 10 am

Monday: Boaz and Megs in the Morning with guests Escape Collective

Tuesday: The Job with guests Daily tous les jours

Wednesday : Brian Jones with guests Guild 

Thursday: PushPull with guests Postano

Friday: Crafted with guests SET

“This is going to be a great way to start the morning,” Kate says. “I love listening to all sorts of podcasts while I work in my studio, so this will be a real treat to not only hear podcasts, but to peek behind the podcast curtain and see the production come to life. Also, I am looking forward to hearing about the nuts and bolts behind what the SET has been doing to prepare for the opening party (which is going to be quite a freaking experience, FYI). Oh, and there will be coffee and donuts, so what's not to love?”

3. HQ Experimental Programming. Sunday-Friday at 2 pm.

Sunday: The Words Behind the Work (Readings)

Monday: Pure Surface (Writer + Filmmaker + Dancer collaboration)

Tuesday: Rebecca Gates

Wednesday: Intisar Abioto (Story Design: A Danced Treatise on Story as an Act of Place)

Thursday: Jenn Armbrust (Free Advice)

Friday: New Shit Show (Andrew Dickson + B. Frayn Masters lead a show of entirely new material from various performers)

“This track of programming doesn't fit the typical lecture mode, but will fit perfectly in our HQ domes. There will be dancing, a variety show, readings, sound experiments and FREE advice—who doesn't love free advice, right?”

4. HQ Illustrators in Residence. Sunday-Friday from 10 am-6 pm.

40 Illustrators in Residence will take shifts at HQ, making flags in collaboration with festivalgoers. To participate, just tweet or Instagram with the hashtag #dwpdx, and if you're lucky, they'll make a piece inspired by your contribution to the collective conversation. “It’s a project that involves large flags made out of truck tarp, Twitter, Instagram, lots of drawing and conversation. This project will be evolving over the course of the entire week. A must see,” Kate says.   

5. HQ MUSIC. Monday-Friday at noon

“We are still firming up the final schedule, but trust that Pioneer Square will be filled with music every day at noon. Bring your lunch and let's listen and maybe dance a bit.”