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Poster design by @DavidAirey
Once again the Twitter-sphere is crackling over a controversial spec work story—this time originating from a somewhat surprising source: the Obama election campaign. The campaign posted a call for “poster submissions from artists across the country illustrating why we support President Obama’s plan to create jobs now, and why we’ll re-elect him to continue fighting for jobs for the next four years.” The irony here is rich.
Clearly this is an ethical misstep by the Obama campaign, but one that seems borne from ignorance rather than malice. As with other recent examples like the Huffington Post logo competition, I tend to favor the rhetoric of opportunity rather than the rhetoric of shame. I would encourage the campaign to view this moment as an opportunity to connect with an important constituency—the community of professional designers—and engage in a healthy dialogue about the value of design and the importance of strong, mutually beneficial professional relationships (not to mention paying jobs). Likewise, designers should seize the opportunity to sharpen our articulation of the value of what we do and to reconnect with our own networks using this as a living case study.
AIGA has a clear position on the issue of spec work that states that professional designers should be compensated fairly for their work. However, I also believe that designers must be careful to focus on the value of design rather than getting distracted by a debate about the evils of crowdsourcing and social media. These forces are here to stay, and this is a battle we will never win.
I’m one of the “straddle generation” of designers who have felt the full impact of Steve Jobs in our work and life because we launched our careers during the pre-Macintosh era. I entered the profession of design in 1988 when the tools of my trade included X-acto blades, waxers, and spray mount. In order to do my work in that era, I had to be sitting at a drafting table in a fully equipped design studio. Now I do my work on an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro, and I do it wherever I please. Oh, and I listen to my music, watch movies, and stay in touch with the world around me using all of those devices too. Steve Jobs engineered this work and life style transformation. It’s increasingly rare that a single person can have this type of effect in our fragmented modern culture, and it’s a poignant moment to reflect on a figure whose vision, drive and influence has fundamentally shaped my professional life.
Jobs’ influence stretches far beyond the “doing” of design—the devices and tools that help us do our job. His elevation of design as a central strategic component of business has opened a seat at the corporate table for designers of all disciplines. While we still face a tall challenge in making the case for the value of design in the business setting, Apple—led by Jobs—has become the case study that we’ve always lacked. Now the C-suite demands to “be like Apple,” and they know that designers are the ones to make that happen.
I’m thrilled to be a part of the 2011 Transform Symposium at the Mayo Clinic Center For Innovation beginning Sunday. I will be leading two sessions there: a panel discussion on the 5 over 50 project on healthy aging, and another on the new AIGA Design for Good initiative. The symposium will be a convergence of the leaders in the healthcare and design space. Winterhouse Institute’s Bill Drenttel has programmed the event which will feature presentations by Larry Keely of Doblin, Chris Hacker of Johnson & Johnson, Dondeena Bradley of Pepsico, and Roger Martin of the Rotman School of Management. Sessions are also being led by Continuum and GE. Journalist John Hockenberry, who has a rich history emceeing design conferences after many years of playing that role at AIGA conferences, will facilitate.
This is an important time for designers to be able to clearly articulate our unique value in developing creative ways to live healthier. The challenges in healthcare are massive and a design-driven approach—within a multi-disciplinary setting—can yield possibilities that are invisible through traditional approaches. It will be exciting to see what the leaders in this vital space are working on.
In addition to Transform, I have a busy travel and presentation itinerary in the coming months, including:
Designing Change. Changing Design
AIGA Kansas City
Monday, September 19
Merge Mashup
AIGA Cleveland
Friday, September 23
Elevate Series
AIGA South Dakota
Tuesday, September 27
From Understanding to Design and Back Again
Cumulus Conference
Denver, CO
September 29-October 2
The Alabama Design Summit in Birmingham last week brought together designers and local community leaders for a three day workshop to explore the power of design to address complex social problems. The designers each represented local AIGA chapters from around the country and were attending the Summit as part of a new AIGA program called Design for Good which will officially launch in October at the AIGA Pivot conference in Phoenix. Design for Good will activate the members of AIGA as catalysts for social change by linking them to a national network of tools and resources.
Thanks to my friends Wendy Ruyle and Diana Lillicrap at 5by5 Design for inviting me to guest-blog on their site—check out my post here for more on Birmingham and Design for Good. And for more from Birmingham, here’s a link to the Flickr site for the Summit.
Designer Sylvia Harris passed away Sunday, leaving a gaping hole in the design world. Sylvia was a true pioneer, breaking new ground with virtually every move she made in our profession. Sylvia was participating in a meeting of the of the United States Postal Service Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee in Washington DC last Thursday when she suddenly collapsed.
I was introduced to Sylvia several years ago by designer Katie Osborn, who worked closely with Sylvia. We instantly connected around our mutual passion for the possibilities designers have to improve the patient experience in healthcare. Whether you knew Sylvia Harris or not, your experience as a designer has been positively impacted by her—all too short—time with us.
Jessica Helfand was with Sylvia when she collapsed, and shared this eloquent remembrance on Design Observer. AIGA also posted a thoughtful piece in her honor.
I must admit, my heart skipped a beat when I clicked on the AIGA board of directors web page this morning and saw my name and pic next to the word “President.” Despite this minor cardiac episode, I am thrilled and humbled beyond belief to be assuming the position of National President of AIGA, the professional association for design. After years of involvement with AIGA at the local and national levels, this is an organization that has meant a tremendous amount to me personally and professionally, and I am fully aware of the central place it occupies in the design community. While I struggled at first with the decision to accept this position, it was the experience I’ve had writing this blog and exploring the new ways designers are (and should be) working that illuminated for me the immense opportunity present with AIGA. With more than 22,000 members in 66 local chapters, AIGA is the largest design organization in the country (and growing), and as it approaches its centennial in 2014 with a solid fiscal foundation, it is also the oldest and strongest.
Despite these undeniable assets, AIGA as an institution is a macrocosm of the professional experience many designers are currently facing. Filled with creativity, energy, intelligence, and potential, AIGA must find a way to adapt to an environment that is evolving before our very eyes. Unless it remains relevant to designers and to the broader community AIGA will fizzle and fade. It is this challenge—and massive opportunity—that fuels me as I look ahead over the next two years.
I want to pay special respect to the outgoing AIGA board members during this transition, your leadership has been exemplary. To outgoing president Debbie Millman, I am in awe of your energy and passion—you are a gift to our community. To the incoming and returning board, chapter leadership, and national office staff, I am eager to collaborate with you as we seize this amazing opportunity!
Below is an excerpt from the comments I made at the AIGA Leadership Retreat in Minneapolis last month.
“This is an amazing time to be a designer. The pace of change in business, and culture is blinding, but for people with the right skills and creativity and vision, that wild change can mean an awesome opportunity to change the world around us. Designers have that skill, creativity and vision. But we cannot assume that we can seize this opportunity by working in the same way we have always worked. This is true as we build our individual careers and design practices but it’s also true as we build AIGA as an organization. With AIGA approaching its 100th anniversary we have a rare opportunity—actually I’m going to rephrase that—we have an imperative to rethink what AIGA can be in this new and exciting time. To reconnect with our traditional audiences, but also to envision what new audiences we can attract. And to reposition AIGA to be a relevant, essential, and central player in this amazing time.
The work we’ve done in the last few days has been incredible but this…is the easy part. The challenge comes Monday morning when we start making these ideas happen on the ground in our communities. I am so psyched to take on that challenge with you all. Let’s have a blast together tonight, and then let’s get to work and make this thing happen.”
I had a great experience as a judge for the 2010 Sappi Ideas That Matter program last summer. Along with my fellow jurists, Casey Caplowe, Armin Vit, Jessica Helfand and Matt Rollins, I reviewed 170 proposals for design-driven social change ideas vying for grant awards between $5,000-50,000 out of a total pot of $400,000 pledged from Sappi for the North American ITM program. The ideas ranged from simple but impactful communication design concepts like informational materials about a Pit Bull rescue program (submitted by Jessi MacNamara), to wide-ranging global ecology programs like the BP oil spill program undertaken by the Ocean Conservancy (submitted by Imaginary Office). Some of the ideas were, quite frankly, underwhelming, but a staggering number were very strong and our panel struggled mightily to select 27 recipients. Click here to view the 2010 recipient proposals.
The application deadline for the 2011 ITM program is July 15. The application process is remarkably simple and streamlined, hence it’s a great opportunity for designers new to social change space to test the waters. One of the requirements of the program is that designers partner with an established non-profit organization on their proposal.
Here’s a link to a “behind the scenes” video from the 2010 judging, produced by Arvi Raquel-Santos of Weymouth Design.
I’ve had the pleasure over the last year to contribute to the excellent Parse blog published by F&W. My posts on Parse tend to be a bit different than here on Merge—more instructional and journalistic, less personal and opinionated. I’ve covered a lot of rich territory on these posts from business planning to licensing, to intellectual property. My latest post examines strong business categories for startup businesses.
I had the pleasure of moderating a lively panel discussion on Saturday, April 9 as part of the Faculty Forum portion of AIGA Minnesota’s Portfolio 1-on-1—one of the largest and longest-running student design events in the country. 210 design students from around the upper midwest converged on downtown Minneapolis for two days of workshops, studio tours, and (as the name suggests) one-on-one portfolio reviews. The speed at which the event sold out this year is an indication of the robust state of design education in this region.
The Faculty Forum—attended by more than 30 design educators from a variety of public, private, traditional, and for-profit institutions—was kicked off with an invigorating and provocative keynote presentation by Tom Fisher, Dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. Tom took us on a fascinating tour of the challenges and opportunities of design education in a time of change, in part by reflecting on a previous time of change—the invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s. Fisher emphasized this challenge by pointing out how most design students now are digital natives, “it’s almost as if our students are natives in a different land.”
AIGA Minnesota President Seth Johnson picked up on this thread of Tom Fisher’s remarks by elaborating on the significant challenges present for design educators, “The 30,000-foot view provided by Tom Fischer was inspiring and right on target. But I still struggle with comprehending how old-world educational models will respond to the quandary of implementing the changes he’s describing. That’s where the real conversation is — and the real work, too. I’d argue that, unfortunately, most academic programs (and the institutions that own them) simply aren’t set up to quickly adapt to the fast and changing pace upon which our society is now based. What incentive, for example, is there for a non-digitally-native tenured professor to completely adapt her skills and methodologies to meet today’s demands, especially when she needs to continue to teach yesterday’s curriculum to students currently in the antiquated program?”
Tom Fisher’s remarks were followed by a lively panel discussion and Q&A featuring veteran local designers Bill Moran of Blinc Publishing and Bill Thorburn of The Thorburn Group, as well as educators Paul Bruski of Iowa State University, and Alex DeArmond of University of Wisconsin-Stout. Surprisingly (or perhaps not), the panel brought the conversation from the stratosphere down to ground level with a strong focus on the importance of the tangible elements of graphic design like typography. For me, the interesting tension of the session was drawing connections between Tom Fisher’s big vision and the reality of what is happening in the classroom.
Keith Christiansen of St. Cloud State University followed up by email with this comment: “I had the impression you left one question dangling…how do we as design faculty teach social media? It’s definitely important to factor in. I bring it up in my classes and have sited the Geek Girls (Twin Cities-based bloggers and social media gurus, Nancy Lyons and Meghan Wilker) who view it as a new paradigm for communication. The analogy is like in a party where you meet with people in short exchanges and the rule is you can’t be a bastard, over hype or be obnoxious or the Facebook/Twitter crowd will freeze you out. If a client lies or misrepresents, the news will be spread immediately. In other words one has to be empathetic, somewhat cool, useful, provide value and above all reliable, trustworthy. This is a simplistic view of course but I am attracted to the virtues of it as a new communication model. I share that with students and Integrate it with problems posed to them in terms of their projects-how they come to their solutions matters.”
University of Minnesota professor Steven McCarthy followed up by email with this comment: “We didn’t touch on the role of research in design education.” Here’s a link to a recent Eye magazine blog post by Steven on the topic.
Special thanks to Jennifer Price and John Vorwald of AIGA Minnesota for organizing the Faculty Forum. There was definitely an interest on the part of the educators in attendance to continue the conversation!
