Great design: one thing that all successful brands have in common. Yet, it’s a topic that seems to be absent from B2B marketers’ conversations. We decided to change that. For this episode, we brought on Tommy Treadway, the Head of Design at Measured. From freelance to full-time and from household names and stealth startups, Tommy’s done it all – and well. So who better than to explain all the things that non-designers (and new designers) should know with regards to this rarely discussed, yet critical element of marketing?

Here are some other topics discussed on this episode of the Sirkin Research Podcast:

• Tommy’s unintentional and winding road into design (1:48)
• The differences between design roles in-house, freelance, and at agencies (4:52)
• The issue with W-2 bashing and the risks of freelancing as a writer or marketer (7:29)
• The different paths someone could take to get into a career in design today (10:14)
• Why doing an actual project is better experience than concept or theoretical work (12:42)
• The difference between product design, UX design, and UI design (14:46)
• What makes for a good design program (18:05)
• Things you should never say to a designer (23:02)
• Why both design and copy are integrated systems (27:25)
• The distrust of creatives causing them to relentlessly justify their work (29:06)
• What designers should do to find inspiration (34:59)
• Why “boring” industries can make for more exciting work (35:49)
• The negative impact of design bootcamps are having on the industry (36:19)
• The biggest problem with swipe files (37:09)
• The “Great Blanding” in design and the seeping of the millennial aesthetic into SaaS (38:00)
• Why everyone hates marketers, according to Victoria (41:05)
• Why the most valuable designers, creatives, and analysts get paid for how they think (42:17)

Connect with Tommy

Website

Twitter

Connect with the Hosts

Victoria Gamlen on LinkedIn

Jeff Sirkin on LinkedIn