Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ve been speaking with some of our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. My guest this week is Partner and Chief Creative Officer at BMD, Laura Stein. In this episode, I’m asking Laura to go back in time to 2020. Bruce Mau Design was our Design Partner in 2021, which meant they were working through the conference branding in the depths of a global pandemic—and the myriad of other crises we experienced during that time. What came out of their process was our DesignReThinkers conference. Listen in as we revisit the process that led us there. 

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

Getting to chat with Gail Anderson is a dream. Gail is a designer, writer, and educator. And today, Gail Anderson is Chair of BFA Design and BFA Advertising at the School of Visual Arts. She spent the first part of her career working in publishing: books and then stints at The Boston Globe Sunday and Rolling Stone. She went on to make poster art for Broadway and off-Broadway productions at SpotCo before starting her own small design firm, Anderson Newton Design. She’s also one of the most influential Black designers in the game. In this episode, we roll it way back to the early days of her career. We talk about the value of mentors in our early days—and modelling success later in life. We talk about the challenges of switching lanes within the design realm. And of course, we cover her experience teaching design at the School of Visual Arts. 

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

My guest this week is graphic designer and writer Chip Kidd. At Alfred A. Knopf—where he has worked for over 38 years—Chip has designed thousands of book covers. A writer as well, Chip has authored two novels—‘The Cheese Monkeys’ and ‘The Learners’, both national bestsellers. His bio also includes lines like: He was an extra in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ and an answer on Jeopardy in 2002. In this episode, we talk at length about designing book covers. We get into why Chip got into books in the first place, what his process looks like and all the trends he’s avoiding. We also talk about loss and the ways it does or doesn’t affect your creativity. This one is pretty special. 

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ve been speaking with some of our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. My guest this week is Mo Bofill. Mo is currently a Partner and Executive Creative Director of Design at 123w. In this episode, I’m asking Mo to reflect back on her experience as Executive Design Director at john st where she helped lead the DesignThinkers branding in the chaotic year that was 2020. 

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

My guest this week is Grace Hwang. Up until very recently, Grace was working at Microsoft as Partner Director of Device Research + Design. That role encompassed Device Design, Mixed Reality hardware and software, Accessibility, and Sustainability. She believes in the power of human-centered design to cultivate positive change in people, systems, and society—and she brought that belief to that role. In this conversation, we talk about our responsibility as designers, the future of computing, and the ways we bring our own behaviours into our work. 

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

Brian Collins has presented memorable DesignThinkers talks dating back as far as 2006. Brian is a designer and co-founder of COLLINS, the business transformation company based in San Francisco and New York City. Brian co-founded COLLINS with Leland Maschmeyer in 2008 with a focus not on what they would make, but what they would make possible through design. In this episode, we talk about some of his past presentations, the importance of language in our work and we riff on the idea of risk taking.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ve been speaking with some of our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. In this episode, I catch up with Jonathon Yule and Thomas van Ryzewyk. Both Jonathon and Tom work at Concrete here in Toronto. Jonathon functions as their Director of Design and Tom as Creative Director. Together, they lead branding for DesignThinkers in 2019. We revisit that process—and yes, I ask them about the toonie.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

This week's guest is Robert Wong. Robert was born Chinese, grew up Dutch, was Canadian, and is now American. While studying to become an accountant in Toronto, Robert woke up one day, flew to New York, and became a graphic designer instead. Robert is best known for his time leading design at Starbucks and as one of the co-founders of Google Creative Lab, where he still works. In this episode, we retrace his steps to becoming a designer, we discuss how the Google Creative Lab operates, and we dive into how he's thinking about AI.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

This week's guest is Jennifer Kinon. Jennifer founded Champions Design with Bobby C. Martin, Jr in 2010. Today, Jennifer leads business, design and strategy at Champions. For more than a decade, the firm has crafted meaningful brand strategy and visual identity systems for some of the world’s best brands. At every point in her career, Jennifer has tackled big systems. She served as Design Director of Hillary for America in 2016, Design Director of New York City’s 2012 Olympic Bid and worked in Pentagram’s New York City office with Michael Bierut. In this conversation, we start with the early parts of her career and make our way through the ups and downs she's experienced as a designer and as a business owner.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ll be speaking with some of those folks—our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. In this episode, I catch up with Michael Romaniuk. Today, Michael is an Associate Creative Director at Zulu Alpha Kilo. After leaving pre-med in 2018, he executed a surprising direct mail stunt disguised as a FedEx delivery man. He was hired on the spot by Zulu Alpha Kilo and briefed within half an hour. That first brief? It was DesignThinkers. Listen in as Michael recounts that experience.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.