Our firm is entering its 15th year, and despite being frequently hailed as successful design industry veterans, my partner Ben and I often feel like we have much to learn—both personally and professionally—hence our recently joining The Association of Professional Design Firms (APDF). The Leadership Forum in Santa Monica was our first exposure to the group, and we were uncertain what to expect or even how we’d fit into this established community.

The warm weather and beautiful hotel near the beach made for an idyllic setting for this type of event, requiring us to step out of our reality and objectively consider our business situation and personal leadership styles and management approaches. From the moment we joined the group for cocktails on the first day and met the group, we knew we were among like-minded peers.

The materials presented by Dr. Henry Cloud and the discussions during breakout sessions can be classified into two categories for us. The first being things that re-contextualize how we look at situations/people/ourselves and our company. The second being tools or strategies that we can apply that will allow us to more effectively manage our people, company—even ourselves personally.

Considering how our past experiences contribute to how we react to situations, and the notion that consideration of the wake you leave behind (like a boat) forces you to make adjustments as you move forward seems mildly obvious in hindsight, but it was a good reminder for us. And the idea that only by making colleagues understand that you understand (them and the situation) will you create trust and establish credibility with people was a terrific reminder that a human approach, including really listening and acting with humility, are key characteristics of successful leaders. This, combined with the idea that highly successful leaders spend a considerable portion of their time training and coaching team members and not only encourage failure in their staff, but require it of them, left us wondering how we could incorporate this into our own studio management practices.

The lessons surrounding differentiating between “urgent” items versus “vital” ones hit home for both of us, as we both tend to get caught up in the daily distractions as critical tasks gather dust on our to do lists. Similarly, the analogy of “pruning” in business, the leadership trait of successfully removing stuff getting in the way of results like pruning a rose bush so it can flourish, was something that excited us. This idea, combined with every leader’s need to fight the natural urge to avoid confrontation and negative issues, choosing instead to deal with them more proactively are aspects of our own management styles that we’ll want to spend more time considering and improving.

Dr. Henry Cloud’s sessions reminded us of the wisdom of another wise management guru, David C. Baker, who encourages firm leaders to work ON their businesses as much as working IN them. But Dr. Cloud’s wisdom was timely and poignant, reinforcing for us that beyond the cunning business strategies and due diligence available to us as entrepreneurs, our leadership styles could include more human expressions of love and appreciation for our team, involve more one-on-one communication and coaching, and involve a renewed dedication to taking appropriate risks and action when necessary as we steer our business forward. In some ways it was a shame that the leadership forum couldn’t be over a full weekend, allowing more time to discuss strategies and learn and practical tools that could be applied in our business back home.

We stayed an extra day to explore Santa Monica and visit a couple friends in the area, which turned out to be a smart choice as the forum left our heads spinning a little, and we never actually spoke about the topics discussed and lessons learned until we returned home.

As our first APDF exposure begins to fade to memory, both Ben and I feel great about the experience and satisfied with the value and outcomes. Besides enjoying a much-needed break and the pleasantries of being welcomed into the group by friendly, experienced professionals we can certainly learn from, it was nice to connect with many design professionals in similar situations to ours that we could share our experiences with and perhaps even assist ourselves. As they say, you often only get out what you put in, so we’re looking forward to contributing to APDF as much as benefiting from it.

The below opinion article was featured Applied Arts Magazine’s website in November 2010:

Design is in chaos, and leadership is sorely lacking.

It’s time for those with the ability to take the reins of power and haul the industry into the modern world.

So often I hear experienced design professionals tell younger designers to get involved or join the local chapter of a design association. Good advice, right? Of course it is.

Wait a minute. I’ve been heavily involved in our national design association for almost a decade now, and when I look at the best and brightest in our field, most of them are not even part of that community. Not only do the experienced among us generally not lend their time and energy as leaders, but most don’t even see the value of membership. What the deuce?

We all love to wax poetic about “back in the day” (a term I only now feel old enough to use), but it’s scary how much things have changed in the last 20 years. Another phrase I find myself using these days is “in the real world,” when talking to design students about the realities of what we deal with in our day-to-day profession. It occurs to me that I haven’t been giving my students the whole story about our industry. And it occurs to me that the opportunities for learning, networking and advancement via design associations aren’t what they used to be.

Enough of that. We need to tear down the walls of complacency and lead by example.

Times Are Changing

When I entered this profession, the designers I learned from illustrated with brushes and paint, drew typefaces by hand and set type on a Linotype machine. Looking back, it felt like at that moment (1989) everything began to suddenly change. I remember the fear and trepidation so many of us felt as we realized how much of our training was already obsolete. Thankfully, we brought with us new skills and perspectives as well as our classical training, and together with the established pros, we forged ahead, evolved, and kept the design community afloat.

But times are changing once again. And nobody likes change. It’s scary as hell. But change is a constant in the design field—like it or not.

Some say that Canada’s reputation as a leader in our field has waned. Many argue vehemently that design has radically evolved beyond “graphic,” with designers around the globe adopting a new perspective and identity. And yet despite all this, Canadian graphic design associations cling desperately to old paradigms, terminology and mandates.

It’s time we told the younger designers entering the highly competitive (and saturated) communication design industry the truth about what skills they’re going to need to thrive—or even survive.

Stop Whining

I’m guilty of it too, but really—let’s grow up. I’m about as sick of hearing about spec contests and crowd-sourcing as I am talking about it. And the debate over what we call ourselves and describe what we do? An important discussion, but god I’m bored of it.

Sure, we can stomp our feet in protest every time a government ministry engages in a practice we view as disrespectful, but have those that represent us adequately secured the attention of Canada’s federal government, educating and collaborating with them? Not so much. Have regional association chapters stepped in front of the various legislative assemblies in the provinces across Canada? Nope. Have we even reached out to our local boards of trade with the message of the value we bring to business through design? Not to my knowledge.

The reality is, the immaturity with which we’re viewed will never go away if all we do is whine about everything among ourselves, resorting to the equivalent of shooting spitballs from the sidelines. And seriously, do you think the best and brightest among us get caught up in discussions about what they call themselves? Or about the quality of typeface choices in James Cameron’s latest movie or how much they love or hate the latest logo designed by Peter Arnell? Of course not. Who cares? Are we artists or are we business strategists? Or perhaps both? Do we really even know anymore?

We need to start looking beyond the ivory tower of design. There are more issues at hand than the improper use of Trajan.

The Associations Are Failing Designers

It’s been an exciting few years in the design industry. But when I look at the broader industry and the leadership within its ranks, I am ashamed. The associations are bursting at the seams with young designers, but there is an embarrassingly low percentage of experienced, successful design professionals among our leadership ranks.

For the most part, Canada’s best designers don’t seem to understand the value of membership anymore, let alone feel compelled to step up and volunteer their expertise, intelligence, creativity and influence.

In this time of change, made worse by economic uncertainty and the threat of overseas competition (when I was in China last year, there were nearly one million students studying design—one million), we need brave leadership, now more than ever. We don’t need the status quo, and we certainly don’t need to cling to old ways of thinking, trying to rebuild cosmetic meaning in an industry that has fundamentally changed.

What we need is unity. Let’s be honest with ourselves, Canada’s national graphic design association isn’t really national at all. Until old differences are set aside and Ontario and Quebec properly join the leadership of this industry, we’re going to be burdened by fractured administration and provincial thinking. If we want to truly make change, we need to quit bickering and navel-gazing, band together and get to work.

There are a growing number of professionals in our field who believes that unless our national association radically alters its trajectory, the only answer is to form a new group. This is a risky approach that would mean discarding more than 50 years of history. But this is the design industry; old things die and new things are created in their place. I’m not sure it’s the right path, but at least somebody’s making an effort—and if things don’t change soon, I’ll be right there with them.

Designers Are Failing The Associations

Most of these well-known designers who have abandoned the associations have elevated themselves beyond the level of merely producing graphics. They’ve acquired business acumen, expanded their professional networks and accumulated significant influence. They’re too busy producing results for their clients to get caught up in issues that don’t seem to relate to them anymore. Few of these successful designers turn their attention, time and energy to leading the Canadian design industry forward.

To fix this, there needs to be constant change at the head of our national organization. There should be a number of candidates in the running for leadership positions. No one should be able to park in a position for years on end and win the same spot by default. Change is healthy for an organization, and I would argue it’s required to keep our broader industry evolving and moving forward.

We need leaders who won’t get caught up complaining about how little money the association has, but who will set in motion a plan to fix that. We need leaders who not only recognize the importance of getting our message in front of big business and government, but who have the experience doing this already—successfully. We need leaders who have evolved beyond graphic design.

So where are these leaders?

I suspect that most of the really influential designers in Canada have become distracted by the allure of fame. Many designers who could bring a lot to the table have opted instead to self-promote, pursuing speaking engagements at design conferences and/or publishing books of their ramblings or works, instead of giving back to their industry in its time of need. Many will offer their design services and create posters, reports, even websites for the promotional opportunities, but these often seem more in the service of exposure in their quest to become the next Sagmeister. Good for those who enjoy this kind of professional success and notoriety, but what about those who follow? Who will be their mentors?

So this is a call to those who have “arrived” and enjoyed success in their design careers. Instead of merely becoming opinion shapers worshipped by young designers, these leaders should step forward and use their experience, position and influence to create real, positive change.

Winners Don’t Make Excuses

By now, many of you are probably thinking, “He has a point. If we want things to improve, we need to put in the work. But I just don’t have the time.” Hogwash.

This issue has been on my mind a lot lately as I consider my own future as a volunteer leader within the Canadian design community. I too have struggled to find a balance between running my own busy design studio and serving on the executive board of my local design association chapter. I recently posted a thread to Facebook that read, “Why do most of Canada’s best and brightest senior designers refuse to serve their national professional association?” I wasn’t surprised by responses claiming successful designers are busy, sometimes timid and often even elitist, but seriously, give me a break. This is not the time for timidity or elitism.

I’m not negating the importance of family commitment or life balance, and we all understand the need to focus time and energy on work itself, but I asked why the upper tier of designers is absent. From my perspective, the people at the top of this game are always busy, but they’re also extremely efficient, tremendous problem solvers and often have deep resources.

The responses that resonated most with me were those centred around the confusion about the value of design associations, which seem to be run by the “old guard” (a term that makes me cringe), which has collectively lost a sense of the state of the industry. Many senior designers replied that they have little interest in lending their talents to a community that still calls themselves graphic designers—a term few of those at the top use any more. And finally, some argued that the way the design industry networks and supports itself has changed and become much more fluid, global and instant, using online tools such as Behance, Cargo Collective, LinkedIn, QBN and Motionographer.

Fine. Things have changed. We can all sit behind our computer screens and feel a sense of community via our Facebook pages or LinkedIn groups, but that’s not community. We need leadership. We need those who’ve come before us to guide and mentor us by sharing their tricks of the trade. We also need those who are enjoying success in the newer areas of expertise, such as interaction design, user experience design and brand design. They can bring to the table their unique experiences, so those who still think like graphic designers can look at the bigger picture and expand their ideas of what we do.

We need winners to put their hands up and say, “It’s my turn—allow me to help out for a while.” Just imagine how many new designers could be inspired to band together as a community if even 10 or 20 influential design leaders stepped forward to compete for a term on the executive board of our national design association?

I’m aware that my ideas don’t jibe with everyone’s point of view, but I believe in the power of design. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that a coalition of the best of the design industry can bring about radical positive change, once again positioning Canada as the bright North Star of design leadership it once was.

To do that, walls need to be broken down, and tough decisions made. It’s time to tell the next generation the truth about the mess we’re leaving them, and work with them to build a better future for us all.

Will you join me?

Matt recently wrote a great article about why he was excited about the upcoming Icograda Design Week Vancouver 2010 conference.

This week Icograda released this animated promo video about the theme of Design Currency created by Rethink, Giant Ant Media, Todd Smith Design and Wave Productions—all studios in Vancouver, BC.

The coolest thing for me is that the video is old school flipbook animation, not computer trickery. The production team literally printed and photographed 2,180 custom bills to create the effect. Here are some behind the scenes photos showing how they did it.

Pretty cool work guys—well done!

I believe there is always room for every person to grow, personally and professionally. But as an Art Director (and father of a two year old) my ‘spare’ time for a conference is very limited. I have been in this industry for 15 years and without sounding arrogant, I know a lot about this industry. If I am going to take five days to attend a conference it better be something significant that will make a positive difference for my career. I also want to see speakers who are funny, intelligent and poignant. I have no interest seeing presentations that are nothing more than monotone portfolio overviews with little or no relevance to the conference theme.

So, why should I get excited about Icograda’s Design Week Vancouver being hosted by GDC in April of this year?

Well, there is the fact that it is hosted in the convention centre in my beautiful hometown of Vancouver. An international conference on my doorstep of this calibre (which would normally involve air-flight and hotels adding extra expense) is a wonderful opportunity, I would be a fool not to attend for this reason alone.

I enjoyed watching this presentation recently given by GDC President, Rod Roodenburg, where he said “we don’t have the answers but we have ideas, and so do you. Lets create the value of design together”. That one statement alone inspires me to want to attend this conference. Going to a conference to truly participate and contribute on a global level sounds refreshing.

I am hooked by the theme ‘Design Currency: Defining the Value of Design’. Working in a service-based industry we often bump up against the value of design. How do you put a dollar value to a service for a client? What impact will the completed design work have on your clients business? What parameters does the client use to judge that impact and how does that translate into value for them or their clientele? Also, in a world where you can buy a logo for next to nothing on certain ‘generic logo’ sites, or use a myriad of crowd sourcing sites, how do we educate a client on the value of strategic design and the process behind it?

The conference is an international event organized by Icograda (International Council of Graphic Design Associations), the world body for professional communication design. The conference will host speakers who are all world-class design experts from countries around the globe (Canada, US, France, Denmark, Hong Kong, and India to mention just a few).

I believe many creative designers are multi-disciplined in their thinking but lack the skills to implement these ideas. Personally I am a wanna be architect, interior designer and car designer but unfortunately my buildings would probably collapse and my cars would never start. That being said, I am excited that the speakers at the conference will be from varying disciplines of design with experts from the fields of architecture, industrial design, branding, strategy, and interactive design.

At the same time as the conference there will also be a trade fair where you will get to meet lots of industry suppliers and network with top management from leading design agencies, design media, design students and design educators. Additionally, there will be lots of wonderful printed samples for our greedy design fingers to flip through, admire, critique (“I can’t believe they used that typeface” or “look at that leading”), and to smell the wonders of printed ink (slight personal obsession).

On the Friday the day will be divided into workshops and an education symposium. Thursday night the conference will host the Graphex 2010 awards gala, celebrating and acknowledging the best of Canadian design over the past two years. I attended the 2008 awards gala and was impressed by the whole night (the MC Ze Frank was a hoot, this year it is Debbie Millman). It was an opportunity to connect with my design colleagues and meet admired designers from studios across Canada. Did I mention the cocktail reception and three course plated dinner?

The world has many currencies but the GDC and Icograda felt there was one missing—a ‘design currency’. One that could transcend different economies but could still represent monetary value on a balance sheet. Hence the ‘Design Dollar’ icon used as the conference logo mark. I am intrigued by the logo for the conference. There is a logo for the conference, how cool is that? It has me instantly ask questions. What is this currency? Where is it used? How is it used? What is the value? What is the Canadian Dollar and Design Dollar exchange rate? It acts as a vehicle to start asking questions drawing you in and enrolling you into the topic of the conference. Rather than the conference title set in just Helvetica (as many conference often do), strategy and thought have been put into not just the logo but into other promotional materials and brand elements. I am excited to see the full extent of which this graphic theme will be incorporated throughout the conference and trade fair. I have seen people at local design events recently wearing Design Currency promotional t-shirts that states ‘This shirt is worth 150 Design Dollars’. Inviting people to engage in dialogue about the value of design, actively promoting the conference but more so the topic of the conference. It is truly a great PR campaign.

One of the conference events that I am most keen to attend is the ‘Dinner With a Side of Design”, April 25, 26 & 28. A long table series at Irish Heather (great beer and food) combining local leaders and designers in collaborative conversations focused around the complex themes of sustainability, culture and economics. i have never heard of such an opportunity where my thoughts and ideas would have an actual impact on our city.

I’ve heard that speakers have been encouraged to avoid portfolio presentations in favour of theme-focussed dialogue and that there will be panel discussions and break-out groups. Collectively (speakers and the attendees) will come to conclusions together to include the following: What is the true value of design? How can graphic designers contribute to positive change in the world? What is the impact and value that your design has on the bottom line socially, environmentally, economically and culturally?

By attending this conference I believe the global perspectives learned, relationships made, practical lessons learned will benefit my career (and yours) not only for the next short while but continuously long term.

I encourage you to join me and register online by visiting the design week website www.designweekvancouver.ca.

Icograda has formally announced Design Week 2010 to be hosted by GDC in Vancouver with official event profile information on their website.

Likemind is gaining momentum in Vancouver, with over 200 members on its Facebook Group. Events the each 3rd Friday of each month, with the next gathering on June 19th at Elysian Coffee‘s new location at 590 West Broadway, between Cambie and Ash. Bring your travel mug and be prepared to taste some of the finest coffee being brewed in Vancouver while enjoying casual conversation with likeminded professionals from a myriad of backgrounds and industries. If you miss the event, you can check out photos on Flickr and follow the conversation on Twitter.

Please spread the word and come join us for a coffee!

It’s certainly no secret that we’re huge fans of GDC, the national design association in Canada, and the various events they produce. So, I’d like to encourage any and all creative professionals that work within the communication design industry in and around Vancouver (yes, that includes you graphic designers too) to attend the upcoming 2009 Salazar Awards featuring a special keynote presentationby the briliant Michael Osborne of MODSF at Emily Carr on May 8th. Last year’s event was a total sell out, so reserve your Salazar tickets before it’s too late.

For tickets to the Salazar Awards, click here.

That same weekend is GDC’s annual POGO Conference—which stands for Perspectives, Opportunities, Guidance, and Open-learning—including rare studio tour opportunities, creative workshops, and portfolio critiques by some of Vancouver’s leading design experts. This weekend of learning represents a unique and powerful opportunity for recent design grads, young designers looking for advice, or aging design wonks just looking for some fresh perspectives and networking opportunities. Last year a few attendees landing terrific jobs as a result of attending the portfolio reviews alone!

For tickets to POGO, click here.

April 27th is World Graphic Design Day, and the Canadian design community celebrated with GDC announcing new sustainability definitions and principles for its members at the National AGM in Winnipeg on April 26th. This is a huge leap forward for Canada’s National design association and shows terrific leadership in this area.

Happy World Graphic Design Day indeed!

DOXA Documentary Film Festival Needs Our Help
Graphic designers don’t often participate in documentary filmmaking, which is a shame. Just as our craft helps shape culture, documentaries are powerful storytelling vehicles, often revealing subjects, issues, and even entire movements we’d otherwise never understand. Heck, Gary Hustwit’s documentary film Helvetica was a good example of this and I was proud when GDC were able to bring it to Vancouver, and his next film, Objectified, is soon to be screened here as well.

Sharing a passion for documentaries, Ben and I both recently joined the leadership group behind the DOXA Documentary Film Festival and would like to ask for your help. You see, we’re proud to bring together a variety of awesome films from around the world to Vancouver each year, but with the current economic climate and resulting arts & culture cut-backs, our festival requires the generous support of people like us to remain viable.

What is DOXA?
DOXA Documentary Film Festival is Western Canada’s largest documentary film festival hosted by The Documentary Media Society in Vancouver each May. DOXA is a non-profit, charitable society devoted to sharing inspiring, innovative, and thought-provoking documentary films from around the world. For example, on April 16th, DOXA is screening Recipes for Disaster, the hilarious and thought-provoking story of a young Anglo-Finnish family as they rid themselves of all oil-based products for a year in an effort to live environmentally sustainable lives.

DOXA’s role in the community.
There are numerous worthy charities, but DOXA is specifically doing terrific work in the arts and culture sector, helping expose not only documentary films and filmmakers to the world, exposing important issues and encouraging dialogue, and exposing Vancouver to the world as a significant city with creativity, innovation and high quality storytelling through world-class documentaries.

Beyond showcasing terrific films, DOXA also works hard to get youth involved with two amazing programs, Connexions Youth Forum and Rated Y for Youth. Connexions gives young adults the opportunity to be mentored by seasoned filmmakers and then allows those participants to create their own short documentaries to be screened at the festival—an opportunity I would have died to have when I was their age. And Rated Y for Youth is a DOXA initiative showcasing documentaries suitable for youth aged 12-18 to promote intelligent dialogue and critical media literacy to a new generation, through non-fiction, media arts.

DOXA’s plan for the future.
Doxa has made significant structure improvements to create a solid foundation and plan for the future of the festival. The festival is expanding, improving its programing, producing more screenings and events, and is producing two exciting youth initiatives this year—introducing young people to documentary films and directly to the filmmakers and film making process itself. Awesome!

Why would I care?
As a community of passionate, intelligent, “switched on” creative professionals, I image most of you have an appreciation for good filmmaking. And I hope you agree that it’s easy to go see a Hollywood movie anytime, but never as enriching or thought-provoking as a compelling documentary. Documentaries are where the truth is told, where learning happens, where movements take flight, and where change happens. I believe you are like-minded in your view of the arts and its impact on culture, and understand the financial need created by this economic climate which includes provincial and federal financial cutbacks.

Please join me in supporting the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, which is meeting real, humble needs right here in our own community. We’re proud of what has been accomplished and excited by what it can become with the right kind of support and people behind it. DOXA is a registered charity run by a dedicated group of volunteers. There are numerous ways you can help support the festival along with their youth programming.

Here are the ways you can help:

• Donate online via our secure online donations page. and receive
• Download, fill out and send back the DOXA donor form.
• Donate your unused Aeroplan Air Miles points to DOXA to reduce travel costs for guests.
• Consider becoming a DOXA partner or advertising with the festival.
• Check out how you can get involved as a volunteer.
• Buy tickets for screenings and the festival in May, 2009.

If you have any questions, you can visit the DOXA website or ask me directly at mark@industrialbrand.com.
Thanks for your support!

The Alcuin Society and BC Chapter of GDC are co-producing a FREE EVENT featuring Canadian book designer, illustrator, art director, and publisher Frank Newfeld on April 2nd at SFU Harbour Centre in Vancouver.

This intimate evening will include an exhibit of Mr. Newfeld’s work, a presentation by the master himself as he shares his thoughts on illustrated books, particularly those for the younger reader. This should be of special interest to fans of Newfeld’s illustrations for Alligator Pie (poems by Dennis Lee). Copies of Mr. Newfeld’s recent memoir, Drawing on Type (The Porcupine’s Quill, 2008), will be available for purchase and signing.

Place: SFU Vancouver (Harbour Centre)
1900 – 515 West Hastings St, Vancouver
Date: Thursday, April 2nd, 7:00 pm
Cost: FREE, but seating is limited and only those who RSVP here will be admitted.