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presented by Joe Duffy, Duffy & Partners. (original description)

• Design permeates our lives now. We’ve moved from:
  • Agrarian age = Grow It
  • Industrial age = Build It
  • Information age = Tell It
  • Design age = BE IT
• Design is only interesting relative to how people live their lives.

• Good design should:
  • be not about just products but a unique experience
  • be unique
  • be relevant
  • be transparent and true
  • be aligned with people’s values
  • have its own point-of-view
  • consider all aspects of our interaction with it
  • make people want it and recommend it
• He left a large partnership to start his own agency
  • no more than 25 employees
  • no spec work; never compete when required
  • no hourly rates, just bill for projects they want to work on
  • 16 core staff: 1/2 business, 1/2 design
  • partner with others on specific projects
  • a mix of vocation and avocation
• His process:
  • imagine > design > activate (iterate)
  • continually collecting images for inspiration
  • edit & mix down images to create a visual brief
    • symbols
    • color
    • imagery
    • typography
  • have the client select and edit
    • so it’s not a surprise to them
    • they will let you design it rather than meddle
    • they have a hand in it in the right way
• more than just a logo or ad campaign, it’s about creating a brand language
• ask: what makes it unique, attracts people?
• created a brand book for The Bahamas for the people on the islands to understand the campaign; get buy-in; distributed in Sunday paper
• We must demystify the design to increase its value (more people playing golf doesn’t threaten Tiger Woods)
• In Japan, design is a way-of-life
• Design is not timeless; someone else will eventually change your work

• Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students by Ellen Lupton
• 20Th-Century Type Remix by Lewis Blackwell
• Typology: Type Design from the Victorian Era to the Digital Age by Steven Heller, Louise Fili
• Type: The Secret History of Letters by Simon Loxley
• A Tally of Types by Stanley Morison, Brooke Crutchley
• Typographic Design: Form and Communication by Rob Carter, Ben Day, Philip B. Meggs
• Digital Type Design Guide: The Page Designer’s Guide to Working With Type by Sean Cavanaugh, Ken Oyer
• FontBook: Digital Typeface Compendium by FontShop