2009 Conference Summary
No Boundaries
2009 SEGD Conference + Expo explores the lines and crosses them.
San Diego, a city of international geographic borders, cultural collisions, and cross-disciplinary design innovations, was the perfect venue for exploring the 2009 SEGD Conference + Expo theme, "Blurring Lines, Crossing Borders, Ignoring Boundaries."
Culture is at the centerpiece of how San Diego has defined itself over the past three decades, and how it has transformed itself from a military town to a dynamic cultural center, opening speaker Bennett Peji told 2009 SEGD Conference + Expo attendees.
Cultural awareness, he added, is the most important quality in a designer. "A good designer is someone who pays attention to what's going on around them," stressed Peji, principal of Bennett Peji Design and Ambassador of Arts and Culture for San Diego. "Form follows culture first."
The conference was held May 27-30 at San Diego's Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Fun before the fun begins
A full day of pre-conference activities was offered, including the full-day workshop Developing a University-Level EGD Program, held on the campus of San Diego State University and featuring a panel of experienced EGD program coordinators. An afternoon workshop, Building Blocks for Creative Success, featured Carl Alviani of Core77 and coroflot.com and Jim Oswald of Gensler presenting his hands-on Creative Sandbox.
For the third year running, the conference was kicked off with a Film Festival, this year featuring two short films: Design Across Boundaries by Bas Rajimakers and In Search of the Creator: A Second Life Odyssey, by Douglas Gayeton.
Getting out there
SEGD's signature Workshops on Wheels get attendees out in the world to see projects first-hand and, hopefully, give them fresh perspectives on their work. This year was no exception.
During "pre-conference day" on May 27, registrants chose from a walking tour of San Diego neighborhoods, a tour of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in nearby La Jolla, and an insider tour of two local fabricator facilities, CNP and Fabrication Arts. On Day 1 of the conference, Workshops on Wheels included Balboa Park architecture and the San Diego Air & Space Museum as well as Chicano Park, where San Diego's Latino culture is displayed on huge-scale murals painted on the concrete supports of the Coronado Bay Bridge.
Blurring Lines, Crossing Borders
Brian Collins, designer of Al Gore's "WE" campaign and founding principal of COLLINS:, broke the first boundary of the conference by traveling back in time. In the 1960s, he recalled, mankind was venturing into space, technology was our friend, and the future was bright. "In 1969, Apollo 11 took off and the world held its breath," he remembered. "The next time that happened was 9/11."
While design in the 60s was influenced by space technology, design today is influenced by war, and our brand vocabulary reflects the times, Collins observed. We use words like strategy, targeting, guerilla tactics, insertions, and killer apps. We live in gated communities, we drive cars that look like armored vehicles, and we're not hopeful about the future.
It's the design world's job to help create and nurture hope, he concluded. "Design is hope made visible."
Collins moderated a conference-opening panel that included Bennett Peji of Bennett Peji Design and Moira Gemmill, director of projects, design, and estate for London's Victoria & Albert Museum. Gemmill told attendees about FuturePlan, the V&A's major renovation and rehabilitation project.
Luis Fitch, co-founder of the Hispanic branding agency Uno, explained how he uses his ethnographic filtering tool, Filtros, to precisely target his design projects aimed at the Hispanic market. The Hispanic market in the U.S. includes 44.3 million, with about 66 percent from Mexico. But many other countries, regions, and cultures are represented in the remainder of the Hispanic market, he said. Understanding their cultures, their countries/regions of origin, and their level of acculturation are key drivers in creating design that resonates with them. The U.S. Census website is a valuable resource for free social and economic data on various Hispanic groups.
"Barbie refugee" Stuart Karten, a former designer for Mattel, has his own award-winning industrial design firm now, and a process called ModeMapping that helps his staff stay focused on user needs. Designers graphically map different behavior "modes" of users' lives, including transition times and what their needs are during the different modes. "Our initial motivation for developing it was to be more research oriented," Karten explained. "Making it visual helped our designers adopt it."
Marc Gruether, curator of industry and design at The Henry Ford, shared how the museum's OnInnovation educational initiative shines a light on the traits common to innovators. "They all questioned, searched, were unsuccessful, and succeeded magnificently," he said. "They had the tenacity to stick with something, they didn't take no for an answer, and they got outside their comfort zones."
Surviving in a Tough Economy
This year's conference included three major presentations on the current economic landscape and how to navigate through it. Thursday's session was "Surviving in a Tough Economy: New Rules for New Terrain."
Panelist Lee Slade, senior principal and new business development manager for engineering company Walter P Moore, started out with some tough love. "Confront the brutal facts: the economy sucks. Hope is not a strategy. Sucking your thumb or being sad about the economic situation is not going to help." Slade's firm diversified its client base to protect itself from recession. Now, he sees "pockets," including China and infrastructure projects that will be funded through the federal government's stimulus plan. His key recommendations included:
- Connect sales to the service experience ("sell the do, do the sell").
- Ramp up your business development capabilities (10% of a principal's time is just dabbling, and that won't get the job done).
- Focus on your core business and core clients (be the best, optimize delivery, reduce costs where possible, add value).
"Your cheapest client is your existing client," he concluded.
Marjanne Pearson, managing principal of NextMoon, a consultancy that specializes in practice sustainability, has seen 16 recessions come and go since she began working in the design field in 1969. She stressed the business fundamentals: "Figure out the target you're trying to hit and aim your strategy, processes, and organization in that direction." Her tips for creating "strategic resiliency" included:
- Reassess your firm's vision and aspirations.
- Restate your purpose, especially related to service offerings and markets.
- Adapt and reinvent service offerings and go-to marketing strategies.
- Redevelop resources (reevaluate talent mix and geographic locations).
Pearson also encouraged attendees to explore social media networks if they haven't aleady. "Traditional channels were one-way, while new media communication channels go both ways," she told attendees. Social media is not a marketing campaign, she advised, "it's a way of establishing long-range influence."
Nancy Egan, who works with real estate and design firms on marketing objectives through her firm New Voodou and who was formerly with Harvard University's Executive Education Program, had these tips for articulating your company's value in a tough economy.
- Own your story. (What differentiates your practice from the others?)
- Use downtime to make sure your staff knows the story and can tell it well.
- Make sure the story you tell matches the product you deliver.
- Make strategic choices about whom you collaborate with.
- Polish up your presentation, evaluating it through a prospective client's eyes.
2009 SEGD Excellence Awards
The SEGD Excellence Awards honor outstanding leadership in EGD and recognize those individuals, groups, and organizations that have made significant contributions to SEGD and the field. The 2009 awards were presented at the annual luncheon and celebration on May 28.
The highlight of the celebration is the naming of the SEGD Fellow, an honor bestowed this year on David Gibson, co-founder and managing principal of Two Twelve. David is internationally known for championing a user-center approach to information design in public spaces, and he has designed innovative wayfinding programs for major hospitals, municipalities, university campuses, and other complex environments. His book, The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places, was published this year.
Fellow Award: David Gibson
For promoting the highest values in environmental graphic design and significantly contributing to the direction and growth of the field.
Distinguished Member Award: SEGD Green Committee
(Gary Anzalone, Precision Signs; Dawn Craft, ASI-Modulex; Thomas Horton, Gensler; Maura Mathews, Two Twelve; Naomi Pearson; Michael Santos, Nova Polymers; Danny Schneider, Vista Sign; Harry Spetnagel, Gensler)
For demonstrating outstanding volunteer efforts while fostering growth and excellence in SEGD programs.
Angel Award: Ken Ethridge
For promoting the highest value in environmental graphic design, and significantly contributing to the direction and growth of SEGD.
Arrow Award: 3M Commercial Graphics Division
For demonstrating exemplary service or dedication to advancing technologies and manufacturing in environmental graphic design, and striving to provide the highest quality
Insight Award: Victoria & Albert Museum
For consistently commissioning EGD programs that significantly enhance or promote opportunities for the field and EGD education, and demonstrating a longstanding commitment to recognize the field.
2009 SEGD Design Awards
Presentation of the 2009 SEGD Design Award winners is another highlight of the annual conference. This year, 40 projects representing a wide range of disciplines and applications were singled out by a multidisciplinary jury chaired by Peter Dixon, senior partner/creative director of Prophet, a New York design consultancy.
Seven projects, including The Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, Calif.; Go with God, a church-turned-art gallery in Lisbon, Portugal; the Museum of Arts and Design in New York; Dublin Airport's Pier D; the Newseum in Washington, DC; GreenPix Zero Energy Media Wall in Beijing; and graphics at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Communication were given Honor Awards. For a complete awards roster and photo gallery, visit the Design Awards pages of the SEGD website.
Getting social
Learning is fun, but socializing and networking are just as important. There's always plenty of time for both at the SEGD Conference + Expo. Social events included the President's Reception May 28 and a wild outing at the world-renowned San Diego Zoo on the final conference night of May 30.
Expo! Day
Yes, there's an exclamation point after Expo! Held in the hotel's grand ballroom, Expo! gave conference attendees access to more than 70 exhibitors offering new products, services, and technologies. Tech sessions provided additional learning opportunities, and the day was topped off with SEGD's Annual Auction for Education & Cocktail Reception on the Expo floor. The auction raised more than $17,000 for SEGD educational initiatives.
And for the techies
The conference always includes plenty of technical programming to balance inspirational speakers. This year, some attendees devoted Thursday afternoon to an information-packed tech session on "Software, Documentation, and the Design Process," which focused on gaining a competitive edge by understanding and employing new technologies effectively. Panelists included both vendors and design users who provided insights on using software to document wayfinding, exhibit design, branded environment, and placemaking projects.
Expo! day included a full roster of jam-packed tech sessions focused in two tracks, Wayfinding and Exhibit Design. The Wayfinding track included sessions on message scheduling software, value engineering and green design, and documentation from prototypes to shop drawings. The Exhibit Design track included dimensional modeling, material selection for digital printing and the environment, and integrating objects into the final design.
Ignoring Boundaries
Saturday morning was all about boundaries, and included a multidisciplinary panel with ideas about how to ignore them. Craig Hanna, whose firm Thinkwell creates "stories you can walk through" for clients including museums, theme parks, and resorts, offered steps for breaking boundaries: eliminate ego (your own and others within your organization), create a culture of curiosity and an environment of fun (his firm does life drawing sessions every Wednesday), mix up brainstorming by inviting a kid or a technical person, always exceed expectations, and take risks. "At least one of the concepts you present to each client should be risky."
Hank Haeusler is the author of two books on dynamic environments and part of the transdisciplinary Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory at RMIT University in Melbourne. A trained architect, he focuses his research on the transition of architecture to a communication medium. "Buildings can tell stories in three dimensions," he said, "and the authorship of space has shifted from a single author to multiple authors. The design process can happen in real time, and 3D surfaces can change over time."
Eric Karjaluoto, who runs SmashLAB, started as a painter, then became fascinated by the Internet. He decided to build a media company, and now "constantly skips the line between art and strategy." His advice for using social networking as a marketing tool? Don't be afraid to show your personality. Don't talk if you don't have anything meaningful to say. Surprise people. And play. "There is no formula for social media. Even big companies haven't worked it out. We're all playing in the same sandbox, huge corporations and the little guy alike."
Developing an identity for Detroit-area tourism may be one of the most challenging branding projects of the decade. But Eric LaBrecque and his firm Applied Storytelling were able to create a success story by listening to their client and targeting the right audience. The resulting "D-Brand" was embraced by more than 200 local entities. A new map-not a logo-was the most significant deliverable for the project, helping to bridge years of racial and socioeconomic divide.
Branding is not any single event, but a continuing conversation with the target audience, attendees heard from Amy Cotteleer, president of A Squared Group. "Pop-ups, some up for a few months, a few weeks, or even a few hours, are an engaging way to keep the conversation going."
Thriving and Prospering
Hard-hitting content continued through the end of the conference Saturday afternoon, with an afternoon panel focused on Thrive and Prosper: Beyond Survival Mode. The panel of design principals and consultants included Willie H. Davis, Davis Executive Associates, who outlined federal government contracting procedures; James P. Cramer, The Greenway Group/DesignIntelligence, who summarized research findings by the Design Futures Council; Sachin Kalbag, San Diego Center City Development Corp., who provided the perspective of local government/quasi-government projects; Joseph Labazon, Labozan Associates, who offered insights on funding sources for large transportation projects, specifically focused on design/build projects; and Michael Reed of Mayer/Reed, who shared information about his firm's success in procuring federal Government Services Administration projects.
"The public realm has a lot of project prospects," Reed reassured the crowd. "As dry and tedious as the forms and processes may seem, there are great opportunities for EGD firms at the federal, state, and local levels, especially with the influx of stimulus money." He noted that GSA's stimulus allocation will be used for improvements to government-owned buildings such as courthouses, border crossing stations, and embassies. Labazon noted that transportation infrastructure projects hold a lot of promise. And all the panelists agreed that strategic partnering with architectural, engineering, and other firms is a crucial step toward becoming involved in new government projects in the months and years ahead.