Canadian Design Conference Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Toronto – This year marks the 10th anniversary of DesignThinkers, Canada’s largest annual design and communications conference. Presented by the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario (RGD), DesignThinkers 09 will be held November 3 – 5 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where creative professionals will gather to celebrate strategic design thinking.
“More timely and relevant to a broader audience than ever before, design is now the great differentiator and key to engaging customers,” says Lionel Gadoury R.G.D., president of RGD. “Design thinking, brand experience and conversations on creative innovation are occurring at leading companies.”
The speaker lineup includes Ben Blumenfeld, communication design manager at Facebook; Conor Brady, senior vice-president and chief creative officer of digital marketing agency, Organic; John Bredenfoerder CMG, design director at Landor Associates; Robert Brunner, author of Do you Matter? How great design will make people love your company; Matthew Carter, principal of Carter & Cone Type Inc.; Marty Neumeier, best-selling author of The Brand Gap and Zag; V Sunil, creative director at Wieden + Kennedy Delhi and Gael Towey, chief creative officer and editor-in-chief at Martha Stewart Living.
Designed by Toronto-based firm Hambly & Woolley Inc., DesignThinkers 09 marketing was inspired by the lurid visual vernacular of B movie posters. B movies are low-budget films that represent achievements that can arise when visionary people are given restraint, something all professionals can relate to, particularly in this economic climate.
DesignThinkers attracts over 1,000 participants across Canada and the U.S. including creative directors, designers, marketing and brand managers, advertising executives, educators and students. Attendees come to be inspired, to be informed, to hone their communications and business strategies and to connect with colleagues.
DesignThinkers partners include Cascades Inc, Hambly & Woolley Inc., Resource Integrated, Somerset Graphics Co. Ltd. and SupremeX. Sponsors include Adobe Systems Incorporated, Applied Arts, Aquent, City of Toronto, Colour Innovations, Crescent, Design Edge, The Edge Screen Studio Inc., Flash Reproductions and Random House.
