Looking Back: DesignThinkers 2007 Branding with q30 design

RGDs Glenda Rissman and Peter Scott, principals at q30 design inc., reflect on the branding for DesignThinkers 2007, "What matters to you?"

Check out the DesignThinkers Podcast bonus episode where Glenda Rissman RGD discuss the 2007 branding.

1. What did taking on the DesignThinkers conference branding mean to you and your team at the time?

We did the DT conference branding in 2007, almost 12 years ago! It was a way to give back to RGD and support something we really believed in. It was also a great opportunity to design something with a fair degree of creative freedom for a highly visible and evolving event. We used the opportunity to showcase our interactive expertise and our evolution as a branding and digital design firm.

2. Explain your concept and how you and/or your team got there? 

Our concept was "What matters to you?". We created an interactive microsite to collect ongoing event feedback from RGD's audiences. We asked participants to reflect on design and its role in society and commerce by providing their feedback though a custom interface we created that would display all responses in real-time. Our goal was to use this data visualization to inform and shape all our DT event materials – print, online and onsite.

3. What was your biggest challenge being the Design Partner for DesignThinkers?

I think the biggest challenge was our own expectation that this piece needed to be a showcase for our design capabilities and reflect the quality and preeminence of the DT experience to a savvy audience with high expectations – no pressure at all!

4. How did it feel to present your work to a bunch of designers? And then see your work live during the event and witness people's reactions to it?

Scary, exciting and rewarding. The whole event and the materials that supported it were very well presented and we got lots of positive responses from a pretty tough crowd.

5. What are you most proud of from your own experience? Is there anything you would have done differently?

The fact that we pushed not only the visual design solution, but introduced some pretty interesting interactive data visualizations that were ahead of the curve, was very fulfilling. It was a collaborative success, within our studio and with the RGD. Not sure that we would change much to be honest – I think the design stands up really well after revisiting it almost 12 years later. And any painful memories have vanished...

6. What has been your favourite DesignThinkers branding, besides your own, and why?

That is a tough one. The spirit of 'one-upmanship' is alive and well to this day. I think the job that the Overdrive team did for DT 2015 was very memorable and the onsite displays were very well crafted!

See more images from DT 2007 here

Stay tuned for more insights into DesignThinkers branding from the past 20 years.