Over 2000 creatives come together for DesignThinkers 2024 in Toronto
While Carl Shura RGD held a Type Design Crash Course: Crafting Unique Letterforms workshop on exploring fundamental concepts of type design and creating your own letterforms in this hands-on workshop, other speakers spilled the beans in a Never Have I Ever session. On November 7 and 8, creatives from across Canada attended the RGD's 25th DesignThinkers Conference at Meridian Hall and the St. Lawrence Centre in Toronto.
This year's conference offered four streams of talks and workshops covering a range of topics on the evolving landscape of visual communication. For those who preferred to participate from home or the office, the conference also provided an option for live online streaming.
All attendees have access to presentation recordings on the event platform, Pheedloop, for the next three months. After that, recordings will be available to all RGD Members in the through the RGD website.
As a precursor to the conference, on November 6, two guided tours to top creative studios in Toronto, featuring OneMethod, CBC, Jackman, Cossette and Mosaic, were held along with a Type Workshop: From Drawing to Implementation by Eleni Beveratou and a DesignThinkers Podcast Live Show with Christopher Doyle.
Day 1 of the conference featured talks from Mr Bingo, Annie Atkins, Leland Maschmeyer, Grace Hwang, Radim Malinic, Shaun Loftman, Nick Asbury and Robin McLoughlin, among others. Speakers discussed topics that included designing stories, creative AI, leadership, broadest market reach, togetherness of collaboration, culture, collective impact, knowing beyond the Logo and more. The day also featured the talk by Domtar on Taking the Guilt out of Using Paper workshops by Diana Varma RGD on playful printing, and Dominic Prevost on Discovering creative archetype.
Day 1 finished with a Delegate Party at Bier Markt, where delegates and speakers connected over delicious hors d'oeuvres and drinks and had much-needed in-person conversations.
Day 2 was packed with just as much fun and creativity. Robert Wong, Aries Moross, James Martin, Johnny Cupcakes and many others took the stage to discuss topics such as coming up with new creative ideas, Demystifying AI in UX and more. The day also featured a Never Have I Ever session with Christopher Doyle, James Martin, Elizabeth Goodspeed, Guy Anabella hosted by Julian Brown RGD and workshops on Design Your Own Drag Character! by Guy Anabella and Typefaces for Logos by Eleni Beveratou.
In addition to the regular conference sessions, delegates had the opportunity to get their books signed. Attendees connected with peers during breakfast and lunchtime roundtable discussions. They also had the opportunity to meet industry suppliers in the Designer Marketplace.
Registration for DesignThinkers 2025 in Vancouver, which will take place May 13–14, will open in late November. Stay tuned!
Thank you to our volunteer photographers, Alan Joson RGD, Nadia Otake & Armando Ascrove RGD.
Thank you also to our Industry Partners for the event: Whitman Emorson (Branding), Forge Media + Design, (Website Development), Domtar (Paper), Porter Airlines (Airline), Flash (Print), Minoh (Signage), Storia (Video Production)
Gold Sponsors: MITCHELL, Genumark, Moveable, Cella, TBWA\Chiat\Day\LA, Stocksy, Deloitte
Silver & Bronze Sponsors: AR.IVAL, Dinamo, Mitchell Sandham, Swipe, WeirFoulds LLP, Ace Branding Company, Forest Stewardship Council, Issues Magazine Shop, StickerYou and York University SCS
