Below we share some takeaways from presentations and discussions over the two days of the RGD’s DesignThinkers Conference, held in Toronto on October 27–28, 2022.

Check out more on social media using the hashtag #rgdDT.

“Don’t be afraid to show up for yourself. Don’t be afraid to listen and celebrate that unique voice of yours. To speak with authority based on your own lived experiences and your own stories. But more than that, don’t be afraid to draw boundaries, slow down and recharge, because some of us are too busy speaking up for others that we forget to speak up for ourselves.”  — Mel Sutjiadi RGD, Founder of ARToverMATTER

“There was this expectation that if you’re a young designer, you should challenge conventions but for me it was much more nuanced than just following a rule or breaking a rule. I had classmates that operated on each end of that spectrum and I felt like I operated in the middle and you could call that an inflection point — the moment in which you changed the direction.” — Eric Hu, Independent Creative Director & Typographer

“Whether it’s a song that becomes your anthem or power posing or breathing exercises — whatever it is, it’s great to find tools that work for you and help you out in situations that may otherwise make you feel like you’re out of control.” — Elana Rudick RGD, Founder & Creative Director of Design Is Yummy

“As designers, everything we produce, even the most sustainable products, have a negative impact on the planet, so the best thing to do is to reuse stuff especially in the world of food and beverage — reuse packaging and create strategies to encourage customers to do so.”  — Mauro Porcini, Chief Design Officer & Senior VP at PepsiCo.

“Personal projects are a way for me to connect with myself. To understand how I tackle the creative process and all that happens in my mind when I’m doing or navigating all those ups and downs of a project” — Paloma Rincón Rodriguez, Visual Artist

“Social media profits are an alternative form of capitalism called surveillance capitalism. They have found a loophole where you don’t have to pay to use an app but you pay with your attention, time and data. And within the existing economic system, companies cannot do the right thing because they would lose enormous amounts of money. This is a change that will take years to take effect. But until we have policies and regulations that help technology work for us, we, as creators and people building the technology, can have an effect. We have to fix this at the root of the problem.” — Bethany Sonefeld, Design Manager, Duo Security

“Often when you’re working across different teams, the languages that folks use are different but everyone is saying the same thing. And so you can have brand designers in a room with developers and they’re saying the same thing but not understanding each other. I call this “Talking in Time Horizons”. A designer would talk to an engineer and the engineer would talk to a product manager. And they’re all right. It’s just a different Time Horizons. A designer might have an idea but that idea is a six-month down the road idea — a big idea. The engineers are talking about an idea for tomorrow. And they’re both right. It’s just the Time Horizon that is different.” — Gene Lee, Vice President at Autodesk

While Laurie Rosenwald held a “top secret” workshop on analog lettering, some speakers spilled the beans in the Never Have I Ever session — on October 27 and 28 creatives from across Canada attended the 23rd annual DesignThinkers Conference at the Meridian Hall in Toronto.

In addition to having the option to choose from four different streams of talks and workshops and engaging in honest conversations about the ever-changing world of visual communication, this year’s delegates were clearly thrilled to meet and connect with their peers in person after three years. The conference also had an option for online live screening for those who preferred to attend from their home or office.

All delegates have access to presentation recordings on the event platform, Pheedloop until the end of January, after which time they will be made available to all RGD Members in the Members-only section of the RGD website. You can still register here to get access to the recordings on Pheedloop.

As a precursor to the conference, on October 26, three guided tours to top creative studios in Toronto were held featuring King Ursa, Context Creative, Nurun, lg2, Jackman, Sid Lee, Vanderbrand, BLVD and Sovereign State.

Day 1 of the Conference featured talks from Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima, Eric Hu, Sara Wachter-Boettcher, Paloma Rincón Rodriguez, Kevin Hawkins, Elana Rudick RGD, Maurice Cherry and Mauro Procini, among others. Speakers discussed topics that included accessible design, creative AI, human side of innovation, telling stories through design, defying self perception and more. The day also featured panel discussions on building in-house team and in-house client management and workshops by Laurie Rosenwald on lettering and Robert Smith RGD on SWOT.

Day 1 finished with a Delegate Party at Bier Markt, where delegates and speakers were able to connect over some delicious hors d’oeuvres and drinks and have much-needed in-person conversations.

Day 2 was packed with just as much defiance and creativity. Morag Myerscough, Alex Center, Matteo Bologna, Teresa Moses, Gene Lee, Samuel Proulx, Christine Caruso and Lionel Gadoury RGD and many more took the stage to discuss topics such as embracing change, design with an abolitionist mindset, creative confidence, breaking free from familiar, defying boring and more. The day also featured a Never Have I Ever session with Matteo Bologna, Morag Myerscough, Jolene Delisle & Alex Center hosted by Julian Brown RGD and workshops on lettering by Ying Chang and improv for designers by Diana Varma RGD.

In addition to the regular conference sessions, delegates had the opportunity to get their books signed by MinaLima, Mauro Procini, Laurie Rosenwald, Sara Wachter-Boettcher, Silas Munro, Robert Smith RGD, connect with peers during breakfast and lunch at roundtable discussions and to see, feel, sample, test and consider the latest products and service offerings available to our industry in the Designer Marketplace. Dominic Ayre RGD also held a lunchtime typography workshop which was packed with attendees on both days.

Delegates and speakers were invited to share thoughts about the DesignThinkers Conference on social media using the hashtag #rgdDT.

Thank you for our volunteer photographers Andrew Terwissen RGD for day 1 and Maninder Singh RGD for day 2 of the conference.