RGD - Design Thinkers - Toronto - 2023 Recap

Last October Toronto was abuzz with the innovative energy of the design community as the RGD Design Thinkers event unfolded. For the past 15 years, I’ve always heard great things about the Design Thinkers events and I finally had the chance to attend and see what all the hype was about. Design enthusiasts from all corners gathered to explore, connect, and learn from the industry's leading lights. While the event offered a rich tapestry of experiences, there were some highs, lows, and areas for improvement worth noting.

This year featured speakers from all areas of design. From famous business coaching designers like Chris Do and the Futur, to Branding experts like Paula Scheer, Dorothea Bozicolona-Volpe, and Forest Young to more innovative studio-based designers like Nishat Akhtar, and Simon Clancy. This event wasn’t shy of hosting great innovative speakers who and trend-setting as well like Paul Trani from Adobe and typographers like Eleni Beveratou. These were just a couple of my favorite speakers at the event among a long list of others.

Highlights from the event have been, being treated to a plethora of innovative ideas, sparking creativity, and pushing the boundaries of the design discipline. Things like Variable fonts are a new concept that will decrease the overall file size of web-based fonts but also allow for more innovative websites in the future. As well as the future of AI and how AI is being integrated into the designer’s workflow.

I think there was also a bigger theme of Play and staying creative in this industry. Allowing for time to be creative and not be constrained by business objectives or data as a bottleneck sometimes. Allowing the creative space and ideas to flow. Without experimentation, there is no innovation. This was a huge takeaway from Nishat’s talk, and by playing in design we can ask better questions as designers. Which was a business principle in Chris Do’s talk about Sales and ultimately serving people better.

S. Serve others

A. Ask open-ended questions

L. Listen more

E. Empathize

S. Summarize

One thing that resonated from Chris’s talk was having the courage to ask. Being inclined enough by Asking questions to uncover and discover a goal or obstacle to overcome/achieve. Just one of the many lessons I’ve learned from Chris Do being a past student in his Futur Pro Group.

Another highlight was the networking aspect to this event. Connecting with old professors / mentors like Chris Do, and Paul Sych but also connecting with familiar faces from design school and even past students. The event provided ample opportunities to mingle with like-minded professionals, fostering a sense of community within the design industry.

Some lowlights of the event stem from organizational challenges from the RGD.  The RGD felt stretched thin at times, leading to lapses in smooth execution and communication around the event and workshops. There was poor communication through platforms like PheedLoop, where I felt disconnected and frustrated, detracting from the overall experience. There was also inflexibility in accommodating changes or common-sense adjustments, such as accepting payments for workshops when space allowed.

The RGD Design Thinkers event in Toronto offered some great learning,  and networking, opportunities within the design community. Despite some challenges, I  walked away with a wealth of knowledge and connections which acted as fuel for myself. Advocating for design is truly important within this space as individuals but also for each other in this community and beyond.

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Jason Jay
Founder & Creative Director | JSNJAY Design Inc. / CONTENDER Studio
www.contender.studio
www.jsnjay.com