Last night I went to see Stanley Hainsworth speak at the Corcoran. Before founding Tether, he worked as an in-house designer at Nike (for 12 years), Lego (for 4 years), and Starbucks (for 4 years.) His lecture focused on 10 things he has learned the past 20 years:
1. Design can be a leader in creating emotional connections with consumers.
For each client he has, he created a case study that has images of textures that inspire him taken from nature and fashion. He doesn’t look at other designers’ work when creating his own because it creates more of the same thing, rather than something new and original. (Essentially, look at design resources to know what’s going on, but don’t use them as inspiration.)
2. Design is not decoration. Every pixel and period should have a purpose.
While working in-house at Nike he created a (badass) video about the founder to educate the employees where Nike’s brand. Also, when starting with a new client, he asks key questions to create a brand book to better understand the client. Questions like who are you? What is your voice? describe your brand like you would a person (i.e., don’t just say authentic, use real words.)
3. A client is not the enemy. They need to be gently led to the solution.
When he first started working at Starbucks, he thought the photos of the food were cold and had no human qualities (like a McDonald’s food shot.) He decided to take the food photos like you would see in real life, creating a human connection. And then I got hungry after looking at the tasty baked goods.
4. I’m a designer and …
To be a good designer you need to be a good marketer.
5. The more I understand about business the better designer I will be.
Learn as much as possible about your brand.
6. If it’s not fun, it’s not being done right.
7. Designers are the most strategic thinkers I know.
8. In-House life versus agency life—not so different.
9. Somehow I missed this point, oops.
10. Our profession is redefining itself and I couldn’t be more excited.
Who are we as designers?