Toronto, ON (November 12, 2015) – Look around. The power of design is everywhere. Customers expect, even demand, more from the design of what they buy and experience than ever before. Great design has become a prerequisite for not only capturing the heart of an audience but solving business challenges, from retail and real estate environments, to product, technology, brand position, workplace, manufacturing and management process. 

With 2,000 attendees, 30+ presentations and 4 streams, the Association of Registered Graphic Designers' 16th annual DesignThinkers Conference is Canada’s largest gathering of visual communicators. DesignThinkers 2015 visionaries will delve into industry trends from a range of topics from inspirational, strategic, trend-focused or interactive presentations. Sessions will teach delegates how to create effective communications by exploring innovation, technology, demographic and ethnographic trends, strategic management techniques, cognitive theory and more.

WHAT

RGD DesignThinkers 2015 Conference

WHEN

Thursday, November 12 and Friday, November 13, 2015

Breakfast & Registration: 7:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. 

Opening Remarks: 8:45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Sessions: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Click here for complete schedule

WHERE

Sony Centre for the Performing Arts

1 Front Street East, Toronto, ON M5E 1B2

WHO

Coralie Bickford-Smith, book jacket designer for The Odyssey, Little Women, the Sherlock Holmes series & more

Cap Watkins, BuzzFeed's first-ever VP of Design

Annie Atkins, lead graphic designer for Oscar-winning The Grand Budapest Hotel

Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Chris Dixon, Design Director, Vanity Fair

Manuel Lima, Design Lead, Codecademy & Founder, VisualComplexity.com

Austin Kleon, best-selling author of Steal Like An Artist

Diana Uppman, CEO & Partner, BVD Stockholm

Karim Rashid, world-renowned interior and industrial designer

Art Chantry, poster designer & creator of the 'grunge' style

Frank Chimero, author & founder, Another

Roopa Unnikrishnan, Strategy & Innovation Consultant

Sebastian Padilla, founder of Mexico-based branding and architecture firm Anagrama

Jean Francois Porchez, Author of L'Excellence Typographique: The Haute Couture of Typeface Design

CONNECT

www.designthinkers.com | @RGD #rgdDT | facebook.com/designthinkers

NOTE TO MEDIA: On Thursday, November 12 at 4:45 p.m., the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) and Rotman School of Management will honour Stephen Alexander, founder of specialty meats shop Cumbrae's, and Michael Emory, president and CEO of urban developer Allied Properties REIT, as Canada's 2015 DesignThinkers of the Year. In its third year, the DesignThinker of the Year Award recognizes Canadian corporate leaders who use design and innovation to solve business problems and drive growth.

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To book an interview with a DesignThinker of the Year recipient, a DesignThinkers Conference speaker or to reserve your media pass to attend this year’s conference, please contact:

Samantha Ventresca
Account Manager

Idea Workshop
460 Richmond St. W., Suite 602 
Toronto, ON M5V 1Y1