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Back in person in 2022 after two years of having the conference presented virtually, DesignThinkers is a journey into the creative process and a celebration of strategic design thinking.
Recordings of past DesignThinkers Conferences going back to 2011 are available to RGD Members in the members-only section of this website.
Find out about becoming a Member.
For more information on our upcoming DesignThinkers Conferences, visit designthinkers.com.
- Design Partner: Sid Lee
Speakers:
- Cey Adams
- Eleni Beveratou
- Alex Center
- Lisa Enebeis
- Theresa Fitzgerald
- Calina Franz-Hernandez
- Tom Froese
- Lauren Gonzalez
- Tom Hingston
- Stephanie Lola
- Debbie Millman
- Pum Lefebure
- Thas Naseemuddeen
- Dominic Prevost
- Mustaali Raj
- Laurie Rosenwald
- Diana Varma RGD
- Ola Volo
- Matt Webb
DesignThinkers 2022 TO
October 27th - 28th, 2022
Meridian Hall
Design Partner: DDB
Speakers:
- Bráulio Amado
- Dominic Ayre RGD
- Archie Bagnall
- Matteo Bologna
- Julian Brown RGD
- Kaila Jacques and Rodrigo Calderon
- Alex Center
- Chuck Chan
- Ying Chang
- Maurice Cherry
- Hector Crespo
- Jolene Delisle
- David Di Benedetto
- Tom Foley
- Christine Caruso & Lionel Gadoury RGD
- Magued Hanna RGD
- Kevin Hawkins
- Eric Hu
- Silas Munro & Brian Johnson
- Gene Lee
- Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima
- Marjorie Malpass
- Wendy Millard RGD
- Ana Rita Morais
- Terresa Moses
- Morag Myerscough
- David Nuff RGD
- Deborah Peterson
- Mauro Porcini
- Samuel Proulx
- Ali Shamas Qadeer
- Matt Rae
- Paloma Rincón Rodriguez
- Laurie Rosenwald
- Elana Rudick RGD
- Kathleen Scott RGD
- Lauralee Sheehan
- Laura Stein RGD
- Robert Smith RGD
- Bethany Sonefeld
- Mel Sutjiadi RGD
- Jennifer Taback RGD
- Wendy Tabor RGD
- Ronald Tau RGD
- Patrick Thomas
- Diana Varma RGD
- Sara Wachter-Boettcher
- Dr. Bonne Zabolotney RGD
DesignThinkers 2022 VAN
May 31 - June 1, 2022
Vancouver Playhouse
Design Partner: DDBSpeakers:
- Megan Bowker
- Grace Cho
- Emily Cohen
- Brian Collins
- Douglas Davis
- Emma Fanning
- Tom Froese
- Sagi Haviv
- Shaun Loftman
- Gemma O'Brien
- Elizabeth Paul
- Veda Rosier
- Shabnam Shiwan
- Tammy Tsang
- Isabelle Udo
Studio Tours:
- Relajaelcoco (Madrid)
- Dao (São Paulo)
- The Office of Ordinary Things (San Francisco)
DesignThinkers 2021 VIRTUAL
November 8–19, 2021
VIRTUALDesign Partner: Bruce Mau DesignSpeakers:
- Aaron Draplin
- Akansha Kukreja
- Alex Breuer
- Alfredo Enciso
- Benedetta Crippa
- Beth Li
- Blair Enns
- Blair Thomson
- Cassidy Thedorf
- Chad Chelius
- Chriftof Zürn
- Debbie Millman
- Diti Katona RGD
- Divya Thakur
- Elana Rudick RGD
- Erin Sarofsky
- Forest Young
- Francesco Franchi
- Galit Ariel
- Glenda Rissman RGD
- Heidi Trost
- Isabel Meirelles
- Jennifer Taback RGD
- Jesjit Gil & Jenny Gitman
- Jessica Helfand
- Jessica Hische
- Jessica Oddi
- Joe Stewart
- John Furneaux RGD
- Julian Brown RGD
- Kat Downs Mulder
- Kate Dawkins
- Katie McCurdy
- Kemp Attwood
- Keni Thacker
- Kevin Bethune
- Khoi Vinh
- Laura Stein RGD
- Lisa Congdon
- Lisa Smith
- Lucienne Roberts AGI, HONFISTD, FRSA
- Marissa Korda
- Mark Coleran
- Mark Ruledge CGD RGD
- Matt Rae
- Maurice Cherry
- Meg Lewis
- Mitch Paone
- Mo Bofill RGD
- Mohamad Abdouni
- Nick Richards
- Nicola Hamilton RGD
- Nida Fatima
- Niharika Hariharan Joshi
- Ning Bhattacharjee
- Raf Rennie
- Rahul Bhogal RGD
- Rudy van Belkom
- Samiah Dunac
- Stephen Gates
- Teri Henman
- Timothy Goodman
- Tom Hingston
- Tré Seals
- Whitney Quesenbery
- Ying Chang
- Zeynep Orbay
Studio Tours:
- Caserne (Montreal)
- Daughter Creative (Calgary)
- Grávita (Madrid)
- Hoick (Cape Town)
- Kesselskramer (Amsterdam)
- Made by Radio (London/Cape Town)
- Please See (Mumbai)
- Sakaria Studio (Stockholm)
- Very Polite (Vancouver)
DesignThinkers 2020 VIRTUAL
November 9-20, 2020
VIRTUAL
Design Partner: john st.
Speakers
- Cey Adams
- David Airey
- Sydney Allen-Ash, Vice Media Group
- Braulio Amado
- Farah Assir, Meetup
- Annie Atkins, Annie Atkins & Co.
- Lawrence Azzerad, LADdesign
- Angela Bains, TransformExp
- Elvira Barriga, Ninoto
- Jake Barton, Local Projects
- JD Beltran, Center for Creative Sustainability
- Eleni Beveratou, Dalton Maag
- Mooren Bofill RGD, 123w
- Julian Brown RGD, On The Chase!
- Alonzo Canada, Amazon AWS
- Sean Carney, Philips
- Alex Center, Center
- Cassandra Cetlin & Kyle Schruder RGD, Coactuate
- Emily Cohen
- Brian Collins, COLLINS
- Taj Critchlow, Fela
- Claire Dawson RGD, Underline Studio
- Dantley Davis, Twitter
- Douglas Davis, The Davis Group LLC
- Chris Do, Blind/The Futur
- Christopher Doyle, Christopher Doyle & Co.
- Vanessa Eckstein RGD, Blok Design
- Liza Enebeis, Studio Dumbar
- Oded Ezer
- Nida Fatima, Vancouver Film School
- Karin Fong, Imaginary Forces
- Theo Gibson, Cossette
- Maria Giudice, Hot Studio
- Erika Hall, Mule Design Studio
- Sagi Haviv, Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv
- Blake Howard, Matchstic
- Grace Hwang, Microsoft
- Andy Chen & Waqas Jawaid, Isometric Studio
- Nicole Kankam, United States Tennis Association
- Kenjiro Kirton, Hato
- Adam Kurtz
- Meg Lewis, Ghostly Ferns/DarnGood
- Gilbert Li RGD, The Office of Gilbert Li
- Pavi Logeswaran, Shopify
- Justin Lortie, Wedge
- Bobby Martin Jr. & Jennifer Kinon, Champions Design
- Bruce Mau, Massive Change Network
- Susan Mavor, Public
- Matt May, Adobe
- Debbie Millman
- Wael Morcos
- David Nuff, Nuff
- Emily Oberman, Pentagram
- Fredrik Ost, SNASK
- Pali Palavathanan, TEMPLO
- Berkeley Poole, Whitman Emorson
- Anicka Quin
- Mustaali Raj
- Alice Rawsthorn
- Josh Richards, john st.
- Paloma Rincon
- Erin Sarofsky, Sarofsky Corp.
- Oliver Siegenthaler, S&Co.
- Leta Sobierski & Wade Jeffree, Wade and Leta
- Zia Somjee, ZAK
- Robert Smith RGD, Greenmelon
- Tina Smith
- Laura Stein RGD, Bruce Mau Design
- Jennifer Taback RGD, Design de Plume
- Jakob Trollback, The New Division
- Sara Wachter-Boetcher
- Michelle Wilkins RGD, Pilot Coffee Roasters
- Forest Young, Wolff Olins
- Stephanie Yung
- Zipeng Zhu, Dazzle Studio
DesignThinkers 2019 TO
October 24-25, 2019
Meridian Hall
Design Partner: Concrete
Speakers
- Cey Adams
- Susanna Nygren Barrett, The Studio
- Brian Collins, COLLINS
- McLean Donnelly, The Makery Group
- Greg Durrell, Hulse & Durrell
- Vanessa Eckstein RGD, Blok Design
- Tina Roth Eisenberg
- Ben Fry, Fathom
- Verònica Fuerte, Hey Studio
- Natasha Grand, INSTID
- Maria Giudice, Hot Studio
- Yurko Gutsulyak RGD, Gutsulyak.Studio
- Nicola Hamilton RGD
- Lauren Hom,
- Michelle Hopgood RGD, Hopgood Creative
- Glen Hougan
- Blake Howard, Matchstic
- Natasha Jen, Pentagram
- Meena Kothandaraman, twig+fish
- Adam J. Kurtz
- Jeremy Leslie, magCulture
- Matt Luckhurst, The New Company
- Isabel Meirelles
- Prof. Rebeca Méndez
- David Nuff RGD
- Jason Pamental
- Laura Piché RGD
- Jayson Oertel, Adobe
- Jenn & Ken Visocky O’Grady
- Karin von Ompteda
- Hamish Smyth & Jesse Reed, Order
- Lorna Ross, Why Design
- Alana Ruoso RGD, Benefit Cosmetics
- Anthony Green and Noura Sakkijha, Mejuri
- Josh Silverman, Etsy
- Eric Snowden, Adobe
- Liza Enebeis & Merijn van Velsen, Studio Dumbar
- Jay Wall RGD, Rally Rally
- Cap Watkins, Primary
- Collin Whitehead, Dropbox
- Nancy Wynn
DesignThinkers 2019 VAN
May 28-29, 2019
Vancouver Playhouse
Design Partner: Concrete
Speakers
-
Jessica Bellamy, GRIDS
-
Karin Fong, Imaginary Forces
-
Cheryl Heller, Designer, Author and Educator
-
Kit Hinrichs, Studio Hinrichs
-
Sarah Hyndman, Type Tasting
-
Austin Kleon, Writer, Artist, Speaker & NYT Bestselling Author
-
Leland Maschmeyer, Chobani
-
Hillel Cooperman and Jenny Lam, Oracle
- Mike Monteiro, Mule Design
- Yah Leng Yu, Foreign Policy Design Group
- James Victore, Author, Artist, Designer
-
DesignThinkers 2018 TO
October 24-25, 2018
Sony Centre, Toronto
Design Partner: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Speakers included:
- Mauricio Alarcon
- Kemp Attwood, AREA 17
- Dominic Ayre RGD, Hambly & Woolley
- Angela Bains, TransformExp
- Jessica Bellamy, GRIDS
- Michael Bierut, Pentagram
- Ayse Birsel, Birsel + Seck
- Clare Brown, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
- Julian Brown RGD, ON THE CHASE! Design + Motion Studio
- Robert Brunner, Ammunition
- Anthony Burrill
- Pearce Cacalda, Jackman Reinvents
- Alex Center, Center
- Ian Chalmers RGD, Pivot Design Group
- Emily Cohen, Business Consultant
- Martha Cotton, Fjord
- Mohini Datta-Ray, North York Women’s Shelter
- Michelle Dougherty, Imaginary Forces
- Kat Downs Mulder, The Washington Post
- John Furneaux RGD, Projektor Inc.
- Alison Garnett RGD & Carolina Soderholm, Field Trip & Co.
- Mitch Goldstein, Rochester Institute of Technology
- Tosh Hall, Jones Knowles Ritchie
- Dawn Hancock, Firebelly Design
- Josh Higgins, Facebook
- Jessica Hische
- Grace Hwang, Carrot Inc
- Wade Jeffree & Leta Sobierajski
- Jean-Pierre Lacroix RGD, Shikatani Lacroix
- Natalie Lam, Google
- Michael Lejeune, LA Transit
- Bruno Maag, Dalton Maag
- Matthew May, Brightworks
- Brenda Mills, Adobe Systems
- Fidel Peña RGD, Underline Studio
- Irene Pereyra & Anton Repponen, Anton & Irene
- Erin Sarofsky, Sarofsky Inc.
- Adrian Shaughnessy
- Bonnie Siegler, Eight and a Half
- Lisa Smith, Chobani
- Matt Spangler, Compass
- Laura Stein RGD, Sid Lee
- Jay Wall RGD, RallyRally
- Forest Young, Wolf Ollins
- Zolty, BREAKFAST
DesignThinkers 2018 VAN
May 29-30, 2018
Vancouver Playhouse, Vancouver
Design Partner: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Speakers included:
- Angela Bains, TransformExp
- Angele Beausoleil, Rotman School of Management
- Pia Betton, Edenspiekermann
- Krys Blackwood, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
- Aaron Draplin, Draplin Design Co.
- Greg Durrell, Hulse & Durrell
- Stephen Gates, InVision
- Ian Grais RGD, Rethink
- Bob Hambly RGD, Hambly + Woolley
- Josh Higgins, Facebook
- Brian Hill, Aritzia & Ryan Holmes, Hootsuite
- Randy Hunt, Artsy
- Grace Hwang, Carrot Inc.
- Vida Jurcic, Hangar18
- Michael Lejeune, LA Metro
- Meg Lewis, Ghostly Feathers
- Ellen Lupton
- Gemma O'Brien
- Sebastian Padilla, Anagrama
- Judy Snaydon, Capilano University
- Carson Ting, Chairman Ting
- Samantha Warren, Adobe
- Forrest Young, Wolff OlinsDesignThinkers 2017 TO
November 7 - 8, 2017
Sony Centre, Toronto
Design Partner: Rethink
Speakers:
- Kelli Anderson, Independent Arts & Crafts Professional
- Nicholas Blechman, Art Director of The New Yorker
- Jan Chipchase
- Emily Cohen, Consultant to Creative Professionals
- Scott Dadich, Godfrey Dadich Partners
- Douglas Davis, The City College of New York
- Chris Do, Blind, Inc.
- Maria Doreuli & Ekaterina Kochkina, Contrast Foundry
- Christian Ervin, Tellart
- Pum Lefebure, Design Army
- Jonathan Ford, Pearlfisher
- Stephen Gates, Citibank
- Ralph Gilles, Fiat-Chrysler
- Timothy Goodman
- Jeff Greenspan, SideProject
- Val Head, Adobe
- Nigel Holmes, nigel holmes explanation graphics
- Blake Howard, Matchstic
- Robin Honey RGD
- Sarah Hyndman, Typetasting
- Michael Johnson, Johnson Banks
- Jessie Kawata
- Reesa Merchant
- Emily Oberman, Pentagram
- Mike Rigby, R/GA
- Dewey Reid, CNN
- Nicolas Roope, Poke
- Paul Sahre, Office of Paul Sahre
- Anne Swan, Siegel + Gale
- Robert Smith RGD, Greenmelon
- Astrid Stavro, Atlas
- Mimi Valdés
- Robert Vargas, Art Director at Bloomberg Businessweek
- Susan Weinschenk, The Team W
DesignThinkers 2017 VAN
May 30 - 31, 2017
Vancouver Playhouse Theatre
Design Partner: Rethink
Speakers
- Casey Caplowe, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of GOOD
- Scott Dadich, Co-CEO, Founder of Godfrey Dadich Partners and Creator and Executive Producer of Abstract: The Art of Design
- Ralph V. Gilles, Head of Design, FCA - Global
- Maria Giudice, VP, Experience Design at Autodesk
- Timothy Goodman, Designer, Illustrator & Art Director
- Tinker Hatfield, Vice President, Design & Special Projects, Nike, Inc.
- Chip Kidd, Award-Winning Graphic Designer and Writer
- Emily Lessard, Chief Creative Officer of Bellweather
- Min Lew, Partner, Creative Director and Managing Director at Base
- Craig Mod, Writer and Photographer
- Alex Schleifer, VP of Design at Airbnb
- Dana Tanamachi, Creative Director at Tanamachi Studio & Tanamachi Goods
- Cap Watkins, VP of Design at Buzzfeed
- Ellen Wong and Mark Beechy, Executive Creative Directors at RED Interactive
DesignThinkers 2016
November 3-4, 2016Sony Centre, Toronto
Design Partner: Deloitte
Speakers
Keynotes:
Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of Architecture & Design / Director of Research & Development The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Jake Barton, Principal and Founder, Local Projects
David Carson, Designer
Leland Maschmeyer, Chief Creative Officer, Chobani
Breakout Sessions:
Glenn John Arnowitz, Director of Creative Services, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare
Ashleigh Axios, Creative Director and Digital Strategist, White House Office of Digital Strategy
Connie Birdsall, Global Creative Director, Lippincott
Stefan G. Bucher, Author / Designer
Bob Calvano, VP of Design and UX, A+E Networks
Emily Cohen, Consultant
Cory Doctorow, Co-editor, Boing Boing
Rob Duncan, Owner and Creative Director, Mucho
Tobias Frere-Jones, Type Designer
Bob Hambly RGD, Hambly & Woolley
Kenya Hara, Graphic Designer / Curator
Steven Heller, Author
Michael Hendrix, Partner, IDEO
Tim Irvine, Regional Design Director for North America, Fjord
Erik Kessels, Co-founder, KesselsKramer
Emily Lessard, Chief Creative Officer, Bellweather
Meg Lewis, Founder, Ghostly Ferns
Dan Makoski, VP of Design, Walmart
Rod McDonald RGD, Type Designer
Lotta Nieminen, Designer / Illustrator
Eddie Opara, Partner, Pentagram
Fredrik Ost & Erik Kockum, Creative Directors, Snask
Steve Powers, Author and Artist
Barry Quinn RGD, Chief Creative Officer, Juniper Park TBWA
Anton Repponen & Irene Pereyra, Anton & Irene
Erin Sarofsky, Founder & Executive Creative Director, Sarofsky Corp.
Albert Shum, CVP of Design & Content Publishing, Microsoft
Loni Stark, Senior Director of Strategy & Product Marketing, Adobe
Lee Steffin, Designer / Photographer
Matt Willey, Art Director, The New York Times Magazine
Partners:
Software: AdobeCareer Development: Creative Niche
Celebration: FjordDigital: The Pixel Shop
Airline: PorterSignage: Resource Integrated
Paper: Rolland Enterprises Inc.Print: Somerset Graphics
DesignThinkers 2015
November 11-12, 2015
Sony Centre, Toronto
Design Partner: Overdrive
Speakers
Keynotes:
Frank Chimero, Designer
Josh Clark, Founder, Big Medium
Austin Kleon, Artist
Karim Rashid, Designer
James Victore, Graphic Artist
Breakout Sessions:
Justin Ahrens, Rule29
Keira Alexandra, Partner, Work Order
Adam Antoszek-Rallo RGD, Founder, Catalyst Workshop
Annie Atkins, Designer
Emilie Baltz, Experiential Artist
Christina Beard, Senior Product Designer, Collective Health
Coralie Bickford Smith, Graphic Designer for Penguin Books UK
Art Chantry, Designer
Andy Chen, Partner, Isometric Studio
Emily Cohen, In-House Consultant
Chris Dixon, Design Director, Vanity Fair
John Furneaux RGD, Founder, Projektor
Paddy Harrington RGD, Founder, Frontier
Hjalti Karlsson, Founder, karlssonwilker inc.
Diti Katona RGD, Chief Creative Officer at Concrete Design Communications
Sanjay Khanna, Futurist-in-Residence, Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Michael Lejeune, Creative Director, LA Metro
Sascha Lewis, CEO and Co-founder, Flavorpill Media
Manuel Lima, Information Designer
Andy Mangold, Co-founder, Friends of the Web
Josh McInerney RGD, Partner, Modu Design
Felipe Memoria, Founding Partner, Work & Co
Jamie Myrold, Senior Director of Experience Design, Adobe
Sebastian Padilla, Co-founder, Anagrama
Jean Francois Porchez, Founder, Typofonderie
Christopher Simmons, Principal and Creative Director, MINE
Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Roopa Unnikrishnan, Center10 Consulting LLP
Cap Watkins, VP of Design, BuzzFeed
DesignThinkers 2014
November 5-7, 2014
Sony Centre, Toronto
Design Partner: TAXI
Speakers
Keynotes:
Charles Adler, Co-founder, Kickstarter
Andrew Deitchman, Co-founder and CEO, Mother New York
Debbie Millman, President, Design Division, Sterling Brands
Paula Scher, Partner, Pentagram
Erik Spiekermann, Creative Director, Edenspiekermann
Richard Turley, Senior VP of Visual Storytelling and Deputy Editorial Director, MTV
Steve Vranakis, Executive Creative Director, Creative Lab, Google
Jessica Walsh, Partner, Sagmeister & Walsh
Todd Waterbury, Executive Creative Director and Senior VP, Marketing, Target
Breakout Sessions:
Irma Boom, Founder, Irma Boom Office
Frederic Bonn, Executive Creative Director, JWT
Aaron Draplin, Founder, Draplin Design Co.
Joseph Duffy, Co-founder and Design Director, Duffy & Partners
Andy Epstein, Invangelist, The BOSS Group
Wesley Grubbs, Founder, Pitch Interactive
Sibylle Hagmann, Founder, Kontour
Henry Hobson, Dounder, Bootmaker Films
Dave Holston, Author,The Strategic Designer
Mary Lewis, Creative Director and Partner, Lewis Moberly
Ellen Lupton, Curator, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum
David Macy, Innovation Director, Experience Design, Adobe
Javier Mariscal, Founder, Estudio Mariscal
Karen McGrane, Managing Partner, Bond Art + Science
Marty Neumeier, Director of Transformation, Liquid Agency
Willy Wong, Lead, Brand Stewardship, NYC & Company
Andrew Zolty, Co-founder and Creative Director, BREAKFAST
DesignThinkers 2013
November 6-7, 2013
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Design Partner: orangetango
Speakers
Keynotes
Christopher Chapman, Global Creativity & Innovation Director, The Walt Disney Company
Robert Fabricant, VP Creative, Frog Design
Nicholas Felton, Co-Founder, Daytum
Karin Fong, Co-Founder & Creative Director at Imaginary Forces
Michael Gough, VP of Experience Design, Adobe
Dmitri Siegel, VP of Global E-Commerce & Executive Creative Director, Patagonia
Alex Trochut, Illustrator and Typographer
Morag Myerscough, Founder, Studio Myerscough
Breakout Sessions
David Berman RGD, Author and Consultant
Pierre Bernard, President and Partner, orangetango
Matteo Bologna, Founding Partner & Principal, Mucca Design
Emily Cohen, Creative Consultant
Ricardo Crespo, Chief Creative Officer, Thi3teen
Darhil Crooks, Creative Director, The Atlantic
Chloe Gottlieb, Senior VP and Executive Creative Director, R/GA
James Griffin, Head of Mobile Design, Thomson Reuters
Cyrus Highsmith, Senior Designer, Font Bureau
John Kieselhorst, Founding Partner & Chief Design Officer, Made Movement
Lara McCormick, Author, Playing With Type
Justin McGhie, President, Strategy Group at Sterling Brands
Peter Mendelsund, Associate Art Director, Alfred A. Knopf Books
Bruce Nussbaum, Professor of Innovation & Design, Parsons New School of Design
Elizabeth Pastor, Co-Founder, Humantific
Shawn Petersen, Creative Director, Instrument
Jenn & Ken Visocky O'Grady, Co-Founders, Enspace Design
Partners
Airline: Porter
Software: Adobe
Bindery: Anstey
Paper: Cascades
Media: Designedge Canada
Web & Mobile Development: The Pixel Shop
Printing: Somerset
Envelopes: Supremex
Signage: Moveable
DesignThinkers 2012
November 8-9, 2012
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Design Partner: City of Mississauga In-House Team
Speakers
- Sean Adams & Noreen Morioka
- Glenn John Arnowitz
- Susan Bradley
- David Butler
- Nadine Chahine
- Tom Eslinger
- Justin Ferrell
- Francesco Franchi
- Bryony Gomez-Palacio
- Chris Hacker
- Julia Hoffmann
- Randy J. Hunt
- Jake & Pum Lefebure
- Harry Pearce
- Stefan Sagmeister
- Gabor Schreier
- Christopher Simmons
- Kris Sowersby
- Lisa Strausfeld
- Sophie Thomas
- Jason Tselentis
DesignThinkers 2011
November 2-3, 2011
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Design Partner: Parcel Design
Speakers
- Deborah Adler
- David C. Baker
- Ivan Chermayeff + Tom Geismar + Sagi Haviv
- Brian Collins + Leland Maschmeyer
- Steve Edge
- Rob Giampietro
- Stanley Hainsworth
- Allan Haley
- Jessica Hische
- Rei Inamoto
- Chip Kidd
- George Lois
- Grace Lee & Robert Priest
- Bobby Martin Jr. & Jennifer Kinon
- Craig Mod
- Christoph Niemann
- Eddie Opara
- William Poundstone
- Eric Ryan
- Richard Morrison
- Christian Schwartz
- Aaris Sherin
- Todd Simmons
- Robert Wong
DesignThinkers 2010
November 11-12, 2010
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Design Partner: Juniper Park
Speakers
- Marian Bantjes
- Jonathan Barnbrook
- John Bielenberg
- Andrew Blauvelt
- Chris Chapman
- Jim Coudal
- Scott Dadich
- Tony Davidson
- Allan Haley
- Jeni Herberger
- Lee Jacobson
- Paul Lavoie
- Roger Martin
- Emily Oberman + Bonnie Siegler
- Dmitri Siegel
- Scott Thomas
- David Turner
- Khoi Vinh
- Jenn + Ken Visocky O'Grady
- Armin Vit
- Helen Walters
- Alina Wheeler
DesignThinkers 2009
November 3-4, 2009
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Design Partner: Hambly & Woolley
Speakers
- Dana Arnett
- Warren Berger
- Michael Bierut
- Ben Blumenfeld
- John Bredenfoerder
- Robert Brunner
- Matthew Carter
- Valerie Casey
- Emily Cohen
- Kyle Cooper
- Vanessa Eckstein RGD
- Monique Gamache
- Steven Heller
- David Labistour
- Jean-Pierre Lacroix RGD
- Marty Neumeier
- Terry O'Reilly
- Pam Scott
- Daniel Schutzsmith
- Nathan Shedroff
- V. Sunil
- Gael Towey & Stephen Doyle
- Luke Williamson
DesignThinkers 2008
October 27-30, 2008
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Design Partner: Amoebacorp
Speakers
- Marc Alt
- Ilise Benun
- Lauren Connolly
- Nancy Duarte
- Louise Fili
- Steff Geissbuhler
- Chris Hacker
- Jeannette Hanna
- Luke Hayman
- Lee Jacobson
- Maira Kalman
- Kris Kiger
- Tali Krakowsky
- Ji Lee
- Daniel Libeskind
- Rick Poynor
- Scott Stowell
- Masamichi Udagawa
- Tucker Viemeister
- Veronique Vienne
- Massimo Vignelli
- Jenn & Ken Visocky O'Grady
- Bettina von Stamm
- Brett Wickens
DesignThinkers 2007
October 17-19, 2007
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Design Partner: q30 design
Keynote Speakers
Hillman Curtis, Designer + Filmmaker
Marc Gobe, President, CEO and Executive Director for Desgrippes Gobe
Greg Hoffman, VP of Global Brand Design at NIKE
Grant McCracken, Author of Culture and Consumption
Abbott Miller, Partner at Pentagram
Karim Rashid, author of Design Your Self: Rethinking the Way You Live, Love, Work and Play
Stefan Sagmeister, Founder of Sagmeister
Patrick Whitney, Director of the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology
Concurrent Session Speakers
Tom Brown
Jorge Calleja
Colin Drummond
Tony Fish, author of Mobile Web 2.0
Louis Gagnon, Founder of Paprika
Grant Gordon, Creative Director of Key Gordon Communications
Garrick Hamm, Creative Partner of Williams Murray Hamm
Dale Hart, Partner & Creative Director at Methodologie
John Hlinko
Janine James, Creative Director at The Moderns
Zoa Martinez
Chaz Maviyane-Davies
Debbie Millman, Founder of Design Matters
Andrea Siodmok
James Victore
Jenn + Ken Visocky O'Grady
Don Watt RGD
Alexander W. White, Author of Advertising Design and Typography
DesignThinkers 2006
October 31 - November 3, 2006
Varsity Cinemas
Design Partner: karacters
Speakers
- Sean Adams & Noreen Morioka
- Neville Brody
- Bill Cahan
- Nadine Chahine
- Brian Collins
- Alan Dye
- Ian Grais
- Adam Greenfield
- Sam Harrison
- Kit Hinrichs
- Jane Hope
- Erik Kessels
- Eero Miettinen
- Peter Phillips
- Rich Roat
- Paul Rowan
- Dan Saffer
- Ellen Shapiro
- Jakob Trollback
- Jan White
- Margaret Youngblood
DesignThinkers 2005
October 27-29, 2005
Varsity Cinemas
Design Partner: Mindshape
Speakers
- Gail Anderson
- David Baker
- Joe Duffy
- Peter Girardi
- Minda Gralnek
- Chris Hacker
- Dimitri Jeurissen
- Chip Kidd
- Anita Kunz
- Paul Matthaeus
- Bruce Mau
- Dave Norton
- Harry Rich
- Geordie Stephens
- Lisa Strausfeld
- Massimo Vignelli
- Ken Wong
DesignThinkers 2004
October 21-23
The Design Exchange
Design Partner: Maximum 60
Speakers
- Edward Burtynsky
- Kyle Cooper
- Jessica Helfand
- Robert Bringhurst
- Luba Lukova
DesignThinkers 2003
October 2-3, 2003
The Design Exchange
Design Partner: Pylon Design
Speakers
- Bill Buxton
- Dr. John Kao
- Prof. Ian Noble
- Paula Scher
- Simon Waterfall
DesignThinkers 2001
October 19
Science Centre
Speakers
- Pam Scott
- Dan Boyarski
DesignThinkers 2002
October 25-26, 2002
St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
Design Partner: Blok Design
Speakers
- Dana Arnett
- Gerry Cupchik
- Hillman Curtis
- John Furneaux RGD
- Claire Hassid
- Michael Johnson
- Jean-Pierre Lacroix RGD
- Sabaa Quao
- Lee Shupp
- Barb Woolley RGD + Bob Hambly RGD
DesignThinkers 2000
October 13, 2000
Hart House
Speakers
- Rolf Jensen
- Peter Dixon