There are a lot of young folks sitting in design classes right now, looking for direction. After gathering the tools of the trade through courses in basic, intermediate and advanced Design or Art Direction, a few will scan their remaining requirements and the lucky will cautiously cross the threshold into a course with Debbie Millman.
Debbie, the President of Sterling Brand’s Design group and major influence in the firm’s creative business since 1995, has also been an educator on the subject of Design, Business, Leadership and Branding since 1991. Because of her hands on experience with some of brightest Design students during her time at F.I.T. and now as Chair of the Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts, Sterling has been able to scoop up some of the most talented young designers and brand managers currently working in the biz.
Today, they wanted an opportunity to say thanks.
Lauren Coats, 22
Project Manager
Lauren was pursuing her BFA in Graphic Design at SVA when she happened upon Debbie’s course Creative Leadership in the Business World, which decidedly set her own career in a new direction. “Simply put, the course teaches you to present why YOU are different than everyone else in the world, and why the world needs YOU. The goal is to entertain, educate and inspire people – as any presentation should. In presenting, I found my niche within my passion – I want to convey how design can improve business.” Lauren’s shifted over to Project Management and has been liaising between clients and design teams at Sterling since May.
Ivan Torres, 24
Designer
Also a graduate of SVA with his BFA in Graphic Design, Ivan met Debbie and then Ivan learned how to sell his personal brand. Through her course in Creative Leadership, Ivan developed an ‘elevator pitch’ and uses his newfound communication skills with his colleagues as a designer at Sterling and also in his own business outside of Sterling called “Of Champions”. “Debbie is a great woman to look up to. She brings design to the masses through the web, radio, podcasts, books, the classroom, everywhere. She’s one of those design rock stars.”
Emily Berry, 26
Senior Designer
Emily met Debbie in her Survey of Package Design class at F.I.T. “Debbie is an inspiring presence. So is her story. She worked her way up and knowing her experience you can believe everything she says on design.” Emily was recently promoted to Senior Designer at Sterling and plans to stick around. “You’re not defined by a title here. You’re involved in everything from concept to the final design to production. Everyone here tries to make you better and you are learning from the best.”
Rebecca Williams, 23
Designer
Rebecca graduated F.I.T. with Emily in May 2009 and was a bit intimidated in her coursework with Debbie. “She’s such a presence when you first meet her, but after a few lessons I loved how she related everything to current events, to real world scenarios instead of text books.” Rebecca went on to intern at Colgate, a huge corporation, and also at a small design agency and found Sterling to be the ‘Goldilocks’ perfect medium. In her class work with Debbie she learned to speak with conviction and carries it over in defense of her designs. “It’s a lot easier to talk about something when you know what you’re talking about.”
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Debbie Millman is also President of the AIGA, the largest professional association for design and is a contributing editor at Print Magazine, a design writer at FastCompany.com and the Brand New column at Underconsideration.com. Her popular radio show and Internet podcast, “Design Matters with Debbie Millman” is making its grand return to the web this Fall.
For more information on courses in Design at SVA >>CLICK HERE
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