An edited version of my talk at Forge Conference in Philadelphia, September 26th, 2014. This presentation looks at the role of designers at larger agencies and smaller shops, and the amount of work required in each environment when pitching for new business.

1. A tale of two designers
And how work is created in two very different agencies
Forge Conference, September 26th 2014

2. I am Marc Anderson
@marcbanderson

3. Transplanted
SEA NYC

4. I’m a designer

5. Marc Anderson
Jr. Designer

6. Marc Anderson
Designer

7. Marc Anderson
Mobile Designer

8. Marc Anderson
Sr. Mobile Designer

9. Marc Anderson
Sr. Interactive Designer

10. Marc Anderson
Sr. LABS Designer

11. Marc Anderson
Designer

12. Marc Anderson
Sr. Designer

15. The Agency The Shop

16. vs
The Agency The Shop

17. I’m going to show you some stuff…

19. The Creative Concept

20. The Amount of Work

21. The Product Designer

22. What to Strive For

23. Defining the
Creative Concept

24. What is considered a concept?
Your project’s “big idea”

25. A Big
Organizing Idea
A New
Interaction Model

26. Concept Execution

27. “Outfly them all”
“Let’s make travel
booking enjoyable”

28. “Outfly them all”
Creating more empowered travelers

29. Flight Project Example

30. Let’s make travel booking
more enjoyable

31. Flight Project Example

32. “So You Can”
“Let’s change how
content is consumed”

33. “So you can”
Enabling travel through personalized content

35. Chase Travel

36. Chase Travel

37. Let’s change how
content is consumed

39. Video Project Example

40. Are you making the product?
Or selling it?

41. The Amount of
Work Required

42. What do we need to sell the idea?
The minimum effort to confidently present

43. * The client is buying a car

44. A visual “splash” A working system

45. A visual “splash”

48. A working system

49. Framework Project Example

50. What is your siren song?

51. A mobile “idea” A mobile application

52. A mobile “idea”

54. A mobile application

61. Can you see our approach?

62. One more example of our process
The sign of deep exploration

73. What we look for in a
Designer

74. There’s something in the air
With the current talent pool

75. “Art Director” is a dirty word

76. * We still need idea people

77. Look & Feel Framework

78. Pretty isn’t good enough
(We’re talking about the work)

79. But neither are naked ideas

80. Image of framework sketch

81. Money is not the problem

82. We’ve honed the interview

83. Tell us what you can’t stand

86. What makes
you sad?
What are you
excited about?

87. What are you excited about?

89. What makes you sad?

91. Show us you think differently

95. Stop blaming the client
(Even if they F@#ked everything up!)

97. What we should
Aspire to create

98. A layout that tells a story

100. A solution to the client’s problem

102. A challenging of convention

104. A demonstration of passion

106. Extreme attention to detail

108. Thanks for listening!
@marcbanderson
Fi is hiring!