RGD Asks Attendees to ‘Speak The Truth’ At This Year’s DesignThinkers Conference

This year, the theme for the RGD’s (Association of Registered Graphic Designers) DesignThinkers conference is one that resembles how most designers approach their craft: bold and without apology. ‘Speak the Truth’ is a concept developed by Toronto’s Zulu Alpha Kilo and focuses on exposing the truths of design around us, in a humorous, relevant, and sometimes provocative manner. 

Since the truth is often black and white – the conference materials follow suit, while highlighting design truths across all of the elements. Hilary Ashworth, Executive Director of RGD said, “We are thrilled by the work that the Zulu team put together. It taps into a lot of truths that we think will reflect a whimsical mirror on the design community.”

The honest and frank approach can be seen throughout all of the various touchpoints – from posters that read ‘1% of you will read this. 99% will just judge our typeface choices,’ to conference lanyards that admit to being ‘just a funny name for business necklace,’ along with animated digital boards and photo backdrops. You can even watch a short-form video featuring prominent designers hooked up to a polygraph lie-detector machine – answering age-old design related questions such as ‘is your wardrobe primarily black?’ 

In addition, Zak Mroueh, Founder & Chief Creative Officer/CEO of Zulu Alpha Kilo says “by focusing on common truths that most designers often think, but never say out loud, we want to spark conversation and inspire those in attendance to speak the truths of their own.” 

The DesignThinkers conference, which takes place in both Vancouver and Toronto, is a two-day event where designers and speakers alike are given a platform to share their unique point of view on branding, trends, communications technologies and design management. The conference takes places on May 29 – 30 at the Vancouver Playhouse, and October 24-25 in Toronto at the Sony Centre and St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.