Design Currency - Olympics and Design Procurement Panel

Design Currency - Ali Gardiner & Ben Hulse - Vancouver 2010 Olympic Design Story

Here are some of my notes and my thinking in italics...

• On the “look of the games” team.
• Field trips – out to the games events at games time (feel the weather etc) this adds another dimension to the anthropologist aspect of design.
• Core fusion graphic – never meant to be shown in its entirety; meant to be cropped for banners and shoe strings.
• Medal podium was in the shape of Vancouver Island with a mountain shape to the three platform/elevations. Who knew? Awesome.
• There was hardly a dry eye in the house after we watched a video of the games and emotion touched Dave Mason’s voice as he recalled watching the gold medal hockey game from New York.

PS Here’s my personal Olympic experience reflection.

Design Currency - Global Design Procurement Panel, moderated by Blair Enns

Here are some of my notes and my thinking in italics...

• Spec work kind of like a drug deal going down (give me the stuff, no give me the money, let me try the stuff...).
• Procurement – seen around 400 firms and can summarize their pitch to these five: best people, proprietary processes, ability, work with the best brands, and the experience of working with us. Equals no differentiation.Tweak these a bit and you have the general pitch for most businesses. No wonder we have such little differentiation.
• Who has the power? The client – not because of the money, because they are the ones with the choice.