Our Brand New Perspectives

The 2022 Brand New Conference in Austin Texas was a 2-day whirlwind in the best of ways. Twenty-four speakers took to the stage to share their journeys, insights, struggles, successes, and self-evident truths in the creative realm. Read on to hear from a handful of these talented individuals.

Flora Chan

The Redscout team may be self-proclaimed introverts, but intimate, deeply personal relationships are at the core of their work. Design Director

Flora Chan took the stage to discuss 3 new hats she’s learned to wear as a designer, among countless others:

the hairdresser (who listens for hours as the client pours their heart out), the questionable friend (whose spontaneity is surprisingly beneficial), and the TV show host (who, through meaningful conversations, can inspire personal introspection and get a crowd amped about design). When it comes to creativity, don’t limit yourself to being just a designer—be all the things.

Erwin Hines

It’s hard to believe there was a time when a creative so accomplished, impactful and articulate had no clue design was a field, much less a profitable one. Growing up in Cleveland in the suburbs, Erwin Hines observed not only a disparity in the way people lived but more interestingly, that architecture was being used as a primary means of expressing creativity.

“Physical space shapes how we see ourselves in this world, as well as in the future. The city you live in isn’t just a backdrop; it’s going to impact how you dream and how you envision yourself.” As a black man, Hines says he was keenly aware of the racial tension in America and abroad, and in order to process that he began to write, read, study, and eventually break into the fashion industry by chance when he founded Future is Color®, conscious clothing designed to spark conversation and capture the hearts and minds of people that don’t look like him. Hines masterfully balances the duality of urban planning as a physical space that connects community, and branding as a mental space that connects people across the world. Check out his community-first hospitality group Open Gym® for even more inspiration.

Lope Gutierrez-Ruiz & Michu Benaim Steiner

Design duo Lope and Michu took the stage to immediately set the record straight: “The things you should do and not do in the design world are usually arbitrary and completely made up.”

They unashamedly shared the story of their accidental studio that functioned remotely circa 2010-11, before remote work was widely acceptable for creative teams. “We felt like impostors for such a long time that we never approached other studios for advice.” They quickly learned success doesn’t always look like success and made the counterintuitive—but ultimately beneficial—decision to publish their in-house estimates, eliminate any concrete style on their website, and in general “have fewer projects, make a living, and make them better.” By dropping all pretense and acknowledging “the invisible stuff shows up,” this team is taking the design world by storm.

Russell Toynes

The humble and hilarious Russell Toynes admitted he has been an anxious worrier his entire life and stumbled into design simply as a means to keep a roof over his head. “Clearly, I didn’t know what I was doing but I was doing my best to make chicken salad out of chicken shi—” ahem, well, you get the idea.

A few years into his creative journey, however, Tyones realized he was no longer overthinking. “Brand standards became the security blanket I needed… It was brand guidelines that helped me stop overthinking and reframe creative limitations.” He also saw a tangible marketplace need—signs were everywhere but said nothing about the branding of the businesses they were meant to represent. He quickly recognized an industry riddled with regulations and limitations that “allowed us to create impactful moments in spaces and places.” Studio Dzo has been trailblazing ever since. 

Lisa Smith

As an aspirational 12-year-old, Lisa Smith proudly announced to her father that she wanted to pursue art. He said no…but died 2 years later. Then while actively pursuing her dreams of a creative career, an agency turned her down because she needed a writing partner.

Smith made herself an indispensable intern, and in turn, was given her first creative job. It’s no wonder this spunky Brit—now based in New York—introduced herself to the Brand New audience as a “determinist.” Smith lives by the credence that you can integrate design into the experience, and “anything great really does come from obsession.” From working with the V&A Museum of London to branding hotels in New York, and later refreshing the logos of world-renowned brands such as the MET, Chobani, and Burger King, Smith has spent her career immersing and living in all things creative. She cheerfully tackles insurmountable design challenges to ultimately create something beautiful, and boy does she have fun along the way. Her thoughts on the Chobani rebrand? “It’s really a case study of an eclectic group of people coming together and putting the brand at the center of the process and transforming it.” How about the updated Burger King typography? “We just wanted it to feel juicy, melty, yummy, and warm.” You make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside too, Lisa.

Paul Worthington

Nobody can suck the air from a room quite like Paul Worthington. Outspoken, irreverent, and unmistakably Scottish, he had plenty of thoughts on the topic of creatives versus algorithms. “We can’t afford to be replaced by algorithms. We are the first and last line of defense... Algorithms have no conscience and Mark Zuckerberg has no ethics.”

At the outset of his career, Worthington admits he didn’t know what anything was because he came from an island of 6000 people and 23,000 sheep. But the 10 years he spent at global brand consultancy Wolff Olins (prior to launching his own consulting firm, Invencion) taught him a thing or two about successful marketing. “If we’re doing something different we must be doing something good.” The crass uncle you didn’t know you needed, Worthington threw salty nuggets of advice to his crowd: only work with people you like working with, do work you can tell a 5-year-old about and not feel ashamed, have a point of view and educate but also self-deprecate, punch up not down. Perhaps most compelling was his observation that as you move up in any organization, there is an increased need for a shared language. “Designers undersell themselves and would be unbelievably valuable if they understood the language of strategy. Strategy is the only function of business that deals entirely with the future. The core of strategy is actually imagination… Whatever designer you think you are, you’re actually really good at thinking strategically. You have the capacity not just to talk about the future; you actually can help people experience it viscerally.” His hot take on algorithms? “We will not be replaced by algorithms because we will take them and bend them to our will.” Parting advice to designers? “Beware of the comfort zone: no growth happens there… Transformation feels like a much more proactive decision—something you choose to do—versus adaptation …Adapt or die.” Aye, captain.

Edith Valle

From my seat towards the back of the Long Center, Edith Valle appeared all smiles and curls, but don’t mistake this bright young woman for a shy young girl. Valle’s values shone through with wit and wisdom as she addressed the Austin crowd. She spoke about her role as Art Director at Deeds Not Words, and moreover, the other young artists that society marginalizes—artists whose voices she seeks to amplify.

“We inherently believe that young people already have power. Galvanizing is about teaching them they have that power.” This was the inspiration for her pride and joy The Galvanizer, a zine Valle set in motion to highlight her peers. She is well aware of the uphill battle that youth in Texas face—“If you know about Texas politics, it’s a dumpster fire”—but she stands firm in the belief that power can be harnessed through creativity and education. Right on, Valle.

Leo Porto & Felipe Rocha

Life and design partners Leo Porto and Felipe Rocha are an inquisitive, quirky, and utterly delightful pair. Equal parts thoughtful designer (Porto) and natural entertainer (Rocha) and 100% Brazilian (both), they spoke about how their creative journeys first overlapped. When founding Porto Rocha, they tackled questions like “Do we start our own practice? Does the world really need another design studio? What do we want to achieve? What do we want to do differently?”

They define their values by 5 pillars:

1. We want designers to have a seat at the table

2. We want to connect brands with people and culture in meaningful ways

3. We want to find our sweet spot 

4. We will always be a design-led company—not a business that happens to sell designs

5. We want to prove that queer and Latino immigrants can run a global design agency in New York

“Should we be maximal or minimal? Serif or San serif? Colorful or black and white? Simple or complex? Serious or playful? We don’t know—until we DO IT.” Enter Nike Be True, a collection unveiled by Porto Rocha for Nike that celebrates the representation, fluidity, and athleticism of the next generation. How does one go about tackling such a huge project? “Design is a process where we have to try things out. We never look at a blank screen and think we’re gonna come up with the right idea right now… Try all the different possibilities… To be a designer is to make decisions. We make decisions all the time.” Want more from this dynamic duo? Check out Design Threads, their collaborative report of the state of design today.

Sruthi Manjula Balakrishna

“The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is entitled ignorance.” That’s what Sruthi Manjula Balakrishna, self-proclaimed “legitimate love child of strategy and creativity,” has been fighting her entire life. She opened with a poignant, all-too-common story of discrimination in her early school days when a teacher, unsure of how to say her name and unwilling to ask, simply dubbed her “Trudy.”

For far too long, Balkrishna said she built herself upon the experiences places and things she was, but not who she was. “One of the difficult things about being a woman is I’ve been constantly labeled my entire life. I believe we are all too complicated to be labeled and brandished into simple categories.” Balakrishna, an interdisciplinary designer, researcher, educator, and doctor of design scholar at NC State College of Design, believes design is at the core of all the world’s largest challenges and solutions. She currently lends her talents to Föda, a team that shares the common desire to leave the world just a little better than they found it. 

Maureen Raisch

For 17 seasons, Maureen (formerly Michael) Raisch has been making creative home runs for the MLB, NHL and NFL, redesigning some of the best-known brands and team logos in sports. Her design career began with an internship at ABC Network Television in 2003—the same year she founded Raisch Studios, which has gone on to produce photographic tributes, time-lapse, and short-format digital films, among other media.

Later she teamed up with Frederick & Froberg Design for seven years and eventually assisted with the opening of the Fanbranz studio in 2013. I found myself wondering “Is there anything she can’t do?” as Raisch shared dynamic portrait sketches of famous footballers overlaid on atlas maps she created for the 2018 World Cup, juxtaposed to her contemporary Super Bowl LVI Logo for the 2021 season. “The branding may change, but the soul remains the same.” These are words Raisch designs and lives by—coming out publicly as trans in 2021 in a defining moment of life imitating art.

Nermin Moufti

This sincere Syrian designer and creative strategist has truly taken the road less traveled, journeying all the way from her home country to Chicago (by way of Dubai and Toronto) with layovers in New York City, Phoenix, and Granada, where she studied De-Colonial Struggles, Liberation Theologies, and Feminism in Islam.

The 2022 Brand New Conference was hardly her first rodeo—Nermin Moufti has developed type systems in both Arabic and English, taught 4th graders branding basics, and taken the stage numerous times before. It’s impossible to remain unmoved listening to this brilliant creative share her whole-hearted belief that design can, and should, induce positive change and social justice. Speaking straight from the heart regarding the tragic death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini just weeks before the conference, she powerfully observed, “There’s no self-love, there’s no religiosity, without a choice.” May peace be with you and upon you, Nermin.

Abdul Wahid Ovaice

Initially, Abdul Wahid Ovaice thought he just needed to learn more in order to be a better creative. “My partners didn’t have the same level of scrutiny that I did. I speak more strategy than I do design… At one point I realized this has to do with my race.” 

This breakthrough involved pointed advice from an art director he had reached out to:

1. The age of print is transforming—learn how to use computers

2. Develop an eye for photography 

3. Expose yourself to a lot of good design

“When you’re treated as a minority, as anything less than human for a sustained amount of time, it takes a threshold to break it.” Abdul described the BIPOC experience in a world of micro aggressions, recalling once working with a woman of color in a corporate setting in which she was often “police toned” for her communication style. Ovaice believes it’s less that the industry is strategically trying to keep BIPOC out, and more a lack of BIPOC having examples in certain fields. So he focuses not only on hiring BIPOC, but also on creating a safe space for them to thrive. “The dirty secret about most industries is in order for you to get ahead, as much as it’s about merit, it’s also someone advocating for you.” He observed that while men are generally hired on potential, women are more commonly hired on current capability. To this day he remembers the power of positive affirmation, “You’re a good designer,” from his mentor. We think so too, Abdul.

Nadya Okamoto

“There’s no [redacted] marketing budget in non-profits. Working with non-profits made me the scrappiest CEO there was.” Nadya Okamoto held nothing back as she dropped truth bombs galore in her Q&A session at the conference. Founding August in 2020 was about more than selling period products, it was about reclaiming the period stigma altogether and creating an inclusive community menstruators have long been craving.

Poking fun at outdated period marketing—“It’s so obvious—it’s just not blue!”—Okamoto fights back with brand transparency and a prolific presence on Instagram and TikTok. “The quirkier, the more eccentric, the better. I guess that’s our brand.” She opened up about surviving abuse and later being diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. “I’m really critical of myself… but I see it as my superpower.” Okamoto deflates imposter syndrome and low-self worth by being aggressively collaborative in her work. How to succeed in today’s Gen Z world? “We live in an attention economy, everything is over-saturated. So that’s how to succeed—have an overly saturated thing.” How to succeed personally? “I sleep 10 hours a night—that’s my recovering girl boss dedication.” You go, girl.

Alex Center

“Brooklyn is known for douchey workout bros or douchey finance bros. I was neither…I was more of a sensitive art bro.” Part designer part stand-up comic, Alex Center started conference day 1 with a bang as he shared throwback yearbook photos of himself clad in Tommy Hilfiger and described his early awareness of branding. “When I put this logo on my chest, I had superpowers.”

For more than a decade Center worked for The Coca-Cola Company, leading design strategy for vitaminwater®, smartwater®, and eventually the rebrand of Powerade® in 2008. He’s since branched out into new product & package design territory like Conbody, Heywear, and Chassie. Despite his far-reaching impact, he maintains that you can take the boy out of Staten Island but you can’t take Staten Island out of the boy. “Brands aren’t about what they sell or make, it’s about what makes them different.” You’re one in a million, Alex.