Keep in mind that my point of view in Creative Strategy and the Business of Design evolved over the range of experiences I was having early in my career. So read on and be inspired! - In your book Creative Strategy and the Business of Design your mission is for creative professionals to understand “What the people across the table are thinking, in order to think how they think to do what we do.” Was there a turning point in your career where you realized that you could mean way more to your clients and deliver them a full package of strategic services on top of your design work? In the end you’ll get rewarded with a little brainstorm session we did with Douglas that had a mind-blowing outcome. In this interview, Douglas guides us past early lessons learned, shows us how strategy hands designers the tools to become more valuable, and hands out business advice every creative professional and even designers fresh out of design school can benefit from.

His hugely popular book Creative Strategy and the Business of Design has helped numerous designers out there to understand the language of business, stay relevant, gain new clients, and grow the relationships with existing ones. Now fast forward 2019, Douglas is in the unique position of being able to translate business concepts to designers or articulate design thinking to business people. This experience was a pivoting moment in Douglas’ career.

'I didn’t have the business vocabulary to be anything more than a really good order taker.” Without any business or marketing experience, it was possible to be spot on the forecast but completely off strategy. It all started in 2006 when young Douglas as Associate Creative Director got offered to start his own business inside the advertising agency he was working at. Because as you might already know: remaining relevant as a designer takes more than creativity!ĭouglas Davis – currently associate professor within the Communication Design department at New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn – fills that void and teaches left-brain business skills to right-brain creative thinkers. Writer, speaker, and educator, Douglas Davis is on a mission: to make sure every creative professional understands the language of business. “Design school doesn’t teach the strategic language that is now essential to getting your job done.”

You had me at hola summary