Our keynote speaker at the CMG Conference today was Darrel Rhea and his topic was:

Share the Love: What Design & Conscious Color Mean for the Contemporary Global Marketplace

In a market economy characterized by commoditized products and global competition, how do companies gain deep and lasting loyalty from their customers?

The answer is by creating meaningful experiences through a love of design and color.

Darrel is a wonderful speaker and it was fun for all of us to hear about his experiences as a young designer who was himself a member of Color Marketing Group.

He shared how each of us could create meaning for ourselves and our clients. He really walks the talk because he connected his ideas to the audience in a way that was meaningful by being tailored to our group and by suggesting specific actions each of us could take to create value and meaning.

Darrell recommended keeping open to learning and new ideas…

• Do the homework
• Travel
• Read

…and develop your own point of view…

• Share it!
• Blog
• Speak or lecture
• Write

This really hit home with me and if you haven’t read his book Making Meaning I recommend it.

Also there is an excellent resources on the Cheskin website that supports what he discussed– An Ethnography Primer

This was especially helpful as I prepared for the design workshop I’m facilitating tomorrow on the influences of ethnography on color and design.

A bit more about Darrel Rhea:

Currently CEO of Cheskin, Darrel has spent the last 25 years working on the front lines of innovation with the world’s top corporations helping them understand their customers, their needs and their experiences — and marrying the best of design, strategy, and market research into a solid business proposition.

Rhea is one of America’s top strategic design consultants, with extensive experience leading industrial design, product development and innovation, graphic design, and brand identity creation initiatives.

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