I can’t decide if this is the best or worst idea I’ve ever had but I’m going to nominate myself to be a speaker at The Design Conference in Brisbane next year. All my cool design friends have been discussing who is going and given we’re in the middle of liquidating our business, I can’t justify spending hundreds of dollars on going to Brisbane to hang out with a bunch of awesome design folk for fun.
Not being able to go is really upsetting because I’ve had an absolute blast when I went to the conference in 2023 and 2024. I travelled with a new and now dear friend and managed to spend a great amount of time bonding with my people from the DBC network. The event itself is energising… three days, stacks of inspiring speakers and workshops but the best part is the conversation and connection. I think last year I managed to meet most of the speakers by simply going up and saying ‘hi’. Matt Haynes, the founder, has worked hard at creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels welcome.
I really don’t want to miss out on attending next year. If throwing my hat in the ring is the best chance I have of going then so be it. I also have nothing to lose by doing so! The next thing I have to do is figure out why I should be speaking at such an awesome event. It's pretty presumptuous to assume that I have something worthy of headlining a stage for 30 minutes but it seems like a reasonable price to pay for free tickets and accommodation to the event.
In the application it asks me to explain what I contribute to the design community that could make an impact on conference attendees. This is an interesting question to answer because honestly, I’m a pretty average designer. I haven't won any fancy awards. My bread and butter work is often designing primary school readers that will inevitably get shoved in the bottom of a school bag along with the mandarin peels and the bark.
I have some pretty exceptional projects for my personal branding clients but I might do one or two of them a year. I don’t have a huge shiny portfolio but I’m a graphic designer nevertheless and the majority of the young people in the TDC auditorium will get jobs like mine rather than becoming an award winning designer. This is not because they aren’t good designers but because there is a need for the average designer. There is a need for clever designers who just help to get the job done. There is no shame in this transactional work. It’s important. So important that I’ve built a 20 year career from it.
You may think I’m kidding myself and AI will take that transactional work but designers are also great at pivoting and upskilling. Like most freelancers, my work ebbs and flows but because I have a flexible schedule I’ve been able to do fun stuff like write this blog every week or spend time making nerdy tutorials on how to use InDesign and InCopy properly.
What graphic designers do well, regardless of how many awards that they’ve won, is to help articulate and simplify messages and ideas. If there is one thing I’ve learnt over my award-free career is that ‘design thinking’ is rare in most businesses which is why we get called in but also makes us valuable in all sorts of industries. The transferable skills of a graphic designer are underrated and it took me a long time to appreciate that I don't have to be sitting in front of InDesign to be useful. There are quite often successful designers on the stage at TDC that have delved into their own range of products to utilise all the skills they offer their clients.
Sometimes it doesn’t pay off and I think I’m a good example of that as well. I’ve always been a huge reader of biographical non fiction. I love a good founder story and I’ve always imagined that my blog would be a good reference to look back on when we’d ‘made it’ with HUCX. I wanted a detailed account so I could actually reflect back on how hard it was to get where we were going. The fact that it didn’t pan out how we hoped almost makes it a more interesting story. It’s a real story.
How to face catastrophe and retain your creativity is currently the working title of my talk… Why not chuck in a business owner in the middle of voluntary administration on the stage to reflect the reality of what running a business is like. As much as I love hearing super successful people talk at these events, it can be intimidating and often makes me feel even more average. I believe it would be useful to hear from someone who hasn’t ‘made it’ but has turned almost everything that has been thrown their way into an opportunity.
You don’t have to be an award winning designer to have a fulfilling and meaningful career. You don’t have to own a million dollar agency to have an important impact on your community. Being a designer gives you a toolbox (creative thinking, empathy mapping, articulating complex ideas, project/client management) that is a huge asset in so many different spheres. I’ve found the most impact I make is in person when I’m sharing my experiences. Design is the vehicle but it's not the destination.
I was at a Xmas party this week and lots of people said that they really connected with my blog because it was so real. I’ve always believed that everything is either good news or a good story. This has only come about because I’ve had the time and capacity to share the story as it's unfolding. Worts and all. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate that this confidence to overshare my life in detail is a gift. By sharing my experiences, I can indirectly encourage others. I’ve had many people reach out to say that hearing how I fucked up and survived gave them the courage to give something challenging in there life a crack. Being on stage at TDC would amplify the impact.
Part of the application is about hosting a workshop and while I would love to do something about networking or being able to confidently introduce yourself to others which is my specialty, I would probably do it on how to use InDesign properly. Being an average designer means that I’ve gotten pretty good on the tools. I’m proudly an InDesign nerd and I have to be because the amount of beautiful InDesign documents I’ve seen that are an absolute dog’s breakfast behind the scenes is astounding. This less glamorous and more technical side of graphic design is a game changer if you have 70 primary school books that require a global style change.
To nominate myself I’ve had to put together an Instagram post that I’d love for you all to like so it makes me look super popular. I’d be a wild card if the TDC team picked me to talk but even if I don’t get in, I hope that by doing this, I might encourage you to nominate yourself for something. I don't think we do it enough. If we don’t put up our hand or step forward and advocate for ourselves then who else will!! Go Brisbane 2025!!
