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At Circles Conference, we understand the vital role that creative processes, storytelling, teamwork, and client relationships play in the world of design. Our carefully curated sessions dive deep into these essential aspects of the creative journey. Explore innovative approaches to creative processes that will enhance your workflow and boost your productivity. Uncover the secrets of compelling storytelling techniques that captivate audiences and create lasting impact. Learn effective strategies for collaborating with teams, fostering innovation, and leveraging diverse perspectives. Discover valuable insights into building successful brands and mastering the art of illustration. Lastly, gain practical knowledge on working with clients, refining communication skills, and delivering exceptional results. By engaging with these topics, you’ll acquire the tools and inspiration needed to thrive in your creative endeavors.
Branding as a tool to mobilize teams and build community
Ash Phillips
Co-Owner at Six Cinquième
Companies, both big and small, young and old, often struggle with mobilizing and aligning their teams around a strong vision. This struggle is likely due to a lack of clarity and action around what your brand and company stand for, and what that vision even is.
Six Cinquième founders Ash and Miro share their branding experience to help companies define and communicate a strong brand both internally and externally. They will offer a fresh perspective on how branding can not only help companies achieve their mission, but also build and retain teams that fully believe in and fulfill that mission.
The main takeaways:
- How to use branding to bring internal teams and external communities together
- How branding is a tool to create impact/fulfill your company’s mission and objectives
- Where my brand is now and how I can improve
Business Acumen for Creatives : Thriving During Turbulent Times
Larissa Meek
Co-Chief Creative Officer at PwC Experience Center
In a world where Generative AI is transforming the design landscape, designers must master the balance between their craft, and business acumen. This session uncovers ten key lessons for thriving in a corporate environment, focusing on communicating your value, advocating for your contributions, and crafting a compelling career blueprint. Discover how to blend business thinking with creative expertise and navigate the ever-changing tech landscape, ensuring your unique impact is recognized and celebrated.
Chasing Dreams, Not Dollars: The Power of Letting Conviction Lead Your Career
Allan Peters
Partner at Peters Design Co
People make fear driven decisions based off money all the time. They stay stuck in a dead end job. They hold back a great idea because they’re worried what their boss will think. They don’t chase dreams because they don’t think they’re good enough. A near death experience in Allan’s life taught him to not let fear be his master. Let Allan inspire you with his story and real world examples of letting conviction lead your career.
Creating The Life You Love
Mark Warnick
Founder & Artist at 3vies
The life you want is found in discovering your own path, not in following someone else’s.
When you are able to wake up and become aware of the life you want, you can begin to shape a future you love. You don’t have to quite your job or move to Europe. It’s simple daily actions and habits over decades that turns dreams into reality.
Effort, Trust, Automation: Building Your Future Self
Gerren Lamson
Senior UX Director at Indeed
What parts of work should we keep human and why? Together, we’ll explore the concepts of effort, trust, and the automation spectrum. Whether you’re looking to improve yourself, team collaboration, or client relationships, I’ll share practical tips and lessons learns from leveraging these concepts to achieve greater outcomes in your future self and work.
Grit and The Art of Creative Endurance
Natalie Kent
Creative Director at Focus Lab
This talk delves into the delicate yet critical balance between perseverance, passion, and rest in creative work. Kent, creative director of Focus Lab, pulls back the curtain of challenging projects, and shares lessons on how to maintain a resilient spirit with a balanced creative life. This session offers real-world examples and powerful strategies for designers to embrace a healthy mindset and build their own creative endurance.
Harnessing The Power of Uncertainty When Creating for a Changing World.
Stephanie Alcaino
Head of Creative at OX
As creatives, it’s natural to feel apprehensive about the unknown, but what if we could turn that uncertainty into a source of inspiration?
Join me as we explore the art of embracing uncertainty as a powerful tool when creating in an ever-changing world. Together, we’ll explore the relationship between curiosity and uncertainty, uncovering how it can guide us in transforming ambiguous challenges into exciting pathways of opportunity.
Key Lessons from 15 Years in Design
Matt Dawson
Designer, Illustrator, and Typographer at StayGray Ponyboy
Join me as I share the most valuable insights and experiences gained over a 15-year career in design. This talk will cover important milestones, challenges, and the critical lessons learned along the way, offering practical advice and inspiration for designers at any stage of their careers.
Managing Projects and Clients for High Impact
Emily Cohen
Founder & Partner at Casa Davka
Are you in reactive mode when you manage clients and projects? Are you overwhelmed and constantly fighting fires? In this talk, you will learn how to move from a reactive management process to a more proactive, planned process. We’ll explore key communication tools and strategies that result in better-managed, long-term, and mutually rewarding client relationships. You will be guided through the entire relationship cycle, from project initiation to project close-out, focusing on high-level best practices that facilitate more seamless client and project management. The talk will highlight common client and project management challenges and address effective best practice strategies and solutions.
The Bigger Box - Creative Processes That Serve People
Kevin Ely
Senior Creative Director at Life.Church
“Think outside the box”—sounds great, right? But over the years, I’ve realized that for creative teams, it can sometimes do more harm than good. As a creative leader, I’ve found that the goal isn’t always about escaping the box; it’s about helping your team define a bigger, better box on the other side.
In this session, I’ll share stories, tools, and hard lessons I’ve learned from more than 20 years of leading creative processes at Life.Church, including:
- The three questions I always ask about any creative work
- The essential tentpoles I believe every creative process needs
- How empathy and a servant’s heart can empower your team to do their best work
The Magical World of Murals
Lisa Quine
Muralist & Illustrator
Painting murals is truly a dream job (once you get past a fear of heights). From inception to execution, discover the journey of inspiration, technical skill, and community engagement that fuels the creation of captivating murals. We’ll explore the transformative power of public art and how to expand upon existing brands through commercial murals.