For well over a decade AGIdeas has ‘inspired, provoked, challenged and amazed’ members of the design community. And for past five years I’ve seen proof of that in the gusto of post-agideas designers in our team. While the vast majority of the week is dedicated to the creative side of creativity, there is always a small stipend toward those of us in the business side of things. This comes in the form of the Business Breakfast Forum.

‘2 hours that could change your business’ is what the glossy brochure chortled. It posited some impressive statistics on how design has influenced change (particularly around profitability) and piqued the interest of just about every Project Manager and Account Manager at Reactive. ‘We too believe in the power of design!’ we rallied. This breakfast was made for us, so we booked our $70 tickets and waited for the big day.

Our facilitator Harold Mitchell kicked off the proceedings, once again reiterating the promises made in the brochure. Indeed, the forum made such a strong start that within three minutes of Richard Murray’s presentation I had already forgotten that the breakfast had run short on coffee.

Well prepared, intelligent and energetic, Murray (of Williams Murray Hamm) regaled us with brilliant examples of creative and successful design. Using several case studies Murray was practically breezy about how design can create profit for clients. He demonstrated some truly creative thinking on the part of his firm by showing us the brief, the market research, the solutions and the results. And my, they were impressive results. For example, Murray tells us that within one week of shelf-life his firm’s re-branded Sainsbury’s Organic range had practically paid for itself. By taking us through this classic process Murray demonstrated how a good brief, proper research and creative thinking can reposition products in the marketplace, create buzz and provide a significant profit increase for the client.

After such striking examples of how design can change the world the audience was pumped, and perhaps the next speaker Scott Strong (Ford Motor Company) provided a little too much of a change in pace. Strong - more subdued in his approach than Murray - talked more generally about the importance of a design culture in a creative organisation. He noted the importance of good people, a good working environment, good research and so on. While Strong was earnest in his approach, his understanding of the audience seemed limited (in that there was an element of ‘preaching to the converted’. - Surely all design agencies believe in good people and a solid design culture?). Small details – like the rendering of fonts, choice of imagery and quality of the design in Scott’s power point display indicated also that his presentation was a little off target. I started to wonder if there was a coffee cart set up outside the building.

A surprise finish to the forum Masaaki Kanai (of international retailer Muji) presenting in Japanese (through a translator). Having been assured by Mitchell that this wouldn’t take up any more time than was scheduled (and being a big fan of Muji products) I went into this unusual approach with an open mind. I could see the benefits of having a translator – it would allow the presenter flexibility (and enable us to ask questions directly to the speaker). Speaking in rather long intervals (necessitating a pre-prepared script for the translator) Kanai spoke about the role of design at Muji (the mantra of which is ‘no brand quality goods’). More specifically he explained Muji’s philosophy around design, and how design can influence cost (for example designing textiles in their natural colours will reduce the cost by eliminating a dying process). This tidbit made a nice bookend to Murray’s presentation on how design can influence profit – but it was only a very small point to be considered in his presentation. Ultimately Kanai gave us a rather long advertisement for Muji (which is ironic given they don’t yet have a store in Australia).

The moment the formalities were over I cut my losses and bolted out of the building in search of that coveted cuppa. While I never really expected that this two hours would change our business, I did expect a little more – more of the kind of thing that Murray provided.

Next year I hope to see more curatorial thought to the breakfast forum. (and more coffee of course!)

Pepi Ronalds, Studio Manager

Labels: Design and Usability, Reactive, Web Culture and Trends