June 2-3rd, 2011
Thursday-Friday, 9am-5pm
CES/AIA LU 14 units
Design is the currency of the future. A business, community, institution or government without a design agenda will soon find itself well behind the social and cultural curve in this “Age of Aesthetics.” Design is quickly becoming the only distinguishable differentiator in a saturated, media-driven world. As such, design creates value. The demand for design now permeates virtually every essential component of a healthy, forward-thinking society, and architects who diversify their practices can establish new competitive advantages. This program brings together recognized experts who have expanded their practices beyond traditional architecture and design services into product design, integrated design experiences, and branding and identity. Through their shared experiences and industry insights, you will gain knowledge of proven approaches to maximizing design opportunities and monetizing design, alternate fee structures, angel investing in the design industry, royalties and licensing, and multidisciplinary design practice. A second day will focus on applications and feature a breakout session that will put your new skills to work in an inspirational team environment – the perfect storm for design entrepreneurs.
Coordinators: Click the names for more info
A life-long California native, Grant draws his energy and inspiration from his home state’s aura of anything-goes, anything’s-possible optimism. He is the visionary force behind KAA’s talented multi-disciplinary design team, spearheading the company’s aggressive moves into integrated design.
Founder, CEO, inventor, designer, lifelong entrepreneur, Grant means business. Design business. He has advised senior executives, corporations and non-profit organizations. Grant is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and actively seeks to empower the next generation of kids to be savvy business leaders.
An architect by training, he has a passion few can match and takes special interest in the marriage of client desires and context, and how lifestyle, more than style, plays a primary role in design. He is responsible for company-wide design excellence, and actively develops ideas related to the field of design-led innovation.
Grant writes extensively and speaks frequently on the topics of New Regionalism, Southern California as a hotbed for design, Design Thinking and the Benefits of an Integrated Design Approach. He continuously contributes to the USC School of Architecture curriculum and is an active member of the Southern California design community.
Fascinated by all things designed and exquisite craftsmanship, he finds inspiration in a variety of places and things: the view from an airplane window, the smell of his daughter’s hair, the lines of a mid-century American muscle car, 1980’s alternative rock, Neutra and Schindler, GW Smith and Kaufman, anything and everything in nature, and the surprise of something simple and powerful. Naturally, KAA’s product line of furniture for Design Within Reach and the HOM Prefab Dwellings were highly inspired by his appreciation for simple, purposeful and beautifully crafted objects.
As COO, Gerard is responsible for overseeing Lunar’s operations. With more than 30 years of design experience, he has received recognition in annual design competitions sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), International Design Magazine, Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA), the Chicago Athenaeum Museum, and Appliance Manufacturer. His work has also been recognized in New American Design, Product Design 3, Product Design 4, Product Design 5, Product Design 6, Design in Plastics, New & Notable Product Design, New & Notable Product Design II, and Top International Design Companies.
Gerard has contributed articles to IDSA’s Innovation Magazine, Machine Design, Plastics Design Forum and the Society of Plastics Engineers’ Product Design 3. He has been a speaker for IDSA, the Association of Professional Design Firms (APDF), Society of Plastics Engineers, the Design and Engineering Show, as well as for numerous design schools. He has also launched and chaired APDF’s Royalty and Licensing Summit program.
Gerard has served as President and Chairman of the Board of APDF, Chair of the San Francisco Chapter of IDSA and as a Trustee of the Design Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in industrial design from San Jose State University.
Since Mark Rios started his practice 25 years ago, his vision has always been to create complete environments – outside and inside – and to design all the elements that give each place its character. Mark has been honored with over 50 professional design awards during his career, with 15 design awards from the ASLA. His projects have been widely published in over 100 national and international books and periodicals. Landscape commissions have ranged from the design of public parks, plazas, and streets, to private gardens, furniture, and products inspired by Mark’s desire for everyone to take note of and appreciate their surrounding ecological and cultural environments.
As Founding Principal, Mark Rios, FAIA, FASLA, has been the leader of both the design and business direction of Rios Clementi Hale Studios since first establishing the firm Rios Associates in 1985. Under his design leadership, the firm has developed an international reputation for its collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach, establishing an award-winning tradition across an unprecedented range of design disciplines.
Though formally trained in both architecture and landscape architecture, Mark’s eclectic interests and innate curiosity have propelled his creative explorations beyond traditional professional borders. The firm—renamed in 2003 to acknowledge its collaborative nature—spans the design disciplines of architecture, landscape, interiors, graphics, branding, planning, and product design for clients that include entertainment studios and venues, cultural institutions, schools and universities, city agencies and departments, retail and restaurant establishments, and private individuals. This approach spurred the American Institute of Architects California Council to bestow its 2007 Firm Award to the multi-discipline practice. In 2009, RCHS was selected as one of two Finalists in the category of Landscape Design by the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards program.
Mark was Chairman of Landscape Architecture at USC from 2001 to 2007, and has been on the faculty at UCLA. He was elevated to AIA Fellow in 1999 and to ASLA Fellow in 2006. Mark received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from USC, and both Master of Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees from Harvard University.
Speakers: Click the names for more info
- Learning Objective 1: Participants will learn about innovative and proven approaches to maximize design opportunities in various fields and markets.
- Learning Objective 2: Participants will receive valuable insight and instruction on how better to brand themselves, and to create an identity that is recognizable in a market economy.
- Learning Objective 3: Participants will learn about business aspects of monetizing design, alternative fee structures, investment strategies, intellectual property right protections in royalties and licensing.
- Learning Objective 4: Participants will participate in strategy discussions and receive hands-on instruction that will focus on testing their newly acquired skills and practice models in a team environment.
The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley (IDEO)
The Creative Priority: Putting Innovation to Work in Your Business by Jerry Hirshberg
The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness by Virginia Postrel
