Who is Debbie Millman?
Debbie Millman, among numerous other things, is a huge hero of mine. She is an inspirational designer, author, branding guru, educator and podcaster who believes in making a difference through design. She is also a born and bred New Yorker.
The Creative Women's Circle will be presenting Debbie Millman at Melbourne's Design Week in March 2020.
2 min read
Who is Debbie Millman?
Debbie Millman, among numerous other things, is a huge hero of mine. She is an inspirational designer, author, branding guru, educator and podcaster who believes in making a difference through design. She is also a born and bred New Yorker.
As a woman who wears many hats, Debbie Millman will be visiting Melbourne for Melbourne Design Week on the weekend of March 14 and 15. Presented by us, the Creative Women’s Circle, Debbie will be sharing her experiences in the industry through the idea of Courage vs Confidence and hosting a workshop on Visual Story Telling.
As a podcaster, Debbie hosts Design Matters which has become the world’s most downloaded design podcast. Debbie has interviewed some of the biggest names in design since her show began in 2005. They include graphic design luminaries like Stephan Sagmeister and Paula Scher. She has also used her casual interview style to get to the heart of Eat, Prey Love’s Elizabeth Gilbert, feminist author and now fiancé Roxanne Gay and artist Marina Abramović’s creative processes.
Debbie Millman is the famed founder and talent on the podcast Design Matters.
Debbie is also an educator and runs a Masters in Branding at the School in Visual Arts in New York. Here she shares her knowledge gleaned from 22 years at Sterling Brands where she was president of the design division. She has worked for over 200 of the world’s top brands and written books to help students truly understand the process.
Branding is not the only topic Debbie has written about. Her published works also include more illustrative works like Self-Portrait as your Traitor and Look Both Ways. Her most recent collaboration is Leave Me Alone with the Recipes: The Life, Art, and Cookbook of Cipe Pineles. Cipe was an unsung American designer and educator who left a big impression on Debbie. One day Cipe’s personally illustrated scrapbook, full of family recipes, was found at an antiques fair. It was this book that Debbie with Sarah Rich, Wendy MacNaughton and Maria Popova (curator of the blog Brain Pickings) reinvented into a beautiful book that everyone can now cook from.
She is an inspirational designer, author, branding guru, educator and podcaster who believes in making a difference through design.
Debbie’s passion for writing and design critique keeps expanding and she is now the Editorial and Creative Director of Print Magazine. Founded in 1940, Print Magazine was the go-to for inspiration and information for many graphic designers, however it went out of circulation in 2018. It has been Debbie’s passion for design that will ensure it will rise again this year and is something to look forward to.
In 2017 I got to meet Debbie in New York while researching my PhD on women in design. While I was certainly star-struck, it was great to find her so warm and welcoming. She has overcome a childhood of violence and abuse. She has set goals and challenged herself. She has achieved admirable career and personal success and is now at a place where she wants to share her secrets with other creative women. There is much about her to admire.
So that is who Debbie Millman is. We hope that you have your interest sparked and will see you at either her speaking event or workshop in March.
- Jane Connory, PhD, Special Events Co-ordinator at Creative Women’s Circle
How to give an amazing talk: Part 1 - the killer visual presentation
By Jes Egan
So, you’ve been asked to give a talk to an audience on a topic that you’re somewhat of an expert in (even if the topic is yourself and your career/business!). Congratulations! Speaking publicly may strike fear into the hearts of some, but for those who want to overcome this hesitation or who simply love engaging with a captive audience and sharing your story, I’ve composed this two part series to make your talk even more amazing.
While the ‘talking’ part of the talk is a given (I’ll go into this in more detail next month), what is optional is a visual presentation to highlight key sections, underline points, and generally give the audience something else to engage with. But, you can’t just create a visual preso ‘off the cuff’ - it requires careful preparation and planning, even if your presenting style is more freeform on the day.
What is on your slides, paper, boards, or whatever it is that you are presenting from, can be simple but it needs to be considered. Here are my top tips for designing a killer presentation.
1.Text on screen: Less is more. This is personally my biggest bug bear, but also one that I have been guilty of in the past. When putting the presentation together, it is very tempting to put every single word you want to say as copy on the slides. But often times this distracts your audience from what you are saying, given that they are trying to read and listen at the same time. This practice can even lead you down the path of simply reading your presentation from the screen. Use a text slide to highlight the topic or key phrases, and if you are worried that when you leave your audience won’t remember what you said, consider summarising via a flyer, emailable presentation file, or other takeaway item.
2. Images are your friend. Images and infographics on screen can replace words in many instances. Heard the saying ‘a picture tells a thousand words’? For a killer presentation, it is true. Find relevant imagery that helps communicate your story, and let the image support what you are saying while your audience listens to your words.
Infographics can be a creative way to present information/data in an attractive visual format, and it can make it much easier for the audience to digest information that might otherwise be technical or dull. There are many online applications that will assist you to create infographics. Using these where you can keeps your presentation interesting and visually exciting without losing the integrity of the information.
3. Don’t overlook the basics When putting together a presentation, some basic things can be overlooked, but they may be crucial when the purpose of a presentation is to pitch for a job or represent your brand in its best light.
- Spell check! If the program you are using to compile your presentation doesn’t have a spell check option, simply copy and paste the text into a program that does and fix errors where required. Don’t forget to double check that the company or client’s names (if they appear in the presentation) are spelt correctly. It’s a rookie mistake but often overlooked, and these types of errors are unfortunately more obvious on the big screen!
- Name your sources. If your presentation includes any statistics, quotes, images or content created by a third part, be sure to give due credit or ask permission from the source. Name it, either on the relevant slides or at the end of the document. Don’t claim it if it is not yours.
- Check the presentation file loads correctly on a third-party computer, and have a backup saved somewhere else with you when you go in (e.g. on a USB stick or online). Make time to ensure the equipment at your presentation location is able to handle your presentation file, and test it (with time to make changes, or come up with a plan B if necessary).
- Consider adding slides that ‘Open’ and ‘close’ the presentation, to make sure your audience know when you’re done.
Finding the balance between what goes in the presentation slides and what you say can be difficult, but spending a little time to consider these things can make for a stronger and more successful presentation. Plus, feeling prepared can help to make you feel more confident for when you get up and present.
Stay tuned for my next post in September, where I’ll cover things to consider when you actually get up to speak!
Jes is a ‘practical creative’ and a very busy lady, doing the business in a digital agency, being an artist, a university lecturer, and small business owner who can creatively be found cutting up a storm at paperchap.com. Follow Jes on Instagram and Facebook.