DESIGN WEEK - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Vice President, Brand and Creative Services

Ali is the Vice President, Brand and Creative Services for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee (VANOC).

Job Titles:

• Design Manager for the Vancouver

Ben Hulse is the Design Manager for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee (VANOC). Born in North Yorkshire, England, Ben moved with his family to Western Canada as a child in 1986. At age 9, Ben attended the Calgary '88 Winter Olympic Games where things like Torch Relays and British ski jumpers captured his imagination. Shortly after, he discovered two things which would change his path: design and music. By his late teens he was creating album covers, music videos, apparel, and touring the country in a band in support of national acts. By the end of university, Hulse's work had appeared on billboards, in national magazines, on television and radio around the world. In 2005, he graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Interactive Arts, majoring in Interaction Design. Here he examined interdisciplinary design and methodologies which translate across numerous design fields from branding to industrial design to architecture. After several more Canadian tours, in 2007, Ben joined the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games brand and creative design team - which is responsible for some of the most iconic elements of the Games. Hulse designed the Vancouver 2010 Torch Relay identity, the official posters, and was part of the Look of the Games design team. He was also involved with the development of the sport pictograms, torches, community cauldrons, and hundreds of other Olympic and Paralympic projects. Aside from design, Ben has been in the music industry for over a decade as a touring and recording artist, photographer, and artist manager.

Dave Mason was born in England and raised in Canada, where he formed his own design firm in 1984. He and co-founders Greg and Pat Samata formed Chicago/Vancouver-based SamataMason Inc. in 1995. His strategy and design work for clients such as Sesame Workshop, Swiss Army Brands, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NCR has been honored in hundreds of national and international competitions and publications. Mason has served as a guest speaker at design industry functions and schools, and has served as a juror for design competitions across North America and in Asia. He has also co-founded a number of successful business ventures including OpinionLab, Inc., the leader in web-based VoC (voice of customer) intelligence systems, Cusp Conference LLC, which produces an annual conference about 'the design of everything,' and documentary film producer NoisemakerFilms. Dave Mason was recently awarded FGDC status as a Fellow of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada-GDC's highest honour.

Job Titles:

• President of the AIGA
• President of the Design Division at Sterling Brands

Debbie Millman is President of the design division at Sterling Brands, working with global brands such as Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Campbell's, Colgate, Nestle and Hasbro. She is AIGA President, serves as Chair of the Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and hosts "Design Matters with Debbie Millman." Debbie Millman has worked in the design business for over 25 years. She is President of the design division at Sterling Brands. She has been there for nearly 15 years and in that time she has worked on the redesign of global brands for Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Campbell's, Colgate, Nestle and Hasbro. Prior to Sterling, she was a Senior Vice President at Interbrand and a Marketing Director at Frankfurt Balkind. Debbie is President of the AIGA, the largest professional association for design. She is a contributing editor at Print Magazine, a design writer at FastCompany.com and Chair of the Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. In 2005, she began hosting the first weekly radio talk show about design on the Internet. The show is titled "Design Matters with Debbie Millman" and it is now featured on DesignObserver.com. She is the author of three books, How To Think Like A Great Graphic Designer (Allworth Press, 2007), The Essential Principles of Graphic Design (Rotovision, 2008) and Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design, (HOW Books, 2009). In 2008, Debbie was nominated for a Cooper Hewitt National Design Award.

Job Titles:

• Director of DesignWorks
• Is Director of Design

Heather Fraser is Director of DesignWorks™ and Rotman's Design Initiative. She is also an adjunct professor of Business Design at the Rotman School, which she joined in 2005 after over 25 years in industry. Heather Fraser is Director of DesignWorks™ and Rotman's Design Initiative. She is also an adjunct professor of Business Design at the Rotman School, which she joined in 2005 after over 25 years in industry. Heather leads the development of design-related initiatives, including research and development of Business Design methodologies, infusion of design thinking into the MBA program, and collaboration with design schools and practitioners around the world. She also heads up DesignWorks™, a centre for design-based innovation and education which delivers customized executive workshops and project counsel to a wide range of corporations and organizations in Canada and Internationally. Heather brings a wealth of experience in Business Design, including 10 years of research and business design at Procter & Gamble, five years on global brand campaign development and agency management at Ogilvy & Mather, and 10 years building TAXI Advertising and Design as principal and executive vice-president of Business and Strategy.

Job Titles:

• Creative Director & Designer at Rethink Communications

Ian is Creative Director & Designer at Rethink Communications. He and his partner Chris Staples were ranked as Canada's top creative directors in 2005, 2007 and 2008 by Strategy magazine. His work has been consistently recognised by major international award shows. Ian Grais was born and raised in Western Canada. He studied economics at the University of British Columbia and then advertising and design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Prior to founding Rethink in 1999 with partners Tom Shepansky and Chris Staples, Ian was creative director of Palmer Jarvis, DDB Vancouver. At Rethink, Ian creates and directs a wide range of projects encompassing advertising, design, interactive, branding and installation. His work has been consistently recognized by major international award shows, including Communication Arts, the One Show, Cannes and Clios. He was ranked the number one art director in the country four years in a row (1997-2001), and he and his partner Chris Staples were ranked as Canada's top creative directors in 2005, 2007 and 2008 by Strategy magazine. Ian has served on the jury of many industry award shows, including the ANDYs, Cannes, the Clios, Communication Arts, D&AD, and the One Show. He's also been a guest speaker at national and international design and advertising conferences, and at Vancouver design schools counselling design and advertising students. Currently Ian serves on the Graphic Design Advisory Committee at Kwantlen College and the Professional Advisory Board for the Illustration program at Sheridan College in Ontario.

Mark E. Sackett has no plans to sit still anytime soon, he lives in 2 cities and on a plane, he owns 10 related creative businesses and thrives on being inventive daily as he works in Branding, Advertising, Print, Packaging, Interactive/On-Line and Website Design, Film Production, Music, Concert Production/Events and Television. He has been an award-winning Designer/Director/Producer for over 31 years with more than 1000 awards to his credit. As a Director/Producer/Art Director, award-winning Graphic Designer and President of Reflectur, he is widely published and has his own radio show called 'BrainfoodUSA-Living a Creative Life!' As the founder of Brainfood Creative Programs, he is a public speaker and thought leader who helps people live more creative lives by teaching them about what he calls "Left of Center Thinking", through his one-to-one and team ‘Brainfood' training's and seminars worldwide. As Creator and Founder of THE BOX SF he produces social networking events, speakers series, seminars, concerts, food and wine events, and brings artists and businesses together into a collaborative engaging space in his San Francisco studios. His film studio Articulation Films produces films with 2-10 million dollar budgets and his recording label, Republic of Sound, helps singers and songwriters get their music to the masses. Mark believes that best-of-class branding and marketing, paired with ethical business practices and out of the box creative solutions are the key to sustained business. Mark serves as a board member or advisory board member to multiple non-profits, and believes in giving back to the community. He thrives on meeting and doing business with those who do things right, by caring about people, animals and our planet! He understands well that money is not always the primary driver to success and that relationship and reputation are. Mark knows his stuff and can navigate complex problems and help clients arrive at workable and creative solutions. He loves wine, plays the drums, is an avid collector of books, antique paper, photography and life experience! He loves sitting with folks, learning about them, and sharing his creative life and ideas by wandering around, dipping his toe in something new so he can constantly learn new things and absorb new images, tastes, sounds and experiences. Mark is the consummate social networker and connector. You can find him on over 30 networks including Google as "Mark E. Sackett". He welcomes you to add him on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or any of the networks you use. You can also add his Facebook fan pages or follow any of his four Twitters as: MarkESackett, Reflectur,TheBoxSF, and BrainfoodUSA. Most of all, Mark hopes to connect with you and more importantly to energize you toward the notion that you too can live a more creative, passionate, exciting life!

Job Titles:

• Project Manager

Oscar Peña was born in Colombia. He trained at Xavier University, Bogota, Colombia where he received his Diploma Industrial Designer (1982). He completed his postgraduate studies in Visual Communications at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (1985). Memberships

Job Titles:

• Founder
• Managing Director of Busby Perkins Will

Peter is a founder and recent Chair of the Canada Green Building Council, and he has devoted much of his time to his profession, to the community, and to the advancement of sustainable education and practices. In recognition of his professional and community contributions, Peter became a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 1997, and in 2005 Peter was invested as a member of the Governor General's Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian award that recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. In 2008 Peter was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Science by Ryerson University.