I’m a supporter of Planned Parenthood and a big fan of how they use design and marketing. Being around 100 years is nothing to sneeze at. They’ve lasted this long because they’re always at the forefront of the reproductive rights movement. One thing is for sure, they know their brand. They are “the cool aunt with expert life advice.” Everything they do gets filtered through that voice.
I’m proud of the work Planned Parenthood does. As a designer, I’m equally impressed by how responsive and innovative they are. Over the years their ads and marketing have utilized everything from infographics to lighthearted illustrations. Check out a few examples over at Fast Company.
Now Planned Parenthood is investing in social media, storytelling, and human-centered design. Their experience design work with Ideo has even won an Innovation by Design Award.
Let Planned Parenthood inspire you
I don’t know about you, but I’m inspired by other people doing great, seemingly impossible, things. Your organization might be brand new or just a few years old, but can you imagine what it will look like in 100 years? Can you set things in motion now to ensure your organization is relevant and essential?
Questions to ask yourself to create a game-changing organization:
Do you know what your brand is?
Are you listening to your audience and their values?
Is your brand aligned with your audience?
Are you experimenting with current trends in marketing and design?
Are you adapting as things change?
Is there an organization you admire? I’d love learn about them.
Over the past few years, businesses and nonprofits have been talking a lot about design thinking. It’s a way to solve complicated problems using empathy, creativity, and rationality. It also involves quickly testing ideas to learn and improve.
What’s so great about design thinking is that it can lead to ideas that resonate and innovate. I’ve been learning about and using design thinking since 2007. I can’t believe that was almost 10 years ago. But my passion and interest have only grown since then.
I love tackling complex problems with design thinking and teaching it others. It allows anyone to find creative solutions and approach a topic from a different perspective. I recently lead a workshop for PreKindergarten and Kindergarten teachers at a local public charter school. They were looking for solutions to combining the students’ academic and developmental needs. After I guided them through the process, they were able to approach the problem from a new perspective and find creative solutions. The teachers quickly created the prototypes with supplies on hand and tested them immediately. They put several ideas in place the following week and refined them further.
If you’re struggling with coming up with new ideas to problems try design thinking. It’s fun and great way for teams to collaborate.
Want to learn more about design thinking?
Check out these resources from IDEO and Stanford’s D.School
Have you tried using design thinking? How was the experience?
I’m reading The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday, and what can I say? It’s challenging and inspiring all at the same time. I first heard about this book from a podcast called Your Business is Your Life. This book is something that I can see myself reading again periodically, just to give myself that nudge to keep pushing through. I highly recommend it.
New ways to create I’ve been hearing about Risograph printing a lot recently and it seems really cool. I love learning about new production techniques and seeing how other designers are using them. I for sure want to try it, and I know someone that just got one of these in their studio.
Your mission in 8 words
I first saw this video of Kevin Starr from Mulago Foundation when I was prepping for the SVA’s Impact! Design for Social Change, a week-long residency. This video was eye-opening and I watch it often when I’m trying to synthesize the mission of something I’m working on. If you can’t say what you do, or your purpose in a few words, then its too complicated.
What it’s like to paint a mural A secret dream of mine is to paint a mural. I love street art, from conceptual to graffiti and everything in between. Reading about this Heather Day’s process has helped me understand what it might be like. One day…
I believe design can help you change the world and my job is to show you how.