SCAD

Yesterday, I had the chance to be part of something very new and exciting. 

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know I’m mentoring a group of students at Savannah College of Art and Design.  Yesterday, they presented their final designs to me, and for them, their final exams.

The first time I went, they presented to me what they thought I wanted to see.  Their designs were clever.  But, I thought there was more to get.

So, we all sat down at the end of the last session and we talked about passion, not mine, but theirs.  I spoke to them about finding that thing inside them that wants them to do this.  I asked them to not be afraid of offending me, but to create their own voice.  I wanted them to represent their viewpoint, and the viewpoint of their peers, not mine.

The deal was, if they came to me with original thinking in designs, that can be produced in our factories, and could have broad appeal, I would make sure they would be made.  They did.  I will.

I spoke with a major retailer after the meeting.  He agreed, the idea was intriguing, to be able to be the seller of first designs of the next generation of designers for the next generation of consumers.  And then, it came to me; we’ll call it FIRSTDESIGN.

So, when you see something out in the future called  FIRSTDESIGN, you know how it happened.