Brian Collins is the Creative Chairman of COLLINS:, a design firm dedicated to creating communications and experiences that shape companies and people for the better. Prior to COLLINS:, Brian led the Brand Integration Group (BIG) at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. Brian’s clients have included Coca-Cola, CNN, Levi Strauss & Co., American Express, Motorola, Mattel, and Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection. His team’s North American launch of Dove’s celebrated “Campaign for Real Beauty” was honored with the Image Award from the National Organization for Women. In 2008, his team won the Grand Clio for their design work on Helios House, the world’s first LEED-certified gas station built for BP in Los Angeles. Brian’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, and Fast Company,which named him one of five American “Masters of Design.” Brian is a Distinguished Alumna of the Massachusetts College of Art. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Art Center College of Design in 2008, and has spoken globally on design, including at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Using the world water crisis-- and innovative efforts being made by INDEX and AIGA to help address it--as an example, Brian will argue that designers should not be “problem solvers,” but “problem seekers.” He will highlight grass root as well as large scale projects to illuminate the evolving role of the designer, and the opportunities that have arisen as the craft has transcends the “service” roles it has traditionally played. With the ever decreasing cost of creating innovative solutions, and the power of new technologies to distribute ideas and content around the globe instantly, the potential for designers to make significant strides is greater than ever before. Brian will speak to the importance of creating an architecture of participation so that this ever burgeoning potential may be fully realized. His presentation aims to create a dialogue on how designers can best use their new-found powers and influence.
