Debbie Millman

Named “one of the most creative people in business” by Fast Company, and “one of the most influential designers working today” by Graphic Design USA, Debbie Millman is also an author, educator, curator, and host of the podcast Design Matters, one of the world’s first and longest-running podcasts and listed as one of the best podcasts in the world by Business Insider.

Debbie is the author of six books is currently working on an illustrated book for HarperCollins titled Why Design Matters, which will be published in 2020, along with and a documentary about the making of the book, produced by Adobe. She was a writer for the world’s first design blog, Speak Up, the Editorial and Creative Director of Print Magazine, and a columnist for N Magazine.

In 2009 Debbie co-founded the world’s first graduate program in branding at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Now in its ninth year, the program has achieved international acclaim.

Her illustrations have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, New York Magazine, Print Magazine, Design Observer, and Fast Company and her artwork is included in the Boston Biennale, Chicago Design Museum, Anderson University, School of Visual Arts, Long Island University, The Wolfsonion Museum and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art. 

​For 20 years, Debbie was the President of Sterling Brands and was instrumental in the firm’s acquisition by Omnicom in 2008. While there she worked on the logo and brand identity for Burger King, Hershey’s, Haagen Dazs, Tropicana, Star Wars, Gillette, and the No More movement.

She is also President Emeritus of AIGA, one of five women to hold the position in the organization’s 100-year history. She is a frequent speaker on design and branding throughout the world and has been a juror for competitions including Cannes Lions, The Clio’s, the One Club, and many, many more. This year she will be the Jury President for the branding competition for the D&AD Awards in London.

Debbie is currently working with Law & Order SVU actor and activist Mariska Hargitay’s Joyful Heart Foundation to eradicate sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and the rape-kit backlog.

3 words to describe Nature?

Cosmic. Magical. Breathtaking

3 things Nature taught you?

Patience

Scale

Humility

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Pacific Northwest, United States

Machu Pichu, Peru

Easter Island, Chile

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Powerful

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Peaceful

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Awe

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Curious

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Safe

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

Dramatic

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

All!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

I was at a sleep-away summer camp; it was mid-late August, very early evening. I was in a meadow in upstate New York with my campmates. It had rained and the grass was wet. We all ran outside when we realized that a rainbow had suddenly appeared. We were in awe. I might have been wearing pajamas.


Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy is an American artist, sculptor and pioneer of the Perceptual Art movement. Murphy became widely known during the 2008 U.S. presidential election, after creating the first portrait of candidate Barack Obama in 2007 that influenced thousands of artists to contribute to the “Art for Obama” movement, documented in Shepard Fairey's book Art for Obama: Designing Manifest Hope and the Campaign for Change.

His approach is to challenge the viewer’s boundaries using multidimensional techniques in order to create three-dimensional renderings of flat images. His inventions of "Expanded Graphics", the "3D Halftone" and "Suspended Narrative Mobiles" have established an entirely new formula for rendering images.

His work has been featured in numerous publications including TIME Magazine and New York Magazine and can be seen in numerous permanent installations around the world. His client list includes some of the largest brands in the world including Google, Nike, The Jordan Brand, LG, Lexus, Subaru, The Big Ten Network, ESPN, Disney, and the Atlanta Hawks to name a few. One of his pieces, COME TOGETHER, is currently touring with an art instalation show known as "Point of View" hosted by Wonderspaces.

3 words to describe Nature?

Inspiring. Rejuvenating. Essential.

3 things Nature taught you?

The beauty of light.

The rewards associated with being present and observant.

How important it is to be a good steward of the earth.

3 most treasured Nature spots?

The woods in the backyard where I grew up in Ohio. I built this great treehouse and spent countless hours up in the tree looking over the trees. It was especially magnificent in the fall.

Mill Creek Park in Ohio where I spent much of my childhood hiking and exploring.

Central Park.

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?

Invigorated 

When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?

Calm

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?

Fragile

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?

Like I’ve been up too late. No really it makes me appreciate the beauty of the earth and its relationship to the sun 

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Excited. I love thunder and lightning. As a child my family and I would always gather on our porch to watch thunder storms. It’s one of my most fond childhood memories.

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?

I get a rush of excited from strong winds. 

Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?

Oceans, mountains, and forest.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

When I was a child I used to lie on my back in the grass and watch the clouds roll by searching for naturally occurring images. This is the inspiration for much of my work. To date I’ve spent hundreds of hours filming and photographing clouds.