Led by senior design professionals, roundtables are take place on both conferences days from 8:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Bring your questions, offer advice and participate in conversations that will leave you feeling engaged and energized.

Here are the topics on this year’s schedule for Day 1 Lunch Roundtables:

Comic Sans, You Suck: Sharing your best stories of inappropriate font usage
“Get ready for a deep dive into the world of “bad “fonts! Join us as we explore what makes a font choice cringeworthy, debate whether Comic Sans deserves its infamous reputation, and uncover why people love the fonts we love to hate. Expect spirited discussions and a few design horror stories! (p.s. We ARE hating on the same fonts, right?)”
Moderator: Ronald Tau RGD, Graphic Designer, Creative Director & Founder of Meat Studio
Ronald’s firm specializes in brand identity design and typography. His work has been recognized by TDC, ADC, ADCC, Tokyo TDC, Communication Arts, Creative Review, RGD Ultrabold, Applied Arts, Vice, 032C and It’s Nice That. He teaches typography and graphic design at York University and George Brown School of Design.

Passion projects: Making work for fun, because it’s fun to do
What really piques your curiosity? Come join our conversation as we explore the significance of passion projects, discuss the habit of chasing curiosity and find ways to carve out time for creative fun, without getting stuck in a perpetual cycle of productivity.
Moderator: Talia Cotton, Founder & Creative Director of Cotton
DesignThinkers speaker, Talia is a designer, coder, creative entrepreneur and leading specialist in the intersection of branding and technology. Fast Company recently described her as “one of the leading graphic designers of the moment to embrace the possibilities of code.”

Future-proofing your design career: Skills for the next decade
As technology advances and consumer preferences shift, adaptability emerges as a critical trait for designers. We delve into the importance of mastering not only the latest design software and tools, but also fostering a deep understanding of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design principles. Our conversation will touch on the rising significance of ethical and sustainable design practices, emphasizing the role designers play in addressing global challenges. Join us to gain insights into how to navigate the dynamic design industry and ensure your career remains future-proof.
Moderator: Radim Malinic, Creative Director, Designer and Best-selling author
DesignThinkers speaker based in the UK, Radim runs Brand Nu Studio, an award-winning branding and creative studio, and Brand Nu Books, an independent publishing imprint.

Building stronger design processes
Process is the key to profit, but a good process often takes years to nurture and is often tailored to an individual, especially in the design world! We will discuss topics like defining chinks in the armour, identifying problem areas, the importance of trying new things and using technology to help build more robust systems and easily replicable processes.
Moderator: Dave Dick RGD, Creative Director, Strategist & Founding Partner of Humanfolk
Dave’s career spans agency, in-house, business owner and education. He has delivered solutions for such brands as Prime Video, General Mills, Food Network, Cineplex, University of Toronto, Corus Entertainment and CBC.

Tell a stronger story: Strategies for effective communication and presentations
In this discussion, we will explore communication and presentation techniques designed to captivate your audience’s attention. You’ll discover how to refine your storytelling skills and effectively integrate data, anecdotes and visuals to convey your message with greater impact. We’ll also share valuable insights and best practices to help you become a more persuasive and engaging communicator.
*Note: This roundtable has two moderators.
Moderator: John Furneaux RGD, Managing Director, Toronto at PS&Co Brand Studio
At PS&Co, John oversees strategic and creative development. Previously, he held executive positions at leading brand consultancies including Identica Branding, karacters design group, Ove Design and Publicis Brand|Design. John also teaches at George Brown College in their Design Management.
Moderator: Fe Wyma RGD, Senior Consultant of Communications & Creative Services at NVision Insight Group and Founder of Kapwa Communications.
For more than 20 years, Fe has provided visual communications, branding and corporate training services to both the public and private sectorst. Fe is also a graphic design educator who shares her love of layout and typography with emerging designers.

User-centred design: Where humans reign supreme
The application of user-centred design is constantly changing. Do you spend much of your time thinking about how the user can be better served by the designs you create? How do we ensure that users are the main focus of our designs, and that those users find our designs easy to navigate? Join us to discuss how design can be employed to make things easier, rather than just help address the bottom line.
Moderator: Elyse Maxwell RGD, Senior Graphic Designer & Project Manager at Patch Design
From developing comprehensive branding systems to designing packaging and print materials, Elyse enjoys working directly with clients to find solutions to their challenges. 

The power of strategic design and the evolution of the “thinking” designer
Through a traditional lens, design is about crafting visual outputs and tangible artifacts. Yet there is a world of opportunity that opens up for businesses and organizations who view their customer experience through the lens of interconnected systems that can be optimized by thoughtfully applying design to everything we see, touch and experience. How do designers shift from light-touch Jack-of-all-trades practitioners to strategic thinkers who thoughtfully apply their design skills throughout the human experience?
Moderator: Adriana Ivory RGD, Executive Design Director at The Garden Collective
Adriana is a multi-disciplinary designer, creative leader and part-time educator. Her passion for design stems from her desire to problem-solve: to think about things differently and derive creative solutions that both function well and look great.

From concept to completion: Managing design projects in-house
Dive into the different aspects of project intake systems and project management processes within in-house design environments. Share strategies, best practices and key challenges for navigating design projects efficiently and effectively. Benefit from group insights to optimize your workflow and elevate project outcomes.
Moderator: Pina Nicoli, Group Account Director at Cella
Pina is a proven People Leader with considerable experience in building and leading large teams, driving results, developing and optimizing workflow processes, business to business sales and service delivery. 

Colouring inside the lines: Fostering creativity within the confines of a brand
The same branding, same colours, same style day in and out. It can get boring. How do we foster that creative itch and stay motivated while adhering to our often strict brand guidelines? Join us to discuss techniques for pushing the brand envelope, trying out new, potentially radical ideas, all while still staying brand faithful.
Moderator: Jessica deVaal RGD
Jessica draws upon more than 25 years of design experience in the education, medical and financial sectors. She has a three-year diploma in Technical Illustration from Sheridan, was a proofreader for eight years at the University of Toronto, and currently is a designer with Deloitte Canada. Her passion is problem-solving and she loves a good design challenge or even a good puzzle.

Me, myself and I: Succeeding as a solo practitioner
There is no blueprint to working for yourself. Let’s discuss the successes we’ve accomplished and failures we’ve endured, so we can all learn from eachother and grow our businesses.
Moderator: Faron Dawe RGD, Freelance Designer & Principal at FARON.DESIGN
Based in Moncton, NB, Faron focuses on brand visual identity design, web user interface design and consulting in-house teams on larger design-based projects. He is also working on a passion project called Creative Union, a club for creatives to connect and empower one another to elevate the profession.

Students only: Embrace your design identity and build your creative confidence
Confidence is key to becoming a successful designer, but how do you garner confidence in a world of criticism and imposter syndrome? Join us in this roundtable to discuss simple tips and tricks to build creative confidence that will help you navigate your early career as a student and designer.
Moderator: Elana Rudick RGD, Founder & Creative Director of Design Is Yummy
Design Is Yummy is an award-winning, Montreal-based design studio known for its bold, purposeful approach. With a firm belief that the “why” is more important than the “what”, Elana leads her team in collaborating with brands in the arts and culture, education, healthcare, government and not-for-profit sectors. 

DesignThinkers attendees will be able to pre-register for discussions. Keep an eye on your email for the sign-up form.