Make levels make sense — You can be a designer who understands, shapes, and aligns with the business without losing your creativity. Embracing business is not loss; it’s amplifying. It’s helping us do more of what we love. Becoming business-minded creatives is critical to our success as a discipline. There are five actions you can…

Here’s how to keep your team relevant — AI is everywhere. You can’t scroll your socials without getting stuck on a Midjourney rendition of a t-rex in a mullet drinking a beer, posted by your former art director. Can’t walk into a room without dodging the Matrix/Skynet jokes. There’s no doubt that AI will open up the opportunity…

Use your skills to create alignment — You can be a designer who understands, shapes, and aligns with the business without losing your creativity. Embracing business is not loss; it’s amplifying. It’s helping us do more of what we love. Becoming business-minded creatives is critical to our success as a discipline. There are five actions you can…

(in all the best ways) — You can be a designer who understands, shapes, and aligns with the business without losing your creativity. Embracing business is not loss; it’s amplifying. It’s helping us do more of what we love. Becoming business-minded creatives is critical to our success as a discipline. There are five actions you can…

Start talking about “investment” — You can be a designer who understands, shapes, and aligns with the business without losing your creativity. Embracing business is not loss; it’s amplifying. It’s helping us do more of what we love. Becoming business-minded creatives is critical to our success as a discipline. There are five actions you can…

Don’t let others translate design for you — You can be a designer who understands, shapes, and aligns with the business without losing your creativity. Embracing business is not loss; it’s amplifying. It’s helping us do more of what we love. Becoming business-minded creatives is critical to our success as a discipline. There are five actions you can…

Why learning business basics scares the bleep out of designers — When I began teaching business basics to creative leaders three years ago, I thought I knew what was holding us back in that particular arena. My hypothesis: Designers and design leaders didn’t get business simply because of lack of access or exposure. Turns out I was wrong… Not about access…

How to use L&D to retain talent It’s the time of year when the results of company culture surveys come back so leaders can evaluate the state of team engagement. How are your team engagement scores looking? Here at Design Dept, we’re consistently hearing that employees want more. More flexibility, more support, more opportunity, more connection. …

After teaching and coaching thousands of creative leaders across multiple industries, we start to see patterns. Here’s the most common mistakes new (and experienced) managers make when delivering performance feedback to their team. Not knowing the difference between feedback on performance and critique of work product. Both require different approaches…