The brief for the night from Australian Infront to Vince Frost was not to present a portfolio but to talk about something broader, deeper. Specifically, how has he stayed in business for such a long time? Â How has he stayed creatively relevant? How does he do this with a large team (30-35)?
The result was a presentation on: designing your life, your business and your happiness. How do you achieve a balance between an enriched life, business and achieving your dreams? Frost had 25 mantras, part design wishes part life coach, part business coach. In fact he attributed a few of the points to his naturopath and CEO. So here they are:
- Every day is an opp to shine.
Have a positive outlook, choose a career you love. (With an interesting question posed to the audience – do you  separate work and life, is lack of separation a weakness? Do you embrace the fact that your life and work is enmeshed?) - Be decisive.
Design and life is about solving problems and coming to solutions. Say yes and mean it. Say no and mean it. - Smile a lot.
You get what you give. Smile even when you don’t feel like it. Look for inspiration, energies, queues from those around you - Never stop being a kid.
Design is learning how to play again. Be expressive, try things. - Question everything.
Never presume you know everything. Listen critically, carefully, quietly. Delve, be empathetic to your audience – what are they trying to achieve? The clues you hear will make your design stronger. - Take a break.
Recharge, energise, take a step back. As a company celebrate achievement and introspect. Don’t get stuck in a routine – do something diff every day. - Play.
Joke, enjoy, muck around. - Play with colour.
Understand its effects on people. There’s a science behind it. It can stimulate, it can calm. - Ho(me).
Find a home designed for you specific needs, were you can relax and switch off. - Create a positive environment.
Add value, add stuff that is sustainable. - Be fulfilled.
Seek satisfaction. Choose to be doing stuff you want to do, or not. Try different things, counties, studios, test things out. - Be challenged.
Seek diversity in the work environment. Push in different directions, to learn and grow, gain confidence - Stretch yourself.
Avoid routine. - Make mistakes and celebrate them.
- Give generously.
Help people. - Feel.
Have empathy for your end user. - Care lots.
Care brings determination to maximise opportunity - Collaborate.
With clients too. Work closely with them, banter, aim for transparency between parties. - Love your family and your friends.
- Walk everyday especially once you hit 40.
Getting up at 5am gives you more hours in the day. - Be prolific.
Do lots of good things. - Don’t be mechanical.
Don’t jump on the computer. Think, brainstorm, throw ideas around. Don’t let tools  design the end result. - Don’t go around in circles.
Focus on direction. Goals in life. Understand your intent and make a plan. - Trust your intuition.
- Don’t focus on projects.
Focus on giving from the heart in everything you do. How can you inspire the client, engage the opportunity in a positive engaging way?
Peppered with these messages were examples of inspiring work from the team at Frost studio. Work that had depth of meaning, texture, dimension, colour. Frost himself was a delight too. No buzz words, just sincere sharing of life and work experiences and a clear passion for applying design and seeing beauty.
The talk will also be available as a podcast on iTunes courtesy of the Apple Store. BTW Apple peeps, this blog post was produced by my delightful HP in your store 😉
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