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?  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:

1. 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?)
2. Be decisive.
   Design and life is about solving problems and coming to solutions. Say yes and mean it. Say no and mean it.
3. 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
4. Never stop being a kid.
   Design is learning how to play again. Be expressive, try things.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Play.
   Joke, enjoy, muck around.
8. Play with colour.
   Understand its effects on people. There’s a science behind it. It can stimulate, it can calm.
9. Ho(me).
   Find a home designed for you specific needs, were you can relax and switch off.
10. Create a positive environment.
    Add value, add stuff that is sustainable.
11. Be fulfilled.
    Seek satisfaction. Choose to be doing stuff you want to do, or not. Try different things, counties, studios, test things out.
12. Be challenged.
    Seek diversity in the work environment. Push in different directions, to learn and grow, gain confidence
13. Stretch yourself.
    Avoid routine.
14. Make mistakes and celebrate them.
15. Give generously.
    Help people.
16. Feel.
    Have empathy for your end user.
17. Care lots.
    Care brings determination to maximise opportunity
18. Collaborate.
    With clients too. Work closely with them, banter, aim for transparency between parties.
19. Love your family and your friends.
20. Walk everyday especially once you hit 40.
    Getting up at 5am gives you more hours in the day.
21. Be prolific.
    Do lots of good things.
22. Don’t be mechanical.
    Don’t jump on the computer. Think, brainstorm, throw ideas around. Don’t let tools  design the end result.
23. Don’t go around in circles.
    Focus on direction. Goals in life. Understand your intent and make a plan.
24. Trust your intuition.
25. 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 😉