"Little" might be in the company's name, but a Twin Cities design shop is thinking big with its web video series.
Little & Company, a strategic design firm that employs about 40 people in downtown Minneapolis, is preparing another batch of videos for its
Thirty Conversations on Design project, and they feature some high-profile names, says creative director Joe Cecere.
The series started last year as a celebration of the agency's 30th anniversary. It reached out to 30 creative professionals around the world and asked them to answer, via video, two questions: "What single example of design inspires you most?" and "What problem should design solve next?"
The results were posted on a website where designers, authors, architects, marketers and others could go to find inspiration, as well as participate in a conversation around the videos. In the spirit of TED talks, Little & Company now plans to build on the archive, adding more videos each year.
Little & Company cast a wider net with this year's interviews. Cecere says they wanted to expand beyond graphic design and marketing and include creative fields such as architecture, fashion, and filmmaking. The selection process was the same as last year.
"We get a group of us here. We get together in a room and we put our dream list together," says Cecere.
They draw ideas from pop culture, magazines, and design annuals. Cecere then starts reaching out to people on the list, and if they agree, they box up a digital video camera with instructions and drop it in the mail. This year's confirmed participants include design editor
Allan Chochinov, author
Daniel Pink, and skateboard entrepreneur
Tony Hawk.
"The nice thing about the questions is they're universal enough and they're kind of timeless," says Cecere. "What's going to be interesting every year is to have a new perspective based on what's happening in the world and how those answers change."
Cecere says this year's website, which is scheduled to launch next month, will be more robust, with better tools for interacting with other viewers and sorting and searching the videos. The company is also considering staging a speaking event or series involving some of the participants.
Source: Joe Cecere, Little & Company
Writer:
Dan Haugen