For more than 14 years, Justin Ahrens has led Rule29 in the firm commitment to making creative
matter®. Through a collaborative approach to both strategy and design, Rule29 has fostered a culture
that encourages the pursuit of wonder through story and involvement in many social causes. Justin
has also been a consistent voice for the design community on balancing life and career: he’s the
author of Life Kerning: Creative Ways to Fine Tune Your Perspective on Career and Life.
Sessions
Why can culture be more important than your creative?
Thursday, May 7 • 3:00 – 3:45pm
There comes a point in most creative firms where the work that your company is producing is credible enough that it speaks for itself; no one questions that the firm is talented and capable of handling most projects. In these periods of a company's creative development, the measure for whether or not a client wants to work with you is no longer predicated on how well you design—the decision becomes predicated on whether or not the firm is a "cultural fit." In this session, Justin Ahrens will explore why a company's culture is potentially the most important (and most elusive) element for success in the design industry and how to go about fostering the kind of company culture that employees want to be a part of and that clients want to work with.
