Debbie Millman ✗ Spotify Design
Late last year I was in Barcelona for Spotify's Design Days, where Debbie Millman delivered the keynote. I am still fangirling, and you are about to hear all about it.
What is Design Days?
I joined Spotify in early March and was lucky enough to attend my first Design Days shortly after. Design Days is Spotify's way of galvanizing its creative community, reflecting a design discipline that works in close collaboration with every other team across the business. It runs twice a year: the first gathering, held in Brooklyn earlier in the year, focuses on planning, roadmapping, and strategy. The second, held later in the year, is about building relationships across Spotify Design, celebrating the year's achievements, and honestly, having a great time. Barcelona was that second gathering, and Debbie Millman closed out the agenda.
Who is Debbie Millman?
If you are not in the design world, you may not know her yet, but you should. Debbie Millman is someone I have admired since my days at design school and have never stopped looking up to. I considered trying to describe her myself but the sheer volume of her accomplishments made that feel impossible, so I turned to Google: "Debbie Millman is an American writer, educator, artist, curator, and designer, best known as the host of the podcast Design Matters. She has authored six books and is the President Emeritus of the AIGA, one of only five women to hold the position in over 100 years."
Accurate. And still somehow an understatement.
Millman's work has been featured in some of the world's most respected institutions, and her logo marks are seen daily at brands like Burger King, Tropicana, and Kleenex. What I have always admired about her is her business-centered approach to design, something I gravitated toward from the very start of my own career.
Her most recent book, "Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People," brings together 55 visionaries across diverse fields in interviews that unravel exactly that idea. And if that were not enough, Harvard Business School introduced a case study on Debbie that is now taught to all first-year graduate students by Professor Francesca Gino and Professor Frances X. Frei. To have a case study named after you at Harvard. I mean.
But what strikes me most about Debbie is this: the same intentionality she brings to designing a logo, she brings to designing her life, and to helping you design yours. Her perspective is deeply human and holistic, and she is a genuine advocate for using design as a tool for living, not just working. Her most recent release, "The Remarkable Life Deck," is a beautifully designed card deck with prompts to help you identify your hopes and aspirations and, by daring you to dream them out loud, begin making them real.
There’s so much to say about Debbie Millman and her grand achievements but I will leave you with that and a few links if you wish to dive further:
Debbie Millman’s website, Why Design Matters & other published books, The “Designing a Meaningful Life” course, The Remarkable Life Deck, How symbols and brands shape our humanity at TED, and various Articles written by Debbie.
