What is one word you would use to describe your experience at DTVancouver 2025 and why that word?
Natasha: Whimsy! Meg (@yourbuddymeg) started off the conference with such a bright message encouraging us all to embrace our inner child. It helped add a reminder that we were there to celebrate and have fun as a team!
Brent: Educational. I had the pleasure of MC’ing the workshop room on day 1 of the conference and every one of the workshops, and their presenters, were thought-provoking and inspiring in their own ways. I learned about the responsibility behind AI, the power of listening, finding my true me, and the hard decisions behind creative leadership.
Sarah: “Super!” It’s a versatile adjective that signifies how excellent something is. And DTVan was excellent in many ways: speakers were inspiring, Vancouver was beautiful and all our team-building dinners and shenanigans were top tier. Can’t wait to do this again!
Melissa: Insightful. Many speakers were sharing really useful ideas and pieces of information. From things they’ve learned in their career, to how they pursue their dream projects and even the realities of doing design business. I found it all very insightful.
Did you have a favourite quote or insight or idea from the speakers at the conference?
Natasha: A brand is never done. The idea that just as people who grow and change every day so do the brands we make and we as designer should be open to how they evolve.
Brent: Perfect isn’t better.
Sarah: “Who were you before you were told who to be?”
Melissa: “I have a 100% track record of figuring it out” — Erin Sarofsky
Was there a talk that felt especially relevant to the work we do at Fusion?
Natasha: Adam (@adamjk) and Meg are such bright spots in our industry I think everyone on the team looks up to their approach to design and life.
Brent: “Unprepared & Ready to Fail: The Hollywood pitch that changed my approach to design.” Erin Sarofsky’s story of how a mixture of experience, knowledge and spontaneity can lead to successful pitches, and connecting with clients that appreciate that can lead to long-term, lucrative work.
Sarah: Both Meg and Adam’s talks were highlights of the conference. Not exactly connected to the actual work we do as a studio, but related more to the approach myself/the team could take with regards our work (and life!). The idea of “perfect isn’t better” or considering what is the common thread of inspiration you’ve had since being child, truly resonated.
Melissa: May not pertain directly to work at Fusion, but more so myself as a designer: I really resonated with Vince Wanga’s talk about Unlocking Creative Audacity and the encouragement to declare and pursue your creative ambitions. I can’t wait to start his book!
How did your experience at this year’s DesignThinkers Van differ from last year’s?
Natasha: This year I helped to moderate round tables in the morning. Starting off your day like that means you have a few more friendly faces in the crowd each morning and it was fun to pull in the talks from the previous day and hear what everyone else was getting from the experience!
Brent: Besides hobbling around on my not-fully-healed broken ankle, this year was a much better balance of team building, inspiration, and “working”. Last year I presented a workshop (which is far more work than simply moderating the workshop room), and the stress of preparing and giving the workshop took away from a lot of the other benefits of being in Vancouver with my team for the conference.
Sarah: I moderated two roundtable discussions over the conference. Both groups were really ready to participate and we had some really engaging conversations. There seemed to be more of a feeling of wanting to connect with each other this year—this was inspiring and energizing.
Melissa: I always leave a DesignThinkers conference inspired, but this year in Vancouver felt inspiring and motivational. It’s pretty easy to see incredible work and incredible designers and feel intimidated or like that kind of “success” is unattainable. But this year felt as though many of the speakers were giving comprehensive, real advice and insights that made me that much more excited to continue exploring the design world.
What was the most surprising or unexpected thing you learned during the conference?
Natasha: During the round table discussions we discussed how to foster creativity within a brand and how we can push ourselves to think differently about designing in a 2D space — pushing it closer to how you would design a 3D space — by using different layers and dimensions.
Brent: That Dominic Ayre really is everywhere.
Sarah: It wasn’t really something that I learned, but I was surprised how little anyone spoke about AI. It has dominated conversations in our industry, so it was refreshing to explore other thoughts and ideas.
Melissa: I was not expecting how intense security for Marvel movies were! I’m not completely surprised that Disney would go to those lengths, of studio entry logs, security cameras pointed directly at computers and practically instant screensavers, but it was still surprising to hear!
