AIGA/NY: DESIGN THINKING & SUSTAINABILITY
Case Studies with Chris Hacker and his team from Johnson & Johnson

TIME AND PLACE
Friday 12 March 2010
6:30–8:30PM
Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street
New York, NY 10016
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6:30PM Check-in
7:00-8:30PM Discussion

More information: http://www.aigany.org/events/details/10DS/

A limited number of complimentary seats are available for Parsons students, faculty and staff. More information here.
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At the top of Chris Hacker’s agenda is the imaginative application of sustainable design thinking. He has overseen this process as Chief Design Officer at Johnson & Johnson for the last five years, and at Aveda™ for the previous five.

“After an hour of conversation, with Chris, you’ll walk away convinced he’s just the man to bring sustainable design to corporate America.” —I.D. April 2009

This illustrated talk with Chris and several members of his design and engineering team will explain their approach to sustainability in both design and business, illuminating his mission: to change the way designers think about sustainability. They will discuss how they have updated the design process at J&J, where over the last 5 years Chris has built a 120-person think tank, including an award-winning design team, where environmentally-conscious decisions are a fundamental part of the process.

Chris will be joined by several members of his team: Elan Cole, Global Creative Director of the Beauty Care & Baby brands, Lisa Nugent, Global Creative Director of the Convergence Lab (The lab is a destination for Johnson & Johnson Marketing, R&D, and Design to come together for ideation and prototyping design solutions.) and Mike Maggio, VP Global Strategic Design Ops. They will talk about their role within the design process and discuss specific examples illustrating how they are implementing Chris’ vision, revealing the thrill of successes, the heartbreak of failures and the many compromises they have had to make on their journey toward sustainability.

“I grew up a hippie. …I can’t stay on the sidelines and not get involved. As an activist for the cause of environmental sustainability, I believe that if I don’t come to big companies and try to help them become better, then it’s hard to complain.” —Chris Hacker

Chris Hacker, Chief Design Officer, Global Strategic Design Office, Johnson & Johnson Group of Consumer Companies, leads all creative processes for brand identity, packaging design and brand imagery at J&J Consumer. The Global Strategic Design Office is based in New York City with branch offices globally, to further the application of strategic design thinking within the company and consists of Designers, Engineers and Technical Staff.

Hacker’s passion is bringing awareness to designers of their power in the business world to make sustainable design a key paradigm of design process and therefore make the products and materials produced lighter on the planet.

Chris was Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Design for Aveda™ prior to joining Johnson & Johnson. In this capacity he had responsibility for overall strategic marketing leadership, new product development and promotion. Under his leadership, Aveda was awarded the 2004 National Design Award for Corporate Achievement from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Image Credit: http://www.aigany.org