Who is Debbie Millman?
The Creative Women's Circle will be presenting Debbie Millman at Melbourne's Design Week in March 2020.
2 min read
Who is Debbie Millman?
Debbie Millman, among numerous other things, is a huge hero of mine. She is an inspirational designer, author, branding guru, educator and podcaster who believes in making a difference through design. She is also a born and bred New Yorker.
As a woman who wears many hats, Debbie Millman will be visiting Melbourne for Melbourne Design Week on the weekend of March 14 and 15. Presented by us, the Creative Women’s Circle, Debbie will be sharing her experiences in the industry through the idea of Courage vs Confidence and hosting a workshop on Visual Story Telling.
As a podcaster, Debbie hosts Design Matters which has become the world’s most downloaded design podcast. Debbie has interviewed some of the biggest names in design since her show began in 2005. They include graphic design luminaries like Stephan Sagmeister and Paula Scher. She has also used her casual interview style to get to the heart of Eat, Prey Love’s Elizabeth Gilbert, feminist author and now fiancé Roxanne Gay and artist Marina Abramović’s creative processes.
Debbie Millman is the famed founder and talent on the podcast Design Matters.
Debbie is also an educator and runs a Masters in Branding at the School in Visual Arts in New York. Here she shares her knowledge gleaned from 22 years at Sterling Brands where she was president of the design division. She has worked for over 200 of the world’s top brands and written books to help students truly understand the process.
Branding is not the only topic Debbie has written about. Her published works also include more illustrative works like Self-Portrait as your Traitor and Look Both Ways. Her most recent collaboration is Leave Me Alone with the Recipes: The Life, Art, and Cookbook of Cipe Pineles. Cipe was an unsung American designer and educator who left a big impression on Debbie. One day Cipe’s personally illustrated scrapbook, full of family recipes, was found at an antiques fair. It was this book that Debbie with Sarah Rich, Wendy MacNaughton and Maria Popova (curator of the blog Brain Pickings) reinvented into a beautiful book that everyone can now cook from.
She is an inspirational designer, author, branding guru, educator and podcaster who believes in making a difference through design.
Debbie’s passion for writing and design critique keeps expanding and she is now the Editorial and Creative Director of Print Magazine. Founded in 1940, Print Magazine was the go-to for inspiration and information for many graphic designers, however it went out of circulation in 2018. It has been Debbie’s passion for design that will ensure it will rise again this year and is something to look forward to.
In 2017 I got to meet Debbie in New York while researching my PhD on women in design. While I was certainly star-struck, it was great to find her so warm and welcoming. She has overcome a childhood of violence and abuse. She has set goals and challenged herself. She has achieved admirable career and personal success and is now at a place where she wants to share her secrets with other creative women. There is much about her to admire.
So that is who Debbie Millman is. We hope that you have your interest sparked and will see you at either her speaking event or workshop in March.
- Jane Connory, PhD, Special Events Co-ordinator at Creative Women’s Circle