Last night at the Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design I had the chance to meet Rick Valicenti, founder of Thirst and recipient of the AIGA Medal (highest honor in graphic design). Right off the bat it’s understandable why. Here is a guy who “gets it”. He understands what it means to push design to the next level and create art that has function. He has built his business on working with other designers, architects, cultural leaders, and people who also “get it” rather than usual corporate clients or mom-and-pop shops that are just out for profit. Quite the niche.

What I took from the dialogue is the fact that we, the designers of the world, need to become an inventor and the creator of what’s next. Design is a discipline that evokes imaginative thought out of it’s contributors, and it is a responsibility that should be taken seriously. But not everyone can be a design rockstar. It takes devotion, hard work, and a convincing argument to get your client move away from the generic. The future will happen, but we have the power to make it look good and function well.

This is an example of Rick’s work at Thirst. They synthesized the voices of members of Third Coast Audio Festival and applied color, shape, size, etc. to the tones of the persons voice to create an identity system for the TCAF. Click the picture to check out more.