We’re fully in the swing of design event season, with creatives taking to stages around the world to share their work, and their insights.
We asked a range of designers to curate their dream design conference line-up. The rules were simple – they could pick three people, and were allowed a mix of living and dead designers (but they couldn’t all be dead).
Their eclectic suggestions feature lots of designers, but also artists, comedians and musicians…
Wayne Deakin – Ingels, Glaser, Grès
Bjarke Ingels for his bold optimism, Milton Glaser for timeless spark, and Madame Grès for her perfection turned into poetry.
I’ve gone super wide in time, style and disciplines of design because the mix, from physical to graphic, is where the most interesting ideas are emerging today in my mind.
First, Bjarke Ingels. A Danish architect who thinks big, takes risks, and proves sustainability doesn’t have to be safe or dull. He makes important ideas playful. That is design with an attitude I love.
Next, Milton Glaser. I had the privilege of working with him when I was younger and he is a personal inspiration. To bring him back on stage would be electric. He understood design is not decoration – it’s is about ideas, culture, and humanity as one.
Finally, Madame Grès. A sculptor at heart, she transformed fabric into form with a mathematical precision. Someone who chased perfection and found poetry in the process. In today’s fast design culture, her discipline and craft would be a radical reminder.
Wayne Deakin is global principal and global executive creative director of Wolff Olins.
Eve Warren – Bass, Goodspeed, AUGE Design
My first pick would be Elizabeth Goodspeed, an independent designer, art director, and writer specialising in branding, packaging, and editorial design.
As the US editor-at-large for It’s Nice That and author of the newsletter Casual Archivist, she brings a unique perspective on design history and how it connects to contemporary practice.
I’ve followed her on socials for years and always find her take on design both refreshing and strikingly self-aware amongst the naysayers.
My second pick would be the team behind AUGE Design, a fantastic agency based in Florence and Milan. I adore their approach to food and drink packaging, often rooted in incredible typography craft, and their food art direction consistently elevates their work beyond convention. They are best in class.
Thirdly, I would go for Saul Bass. I was a huge Hitchcock fan when I was younger, and I loved Bass’s approach to film, animation and identity design. His craft still resonates today, as his work continues to stand the test of time. I bet he would have a story of two!
Eve Warren is design director at LOVE.
Darren Richardson – Kauffer, Dumbar, Myerscough
The young artist Edward McKnight Kauffer was commissioned by London Underground’s visionary CEO Frank Pick. The posters promoted the range of locations; his modernist art celebrated the energy of the new machine age and urban life. This laid the way for future commercial graphic designers and the industry we know today.
Gert Dumbar’s work has been a constant influence throughout mine and, no doubt, many designers’ careers. There’s a deep intellectual quality to his work, yet it is always strikingly simple in its execution. Staying in style for four decades is a rare quality – I want him to share the secret.
I met Morag Myerscough in 1986 at The Design Solution while on placement. Her transformation from graphic designer to a global graphic artist is inspiring and fascinating. The relationship she has with colour is a story everyone needs to hear.
Darren Richardson is creative director and co-founder at Gardiner Richardson.
Anna Hamill – Lynch, Bjork, Ilori
If you haven’t watched David Lynch’s The Idea Dictates Everything, please go grab a coffee and watch now. He’s someone who thought big and small across everything from sound to costume design, location, casting to dialogue.
He could create worlds and feelings through silence and unusual shots. Someone who followed intuition and collaborated to really challenge convention and create films that people either loved or hated. But they always made you think.
Bjork’s name immediately conjures up images. The swan dress was so iconic when I was growing up, as was her music. I would love to hear her talk about where she goes for creative inspiration, what influences her and how she thinks about the world.
She’s such an original and unique soul; the world needs more totally one-off thinkers like her.
I challenge anyone to look at one of Yinka Ilori’s designs and not smile. I love the full-throttle use of colour, joyful patterns and that it’s all underpinned by traditions and heritage that are true to him and his background.
But he’s not just dusted off old things, he’s reimagined them for contemporary culture. I also love that he’s created a community of architects and designers to take his designs into full-scale architectural projects. I’d love to hear more about how he protects his styles and ideas as he expands to different mediums.
Anna Hamill is London managing director at drinks brand specialists Denomination.
Teresa Ferreira – Rams, Bayer, Ulm
Dieter Rams, as his ability to elevate the mundane into objects of quiet beauty is exactly why I fell in love with design as a discipline that shapes daily life. He also represents restraint and clarity in a world of visual noise, proof that “less, but better” never goes out of style.
Herbert Bayer for the way he bridged art, design, and architecture, truly embodying the Bauhaus belief that design is a holistic force rather than a siloed practice. That perspective feels so relevant to branding today: it isn’t only about aesthetics, it’s also cultural, social, and deeply connected to how people experience the world.
Elliot Ulm, because he shows that design culture isn’t just about rules and history, but also about laughing at ourselves and questioning the status quo. I love his humour, his impersonation of Steve Jobs and the way he exposes the frustrations and quirks of our industry.
Teresa Ferreira is founder of Ferrgood Studio.
Craig Oldham – Not a designer
My dream speaker at a design conference doesn’t have to be a designer. I’d be so excited by someone I’ve never heard from or one that doesn’t lead by a reputation.
Someone not of my community, my background, skin colour, or sexuality, whose identity is formed from their own lived experience not from the work they do.
Someone whose work is not something there to hide behind, lead what they have to say, or be a mouthpiece for their agency, but is something that is an assembly of their outlook on creativity, politics, and life. I think that would actually benefit the obvious and perpetuated pitfalls we see across the board at design conferences.
Craig Oldham is founder of Office Of Craig.
Julia Grandfield – de Botton, Peitz, Klimt
Alain de Botton is not a traditional designer, but an incredible writer on life, relationships and philosophy. At this moment with the rise of the “philosopher-builder” I’d like to hear his take on how we can design AI that can help humans flourish. What does an AI that you can have a healthy relationship with look and feel like?
Sam Peitz designs software that feels like it has weight, light and substance with a distinctly human-made charm. Artefacts that you want to interact with even when you feel sick of screens. I’d love to see a detailed, “how it’s made” session behind one of his experiments.
I love Hilma Af Klimt’s paintings, and am often struck by how they look like they could have been made very recently. What would Hilma be painting in 2025? Maybe it would give us a hint at the aesthetics and sensibilities of the next hundred years.
Julia Grandfield is lead product designer at IDEO.
Richard Edgerton – Lee, Bowie, Wolff
Great design is really just storytelling, creating concepts that move people. Stewart Lee does this so well, his rhythm, timing and surprise keep you hooked, just like great design should. I think we gain by looking outside design, because creativity is amplified when we learn from unexpected places.
David Bowie reinvented himself constantly, yet always felt authentic. His work fused music, theatre, fashion, and identity into powerful stories of change.
He showed that design isn’t about one style, but about creating meaning through reinvention. Designers can learn from his courage to evolve while staying true.
Michael Wolff understood brand before most people knew it existed. He shows that design isn’t decoration, it’s meaning, identity, and imagination brought to life.
His curiosity and clarity opened doors for generations of designers. Learning from him reminds us to design with depth, humanity, and fearless originality.
Richard Edgerton is creative director of his eponymous studio.
Dani Molyneux – Coppola, Campe, Jones/Goude
Director Sofia Coppola. I know she’s not a designer, but cinema is a real influence for me. I love the mood and style of her work – full of atmosphere and nuance. I get a lot more out of design conferences when they mix up the disciplines.
Chris Campe aka All Things Letters. I’m currently interviewing Chris for my Explore series, so I’m slightly obsessed with her work right now.
I’m inspired by her daily practice and commitment to the craft. I’m thinking a talk by her would give me a good boost of motivation to make something.
Last one is a bit of a cheat because it’s two people. I want to see artist Grace Jones and designer Jean Paul Goude talk through their collaborative work. It sounds like it was a volatile relationship, but I imagine it was this clash of personalities and ideas that brought about some truly iconic work.
Dani Molyneux is founder at Dotto.
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