Design Interaction Symposium

This year, SIGD celebrated its 41^st annual Design Interaction Symposium. Held on September 13 in Wallace Hall, the event featured keynote addresses from James Sommerville and Tom Dempsey, in addition to tours of SIGD studios and a display from SylvanSport. Students and members of the public attended the event to learn from some of the finest professionals working in the design industry.

Before joining Coca Cola in 2013 as VP of Global Design, James Sommerville cofounded ATTIK and designed early promotional campaigns for MTV, AOL, Sony Playstation, and Nike. Alongside several billion-dollar initiatives with Cola-Cola, he’s created designs for the World Cup and the Olympics. He currently leads Coca-Cola’s “Taste the Feeling” campaign.

Tom Dempsey founded SylvanSport and is the company’s President. SylvanSport specializes in designing products for big-name clients in the outdoor industry. The company is based in Brevard, North Carolina.

“It’s great seeing where the SIGD disciplines can take students and professionals,” says Clark Lundell, head of the School of Industrial and Graphic Design.  “We really value our speakers sharing their professional and educational journeys and reflections on their design lives.”