William Drenttel - affectionally known as Bill - seemed to have one vein running through his entire speech and although it seems many of the speakers have the same idea, Drenttel actually seemed to ask the question. What does it mean to be a designer?

And honestly, I still don't have the answer. But that's because in this ever changing word of design, art and culture, being a designer seems to be anything you want it to be as long as it fits who you are. So instead of focusing on just that, he asks another important question that I believe defines the kind of designer one chooses to be.

What if we lived in a world where designers make change by becoming the starting point?

And I think that is important. Many designers are client based; they don't offer a role that is in essence changing or have an impact and yet, these are the people that build the brand, create look and make something ordinary into something different. So what is stopping them?

Designers need to not only create, but they also need to think. They need to push themselves to be the forerunners of innovation instead of the unsung heros.

Drenttel spoke of his work, how he took things into his own hand, starting his own company with his wife, pushing social innovation and creating a history of things from a design perspective that have never really been considered in that way before.

It was inspiring to listen to someone who wasn't willing to just sit back and let people dictate his world, but to step up and take his role as a graphic designer to a new place. As Michael Bierut said… sometimes what we need to do will take us beyond the scope of our work.

Lastly, Drenttel said something that seemed to leave much hanging because the answer was really with the people and not with him:

Instead of having conference at which we only learn from each other, why not have conferences where we actually plan, design and ensure implementation in 24 months?

Well…why not?