Duane King, a distinguished consultant and creative director based in Portland, boasts a diverse and impressive career trajectory. From launching Herman Miller’s inaugural websites and crafting packaging for Neiman Marcus and id Software, to pioneering innovative interactive websites at Nike, King’s portfolio is a testament to his design prowess. Fast Company recognized his significant impact by naming him one of the 50 most influential designers in America in 2011, acknowledging his contributions to the Nike Better World campaign, in collaboration with Ian Coyle. This article recaps Duane King’s insightful presentation at AIGA’s Career Tools event, where he shared his experiences on how design principles fueled his entrepreneurial journey and how a passion project unlocked unexpected career avenues.
Image of Duane King, a Portland-based creative director and consultant, speaker at AIGA Career Tools. Image courtesy of Duane King.
Defining Success and Satisfaction in Design
For Duane King, achieving both success and satisfaction in the realm of design hinges on a crucial understanding of three key elements:
- Identifying your inherent strengths
- Pursuing your genuine passions
- Recognizing your market value and pricing accordingly
The real challenge, as King articulated at the AIGA Career Tools event, lies in adapting to the inevitable shifts within these elements and the broader design landscape. Over his extensive 20-year career, Duane has witnessed firsthand the significant evolution of the design industry.
Embracing Digital Transformation in Design
King recounted his early career transition, highlighting a pivotal moment: “When I got my first job after school working for an agency, I could draw better than most people, but it didn’t matter.” Entering the professional world from academia, Duane observed a significant paradigm shift as the design industry transitioned from traditional analog methods to digital tools. Despite his honed skills in drawing – evidenced by his early work on a hand-drawn logo for the board game Scattergories – he recognized the industry’s digital trajectory. Proactively, Duane invested heavily in his first computer, a significant financial commitment at the time, to cultivate his expertise in digital design tools and techniques. This forward-thinking approach was a crucial career tool that allowed him to remain relevant and competitive.
Simultaneously, Duane immersed himself in the foundational principles that underpinned his design career. He discovered the conceptual frameworks of grid systems and pattern libraries, knowledge gaps in his formal education. In a pre-Google era, accessing resources on the Swiss Grid or the NYC Transit Authority Standards Manual required considerable effort.
Uncovering Design Heritage Through Reverse Engineering
Duane described his self-directed learning process as: “I worked in reverse, uncovering the heritage of the work.” This proactive approach to understanding design history and principles became another essential tool in his career toolkit.
Leadership and Vision in Design Management
Driven by diligence and a pursuit of precision, Duane naturally gravitated towards roles demanding creative direction. Initially hesitant about management, he found himself leading design teams and discovering a passion for inspiring creativity. He realized he thrived on motivating teams through encouragement and shared vision, rather than rigid instruction. This leadership style proved to be a vital career tool, propelling his advancement.
In leadership roles, Duane engaged directly with high-level stakeholders and managed budgets. He developed a strong affinity for the entrepreneurial mindset of executive teams. He recognized that crafting a business plan mirrored the design process, requiring creativity, research, problem-solving, and calculated risk-taking. These were the very skills he had refined as a designer. This ability to communicate effectively with business leaders, speaking their language, became a powerful tool for advocating for the value of his teams’ design contributions.
Design Responsibility: Beyond Aesthetics
Duane emphasized a crucial aspect of design ethics: “Designers are gatekeepers between corporate goals and the public. Because of that, we have a severe responsibility not to add more bad things to the world.” This statement underscores the significant responsibility designers bear, highlighting that their role extends beyond mere aesthetics to encompass ethical considerations and societal impact.
While Duane’s dedication to honing his design skills, leadership abilities, and business acumen fueled a successful career, he began to experience a sense of repetition in his design challenges. More profoundly, he felt a personal disconnect from his work.
Seeking Personal Identity in Professional Design
“I was just a guy at this company. I didn’t have my own identity,” Duane reflected, expressing a common sentiment among seasoned professionals seeking deeper meaning in their work. He questioned the value proposition of his contributions, pondering whether his work was truly enriching lives or merely contributing to consumerism and digital addiction. This introspection prompted Duane to take a sabbatical after 20 years in the industry, seeking clarity and renewed purpose.
The Pioneer 10 Project: A Career Catalyst
“It will be the oldest artifact of mankind. Because a billion years from now, mountain building and erosion will have destroyed everything on the Earth, but this plaque will remain intact.” — Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan’s profound words about the Pioneer 10 probe and its message to the cosmos resonated deeply with Duane. Launched by NASA on March 3, 1972, Pioneer 10 carried a symbolic plaque, a message from humanity intended for potential extraterrestrial encounters. This iconic mission profoundly influenced Duane, leading him to purchase the domain pioneer10.com in 1998.
As his sabbatical neared its end in 2016, Duane revisited the Pioneer 10 plaque. He meticulously created vector drawings of the plaque’s figures, researched the original materials and manufacturing process, and envisioned recreating it using a CNC router, a tool he had been experimenting with. This personal project became a pivotal career tool, unlocking unexpected opportunities.
Serendipitously, Duane discovered a BBC documentary, “Beauty of Diagrams,” featuring the Pioneer plaque and an interview with Ponciano Barbosa, NASA’s Technical Engraver who worked on the original. Duane located Ponciano and arranged a meeting. He was welcomed into Ponciano’s workshop, where a template of the original plaque hung in the window. Ponciano enthusiastically embraced Duane’s project and offered his expertise.
Working alongside Ponciano, Duane created a replica plaque, identical in size, material (aluminum), and weight to the original. Holding the finished replica, Duane was struck by the profound connection to history and space exploration.
Sharing Awe and Inspiration Through Replication
“Back in Portland, as I held this plaque, I realized there were only two others — one copy was 650 miles away in San Carlos, California, the other 12 billion kilometers away and moving deeper into space.” Driven by a desire to share this sense of awe, Duane explored the feasibility of mass-producing the Pioneer 10 plaque replica. Despite the inherent risks of launching a product after a period of no income, he was compelled to pursue this passion project.
Duane initiated market research, examining successful space-related Kickstarter campaigns. He updated his Pioneer 10 website with a project pitch and partnered with Vann Alexandra, a crowdfunding firm. A comprehensive business plan followed, detailing production costs, packaging design (an intricate 13-piece assembly), a Kickstarter video, and licensing agreements. The Kickstarter’s success was uncertain, and scaling production presented potential challenges.
He established an LLC and assembled a team of professionals, including legal and financial advisors, a web developer, and creative specialists. Despite meticulous planning, Duane’s initial projections were significantly exceeded. The Kickstarter campaign launched with considerable apprehension.
However, the Pioneer 10 plaque Kickstarter exceeded all expectations, reaching its funding goal within 30 hours. A month later, it achieved 410% funding, with nearly 2000 backers pledging over $286,000.
The overwhelming success necessitated production scaling. Duane adapted, finding efficient production methods, securing better material pricing, and enlisting packaging assistance. Production is now in full swing, bringing the Pioneer 10 plaque replica to a wider audience.
Images showcasing the packaging and detail of the Pioneer 10 plaque replica. Images courtesy of Duane King.
The space community embraced the Pioneer 10 project. Duane received invitations to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the NASA Ames Research Center, and the Sagan family expressed their enthusiasm.
A Career-Transforming Personal Project
Duane concluded his AIGA Career Tools presentation by emphasizing that his conventional design work remains his primary income source. However, the Pioneer 10 project was undeniably career-altering. He realized his goal of honoring the community that had inspired him since childhood, and their positive reception was profoundly rewarding. The project also unexpectedly broadened his professional scope, leading to space-related design consulting opportunities. Duane’s journey exemplifies how passion projects, fueled by design thinking and entrepreneurial spirit, can become powerful career tools, leading to both personal fulfillment and professional growth.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
52 Limited is a digital resource company connecting creative + technology talent with leading brands, marketing and engineering departments, start-ups, design firms, advertising and interactive agencies.
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Event photography provided by Gabriel Partipilo. View all event photos on the AIGA Portland Flickr account.
