At the beginning of the quarter I had the pleasure of attending one of the Exploratory Language lectures to watch Thirst founder, Rick Valicenti, speak about his career. With such a successful firm and many prestigious awards to his name, I honestly was expecting Mr. Valicenti to be quite pretentious. However, my assumption was refuted the moment he took the stage to start his presentation. Valicenti opened the lecture with a joke about Microsoft, and I knew from that moment forward we were going to be good friends.
Rick Valicenti has been working in Chicago for more than thirty years, establishing his firm in 1988. The nature of his first studio was print-based, and as an homage to the past, still encourages his employees to work in analog formats to supplement their digital work. Valicenti showed us some of the pieces his firm has done for the New York Times (a publication that is a personal favorite) as well as some upcoming campaigns that were in the process of being completed. What I most admire about Valicenti and his firm is their desire to take design to a completely new level. Valicenti excitedly explained an LED light display concept that the firm was working on for a campaign. Traditionally, this would not be a normal venture for a design firm, but the detour is certainly welcomed. In fact, this unorthodox approach to design is what has kept Thirst a powerhouse in the design community for many years, and serves as an inspiration to the next generations of designers, like myself, that will be soon entering the field. The most important piece of information that I took from this lecture was a quote from Valicenti about how he has managed to last this long in an industry that eats the weak for breakfast. He simply replied, “I allow for honest reflection of who I am.” The lecture then concluded, and I left the auditorium smiling with a pocket full of inspiration and a handful of wise words in tow.
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