Fresh Dialogue
Do we really need strategy?

As a Partner at SYLVAIN Daniel leads the development of the design practice in collaboration with Chief Design Officer, Michael Ian Kaye. With experience at both creative agencies and design consultancies, Daniel’s focus lies on bridging the gap between business and expression, applying his thinking globally with the likes of Apple, Nike, the New York Times, IBM, PayPal, Marriott, and Noma. He frequently comments on the structures and systems of design, business and strategy across publications, conferences, and podcasts. Additionally, Daniel is a graduate advisor in the School of Visual Arts’ MFA in Design program where he mentors rising designers and strategists across disciplines

Katherine is Executive Strategy Director at Athletics NYC and brings over 12 years in research, branding, and design strategy to taking on her clients’ wildest challenges. Her approach relies heavily on the human factors, believing that when it comes to brand, it’s all about digging into what makes people tick, and what drives them to make the choices they make.

Katherine earned her MFA in Design+Technology at Parsons, where she focused on human factors and user experience. Since then, she’s worked on branding challenges big and small: collaborating with clients like Google, the Whitney Museum, ClassPass, IBM, Galileo, and Tia to help them design their place in the world, tell their stories and build worlds from the ground up.

Prior to Athletics Katherine led strategy teams at agencies VSA Partners, Big Spaceship, and Interbrand.

Alex is a Creative Director at Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR) focusing on Brand Identity and packaging. He has led design teams across Europe, Asia and the U.S. for clients such as Coca Cola, Kraft Heinz, Brown Forman and ABI. He believes in being idea-led and collaborating across disciplines to solve not only creative challenges but business challenges.

As Partner of Base, Min passionately builds personality-driven brands for an eclectic range of clients including MoMA, The New York Times, JFK Terminal 4, Meatpacking District, Milk, Neuehouse, Facebook, Coca-Cola, Gagosian Gallery, Museum of Sex, Pantone, Wellesley College, Pharrell Williams, and more. A graduate of Yale University’s MFA program, Min served as a board member of the AIGA NY chapter and on the steering committee of NYCxDESIGN, adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts and a guest critic at Parsons School of Design and is a regular speaker at design conferences. Min’s work has been celebrated by a variety of awards and her thoughts on branding has been featured in publications that include The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal, Adweek, Creativity, Creative Review, Surface, Fast Company, and others.