steven d. benfield

Steven D. Benfield is one of those rare whole-brained individuals. His analytical, logical and rational side wins the approval of corporate executives, while his intuition, compassion and love of the visual arts have earned the respect of the 60 diverse designers and writers that he oversees as a senior director in the Corporate Creative Division at SAS, the world's largest privately- held software producer.

During his six-year tenure at SAS, Benfield's creative team has taken numerous design and communications awards, among them the inaugural Stevie Award for best creative organization from The American Business Awards. Benfield is a board member of InSource, a design association of inhouse corporate creatives.

Is graphic design a growth industry? The growth opportunities for creative professionals are better than ever. In a 2005 Harvard Business Review article, Richard Florida and Jim Goodnight expressed the value of today's creative professionals in this way:
"Professionals whose primary responsibilities include innovating, designing and problem solving — the creative class—make up a third of the U.S. workforce and take home nearly half of all wages and salaries. If you want your company to succeed, these are the people you entrust it to."

This creative class clearly includes the copywriters and graphic designers who promote the brands, products, services and value for every business and organization.

Do graphic designers have a special responsibility to promote a green society? Graphic designers, who influence printing more than any other profession, have a responsibility to guide clients to make socially responsible choices of paper stock and minimum quantities and even to use electronic communications instead of printing.

ONE THING I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT
Some people are forced to live with nothing. Would that be the life we want? Of course not. That is why we should care for those around us every day. By putting others ahead of yourself, you'll find you need very little to live.

FAVORITE MOVIES

Stargate
Toy Story
The Notebook

FAVORITE BOOKS

Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
The Bible

FAVORITE FINE ARTISTS

Larry Tucker
Chad Bush (check out a great piece by Holly Jones and Chad Bush by Googling "Balancing Act II" and "Chad Bush")
Tracey Papale

FAVORITE SONGS

"I Could Only Imagine" by Mercy Me
"He Reigns" by Newsboys
"Long Train Runnin'" by The Doobie Brothers

BOOKMARKED WEBSITES

One of my favorite sites is www.timeanddate.com We have 400 offices around the globe. Whenever possible, I prefer to pick up the phone rather than send an email, so knowing the local time is important. Also, the site can help you answer burning questions like, On what date will you be 200 Mercury years old or 10,000 Earth days old?

A key business bookmark for me is www.in-source.org. InSource is a great organization for inhouse creative leaders and teams. I found this site and the organization to be valuable and became so involved that I was invited to help steer and support the organization as a board member.

This is a new one for me: www.elfyourself. com. If you're still up for a little seasonal fun, give it a try.
It's hilarious!