Photo by Amanda Capagnoni
About
My name is Sean Forrest and I’m a creative designer, graphic artist, and videographer living in Chicago, Illinois.
I’m a global creative leader with extensive experience designing products and guiding marketing and promotional efforts that bring products and services to market. With a background in industrial design, graphic design, photography, videography, and strategic marketing, I spent the past 17+ years helping brands, big & small, share their products and visual story in a more cohesive way.
I’m a passionate leader that possesses a unique blend of creative vision and business sense. An influencer and team champion who collaborates to develop innovative strategies, plans, and marketing campaigns. I’m a creative manager with a natural eye for design and a drive to inspire diverse, collaborative, and egoless teams with dynamic ideas that connect with various brands.
I worked with companies such as Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Marmon Holdings, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Goose Island, Diageo, Burger King, and more. I’m also the founder of Terrain Tour and co-founder of Form Chicago.
As a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, my areas of expertise span the spectrum of all things design. From supporting new product development to executing go-to-market strategies, integrated marketing, digital, and communication plans from concept to execution. I am a team champion that builds consensus and inspires key stakeholders while strategically navigating an organization.
"Success is making those who believed in you look brilliant."
Leadership style
Listen, don’t lecture.
I believe the best leaders listen more than they talk. By listening first, we can understand problems and opportunities a lot more clearly while creating space for other voices.
Inspire, don’t intimidate.
I believe the best way to motivate people to do the best work of their lives is through positive reinforcement, rather than scare tactics and power dynamics.
Empower, don’t exclude.
When challenges arise, it’s easier to take things into our own hands and do the work, but this erodes trust in our teams. It’s our job to bring people in and unlock their potential.
Vulnerability is honesty.
Rarely in our work is there one single answer. And if there is, it’s okay not to know. By saying, “I don’t know,” we open space and opportunities for those who might. And we set an example that it’s okay to be wrong and make mistakes.
Embrace uncertainty.
We work in an industry and live in a world where change is the only constant. That’s the fun part! Ambiguity is what makes our jobs interesting and challenging, so let’s embrace it, adapt quickly, keep a positive attitude, and never forget to have fun.
People over product.
At the end of the day, what we’re making doesn’t exist without talented, thoughtful, and empowered people. People’s needs and feelings should never be outweighed by anything else. Treat everyone as unique individuals.
Design philosophy
Think inside-out.
Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” best summarizes my approach to designing products and experiences. I believe the best creations have a distinct and clear point-of-view; a sense of soul that comes through in every big initiative down to its tiny details. As design leaders, I believe it’s critical to connect with this sense of purpose, inspire our teams with it, and find creative ways to express it through the work.
Tables need at least 3 legs.
I believe great products are built on a strong and balanced foundation of Business, Engineering, and Design perspectives. Key decisions should be made with input amongst stakeholders from each of these disciplines. If one is left out or undervalued, stability is weakened and the product suffers.
Process is paramount.
Once you have your “why” and the right partners to collaborate with, you need a framework to do the work together. The framework I like to use as a guide is the double diamond, which emphasizes an iterative cycle divergent and convergent thinking to define the problem and deliver compelling, high quality solutions.
Support the entire journey.
Our job is to deliver end-to-end experiences, not features. To do this effectively we need to employ a service mindset, which is to think about a customer’s entire experience with our brand and product across all touch-points and contexts of use. I’m a big fan of service blueprints, journey maps, and other design artifacts as discussion frameworks for cross-functional collaboration.