5 Questions with Joe Toscano, Designer-Founder @ BEACON
5 Questions is a series where we ask CMCI Studio alumni to share insights about the future of design and how to grow as a creative. To learn more about the Studio masters program check the details at the end of this story or visit our website. Enrollment is now open for fall 2019.
This week we’re featuring Joe Toscano⚡️, Designer-Founder @ Better Ethics and Consumer Outcomes Network (BEACON).
Joe completed Studio program in 2015. After graduation, he landed a role at as a Creative Technologist at Made, an ad agency in Boulder CO. He then moved on to become a Product Designer at Cognizant Quick Left, where he was able to focus on design, but also build his skills as a coder.
“As one of two designers surrounded by 30+ engineers, Quick Left allowed me to maintain and grow my code knowledge while being a “designer” by trade. I probably spent 60% of my time designing and 40% of my time coding. It also gave me a great platform to become a leader.”
After Quick Left, Joe relocated to the Bay Area where he became the XD team lead for R/GA at Google.
“This role gave me leadership over two junior designers and allowed me to grow as a professional by learning what it’s like to make changes in a couple of the largest corporations in the world. However, I left in 2017 due to ethical concerns within the industry. Now I’m working for myself, building the Better Ethics and Consumer Outcomes Network (BEACON)”
You can think of BEACON like a consumer protection agency for the internet. BEACON is focused on driving better ethics and consumer outcomes by operating at the intersection of policy, public service, and principled innovation. Joe has become a vocal advocate for ethical tech and has written for InVision, Smashing Magazine, Forbes and Adweek. As well as published his first book: Automating Humanity.
5 Questions with Joe
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned over the course of your career so far?
[Joe] I think the most important lesson I’ve learned so far is that it’s never real until it’s real. Too many people get excited about an idea but don’t know how to sell it. Too many of us as designers paint a rosy picture but can’t help others see the vision. What’s in our minds does not automatically translate to others’ minds, which is why we’re hired.
So if I’ve learned anything it is that if you have an idea you think should be brought to life, prototype it, make it feel real, show people the vision, have numbers to support it, and create the plan to put it into production. Make it so easy to say yes that they won’t say no.
When you look at the current landscape of design and technology what are you most excited about and most concerned about?
[Joe] That’s a tough question. I think there is so much to be excited about. But I think there is one thing that is both exciting and concerning to me at the same time: Trust. I believe the biggest trend of the upcoming years will not be a type of technology. It won’t be AI, it won’t be IoT, it won’t be blockchain or any other form of “tech”. I believe the biggest trend will be creating products and services consumers can trust, and that is both exciting and terrifying at the same time.
When you think about the designers of the future, what do you see as the most critical skills they will need in order to be successful?
[Joe] Business. No matter where you work, you have to understand business. If you don’t know how to get your idea onto the product roadmap, you’re just a dreamer. No ideas ever changed the world, it was people acting on those ideas. If you want people to act on your ideas, they need to drive business.
How did your experience in the Studio graduate program impact your ability to be successful in your career?
[Joe] Studio presented excellent creative opportunities and had a talented staff of designer to teach us, which was expected, but on top of that I actually think Studio helped me mature as a business person and leader more than anything. I had always been (and probably still am, I suppose) a headstrong person. I believe very strongly in the things I do and that belief leads my thought process in my work. However, while this has pushed me to do great things in my career, it can also very easily come off as overly ambitious and off-putting to people. And I understand that.
Studio gave me time and a supportive environment to realize that I need to balance the ambition with what the team is willing/capable of doing. It taught me that the best way to make change is to help others be part of that change, not just continue on at break-neck speed because you’re capable of it. We move faster alone, but further together.
What are some of the most important tools and processes you use in your job right now?
[Joe] Oh gosh haha. Well, I use Sketch to design, Atom to code, Medium to write, Hemingway App to edit, Google to manage all my cloud operations, Trello for workflow management, and so many other things in between. I just use whatever I need to use to get the job done. I suppose I’m lucky to be able to say that at this point in my career, [because most of the time the tools you use depend on the company you’re working for.]
You can follow Joe on Twitter here.
Follow the rest of our “5 questions” series here.
About CMCI Studio
CMCI Studio is a design graduate program at CU Boulder. Driven by a culture of collective creativity and fueled by design thinking, our mission is to transform our students into design professionals capable of leading us into the future and solving problems in a rapidly changing world. Our graduates have gone on to design and lead teams at Google, Apple, Spotify, Uber, Pinterest, Dropbox, Airbnb, Wieden+Kennedy, R/GA and many more.
