Off to the Races at Lunch
with Jo Davison
May 19, 2014
On May 8, Lunch with a Visionary was off to the races even before introductions were finished. Jo Davison, Senior Vice President–Creative at Larsen, covered lots of ground quickly about the challenges and joys of managing an influential branding and technology firm with locations in Minnesota and California. She discussed mentoring and the mentors she values in her career, the merits of having a career plan — and not having a plan — and finally, what inspires and motivates her at this stage in her career. All of these topics, packed into one lunch hour, greatly intrigued and fulfilled the curiosity of the seasoned designers in attendance.
Summary by Amy Svir and Sherwin Schwartzrock, photos by Jay Larson (and Sherwin)
Contact Leadership
Rich Higgins is the Creative Director at Parallel Retail Group. His background is as diverse as a platypus.
He started his own design studio, Oryx & Moth, doing branding, art direction and design for clients big and small. Meanwhile he was the chair of the Solopreneurs Committee for AIGA MN (2022-2023) and served on the Design Student & Alumni Board at the University of Minnesota (2010-2013). Prior to that he worked at TSG, a design agency in Robbinsdale, for clients including: Target, HealthPartners and Crate & Barrel. He's also had a short stint designing for financial institutions (PNC Bank, Citibank and BBVA Compass). He started out designing and art directing photo shoots for multiple national salon chains throughout the US and Canada. And has had mediocre hairstyles since.
His interests vary widely with the season but he always willing to chat about DIY projects, soccer, LEGO, minimalism, FIRE, AI, technology, saunas, traveling, camping, parenting, etc.
He started his own design studio, Oryx & Moth, doing branding, art direction and design for clients big and small. Meanwhile he was the chair of the Solopreneurs Committee for AIGA MN (2022-2023) and served on the Design Student & Alumni Board at the University of Minnesota (2010-2013). Prior to that he worked at TSG, a design agency in Robbinsdale, for clients including: Target, HealthPartners and Crate & Barrel. He's also had a short stint designing for financial institutions (PNC Bank, Citibank and BBVA Compass). He started out designing and art directing photo shoots for multiple national salon chains throughout the US and Canada. And has had mediocre hairstyles since.
His interests vary widely with the season but he always willing to chat about DIY projects, soccer, LEGO, minimalism, FIRE, AI, technology, saunas, traveling, camping, parenting, etc.