Russell Wakelin
New York, New York, United States
4K followers
500+ connections
About
Design and technology have always been a part of my life. I am a third generation IBM…
Activity
4K followers
-
-
Russell Wakelin shared thisIf you have been working in pharma advertising and want to make a move to the client side. There is a very good chance this is the role for you!
-
Russell Wakelin liked thisRussell Wakelin liked thisI just had one of the most transformative experiences of my creative life. I served as a judge for The One Club for Creativity — and I will never look at #design the same way again. For months, across hundreds of entries, I sat with some of the sharpest creative minds in the world and did something we rarely make time for: we stopped. We looked deeply. We argued passionately. We demanded more — from the work, and from ourselves. And somewhere in those long, rigorous, electric conversations, something crystallized for me. 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Design shapes how people feel about a brand before a single word is read. It builds trust before a product is touched. It tells a story before a campaign launches. It is the silent language between a company and the world — and when it's done with intention and courage, it doesn't just communicate. It moves people. It changes minds. It defines culture. The work that stopped our room cold wasn't just beautiful. It was purposeful. It was brave. It answered a question the audience didn't even know they were asking. That's what great design does. It doesn't follow the conversation — it starts one. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁. I had the extraordinary privilege of working alongside my hero — Debbie Millman — and the brilliant Emily Oberman. Watching how they evaluate work, how they articulate what separates good from great, how they hold the room to a higher standard — it was a masterclass. And I had the gift of meeting an incredible group of fellow creatives who became real friends: Aneri Patel, Teman Evans, Clayton Caetano, Alberto Rigau, Charrais Jean-Jacques, and Chee-Wee Choo. Brilliant, generous, deeply passionate people from across the globe — a reminder that the creative community, at its best, is one of the most inspiring people on earth, who makes a difference. Here's what I'm carrying forward: → Design is one of the most powerful business tools that exists — and it's still wildly underestimated. → The bar should always feel just slightly out of reach. That tension is where the best work lives. → Our job isn't just to make things look better. It's to make the world think differently. I leave this experience more fired up than ever. More committed to pushing boundaries. More convinced that the designers and creative directors who refuse to settle are the ones who will shape what comes next. Thank you to The One Club for this privilege. I don't take it lightly I will carry this will me always. Very special thank you to Alison Bourdon and Adam Izen for this amazing opportunity! #DesignLeadership #TheOneShow #OneClub #Design #Creativity #CreativeExcellence #Advertising #Branding #DesignThinking Photo credit Alberto Rigau
-
Russell Wakelin liked thisRussell Wakelin liked thisFor the last couple of years I’ve been doing a thing. This September, you can see what kept me busy. More later. Cheers. #milkmustachemonday #schifferbooks #milkmustache #gotmilk https://lnkd.in/eA-vhQ-9
-
Russell Wakelin liked thisRussell Wakelin liked thisWe have unlocked $3.5B in productivity gains, with $2B attributed to AI and automation. Visit our booth to discover more. #FIMA25 #watsonx #IBM #clientzero
-
Russell Wakelin liked thisThomas Varkey, your commitment to unreasonable hospitality made a lasting impact! Your leadership and marketing expertise were essential in delivering an outstanding client experience. I am grateful for your role in making the CDAO event a success. For those looking to stay ahead in financial services, check out the 2025 Global Outlook for Banking and Financial Markets—a must-read on industry trends. #watsonx #unreasonablehospitality https://lnkd.in/etWGkYfPRussell Wakelin liked thisAt #CDAO Conference, swing by the IBM booth to get your hands on the 2025 Global Outlook for Banking and Financial Markets. Discover how Safer Payments with #watsonx can protect your company from conversational scams. #Banking #FinancialMarkets #IBM #CDAOConference Jeffrey Torres Neal Finkelstein
-
Russell Wakelin liked thisRussell Wakelin liked thisPi = Endless. AI = Boundless. Happy #PiDay from 👁️🐝Ⓜ️!
-
Russell Wakelin liked thisRussell Wakelin liked thisBaseball slugger Mark McGwire ended the 1998 season with 70 home runs—and a trip to his fridge. When I shook his hand at the shoot, my first thought? His arm was bigger than my leg. Was he fueling up on more than just milk’s protein, potassium, and calcium? Not for me to say. But in the summer of ’98, his home run race had the entire country cheering for every ball that cleared the fence. #markmcgwire #annieleibovitz #milkmustachemonday #milkmustache #gotmilk
-
Russell Wakelin liked thisRussell Wakelin liked thisIt was cartoonist Matt Groening’s idea to draw Bart and Lisa Simpson as if they were subjects in an Annie Leibovitz studio portrait. After all, by this time the campaign’s milk mustache portraits had become pretty ubiquitous. It seemed like there wasn’t a magazine in America that didn’t feature one of our ads—although I doubt that we had “Field & Stream” or “Popular Mechanics” on our media list. I always found it funny that even though the cartoon kids were pictured wearing their Sunday best with Bart’s hair neatly combed, Bart couldn’t resist “ruining” the photo. Several years ago, we got a call from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. who told us that they were mounting an exhibit on “American Enterprise” at the National Museum of American History. They wanted to include my SImpsons milk ad. When I asked why they chose that parrticular advertisement, the exhibit’s curator told me that it would be on display for at least 90 years and they wanted to pick someone that they were sure would still be recognized after all that time. Wow—90 years! Rush over to see it while you still can! #milkmustachemonday #thesimpsons #mattgroening #milkmustache #gotmilk
Experience
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Education
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Licenses & Certifications
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Product Management
General Assembly
Issued
Organizations
-
AIGA
-
-
NYCUXPA
-
Recommendations received
6 people have recommended Russell
Join now to viewExplore more posts
-
Goran Paun
Most redesigns focus on visuals. The meaningful ones focus on systems that aligning design, technology, and user experience into one framework that can scale. I break this down in my latest Forbes Agency Council piece: Design as a System: How Strategy Shapes Every Experience. https://lnkd.in/gekgMZyr
1 Comment -
Dan Makoski
I had the chance to explore a question close to my heart: How do we weave what’s human into AI patterns? For me, intelligence is more than computation—it’s empathy, creativity, and ethics. As designers and leaders, we have the opportunity (and responsibility) to shape AI in ways that honor humanity, not just efficiency. Hear why design culture matters more than ever in the age of AI, and share your perspective: What values should we insist on weaving into the future of AI?
4 Comments -
Chris Mann
Most deep tech brands lead with complexity. Quantum breakthroughs. AI models. Patents and roadmaps. But luxury brands learned long ago that the story of craft matters more than the craft itself. Taste isn’t about elitism—it’s about restraint. It’s knowing what not to show, what not to say, and when to let silence do the work. As deep technologies like AI and quantum computing move from the lab to the world, the companies that lead will be the ones who communicate with elegance, not excess. Because when everything is powerful, taste becomes the real differentiator.
2 Comments -
Writika Bhaskar
The future of usability isn’t just clickable—it’s conversational I am revisiting classic usability heuristics—not to rewrite them, but to reinterpret them respectfully through the lens of GenAI and chatbot design. Because while Nielsen’s principles still offer solid ground, they weren’t made for systems that talk back, quite literally. We now have the responsibility to design for ambiguity, adaptivity, and emotion. To let language be the interface—without losing clarity. #ConversationalUX #UXHeuristics #ChatbotDesign #ResponsibleAI #DesignWithAI #GenerativeAI #UXResearch
-
Gabriel Guevara
One of the big milestones in design maturity is moving from tactical work to strategic influence. That shift requires more than aligning with the business goals; it’s about understanding the business dynamics. And one of the most important dynamics to pay attention to is how decisions get made. Are we optimizing for speed? Managing risk? Prioritizing user satisfaction? Every org is different. But when you understand the decision-making landscape, you can navigate it with purpose, and help your team have greater impact, faster.
-
Jennifer Darmour
Design is evolving fast. We’re no longer just shipping artifacts, rather, we’re shaping intelligent systems that learn, adapt, and co-create with us. This next era asks more of us: more judgment, orchestration, contextual intelligence, and the ability to guide systems that won’t stay static. Our work now is to design conditions for emergence and to keep humanity in the loop. Here’s my take on what’s ahead: https://lnkd.in/gjbey3nZ #designexcellence #designleadership #humancentereddesign #designingwithAI #enterprisedesign
6 Comments
Explore top content on LinkedIn
Find curated posts and insights for relevant topics all in one place.
View top content