Update from American Academy of Landscape Design

American Academy of Landscape Design Newsletter 'Tis the Season... December 21, 2006 Dear Tim, We're all busy this time of year, so we hope you can manage a few minutes to read the following message. It won't take long. I promise! Last Week's Course We just finished our very first course last week! It was an intimate group of enthusiastic designers, most local to the Chicago area, with one from Michigan. We had a great time and it was exciting to see the progress every single person made in just 5 short days. In fact, we want to give others the opportunity to have the same experience, so Sissinghurst will be offered again in January. There are a couple of schedule changes you can read about here. For anyone interested in taking advantage of the Early Bird Tuition AND the 2-4-1 (two for one) offer, the E.B. deadline for the 1/22 course has been extended to 12/26. After that, the 2-4-1 is still available, but at the full price. Still a smokin' deal! Check back at aaldweb.com in the coming days for further updates. Design Thinking We talked a lot about "design thinking" last week. What exactly is "design thinking"? Funny enough, I thought it was a phrase I'd coined, but a quick visit to Google says otherwise. It seems to be used differently by different people though. As we use the term, "design thinking" has to do with approaching your business, your sales and marketing process, even the language you use, with the same mind set you use to design a landscape. And vice versa. Consider the concept of the transition. On a news broadcast, you'll hear reporters use the word "segue." That's how they transition from one story to another. We use transitions to connect different spaces within the landscape, or to connect landscape to architecture. In our businesses, we ought to consider (and choreograph) how we transition from initial contact with a potential client, through the design process, and into construction. "Design thinking" helps us put those puzzle pieces together. Successful use of design thinking will also improve the way we communicate our design ideas to clients so that they get excited about the project. If they get excited about it, they feel good, and our chances for the project to proceed improve. These are but a few examples. In This Issue Last Week's Course Design Thinking People Are Drawn To Good Design "As consumers invest more time and money into what they buy, a growing number of companies are placing heavy emphasis on design." This quote kicks off the article entitled "With Good Looks Come Big Profits" at Inc.'s online magazine. Hey, we're in the design business! This is good news for us. Read the article at inc.com... For those of you in Toronto, I'll be speaking at the Landscape Ontario Congress on January 8 and 9, 2007. On January 17, I'm on the agenda at the Mid Am Trade Show in Chicago. Hope to see you there. Have a great Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years and any and every other occasion you might celebrate this time of year! Enjoy the season! Copies of past newsletters are posted on our blog. Sincerely, Tim Thoelecke Jr. American Academy of Landscape Design email: info@aaldweb.com voice: 847-657-7900 web: http://www.aaldweb.com Why are the courses for the American Academy of Landscape Design named after English gardens? Click here to find out!