Curriculum Vitae of David Berman, CPWA, FGDC, RGD

Curriculum Vitae of David Berman (accessible Word, September 2017)

Professional Experience

2015 to present | Invited Expert | W3C | Cambridge, MA, USA

Appointed as an invited expert to the WCAG Education and Outreach Working Group, as well as participating in various other committees and working groups.

2015 to present | International Advisor | G3ict | Washington, DC, USA

Appointed as international advisor to help develop sustainable national inclusive design policy for national governments.

2014 | Adjunct Professor | OCAD University | Toronto, Canada

Appointed for IDRC as an adjunct professor to the inclusive design program.

2012 to present | Chair | Carleton University | Ottawa, Canada

Appointed as Chair of the Carleton Access Network, a committee on accessible information technology by Carleton University’s READ Research, Education, Accessibility and Design Initiative.

2012 to present | Member | ISO Standards Committee for accessible PDF

Appointed as a Member of the ISO Standards Committee for PDF/UA by Duff Johnson.

2009 to present | High Level Advisor | United Nations, New York, USA

Appointed as a high-level advisor to the United Nations UN-GAID on how design thinking on accessible ICT can help fulfill the Millennium Development Goals.

2009 to present | Author, Do Good Design | Peachpit/Pearson, Berkeley, USA

Author of bestselling book on design and social responsibility, available in editions in six languages including a braille edition.

2005 to present | Vice-President/Sustainability Chair, Executive Board Member | Icograda, Montreal, Canada

Elected to the board of Icograda / Ico-D the world body for communications design,  serving as Vice-President and Treasurer, re-elected for additional terms in 2007 and 2009, at which time became Sustainability Chair which continues today.

1999 to 2016 | Ethics Chair, National Vice-President | Society of Graphic Designers of Canada | Ottawa, Canada

Named a Fellow (the second youngest to have achieved the country’s highest professional standing in this field) by Society of Graphic Designers of Canada for his work on the Code of Ethics, accreditation and other national issues. Elected Vice President Ethics of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada in 2000, and is currently National Ethics Chair.

December 1990 to present | President | David Berman Communications | Ottawa, Canada

Principal in firm specializing in universal design (accessibility), communications strategy, graphic design, website information design, process facilitation, and electronic publishing services to government, NGOs, and private firms. Specialties include identity work, non-profit fundraising, publication systems, typography and Web publishing. Responsibilities include project co-ordination, continuous improvement of quality management systems, IT planning and management, graphic and typographic design and consulting. Recent major projects include:

• Auditor-General of Canada: customer software development, accessibility training
• International Space Station: Branding consultation
• City of Ottawa: Website accessibility consulting, coaching, and remediation
• City of Toronto: accessible document training, website accessibility compliance auditing
• Canadian Human Rights Commission: accessibility strategy
• BMO: accessibility compliance auditing
• Ipsos: accessibility compliance auditing
• Honda: accessibility compliance auditing
• Canada School of Public Service: accessibility training and custom course development
• Conference Board of Canada: PDF accessibility remediation and training
• AMI: accessibility training
• St. Lawrence College: software development, accessibility training and remediation
• Veteran Affairs Canada: website strategy and accessibility consulting
• IBM: Web design consultation accessibility auditing
• Canada Council for the Arts: Web strategy and accessibility training
• Canada Revenue Agency: Senior consultation and facilitation of public website strategy and accessible forms
• Department of Canadian Heritage: Culture.ca website branding and identity
• Treasury Board of Canada: Human Resources Community Secretariat website
• Inter Pares: Identity, publication design, website design and consultation
• Library of Parliament: communications consulting
• Museum of Civilization: strategic consulting, accessibility training
• Parks Canada: Web strategy
• National Research Council: accessibility consultation, HR site consultation
• Statistics Canada: Senior consultation for 2006 Census Online project
• CEAA: Strategic consultation for website redevelopment
• Canadian Museums Association: IT strategic coaching
• Canadian Medical Protective Association: website accessibility consulting and training
• Health Canada: Smokefree video and music production, CD-ROM and website
• Carleton University: Management consultation and training
• Syngenta: website accessibility consulting and coaching
• ACIMB: Strategic professional development workshop
• Sierra Club: Branding/identity

December 1990 to July 2002 | Senior Consultant/Vice-President /CIO | Herrera Berman Communications Inc. | Ottawa, Canada

Senior consultant in one of Ottawa’s most experienced graphic design firms. The company delivered graphic design, advertising, Internet and electronic publishing services and print management. Specialties included identity work, publication systems, catalogues, print advertising, and Web publishing. Responsibilities included preparing major proposals, project co-ordination, account management, continuous improvement of quality management systems, human resource development, IT planning and management, legal liaison, graphic and typographic design and consulting, advertising copywriting, and overseeing the successful delivery of a variety of services and projects ($5,000 to $300,000). Here is a short list of significant projects:

Health Canada: Health Canada Online website design
RES International: Developed software packaging and marketing materials
Heritage Canada: Virtual Museum of Canada website
National Research Council: Corporate website, institute identities, strategic consultation
Foreign Affairs Canada: Canada Business Facts booklet and interactive show
Ontario Ministry of the Environment: Environmental Farm Plan workbook
Federal Judicial Affairs: Identity and applications Revenue Canada: Design and implementation overall strategy for publications
Assembly of First Nations: National media campaign for the Charlottetown Agreement
Bridgehead: Direct mail catalogues
CMHC: Senior consultant for 2nd generation website development
HRDC: Canlearn website design
HRDC: Prototype plain language version of Canadian legislation

Corporate duties and achievements included:

• introduced and maintained quality system and standard operating procedures
• human resource management for staff of up to 18, including creating and maintaining a system of performance review, compensation, employee benefits, profit-sharing, and individual results-based incentive bonus plans
• developed new lines of business: website and new media development
• developed new lines of business: communications plan, formal strategic consultation, editorial services
• introduced use of intranet as method of sharing corporate information
• managed legal cases
• landed company’s first agency of record arrangement (National Research Council 5-year contract)
• movement to vice-president position coincided with three most successful years in the company’s history

April 1984 to December 1990 | President/Senior Consultant | David Berman Typographics Ltd. | Ottawa, Canada

Creator of this typography and design firm. Graphic design activities concentrated on publication and exhibit design. Typographic activity was primarily ad and agency work, with an increasing amount of creative work directed by client designers. The firm was generally considered Ottawa’s finest type shop. Responsibilities included all aspects of senior management, including budgeting, legal and financial liaison, establishing and improving upon quality and control systems, and selecting and purchasing capital equipment. Here is a short list of significant projects:

Nortel: Develop low-resolution screen fonts for prototyping cell phones
Lynn Johnston: Develop international font for For Better or For Worse comic
City of Ottawa: National award-winning promotion of Film Liaison Office
Energy Mines and Resources Canada: CANMET Annual Report design and typography
The Metropolitan Group: Metropolitan Life Insurance annual report typographic design
World Wildlife Fund: Save The Rainforests travelling exhibit
Forestry Canada: Design printed aspects of the Mexico Model Forest program
Statistics Canada: Census information sheets design and typography
IDRC: Design and production of Echo magazine
Industry Canada: Intranet-based orientation site and internal newsletter

November 1986 to present| President | David Berman Developments Inc., Ottawa, Canada

Have directed the creation, design, development, and public relations for off-the-shelf packaged software products designed to manage small- and medium-sized service and manufacturing enterprises. The product family, TimeWise, tracks aspects of work, customers and personnel and integrates with third-party accounting solutions. I have been the architect of the product since its inception, and have been specifically involved in the development of the documentation (off-line and on-line). This has included custom programming contracts for large organisations around the world. In doing so, I have become an expert in graphical interface standards for both Windows and Macintosh platforms, and gained skills in the successful management of a variety of programmers and other component developers. The product’s most recent success has been through Web-based marketing, which has exposed me firsthand to the development and continuous improvement of a Web-based marketing strategy. Most recently, sales have come in from our Australian distributorship. We have also set up distribution in the UK and Belgium. Installations include:

• Abbott Laboratories, Waukegan, IL ACS Imaging, Boulder, CO
• Auditor-General of Canada, Ottawa, ON Fleming Graphics, Vancouver, BC
• Intuit Corporation, Reno, NV Newcourt Financial, Detroit, MI
• Occidental Petroleum, Los Angeles, CA Revenue Canada, Ottawa, ON
• Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA Sprintout Corporation, Providence, RI

September 1984 to May 1988 | Director | Canadian University Press | Ottawa, Canada

Served on the board of Common Printing, a co-operatively-owned printing company of Canadian University Press, as the professional representative from the graphic arts community.

January 1982 to March 1984 | Design Co-ordinator | Carleton University Students Association, Ottawa, Canada

Responsible for design and production of The Charlatan, Carleton’s weekly newsmagazine. Accomplished a redesign of the paper and overhaul of the production and typesetting system, introducing microcomputers for the first time into the production of a Canadian student newspaper. Also completed dozens of assignments for the students association including student calendars, handbooks, posters, and brochures, and co-ordinated the activities of the in-house typesetting operation.

April 1981 to September 1981 | Computer Systems Analyst | Supply and Services Canada, Ottawa, Canada

Member of a team designing an online bilingual language training network. Also programmed confidential projects under RCMP clearance.

October 1980 to November 1981 | Production Co-ordination Assistant | Student Federation of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

Designed and produced most of the student newspaper, Imprint, during the academic year.

November 1977 to August 1980 | Publisher | Apprentice Magazine, Ottawa, Canada

Created, edited, designed, produced, and directed this Canadian magazine of medieval role-play gaming. Achieved a circulation of 1500 in 12 countries before folding the magazine to pursue university studies.

Publications

Government of Norway | 2016

Blog post author on inclusive design

2013 edition of Do Good Design | April 2013

Author of best-selling book, published by Pearson/Peachpit

Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Malay, Russian, Spanish, and braille editions of Do Good Design | 2009 to 2015

Beijing (China), Seoul (Korea), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Russia

Designzukunft, denken und gestalten | August 2012

Contributor to book by Joachim Kobuss and Michael B. Hardt, published by Birkhauser (Berlin)

DesignEdge Magazine | 2011 to 2015

Writer and regular blogger for print and online versions

HOW Magazine | 2010-2011

Author and content advisor, Designing Change column

Do Good Design | January 2009

Author of best-selling book, published by Pearson/Peachpit

“In Need of a Code” | Graphic Design Journal, Number 5 | May 2002

Authored published article regarding the need of a code of ethics for the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada.

Graphic Design Accreditation Examination | Graphic Design Accreditation Board | October 1999

Toronto (Ontario)
Authored the section of the examination of professional conduct, one of four sections of the official examination taken by Ontario designers to achieve accreditation in their field.

“Code of Ethics” | Graphic Designers of Canada | May 1999

Led the authorship the first legally drafted Code of Ethics adopted by Canada’s national graphic design organisation, mandated by the department of the Secretary of State. Banff (Alberta)

Annual General Meeting | Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario | February 1999

Address on the need to entrench a commitment to social justice in the Code of Ethics of the Graphic Designers of Canada. Toronto (Ontario)

“Rules of Professional Conduct” | Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario | December 1998

Authored the first Rules of Professional Conduct for the association. Toronto (Ontario)

“Bylaws (Constitution)” | Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario | October 1996

Authored the constitutional bylaw of the world’s first accredited organisation of graphic designers. Toronto (Ontario)

“Professionalism and Social Responsibility ” | Graphic Design Journal, Volume 1, Number 2 | April 1994

Short thesis on the need to entrench a commitment to social justice in the Code of Ethics of the Graphic Designers of Canada.

“Maximizing your Investment in Prepress Technology” | Fuji Graphic Training Centre | October 1993

Made daily presentations on production information management systems as part of this program, along with experts from Aldus and Adobe. Toronto (Ontario)

Merging With Microcomputers | Multiset User Group Spring 1989 Convention | May 1989

Presented a seminar on techniques to integrate the efficiencies of microcomputers with large proprietary typesetting systems. Seattle (Washington)

Presentations

“The New Standard on Accessibility: WCAG 2.0 … Web, Office, InDesign, PDF  | July 2009 – present

Kingston (Ontario), Winnipeg (Manitoba) ,Brisbane (Australia), Beijing (China), Niagara Falls (Ontario), Ottawa (Ontario), Taipei (Taiwan), Delhi (India), Montreal (Quebec), Daegu (Korea), Brno (Czech Republic), Budapest (Hungary), Richmond (Virginia), Dublin (Ireland), Helsinki (Finland)

“Perfecting Your Web Strategy 2.0: The 10 Expert steps that Will Multiply your Web Presence” | October 2006 – December 2012

Speaker for the course as well as for webinars. Manama (Bahrain), Winnipeg (Manitoba), Halifax (Nova Scotia), Banff (Alberta), Brisbane (Australia), Kingston (Ontario), Toronto (Ontario), Oslo (Norway), Ottawa (Ontario), Montreal (Quebec)

“Making the Planet your Client: Designing Sustainability” | 2009 – 2015

San Francisco (California), Mumbai (India), Dessau, Berlin (Germany), Denver (USA), Madrid (Spain), Charlottesville (Virginia), Helsinki (Finland), Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Ubud (Indonesia), Bergen (Norway), Dublin (Ireland), Puebla (Mexico), Cardiff (Wales), Shaker Village (Kentucky), Vilnius (Lithuania), Melbourne (Australia), Savannah (Georgia), Bali (Indonesia), Vancouver (British Columbia), Ottawa (Ontario), Sydney (Australia), Doha (Qatar)

Plain Language Legislation Design | May 2011

Helsinki (Finland)

“Getting it Right The First Time: Proofreading and Content Quality Control” | November 2010

Ottawa (Ontario)

Greener Meetings | October 2007 to April 2008

Ottawa (Ontario) for MPI National Meeting Industry Day, Ottawa (Ontario) for Quebec Tourism, Havana (Cuba)

Certification seminar: Code of Ethics presentation | April 2008

Oslo (Norway)

Plan or be Planned | September 2001 to January 2013

Banff (Alberta), Ottawa (Ontario), Montreal (Quebec)

Principles of Graphic Design and Typography | September 2007

Ottawa (Ontario), San Diego (California), North Bay (Ontario)

Starting Now: Advanced Priority Management for Professionals | October 2006 – September 2007

Ottawa (Ontario), Montreal (Quebec)

Real-Time Ethics: Prospering Through Principles In Your Professional Life | June 2004 – February 2007

Toronto (Ontario), Hornbaek (Denmark), Richmond (Virginia)

“Social Responsibility and Graphic Design; Weapons of Mass Deception” | January 2004 – November 2009

Budapest (Hungary), Maribor (Slovenia), Doha (Qatar), London (UK), Richmond (Virginia), Manama (Bahrain), Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway), Hong Kong, Beijing (China), Manizales (Colombia), Recife (Brazil), Monterrey (Mexico), Melbourne (Australia)

“Social Responsibility and Graphic Design; How Logo Can We Go?” | January 1999 – December 2003

Brno (Czech Republic), Amman (Jordan), Beirut (Lebanon), Vancouver, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Halifax, Victoria, Ottawa (Ontario).
Keynote speaker at various Icograda, GDC, and local design conferences, schools, and events.

Peak Design Conference | May 2002

One of three keynote speakers at this design event. Banff (Alberta)

Design Week | October 2000

One of three keynote speakers at this design event. Served as lead judge for graphic design, for the Premier’s Design Awards at this Saskatchewan Design Council competition. Saskatoon (Saskatchewan)

Judging and Moderation

D&AD Awards (White Pencil), April 2015

Judge (London, UK)

Good Design Awards, August 2013

Judge (Canada)

Posters for Tomorrow, August 2012

Judge (Italy)

Michael Reynolds (The Garbage Warrior) | July 2009

Host, Bendigo (Australia)

“Iron Designers” | July 2009

Judge, Melbourne (Australia)

EIID Accessibility Awards | October 2008

Judge, Torino (Italy)

Usability Testing | February 2008

Kingston (Ontario)

KREA Awards | June 2006

Judge, Kuwait City (Kuwait)

Magdalena Festival | May 2004

Jury President, at sixth annual European creativity festival for young designers. Maribor (Slovenia)

Millennium Design Conference | January 2000

Moderator of this international design conference taking place on a cruise ship. Miami (Florida)

Oil and Gas Annual Report Awards | November 1999

Served as member of international judging group for excellent in annual report design run by the Alberta Oil and Gas Association. Calgary (Alberta)

Icograda 1991 Conference – Technology Day | September, 1991

Made opening address and moderated speakers for one of four themed days at the biennial Icograda international graphic design conference. Montreal (Quebec)

Education

Internet Institute, Ottawa, ON

Completed the Train the Trainers course. February 2002

University of Ottawa Executive MBA Program, Ottawa, ON

Audited courses on professional management of personnel and finances. March 1992

Scitex America, Bedford, MA

Completed the Scitex Advanced Postscript Troubleshooting course. December 1987

Priority Management Systems, Ottawa, ON

Completed the Time:Text priority management course. January 1982 to March 1984

Carleton University, Ottawa, ON

Enrolled in Bachelor of Arts program in Psychology with Industrial Design. September 1980 to December 1981

University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Enrolled in Mathematics Co-op Honours program, computer science. September 1975 to May 1980

Gloucester High School, Gloucester, ON

Graduated with OSSHGD, specialising in mathematics and sciences, with awards in mathematics contests and debating contests.

Computer Skills

Extensive knowledge of graphic design, Web, database, financial and general software, on a variety of software platforms (Windows, Macintosh, Unix, DOS) including:

Software

• Access (basic)
• Accpac (basic)
• Acrobat Pro (expert)
• AppleShare (advanced)
• CorelDraw (basic)
• dBase (expert)
• Draginstall (advanced)
• Dreamweaver (advanced)
• Eudora (expert)
• Excel (expert)
• Flash (advanced)
• FoxPro (advanced)
• Freehand (basic)
• GoogleDrive/Google Docs/Google Script (expert)
• Illustrator (basic)
• InDesign (advanced)
• InstallShield (advanced)
• Javascript (advanced)
• KernEdit (expert)
• LiveCycle Designer / AEM Forms Designer (advanced)
• Lotus 1-2-3 (advanced)
• MacOS (advanced)
• Metamorphosis (basic)
• MS-DOS (expert)
• MYOB (basic)
• NetWare (basic)
• NewViews (basic)
• Outlook (advanced)
• PageMaker (basic)
• PCAnywhere (advanced)
• Photopaint (advanced)
• Photoshop (basic)
• PHP (advanced)
• PowerPoint (expert)
• Premiere (basic)
• QuarkXPress (advanced)
• Quattro (advanced)
• Quickbooks (basic) and Quicken (expert)
• Retrospect (expert)
• SBT (advanced)
• Suitcase (advanced)
• Thunderbird (expert)
• TimeTo (expert)
• TimeWise (expert)
• Visual C++ (advanced)
• WebTrends (basic)
• Windows 3.x, 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, 7, 8 (expert)
• Word (expert)
• WordPerfect (expert)
• Xchange (expert)

Hardware

Advanced diagnostic and maintenance skills for MacOS, Windows, and Android devices. Some familiarity with Unix-based microcomputers, minicomputers and mainframes.

Experience Developing and Promoting International Standards and Regulations

Government of Ontario

Voting Member, Government of Ontario’s AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) Information and Communications standards review committee (and Technical Subcommittee member)

International Standards Organization (ISO) PDF/UA standard

Committee Member

International Standards Organization (ISO) Signage group 2

Committee Observer for Icograda

ICT4IAL Guidelines For Accessible Information (project led by the European Agency in cooperation with UNESCO, the International Association of Universities, European Schoolnet, DAISY Consortium and G3ict)

Accessibility Expert and G3ict Fellow

Icograda Global Sustainability Standard

Icograda Sustainability Committee Chair, including authoring criteria for accessible/universal design

Accreditation, Memberships, Offices, Certifications and Security Clearances

• CPACC and WAS certification, International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP)
• Past-President, Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario (RGD)
• Registered Graphic Designer, Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario (RGD)
• Past-President (consecutive terms), Ottawa Chapter, Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC)
• Professional Member and Fellow, Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC)
• Lifetime Member, Grafill (Society of Norwegian Designers and Illustrators)
• Honorary Member, adgi (Society of Indonesian Graphic Designers)
• Honorary Member, wREGA (Malaysian Graphic Design Association of Malaysian)
• Honorary Board Member, AIGA Cincinnati
  
• National Professional Member, Canadian Association of Professional Speakers
• Professional Member, International Federation for Professional Speakers
• Assistant Sysop, Graphic Design listserv (University of Louisville)
• Past Member, Design Selection Committee, City of Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority (to select new marketing identifier for the city, 1994) 
• Member, Union of Democratic Communicators
• Member, Program Advisory Committee, Visual Arts Department, Heritage College
• Level I umpire certification, Canadian Amateur Softball Association
• Government of Canada/RCMP Security Screening: Secret Security Clearance
  
• Various other past and present memberships

Special Interests

Information technology, quality systems, priority management, basketball, environmental issues, fatherhood, logic puzzles, philately, folk guitar, and continuous improvement.

Languages: English (advanced), French (basic), Hebrew (basic), Spanish (basic), ASL (Grade 1)

Credo

Wisdom is knowing when to avoid perfection.

Contact Information

340 Selby Avenue, Ottawa Ontario, Canada K2A 3X6

Telephone: (613) 728-6777

E-mail: berman@davidberman.com

Photos: https://davidberman.com/about

References available upon request.

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Reviewed May 12, 2018