Design in Technical Writing

What did Brendan Murphy, Senior Partner of Lippincott, NY, have to say to the PSU students?

Brendan Murphy, PSU alumni, revisited his old stomping grounds on Friday, October 15, 2010. Once, one of us, he is now Senior Partner at Lippincott, NYC working in the global world of corporate identity and information design. He has worked on redesign projects with Wal-Mart, McDonalds, Wells Fargo, HP, and Coca-Cola just to name a few.

So it may surprise many readers to hear what Murphy had to say to PSU students, "I could kiss the woman who taught me technical writing." According to Murphy, he spends approximately 75% of his time and energy writing, not designing. Technical writing is a skill set crucial to a person's ability to rise up the corporate ladder. He stressed that he would not be a Senior Partner if he had not gotten these communication skills. Imagine my elation at hearing this news!

Another thing that may surprise readers is that this corporate big wig doesn't work from 9-5. On average, Murphy says he works 80 hours and "knows [he] should work more than that at times." With all of those hours on the clock, he impressed me by talking about how he believes in giving back to the community. Therefore, he works on pro bono projects for several non-profit organizations such as the Cure Alzheimer's Fund.

My thoughts were this: I am glad I chose technical writing for a major and design for a minor!