Tweaking is Optional
In this Disegno podcast the journal’s deputy editor India Block is joined by designers Marcel Wanders, Yves Béhar, Anahita Mekanik, Frederik Duerinck and Clark Scheffy to discuss how designers and brands can strike up purposeful partnerships with artificial intelligence. Speaking live from Milan Design Week 2023, the panel explores the implications, opportunities and frictions of the design industry beginning to embrace AI.
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Design Dreams
Podcast interview with myself, Thomas Overthun, and Niko Vladimirov discussing our points of view on design. In collaboration with moooi for the 2022 Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy.
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Keynote
Ski Industry Association “Thin Air” Event, Park City, UT · Apr 5, 2018
Exploration of how observation and design approaches can help the ski industry grow and be more inclusive.
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Keynote
Adventure Travel and Trade Association · Apr 12, 2017
Keynote presentation on how observation and design approaches can help host better travel experiences. Hosted in Coeur d’ Alene, ID.
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Two Nights of Techno Taught Me My Design Approach Was Wrong
Medium · Jul 28, 2016
Short piece on experience design and brand at the 'world's best techno club' in Berlin.
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Panel participant on "Design Industry Redesigned"
FUSE Miami - Designing Brands with Purpose · Apr 5, 2016
Participated in panel moderated by Rob Wallace from Best of Breed Branding on the topic of design inside companies and the evolving role of design and creative agencies.Participated in panel moderated by Rob Wallace from Best of Breed Branding on the topic of design inside companies and the evolving role of design and creative agencies.
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Be The Leader You Wish You Had
Medium · Jul 30, 2015
How I went from being a grumpy asshole to not being a grumpy asshole.
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Be A Champ - Or How to Go from Innovating to Helping Others Become More Innovative
Cannes Lions Innovation · Jun 1, 2015Cannes Lions Innovation · Jun 1, 2015
Presented a point of view on innovation and how innovation as a client service is evolving, and will continue to evolve, to the service of helping clients be more innovative for themselves. Presented a point of view on innovation and how innovation as a client service is evolving, and will continue to evolve, to the service of helping clients be more innovative for themselves.
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Creativity and Play
The Bold Italic / Sum Conference · Nov 6, 2014
Talk on my growth as a creative leader at IDEO and how to be intentional about building a creative culture.Talk on my growth as a creative leader at IDEO and how to be intentional about building a creative culture.
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Opening Keynote: The Power of Human-Centered Design in Unleashing Innovation and Making Your Brand Relevant
Chicago Chapter of the American Marketing Association · Oct 17, 2012
Opening keynote on the topic of human-centered design as a branding and marketing tool.Opening keynote on the topic of human-centered design as a branding and marketing tool.
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Opening Keynote
Outdoor Industry Association Rendezvous· Oct 5, 2012
Keynote presentation on Design Thinking as an approach to the challenges of the outdoor industry. Closing keynote for the annual OIA Rendezvous event.Keynote presentation on Design Thinking as an approach to the challenges of the outdoor industry. Closing keynote for the annual OIA Rendezvous event.
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Designing Brands
AdClub EDGE Conference · Nov 9, 2009
Presentation on how IDEO thinks about and designs brand strategies beyond the traditional roles of advertising.Presentation on how IDEO thinks about and designs brand strategies beyond the traditional roles of advertising.

Metascript
Service Design Network · Nov 22, 2008
Presentation to the Service Design Network Annual Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the topic of the role of brand and culture in service design.Presentation to the Service Design Network Annual Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the topic of the role of brand and culture in service design.
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Brooks Sports
Design and innovation across footwear, apparel, retail, and supporting Brooks to build internal consumer insights and design capability; served as interim design director; advised on opening their first store as a center of consumer insights and an engineer for product development. Developed the blueprint and trained/coached the team to create the consumer insights function at Brooks (The Runsights Lab). Helped design the PureProject sub-brand and running shoe, which captured a 33% market share in its category in the specialty running retail channel. Set up Brooks for a period of significant growth, described in CEO Jim Weber’s book, “Running with Purpose.”

Quiksilver
Developed and led a design and innovation program to create the Cypher boardshort, later launched as the Kelly Slater signature model. Program developed a range of incremental and long-term product opportunities, both in the product and integrated with retail.

Zalando
Designed and directed a 3-year program to hire and develop an in-house design team, integrate insights and design into their site development process for this Berlin-based online apparel retailer. I also designed and ran a project to establish the corporate purpose, and helped to re-design their product organization to integrate consumer insights and design into their process. Our work increased NPS measures of employee satisfaction by 15 points and saw stock price more than double during our 3-year program.

Ibis Bicycles
Scoped and led a project to develop a new brand strategy and position, and shift their focus to a growing (rather than aging) rider. Identified and hired design team to create a new brandmark.

Timberland
Designed and directed a project to rethink their approach to packaging across all SKUs of footwear and multiple manufacturing locations. The new design fulfilled sustainability as well as efficiency goals for their packaging.

JetBlue
Designed and directed creation of their “Even More” service platform, a suite of pre- and in-flight services and appropriate purchase points in the traveler journey. The project integrated these services and purchase moments with JetBlue’s loyalty program and the traveler journey across app, gate agents, kiosks, and in-flight. This work delivered $230MM incremental revenue for JetBlue, an increase of 20%, making it the largest contributor of both revenue and margin in JetBlue’s ancillary services in the year of launch.

Ford Motors
Scoped and directed a 1-year program to create a 20-year future vision and product strategy for the Ford Global Compact Truck (Ford Ranger) across China, Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

Converse
Designed a localizable and extensible experience strategy for first-ever Converse retail stores in the U.S. The platform was rolled out across multiple stores to create localized, unique, and ownable experience for the brand while maintaining its “creative rebel” credibility.

Google
Designed approach and creative directed the development of a reference design concept for the future of the Google Ads platform. This included key metaphor, workflow, data visualization, and visual design of the software.

Ainsworth Pet Nutrition / JM Smucker
Identified several new opportunities in the pet food space and designed sub-brands and products for successful launches under the Rachael Ray Nutrish brand (owned by Ainsworth and later acquired by JM Smucker).

Levis
Designed and led a leadership development curriculum for their apparel design and marketing teams over the course of a year to bring consumer insights into their process. The process led to the development of the Workwear and Commuter lines for Levi’s.

Nationwide Insurance
Designed, prototyped, and piloted a new multi-channel, digital claims process. Supported and integrated design team, digital development team, and call center to pilot our product in the market.

Arvest Bank
Scoped and directed several projects for embedded digital financial service offerings in the medical, agricultural, and short-term rental spaces.

buybuy Baby
Scoped and directed a loyalty and registry platform for pregnancy through baby’s first 1000 days.