Master Design HSLU’s Post

Arts organizations often reinvent themselves to stay relevant. The three main things that lead to success or failure - organizational identity, architecture, and how you collaborate - can work for or against you. We can help. #artsmanagement

Organizational identity, architecture, and collaboration can be either assets or liabilities to pursuing growth in new sectors.

Arielle and Claudia, #strategists and #storytellers from the award-winning studio For The People, are dedicated to reshaping how the creative industry approaches #challenges. Their work with clients such as Max and Be Equitable reflects their belief in the transformative power of embracing complexity to foster empathetic, impactful design solutions. Talk Synopsis At #TheDesignConference 2024, Arielle and Claudia tackle a paradox at the heart of creativity: the underestimated value of problems. Challenging the industry's obsession with solutions, they argue that problems—whether small and specific or large and systemic—are not obstacles but opportunities for deeper connection and meaningful innovation. Drawing from their work with global clients, they share how engaging with the messiness of problems fosters creativity that is empathetic and transformative. Arielle and Claudia explore how vulnerability and embracing discomfort can lead to breakthroughs, urging creatives to view problems as the foundation of impactful design. This talk is a must-see for those seeking to elevate their creative process by reframing challenges as fertile ground for genuine progress and change. Begin your transformation at TDC. Second release—30% off while they last! 2025 lineup coming soon. #embraceproblems #creativecomplexity #designthinking #storytellingforchange #tdcaus25

We met with the wonderful Kevin Bethune today to discuss his upcoming MIT Press book, "Nonlinear: Navigating Design with Curiosity and Conviction" which includes a foreword by John Maeda. Pre-order your copy of his forthcoming book now! https://lnkd.in/gim8Pdqp “Kevin inspires us to embrace the unexpected journey of innovation. His vision empowers us not just to meet the current needs of our audiences, but to take them places they've yet to imagine.” —Greg Hoffman, author of Emotion by Design “Kevin lays out a new, imperative mindset for designers. Often interwoven with personal stories, his lessons and advice are accessible and essential for today's innovators.”— Ivy Ross, Chief Design Officer, Consumer Devices at Google; coauthor of Your Brain on Art “Nonlinear readers will walk away with a mindset for even bolder innovation and a desire to design a better world. Kevin's compelling journey will inspire creativity and strategic thinking in designers at every career stage.”—Mauro Porcini, Chief Design Officer, PepsiCo; author of The Human Side of Innovation “Kevin's Nonlinear is a masterclass in how curiosity fuels innovation. It provides a roadmap for leveraging design to solve today's most pressing challenges, pushing us to think beyond the obvious and embrace the unknown.”—Iddris Sandu, Founder of Spatial Labs Inc, Thiel Fellow alum “Kevin's Nonlinear is the essential guide to help you fall in love with and trust the process—instead of getting sidetracked by fleeting certainty.”—Natalie Nixon, PhD, CEO of Figure 8 Thinking, LLC

What does disruption mean for design? R/GA’s Chief Design Officer for APAC, Ben Miles thinks it makes our capacity for catalysing change more pertinent than ever. Read his new playbook for reinvention on R/GA FutureVision 👉 https://lnkd.in/em8c7w9b  

The intersection of technology advancements, industry trends and human-centered design is more of an endless roundabout than an orderly 4-way stop. These critical elements of technological progress are complementary and interdependent, but not perfectly so — and the degree to which they align dictates how smoothly the traffic flows and whether we get anywhere worth going. It’s the classic chicken-egg conundrum: Which comes first, the capability or the use-case, the technology or the trend? Keep reading to find out: https://hubs.li/Q02t2MGV0

The Structures of the Creative Process and How to Use It 💡 When we think about creativity, we often imagine spontaneous bursts of inspiration, but true creative mastery requires much more than that—it involves understanding and using structure. At CSC, we are inspired by the work of Robert Fritz, the pioneer behind structural dynamics, who has spent decades studying the teaching and the principles of the creative process and how we can use this knowledge to create predictable outcomes. The Creative Process 🚀 Contrary to popular belief, the creative process isn’t random or chaotic. Robert Fritz revolutionized this notion with his groundbreaking approach to structural dynamics, how structure gives rise to patterns and behaviors not the other way around. His work emphasizes that creating is not just about having ideas but about understanding the underlying structures that allow ideas to transform into tangible results. By understanding how structure shapes our behavior, and results, individuals can work within those dynamics to produce desired outcomes—whether in art, business, or life. How to use it 🤔 The beauty of Robert Fritz’s approach is its simplicity. Once you understand the basic principles of structure in the creative process, you can apply this principles in any context—whether you're an artist striving to develop your craft, a business leader managing a complex organization, or someone who want to change the path of your life. By using structural tension, which arises from the difference between what you want where you are becomes a force in the creative process that work toward your goals. This isn’t about manipulation or willpower; it’s about aligning your actions with the underlying structure that naturally drives you towards your end result. 🛤 Are you ready to learn and practice the creative process? Join us at Living Art 2025 in the stunning setting of Mexico, where the arts, science, and structure meet. Discover how the creative process can transform your life towards growth, innovation and most importantly what you want. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/d9Bcrjdh

A couple of months ago, Jan Rod and I presented at the Near Future Laboratory SuperSeminar. We had so much fun doing that, that we didn’t want the conversation to stop. So we carried on both with our early morning Melbourne ↔️ Tokyo calls, and noodled on the question of ‘what’s next for design?’. It currently feels like design (of the Design Thinking / HCD variety) is moving up its maturity curve, yet it’s possibly not always having the sustained impact it could / should… 👩🏻🏫 Practitioners are tired of workshops that often turn into innovation theatre with little lasting impact, and 🔁 organisations are going around in circles trying to ‘do innovation’. Over the rest of the week we’re going to share a few of our ponderings about the current state of design, innovation, and strategy, and how both organisations and practitioners can perhaps benefit more by blending design with futures thinking / foresight. Here’s a sneak peek of what we’re going to share… Part 1: “We have done innovation, it didn’t work” 🤷🏻♀️ Part 2: The problem with the future 🔮 Part 3: Integrating multiple contexts for multiple futures 🧬 (Jan also made some fun gifs, so it’s worth following along just to see those). Follow along this week by connecting with us, or by following #JanAndStephDesignWhatsNext #foresight #FuturesThinking #DesignThinking

Loved hosting the latest Northern User Experience event at our Sheffield office yesterday evening! 🤩 This was my first-time talking solo about Futures Thinking since I joined BJSS | Sparck just over a year ago, and I am humbled by the response to my talk 🙏 In around 20-minutes, I aimed to give an overview on Futures Thinking and my views on why embedding Futures Thinking in to our practice as designers, in our workplaces, and even in our personal lives has huge benefit: ➿The future can feel decided for us, done ‘to’ us - but - The future is designed, and the future is malleable. That gives us agency. 💪 Engaging in futures practices gives us the ability to be proactive, prepared, and agile – this creates resilience. 💥 Making space to consider many possible futures, both the bad and the good, provides ripe ground for insight which triggers innovation. 💫 And importantly, this provides hope. Hope isn’t to be confused with blind optimism about the future, hope comes from taking a proactive approach in considering potential futures and their implications on you, your products and services, your organisation… and beyond.  By doing this, you are creating agility in how you could respond to whatever the future might present. This is powerful. This gives hope. I would love to talk about this more, either at events or over a coffee (ideally with cake). Please reach out if this is of interest to you! 🍰 ---- As promised at the event, I will share some learning resources in an upcoming post. For now, please find a link to our paper in the comments 👇 Photo credit to Julia Samsonova 📸

This month in Design Intelligence, I’m looking at designing friction. “In substituting a purposeful hindrance in place of streamlined ease, you're telling everyone that you think for yourself, craving challenge over convenience.” - Jake Silbert, writing in High Snobiety about the mini comeback of wired headphones, one of a handful of purposefully more-effort tech experiences that people are starting to choose. Friction pushes us, helps us test our limits and our capabilities, and tips us out of the smooth flow of software-optimised lives to feel something for a moment. That has value, and always will. More here: https://lnkd.in/et2-7RhN #techtrends #DesignIntelligence #newsletter #researchnotes