#designleadership — Public Fediverse posts

One of my favourite routine rituals is taking the Canada Line to Yaletown to get a buzz cut at Barber and Co. Because a lot of my press photos and press features have me with a buzz cut, this ritual usually is so I can align with that and often connects to a speaking engagement or guest podcast recording, or to being in some environment where I know I’ll be photographed. Most of the barbers there have cut my hair before, so it’s a familiar place where I can decompress and indulge in self care. I encourage you to have a ritual where you treat yourself too! #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @google

I’ve been fortunate enough to have my visibility supported by a permanent Google Knowledge Panel for several years. A Google Knowledge Panel or GKP is a search result in Google for public figures that includes a more rich search result with imagery and links to secondary sources or distinguished sources, pulling your content together from across the web. For an independent scholar to have this is pure luck, but hard work as well as I’ve monitored and optimized so this GKP would grow and get richer and more abundant over time. #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @google

I’m at the Design Vancouver Festival closing party, a cosy gathering sprawled outside in a public venue here in my home base of Cambie Village. My go-to cafe is next door to this event, feels like a full circle moment. From seeing this event open at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to is close here in Cambie Villsge, I can’t help but think how much design has grown and evolved and in a way grown up in Vancouver. New faces and voices reveal themselves, and show that with a bit of resilience we can really make this community go places. #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @designvanfest

AI free CVs:

- Full length CV - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fHBo-1jK1z9460Nw79Kol1BLRt0QtkaL/view?usp=drivesdk
- Five page CV - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mPDIm007ZzoAoDaorWAwTL6mNud2n9U4/view?usp=drivesdk
- Two page CV - https://drive.google.com/file/d/12zu54Bju1SVlELp-WEgF1zLlRb6bVLK-/view?usp=drivesdk

#UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @yvr

Gary Vee talks about how it’s not the algo and you can change things. On LinkedIn etc. So, after a long dry spell where I actually forgot about adding connections on LinkedIn Premium, I started adding people again. Mainly past UNIQUEWAYS guests. 48 new adds over the last couple days. Coupling that with posting like a human, authentic.. is an interesting experiment. Will report more on this. #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @uniquewayspodcast

They say as a designer the two projects you’ll revisit again and again throughout your career is your portfolio and your curriculum vitae. If a portfolio in the age of AI is a confusing beast, we might find comfort listing out credentials in a plain text document ie the updating of a CV. In recent months I’ve been debating how to present myself online and the idea of a press kit website sounds appealing for a design scholar but in the end it gets tied back to the CV. Check out my current rendition on Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AHggPnvcVGQWfIoBT6T7_TxArE81Vdvn/view?usp=drivesdk - #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @uniquewayspodcast

FF “I travel a lot but when I’m not travelling I try to pack all of my meetings in a few days so I can have some completely open days to do focused intellectual work so my day started at 930 taping down on the gallery floor my next exhibition to make sure there is enough room” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

FF “Design is not neutral and is not born out of clean air it is born out of traditions, reactions against traditions, continuation of traditions and there’s no design without place and there’s no place without design so they are very much intertwined” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

FF I’m working on an exhibition right now that’s called Slow Design, that is about applying some of the principles of slow food to design, so you know local, small batch, you might be familiar with that so it’s very important in the research I’m doing right now. But it’s also very important as a consideration in general” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

FF #I’m working on an exhibition right now that’s called Slow Design, that is about applying some of the principles of slow food to design, so you know local, small batch, you might be familiar with that so it’s very important in the research I’m doing right now. But it’s also very important as a consideration in general” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

I’ve been hearing in the ether that the future is in the physical world - garage sales, craft fairs, farmers markets etc. and so in this spirit I’m heading to Vancouver’s Beaumont Studios to hear a talk by a local Vancouverite named Carson Ting. Ting did for work for FIFA World Cup shown here in Vancouver but also earned his way into the local spotlight, stage, speaking etc.. #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @creativepulse

Kind of a throwback, but I need to do a gratitude post for my last in-person podcast recording on UNIQUEWAYS MORE THAN AUDIO. Ex-NASA designer Joyce Croft flew into Vancouver from the Bay just to record, and we wandered around Cambie Village and did some b-roll while still recording a killer episode in the studio. I want to do more of this! - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JAI0owoG9Xw&list=PLDqONWkmiDPQ&index=4&t=2s&pp=2AECkAIB&ra=m - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @uniquewayspodcast

So, I’m not going to pawn this off as my own idea, but I’ve been hearing in the ether that the future is in the physical world - garage sales, craft fairs, farmers markets etc. and for this reason I’m heading to Beaumont Studios to hear a talk by a local artist named Carson Ting. Ting did for work for FIFA World Cup here in Vancouver but had already earned some of the local spotlight, stage, speaking etc. here’s the Beaumont: #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @uniquewayspodcast

Cambie Village has transformed recently in part because of a new public space where live music performers frequently draw a crowd. It looks like Design Vancouver Festival will hold its closing celebration in this space this year. This neighborhood is home for me and for UNIQUEWAYS. #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice @designvanfest

Getting my steps in! Queen Elizabeth Park is just steps away from the UNIQUEWAYS podcast recording studio and I’m making a habit of walking up here more often. I feel like Alice when I come up here, in an over-the-top beautiful world that I happened to get plunked into and get to sample from and enjoy. Mel Robbin’s inspired me through one of her guests to get that huffing-puffing exercise in, so I’m trying! #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

“I travel a lot but when I’m not travelling I try to pack all of my meetings in a few days so I can have some completely open days to do focused intellectual work so my day started at 930 taping down on the gallery floor my next exhibition to make sure there is enough room” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

Some evenings I get started with my work in the UNIQUEWAYS podcast recording studio quite late. I find around 6pm or 7pm social media starts to get active and also I find my inspiration around that time to make things. Some say you don’t wait for inspiration to find you instead you embrace your process and craft and put something together no matter what, and I do that too, it’s just a bit of a slow way. #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

“Design is not neutral and is not born out of clean air it is born out of traditions, reactions against traditions, continuation of traditions and there’s no design without place and there’s no place without design so they are very much intertwined” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

“I’m working on an exhibition right now that’s called Slow Design, that is about applying some of the principles of slow food to design, so you know local, small batch, you might be familiar with that so it’s very important in the research I’m doing right now. But it’s also very important as a consideration in general” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

A quick note in case you’re looking me up on Google or wherever. Please look up “Thomas K Girard” rather than just “Thomas Girard” if you want a more robust search result. The longer version tends to surface my scholarly activities like the Sorbonne talks and is a more complete search result, whereas the shorter variation just surfaces the memoir and maybe TED / UNIQUEWAYS on a good day. If you’re looking for the podcast remember that it’s UNIQUEWAYS - one word, all caps. #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

RGD has been a breath of fresh air for me. Although im Canadian, as a person whose practice and studies transcend place, I needed an organization that could hold to at Canadian design world together to those who dont reside here. RGD is a place of entry into the design world in Canada for anyone, anywhere - and continues to ramp up their efforts doing so. I was most recently directly involved as a speaker at RGD Design Educators conference and felt these values echoed among others. - https://rgd.ca/members/profile/onthomas - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

If not it being UNIQUEWAYS, my LinkedIn Premium account is my twenty first century Rolodex. I’m currently going through to add many of the guests from like the last 100 episodes of UNIQUEWAYS, as well as in-person contacts etc. Please add me or make yourself visible to me so I can add you! Thank you! #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

“It happened by chance you know there are those people that find their mission when they’re four or five not me I wanted to be everything and nothing in between I wanted to be a journalist a nuclear physicist I wanted to be an economist and I wanted to be of course an astronaut who doesn’t so everything and nothing at the same time” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

“Start being more aware of how objects are made, where they come from, and where they’re going to end were going to be not only enriched in the way we live life but also we’re going to be using that word empowered as citizens” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

“I also add objects to the collection but truly what I do in life is trying to make people understand how important and wonderful design is and when I talk about design I mean everything from furniture to video games and even emojis and the at sign” - Paola Antonelli on UNIQUEWAYS - https://youtu.be/lOjRW-FINC4?si=5u2OdbKFTWNg9-OL - #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Copilot, Meta, Perplexity.. where does it end? A bit of this and a bit of that? #UNIQUEWAYS #DesignPodcast #DesignLeadership
#CreativePractice

Paperbacks now available! 🌍📘

Three good things about this moment:
1️⃣ Print on demand means sustainable production and global access.
2️⃣ Getting books to readers is the heart of independent publishing.
3️⃣ Readers! You make the whole ecosystem real.

Rail: A High Speed Adventure is now open for paperback presale worldwide. 🔗 https://bit.ly/3ThRP6t

About Rail:
Drawn into a globe‑spanning infrastructure proposal with uncertain motives, a designer confronts ecological ethics, corporate ambition, and the meaning of home as her past and future converge.

Words from Global architect Raya Ani:
"Building on The Erenwine Agenda, this work expands the conversation between architecture, environment, and responsibility — moving from personal conflict into global systems and their consequences."

Ebooks are available now, worldwide.
🔗 https://bit.ly/3ThRP6t

#3GoodThings #AmericanAuthor #BCAuthor #BookClub #BookLaunch #BookReview #BookWyrm #CanadianAuthor #ClimateFiction #DesignInFiction #DesignLeadership #DesignThinking #Ecofiction #EnvironmentalStorytelling #ErenwineTrilogy #FictionAboutArchitecture #HighSpeedRail #Hokkaido #IndieAuthor #IndiePublishing #Infrastructure #NJAuthor #NYC #NewBookRelease #Presales #ReaderGuide #Resilience #SaltSpringIsland #ScribesAndMakers #SlowTravel #SmallPress #SustainableDesign #Svalbard #SystemsThinking #Urbanism #VancouverAuthor #VisionaryEcofiction #WhatToRead #WhatToReadNext #WomenAuthors #WomenInArchitecture #WomenInDesign #WomenInEngineering #WomenInLeadership #WomenInSTEAM #WomenInSTEM
@3goodthings

Engineers run the AI evals. But who decides what “good” actually means? If your criteria only measure what’s easy, your product will optimize for the wrong things. Should designers and PMs own eval criteria? Let’s debate.

#AIEvals #ProductDesign #UX #AgenticAI #DesignLeadership #UXforAI #AIUX

https://www.designative.info/2026/05/05/ai-evals-for-designers-and-product-managers-why-criteria-matter-most/

We talk a lot about what AI agents should do. But who defines what they’re allowed to do?

Workflow encapsulation shifts design from interfaces to boundaries and makes design leadership a governance issue.

Are you ready for that shift?

#DesignLeadership #AgenticAI #UXStrategy #DesignManagement #AI

https://www.designative.info/2026/05/04/designing-boundaries-not-features-workflow-encapsulation-as-a-leadership-discipline/

Niklas Skovholt Mortensen makes the case that #design has lost its luster as a growth and #innovation engine. Here’s what he thinks we must do to reclaim our seat at the corporate table.

#businessstrategy #designstrategy #designmanagement #designleadership #influencingdecisions

https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-design-became-a-boardroom-bystander/?social_token=52932b4547a72465a8b66f1933bed79d&utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sm-direct

From a product and tech leadership lens, resilient design starts with team health, candour and shared purpose. Embrace experimentation, cross‑functional work, and craft as a differentiator to ship with intention. A practical playbook for design at scale. Explore the piece: https://www.figma.com/blog/how-to-build-a-resilient-design-team/ #DesignLeadership

Designers must stop acting like product managers or reciting scripts; true design comes from authentic passion, reasoning, and bold imagination. https://hackernoon.com/designers-need-to-stop-being-product-managers-and-shift-back-to-design #designleadership

At Hatch Conference last autumn, we recorded a live interview with Cal Thompson from Headspace about the evolution of Headspace from a pure mindfulness app to a comprehensive mental health platform, including health coaches and therapists.

https://uxpodcast.com/337-headspace-cal-thompson/

#ux #uxdesign #designleadership #uxpodcast #podcast #hatchconference

Speaking at the SDN Next Gen Conference 2025 on April 11. 🎤

🎟️⭐ Use code ‘NextGen-Star’ for 30% off your ticket!

Grab your spot: https://www.eventbrite.de/e/sdn-next-gen-conference-2025-dare-to-impact-tickets-1117574307839

Excited to connect with the next generation of service designers!

#SDNNextGen2025 #ServiceDesign #DesignConference #UX #CX #DesignLeadership

🎟️ Free Ticket Giveaway! 🚀

I’m giving away a free ticket to the SDN Next Gen Conference 2025 where I’ll be speaking and mentoring! 🎤

If you’re an emerging designer or service design enthusiast, this might be your shot. 💡

👉 Enter here: https://linkedin.com/posts/wolfgangbremer_sdnnextgen2025-servicedesign-designleadership-activity-7312838110243942400-rA2B

#SDNNextGen2025 #ServiceDesign #DesignLeadership #UX #CX #Giveaway #DesignConference

🔗 Explore IAC25 and join us in Philadelphia: https://linktr.ee/theiaconf

👇 Why do YOU #IAC? We’d love to hear your story in the comments.

#InformationArchitecture #UXDesign #ContentStrategy #InclusiveDesign #IAC25 #DesignLeadership #TechForGood #DesignCommunity #SponsorshipOpportunity

Design leaders: Stop asking colleagues to take on more or change. Instead, offer them training, coaching, and support. Empower them to see the value in change themselves—no forcing needed. 💡 #UXLeadership #DesignLeadership

Design, at its core, is user-centric, creative problem solving. A great design leader applies their knowledge and experience to the advantage of their organization, identifying and meeting the needs of its customers. The design leader must understand how the organization works, and have the ability to tie design initiatives to business strategy.

#ProductDesign #DesignLeadership #UXDesign

https://buff.ly/3UJGzxH

The best executives have the ability to chase down a single customer support call, out of the thousands that may occur per day, digest what occurred, and then context shift to another decision which is based on the last twelve months of data. All of it is relevant. All of it is part of a mosaic.

#DesignLeadership #Leadership #ProductManagement

https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/when-the-data-and-the-anecdotes-disagree

If you’re getting someone asking to justify how a profession makes an impact there’s a chance a decision has already been made. Maybe someone needs to sleep well with it and are throwing a fake bone.

But maybe it’s a legit ask. If so, ask them what they think. What’s their expectations? Sometimes money was given with expectations and that hasn’t aligned to what happened.

#ProductDesign #DesignLeadership #UXDesign

https://grillopress.github.io/2024/09/25/justifying-ucd-s-impact.html

ATypI members, join us for the 2024 AGM. This Zoom meeting is scheduled for 09:00 (9:00 am) EDT/New York time (13:00 UTC), Friday, October 11, 2024.

ATypI President Carima El-Behairy will preside. The AGM is open to current paid members in good standing. If you haven’t already registered, check your email or https://atypi.org/2024/09/30/atypi-agm-2024/ for signup info.

You must register to attend. See you soon!

#typography #ATypI #typedesign #typeeducation #graphicdesign #designleadership

Also, we passed another lovely milestone this week of 200 fully signed up and certified excellent subscribers. It is a daily joy to check out the names of the new signups and see so many people who I know are doing their part in making our industry better. When we reach 1000 subscribers we’ll have a design leadership memos beach party, so please don’t all rush to sign up until the weather improves in South West England.

#design #designleadership #leadingdesign

Next week on designleadershipmemos.com I’ll be talking a little bit about Org. Design, and trying to outline the ways I’ve come to think about the ‘ideal’ shape and orientation of a design team. If there are specific questions you’d like me to answer on this topic feel free to drop a comment below and I’ll do my best to incorporate them into the post.

#design #designleadership #leadingdesign

If you are any kind of design leader, consider starting offering a new service called the Strategic User-Driven Project Assessment (SUPA). This will move you from being seen as an implementor to a strategic lead. #DesignLeadership #SUPA https://boagworld.com/emails/introducing-supa/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Paul%20Boag%40mastodon.social&utm_content=Introducing%20SUPA%3A%20The%20Service%20You%20Should%20Be%20Offering