UNIQUEWAYS WITH THOMAS GIRARD (Thomas Girard)

Currently lives in the Heidelberg Area (Germany), where I work as Director of Design Strategy at SAPand promote User Experience Design as visiting lecturer at Rhein-Wall University of Applied Sciences. Working in the Information Technology industry since 1998, I’ve helped truly global companies in several countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Hong Kong, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, United Arab Emirates, United States) create great user experience through advocating Design and Innovation principles.

Jeff helps organizations build better products and executives build the cultures that build better products. He is the co-author of the award-winning book Lean UX (now in it’s 3rd edition) and the Harvard Business Review Press book Sense & Respond.

Stanley Chow is an artist and illustrator from Manchester, England. Stanley Chow Illustrations brings portraits of famous individuals captured through artistic mediums to capture a timeless character!

She is an MA Design graduate from the Royal College of Art, London. Before joining Studio Dumbar, Liza worked for Pentagram London for several years. In 2004 she co-founded—and still co-hosts—the podcast station Typeradio.org with Donald Beekman and the type foundry Underware.

Dan is a co-founder and principal at Apogee and co-founder of Make Meaningful Work, as well as the co-founder of UX Hong Kong. He has been involved in the UX field for over 20 years, and has been based in Hong Kong for over 20 years. He is the author of 3 books.

Jo is a co-founder and principal at Apogee and co-founder of Make Meaningful Work, as well as the co-founder of UX Hong Kong. Jo grew up in multicultural Hong Kong, with a Chinese-Burmese father and Chinese-Indonesian mother.

Currently leading design at Statsig, building a world-class experimentation platform. Before that, successfully launched highly impactful products and features during time on Facebook Ads & Gaming team. Also won a few hack-a-thons at Facebook and presented projects to the Leadership team.

olio.studio is an independent design practice specializing in branding, typography and digital content. We deliver effective solutions driven by creativity, imagination and humanity.

Bonnie Siegler (born 1963) is a New York-based graphic designer. She is the founder of the design studio Eight and a Half and, before that, co-founded the design studio Number Seventeen. Her clients include Participant Media, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live, HBO, Brooklyn Public Library, Maveron, Random House, The Criterion Collection,[2] The New York Times, Nickelodeon, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

Louis Fishauf is one of Canada's most respected graphic artists and visual communicators. He has designed magazines, posters, corporate logos, murals, ad campaigns, product packaging, apparel graphics, postage stamps and websites for a wide variety of large and small clients. His innovative graphic style has garnered awards and industry recognition in Canada and abroad.

A communication designer by profession, Sugandhi is a spiritual, keen learner with a zeal for remarkable design & philosophy. Apart for the love of travel, in her free time, she loves to spend time with her family, listen to great music, practice meditation and healing modalities.

Germaine Koh is a Malaysian-born and Canadian conceptual artist based in Vancouver. Her works incorporate the artistic styles of neo-conceptual art, minimalism, and environmental art, and is concerned with the significance of everyday actions, familiar objects and common places. Among her published books are Germaine Koh: Works.

Grammy nominated creative. Based in NYC, Trochut’s work includes design for a diverse range of clients: Nike, Adidas, Puma, The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Esquire UK, BBC, Coca-Cola, British Airways, Pepsi, The Guardian, The New York Times, Time and many others.

Without labels, I’m a person that’s curious about expression in all its forms but particularly in how it relates to space and awareness. I dream of a world where everyone has the space and confidence to express their own understanding of where they live. Fear shows me where to look. I love the sun.

I am a journalist who has been writing for over 15 years about architecture, design and real estate development. I am an Editor in Chief who oversees and directs two national trade publications -- Building magazine and Canadian Interiors. My writing has also appeared in design magazines in England, Germany, the Netherlands and China, and my work has won multiple awards for business writing.

Jay is Co-Founder of Giant Ant, an animation studio in Vancouver. Giant Ant has been awarded at the Daytime Emmys, ADC Awards, The Clios & One Show, and has been named 4 times on Working Not Working’s list of 50 Companies Freelance Creatives Would Kill to Work for.

With over two decades of experience in digital products, I have created consumer web and mobile experiences for consumer and enterprise companies such as GE Digital, Salesforce, Rhapsody and eBay.

Nick Finck is a design & research leader with over two decades of experience in the industry. He strives to improve people’s lives through crafting well-designed experiences that matter. Nick currently consults & advises businesses on design and research through Craft & Rigor in Seattle. Before this, he was in design & research leadership roles at Amazon Web Services, Facebook, Ubermind and others.

Great design is where user needs and business goals meet. I seek to understand both to design user-centered, inclusive and accessible products and services. I am specialized in enterprise software.I spent the last 11+ years helping clients in different industries (banking, financial, automotive, healthcare, press, travel, etc.) deliver successful projects to their audience, all the way from strategy to the final product. I write articles, teach design in different schools and universities, mentor and talk at tech events all around the world.

Iraqi-Canadian author Hasan Namir graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BA in English. He is the author of God in Pink (2015), which won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Fiction and was chosen as one of the Top 100 Books of 2015 by The Globe and Mail.

A Canadian interdisiplinary artist working between Kelowna and Vancouver BC. His diverse body of work employs a wide range of media and techniques often seeking pathways that intercept traditional ways of working with materials.

M.A. Graduate Liberal Studies major at Simon Fraser University of Vancouver, Canada with ambitions of publishing a first book.

Veronika Burian born in Czech Republic, is a product and type designer running the international indie foundry TypeTogether with partner José Scaglione since 2006.

At Dell Technologies, I transform intricate challenges into elegant, user-centric solutions. Over nearly two decades, I've honed my skills in design thinking, user experience, and visual design, consistently elevating products from concept to reality.

Chavi Sethi moved to Bangalore from Delhi armed with a degree in Graphic Design and worked with firms like Prestige and The Bold Creative. She Co-Founded 'The Bartender' in 2015 before selling out to a partner and starting over with Graycell Design in 2017.

Noor Bains is a graphic artist and specialise in visual identity design, advertising design, another prime area of expertise include web design. I've been intricately involved with art and copy since an mearly age. I have a keen interest towards digital design and have always enjoyed being a learner in this vast pool of fascinating knowledge in this time of creative innovation.

I am Bhumika Kalra. An 18 year old, born and raised in Bali, Indonesia.Being away from home for the last few years has given me the opportunity to learn, explore and find my strengths. Throughout my life, I have learnt the values of compassion and service. Values that act as a drive to push and motivate myself every day. I have implemented these attributes to my involvement in the communities around me, through volunteering, organising events and empathising with those around me. I remind myself that I am driven.

Reframing the world’s biggest problems as important design challenges, she is a global thought leader who rigorously collaborates with people, places, and organizations to provoke and maximize positive transformation. As Co-Founder and Chief Insights & Analytics Officer of Massive Change Network (MCN) she  is deeply curious about the socio-emotional effects of how change is embraced and absorbed. A self-described “non-expert,” her unique design approach holistically bridges the worlds of data, stories, and the humanities to probe new ways of thinking and doing.

Eli is formerly the Director of Design Education at InVision. His design career spans both physical and digital products, and he is a lecturer in the Product Design program at Stanford University. You can find Eli on Medium or on Twitter.

Bruno Porto (1971) is a graphic designer, educator and consultant from Brazil. His graphic design and illustration work has been exhibited in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe, and featured in over 40 international publications. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, he has also lived in New York, Shanghai and Brasília, and recently in The Hague.

Lucy Hogg’s recent work is photo based, shifting from a longstanding painting practice in 2008. Her photography examines the contexts in which art is exhibited and made, while relating those situations to the material aspects of everyday life. Her painting projects were also parasitical, looking at the history of 17th, 18th, and 19thC painting from the point of view of gender.

I’m Barry Gu, an interaction design professional, brand designer, illustrator, social media blogger, I have extensive experience in visual advertising, illustration, and brand design.

Berlin-based designer Roman Wilhelm (born 1976) studied visual communication at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle (Saale) in Germany, and under Professor Fred Smeijers for a typeface design master’s degree at the Academy of Visual Arts.

I think in 🎨 design and build in 🧑‍💻code. I’m a Vancouver-based🇨🇦 frontend engineer. For the 7 years working in tech, I've worked at enterprises, startups, agencies, and consultancy companies. My background in UX made me become an engineer who can bridge the gap between design, engineering and product to build things pragmatically.

Former digital strategy director at landor and fitch. Daniel Segal possesses more than 18 years of experience across Asia, America, the UK, the Middle East, and the Far East.

WE ARE SNASK and we are your future romance. A creative agency of misfit geniuses conquering the world through fine lookin' design and real emotions. To worry about what people think of us is a waste of time. As long as we stay true to ourselves, we are living our dream.

Arthur Samuel Wilbur Chantry II is a graphic designer often associated with the posters and album covers he has done for bands from the Pacific Northwest, such as Mudhoney, Mono Men, Soundgarden, and The Sonics.

Wrote and performed a 9-minute TEDx talk titled, "Why Tattoos Should Not Be Taboo".

Hello! I’m Dan Forster, an award winning lettering artist and type designer. My work ranges from custom brand marks to type design, packaging projects, book covers and anything that requires beautifully crafted bespoke lettering.

Debbie Millman is a writer, designer, educator, artist, brand consultant and iconically the host of the podcast Design Matters. She’s also the Chair of the masters in branding program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Author of “Why Design Matters: conversations with the world's most creative people”.

StudioDBD is a Manchester based design studio founded by David Sedgwick. The studio creates meaningful design solutions for a variety of clients.

Education professional with a Master of Fine Arts - MFA focused in Media Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

Mark Simonson (born 1955) is an American independent type designer who works in St. Paul, Minnesota.Simonson has described his typefaces as often being inspired by lettering styles of the past, such as the graphic design of the 1970s, Art Deco graphics and wood type.

Jakob Trollbäck is the founder of The New Division and Trollbäck + Company. He is the main architect behind the communication language for the United Nation's 17 Global Goals, an ambitious and inspiring agenda for a better world by 2030. With offices in Stockholm and New York, he is specializing in strategy and communication for sustainability.

Rachel Botsman is a leading expert on trust in the modern world. Her two critically acclaimed books -What’s Mine is Yours and Who Can You Trust?–have been translated into 14 languages. She has been recognized as one of the world’s 30 most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50 and honoured as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Her TED talks have been viewed more than five million times.

A legend of legends

Born on The Farm in Tennessee, Angela was raised in Ontario and Zimbabwe, and currently resides on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Sel̓íl̓witulh Nations (Vancouver, Canada). Her praxis focuses on the inner and outer connections that can be made pushing at the edges of the barriers surrounding ‘sticky’ subjects (such as trauma, identity, love, and death).

Dr. Philippe Pasquier has held an Associate Professor role, School of Interactive Art and Technology (SIAT), Simon Fraser University (SFU). and Associate Dean Academic role, Faculty of Communication Arts and Technology (FCAT), Simon Fraser University (SFU). His research focuses on the theory and practice of Artificial Intelligence. Additional show notes: More about me: https://www.kadenze.com/courses/generative-art-and-computational-creativity-i More about the Metacreation Lab: http://www.Metacreation.net Kadenze Classes on Creative AI: https://tinyurl.com/ycvleqlm Social media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philpass/ https://twitter.com/monobor

Alex's interest in design, however, started to veer outside the realm of 2 dimensional print and screen and into real world applications that people can interact and play with directly.

After 10 years with DDB Alex left to start Tangible Interaction Design, an experimental design studio that creates imaginative, interactive installations for clients and for fun.  As one of the only companies of its kind in Canada, Tangible Interaction is on the cutting edge of North American Design and technology.

Cali Haan is a writer and personal-self trainer in Vancouver. Her writings and artworks have won nominations and prizes, including Finalist: Best Comedian with a Day Job and Honourable Mention: Out on Screen.

I am a UX/UI designer specializing in cross-cultural design in both print and digital development. I work with businesses, restaurants, real estate projects, professionals and startups for the past 22 years. With my BBA in marketing.

David’s interests lie in WordPress, open source and future technology trends. He’s the founder and CEO of Pragmatic – a top-tier WordPress agency globally, which he started in 2012.

A graphic designer. Currently  studying at LaSalle College Vancouver, expecting graduate in March.

Director of BEESTUDIO INDIA, former head of department at Symbiosis, and Product Design Faculty at Ajeenkya D Y Patil University School of Design.

Teresa Sdralevich is a graphic designer, author, illustrator and silkscreen printer. Her work is characterised by boldness, humour and a constant quest for synthesis. Sdralevich likes best to deal with cultural, political and social issues but equally loves nonsense and playfulness.

Mike Monteiro is cofounder and design director of Mule Design, an interactive design studio whose work has been called "delightfully hostile" by The New Yorker. He's written four books: Design Is a Job, You're My Favorite Client, Ruined by Design, and The Collected Angers. He's not as smart as his wife, as courageous as his daughter, or as charming as his dog. He's pretty much given up on tech and is considering a future as a lighthouse keeper or record store owner, or maybe opening a record store in a lighthouse.

Founder / Leader of Tomorrow. Durrell began his career at 16 years old designing websites. In 2001, he was hired full-time as a designer/art director

Stephen Coles is an editor and typographer living in Oakland. He is Associate Curator at Letterform Archive and co-publishes Fonts In Use and Typographica.

Who I am

** Experienced user research practitioner with over two decades in the field and keen business skills

** Knowledgeable consultant who has worked with 150 organizations

** Manager of staff and projects with routine success at management of time, scope and budget

Rogier van der Heide is a designer born in the Netherlands who lives in Liechtenstein. He is noted especially as a C-suite design executive and as a lighting designer of public and commercial projects all over the world.

Paresh Choudhury is one of the familiar faces in the Indian Design Community and is also an internationally acclaimed Design academicians. He has held senior-level positions across design Institutes of repute in India. Namely, the National Institute of Design, (NID) as Professor and former Head Department of Communication Design!

Lori Goldberg was born and lives in Vancouver. She attended Langara College, Ontario College of Art and Design and Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She is the recipient of many awards, including a Canada Council Grant, two Tony Onley Artist's Project Scholarship and the Vermont Artist Award. Her work is in the collections of the Canada Art Bank, Contemporary Art Gallery, among others.

Karim Rashid is one of the most prolific designers of his generation. Over 4000 designs in production, over 300 awards and working in over 40 countries attest to Karim’s legend of design.

I'm a product designer leader with a background in agency design, video games, enterprise applications, and global consumer sites. I love to help simplify the complex, work on big problems, and build collaborative, engaged, thought leadership teams. I gravitate toward products that solve important problems. As a design leader I believe in empowerment, transparency, and iterative learning.

I am passionate about people and career development, especially for women, people of color and those who are the first in their family to experience corporate life/professional services.

Lives and works in Langley, BC, is an enthusiastic Visual and Brand Designer, coming from a background of classic Graphic Design, her work spans branding, print production, and promotion materials.

Grace Chen is an aspiring multi-modal journalist in Vancouver who wants to tell stories that matter. She previously attended Queen's University and is now at BCIT's Journalism program. Grace has big career goals that includes eventually working in the 'media hub' of the world-- New York City.

Adam is a Lead UX/UI Designer at Volvo Cars, with a background in digital design and Human-computer Interaction. He’s passionate about the intersection between the physical and the digital realm, where he strives to make those experiences delightful and seamless.

Jean François Porchez (born in 1964) is a French type designer.[1] He founded the French type foundry Typofonderie in 1994. He was president of ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale), the leading organisation of type designers from 2004 to 2007. He is probably best known for releasing the new typefaces for Le Monde, the French evening newspaper in 1994. He has designed custom typefaces for customers such as Beyoncé Knowles.

Miklos is a lead UI/UX/product designer with over 17 years of experience. He is a proponent of user-centered design (UCD) practices and design thinking.

Am Johal has been the Director of SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement since December 2010. He is an associate with SFU's Centre for Dialogue, SFU's Institute for the Humanities and he is Co-Director of SFU’s Community Engaged Research Initiative. Received the 2020 Warren Gill Award for Community Impact.

Since 2007, I have led the program management and UX initiatives for clients including M+, The Met, Kickstarter, Wacom, Zumtobel, USA Today, EA, Spotify, and Google. My work has been recognized by Cannes, the Webbys, the Emmys, the Interaction Design Association, the European Design Awards, and many more.

Timothy Goodman is an award-winning artist, graphic designer, author and public speaker. His art and words have populated walls, buildings, packaging, shoes, clothing, books, magazine covers and galleries all over the world for brands such as Nike, Apple, Google, MoMA, Netflix, Tiffany & Co., Samsung, Yves Saint Laurent, Uniqlo, Target, The New Yorker and The New York Times.

Digital media designer and content strategist from Vancouver, BC. I work on projects that I'm genuinely passionate about. I create personal projects of my own and thrive off learning new skills. I love collaborating as well as surrounding myself with creative and like-minded individuals. Check out my podcast, No Fun City, where I highlight the fun, creative, and inspiring people in and around Vancouver, Canada.

Perniclas Bedow is the founder and creative director of Stockholm-based design studio Bedow. The studio mainly works with branding, packaging and book design and for the last decade, their work has been widely acknowledged around the world through books, lectures, and exhibitions.

Gamer, Mama, UX designer, Twitch Affiliate streaming mostly FFXIV & warships

June Digan is a designer and illustrator specializing in traditional and digital mediums. A graduate of Fine Arts and Design major in advertising arts at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, June's work focuses on moods, emotions, and storytelling using delicate characters, whimsical landscapes, and lettering.

Chloe's unique approach to Executive Coaching and Product Design consulting combines twenty + years of experience in Executive UX Leadership and Digital Product Design. Most recently, Chloe was the Product Design Director of Google Shopping. Prior to Google, she was the Chief Creative Officer at R/GA.

Strausfeld became a partner in the New York office of Pentagram,[11] the distinguished international design consultancy in 2002. At Pentagram, Strausfeld and her team specialized in digital information projects, including the design of large-scale media installations, software prototypes and user interfaces, signage and websites for a broad range of civic, cultural and corporate clients.

Yo has worked with visionary founders, ambitious CMOs and wildly talented creatives across DTC, food, retail and entertainment—basically all the fun stuff. Clients include Pinkberry (the yogurt that launched a thousand cravings), Evite (because sending paper invites is so 1800s), Winc (for those who like their wine with a side of convenience), Disney, NBC’s The Today Show and Turner Networks. she’s been nominated for three Emmys, which is a fancy way of saying I’ve almost won—thrice.

Barry Katz is a television producer, film producer and talent manager. He was the owner and founder of the Boston Comedy Club in New York City and helped launch the careers of many successful comedians

UX Design and Design Strategy. I am especially good at design thinking and building experiences. I draw this from my user-centered design experience and Entrepreneurial mindset, to innovate and test ideas.

Dr. Ron Burnett is the past President + Vice-Chancellor of Emily Carr University of Art + Design. In 2013, Dr. Burnett received the Order of Canada and in 2015, he received the Order of British Columbia. Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 2010. 

After a decade-wide body of independent multimedia creative work as an artist, musician, and sound designer since 2006, including a music collective called "ISM" which he later adopted as a personal brand, His productions led to broader collaborations with a variety of teams, partners and clients. This path marked a shift in 2019 when he established the ISM Arts & Culture corporation as an end-to-end creative agency focusing on cross-stakeholder social innovation initiatives with governments, communities, companies, and research institutions at the local and global level. He has since worked with organizations like TED and TRIUMF (Canada’s particle accelerator centre). Show notes: ISM Arts and Culture - https://www.ism-ac.com

What I bring to a project: persistent focus on user needs and simplifying experiences to make them easy and enjoyable. A combination of content strategy, user experience, design strategy, research-driven design, branding, and front-end-development. Committed to learning and collaboration, I love transforming processes, and developing new ways for clients to speak to their audience that can be heard clearly and inspire action.

FLUID Architecture has three areas of focus - Interaction, Indigeneity and Intimacy. Before founding FLUID Architecture, I was a partner at DIALOG (Vancouver Studio), and its Vancouver predecessor firm. Until March 2023 I was a Principal at Human Studio Architecture and Urban Design.

Paul Wong is a media-maestro making art for site-specific spaces and screens of all sizes. He is an award winning artist and curator known for pioneering early visual and media art in Canada, founding several artist-run groups, and organizing events, festivals, conferences and public interventions since the 1970s. Wong has produced projects throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

A creative director & product designer now based in Barcelona, who specializes in strategic design narratives for global audiences. Crafting immersive digital experiences with an emphasis on a human-centered approach with quality storytelling.

I’m Ana, founder and CEO at Eight Station Rendering Studio,and co-founder of 044Bureau branding studio. My passion for detail and years of architectural experience have shaped the way I approach each project, always with your vision at the forefront.

Join me as we explore the intersection of design, creativity, and storytelling, bringing spaces to life with purpose and meaning.

Over 18 years experience in leading teams to design and build compelling products that connect with customers. Reputation for combining curiosity, courage and empathy to solve complex problems. Seasoned practitioner, speaker, and mentor. Passionate about improving the world.

My past clients and brand experience while freelancing include FAANG companies such as Google, and other high-profile companies like General Mills, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Postmates, and Ford.

Jessica Hische is a lettering artist and author with a tendency to overshare and a penchant for procrastiworking.

Lee is known for exhibitions of his experimental photography and painting, and also for working across a range of media and subjects, as well as teaching and writing.

Founded on the belief that creative opportunities are everywhere, Flora Gordon Design + Imagery specializes in creating a captivating look and feel to help organizations stand out and connect with their audiences. Our approach to designing resonant campaigns, identities and communication materials involves targeted research, collaboration and problem-solving. We bring dynamic energy, experience and an abundance of thoughtful ideas to the design process.

Erik Olson has lived a nomadic life, having been raised in Calgary, Boston, and Nairobi as a child. He graduated from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver in 2007. From 2014 to 2016, he attended the acclaimed Kunstakademie Düsseldorf as a guest student of Peter Doig.

In my twenties, I explored the globe, gaining an informal education through extensive travel. Following brief studies in history and humanities, I immersed myself in a fulfilling retail career, progressing as a senior leader, sales manager, and HR expert. Approaching the start of my fifth year as a REALTOR®, I've discovered my true passion.

Creative Direction / Art Direction, Based in New York, working globally.

After a decade in China, Ally is no stranger to the cultural and lifestyle adjustments required of a successful ‘laowai’. Her mission: Equip the masses to take the China experience by the horns and enjoy the wild ride!