Ellen McGirt

Ellen McGirt

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are.”

Honoring Tom Stoppard, the master of language and ideas whose six-decade career offers designers and creators a model for courage, curiosity, and craft.

Ellen McGirt|Design Juice

Making ‘change’ the product: Phil Gilbert on transforming IBM from the inside out

Phil Gilbert shares how he transformed IBM’s culture, and why treating change like a premium product may be essential in an AI-driven future.

Ellen McGirt|Opinions

AI can generate content, but it can’t generate feeling

There’s no shortcut for acquiring good taste, says Bindery's Kim Devall

Ellen McGirt|Books

No mandates, only opportunities: IBM's Phil Gilbert on rethinking change

Ellen McGirt interviews Phil Gilbert on IBM’s design-led transformation and why treating change as a product—not a skill—shapes the future of AI and creative work.

Lee Moreau|Audio

The Past, Present and Future of Design with Lee Moreau, DB|BD Season 12 Finale

Ellen McGirt|Fresh Ink

What happens when the social safety net disappears?

Exploring how fear, design, and the loss of safety nets shape our ability to survive—and to care.

Ellen McGirt|Profiles

How to make a horror film with no money, no script, and lots of friends

Ellen McGirt|Recommended Books

Booked and Blessed

Erik Carter’s new book, Design Harder, takes aim at the state of graphic design, critiquing capitalism, sameness, and creative complacency with humor and heart.

Ellen McGirt|Peru's Sacred Valley

Ashley Lukasik is designing a more meaningful way to convene

Introducing a series on design lessons learned from a multi-disciplinary immersion in Peru’s Sacred Valley

Ellen McGirt|Conversations

"Design addresses itself to the need."

We asked, you answered. How your feedback is shaping Design Observer’s future.

Ellen McGirt|Audio

On Location at the Aspen Institute Part 2: Redesigning Leadership

Ellen McGirt|Analysis

Authoritarian by design

The “America by Design” initiative proposes that one man alone can define “design” for the country.