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Conferences

The Design of Business | The Business of Design conference at MIT

On September 14-15, 2019, Design Observer held the second The Design of Business | The Business of Design conference in Cambridge, MA at the Massachussets Institute of Technology. The themes for the conference were equity, enterprise, ethics, and engineering, and our mix of speakers spoke to these topics. Read more.

Design, Business, Media, HumanismThe Design of Business | The Business of Design conference at Yale University

On November 2-3, 2018, Design Observer held its first two day conference centered around the program Jessica Helfand and Michael Bierut ran at the Yale School of Management, and the podcast of the same name. We invited CEOs and their designers, as well as new thinkers in community design, structural design, and information design. Participants were invited to chose one of four intimate symposium to attend addressing the topics of access, apparatus, audience, and agility. Read more.

Taste

On February 12, 2016, Design Observer hosted a symposium on the relationship between design and food. Held in the Los Angeles Theater Center in downtown LA, Taste featured speakers from across the United States and Europe: we discussed the visual evolution of artificial flavor; the historical artistry of mid-century menus; the future of permaculture, the promises of packaging, and the vicissitudes of waste. We looked at marketing tactics and distribution platforms; climate change and culinary excess; new economies of scale, old expressions of culture—and everything in between. Read more.

WDSL

On February 21, 2015, Design Observer hosted the first design-centered event of its kind: a free one-day symposium that explored “What Design Sounds Like.” Held at the at the SVA Theatre in New York City, WDSL featured speakers from across the United States and Europe. From live interviews to musical performances, dynamic discussions to spirited debate, we explored together what design sounds like. Read more.

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Ellen McGirt

Compassionate Design, Career Advice and Leaving 18F with Designer Ethan Marcotte

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Ellen McGirt

Love Letter to a Garden and 20 years of Design Matters with Debbie Millman

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Cinema

Susan Morris

‘The conscience of this country’: How filmmakers are documenting resistance in the age of censorship

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Ellen McGirt

Redesigning the Spice Trade: Talking Turmeric and Tariffs with Diaspora Co.’s Sana Javeri Kadri