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The Future of Collaboration

When

March 2, 2023
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Where

Virtual

This event has passed. Recap coming soon!

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Living in the Age of the Pandemic has given designers a lot to think about. With the arrival of COVID-19, we witnessed the emergence of “WFH,” working from home. A transformational change in our work environment, our creative process and the way we design products and services.

WFH and “going remote” meant setting up your new creative workspace at home and figuring out how to think creatively without the luxury of sharing ideas and getting feedback from colleagues in person. Maybe, perhaps for the first time, design felt different – raising questions about the nature of creativity and whether collaboration with others is a fundamental part of the process. Is creativity a solitary pursuit, or does it need the catalyst of a collaborative effort?

Recent experience tells us that designers learned to be creative and productive remotely by finding solutions for sharing ideas virtually through different emerging technology platforms. Over time, new technologies, improved computer literacy skills and expertise increased to make knowledge transfer increasingly more efficient. But did it drive creativity as much as before, and was the collaboration process as productive?

With the end of lockdown and WFH no longer the only solution, we’ve reached the hybrid point that presents different options for working from home and returning to the studio. Given the choices, what’s the best course for optimizing creativity and the value of collaboration for our industry? What lies ahead for the future of design studios and our industry? What are the implications for the training and recruitment of the next generation of designers? And are we ready to adapt to their preference?

As we watch these developments play out, our design industry is a work in progress. Join us for what’s going to be a lively session from the panel, sharing different points of view.

Agenda


1:00 - 1:10 PM | Intro

1:10 - 1:40 PM | Speaker Presentations

1:40 - 1:55 PM | Q&A with Panelists

1:55 - 2:00 PM | Closing Remarks

Speakers

Paddy Harrington

Founding Director, Frontier

frontier.is

Paddy is the founder of Frontier, a Design Office. Frontier designs big stories: Brave, imaginative, and guiding stories that take the form of client collaborations, media, and products that help businesses, people, and the planet thrive. He has almost 20 years experience in the design field. He has degrees in literature and architecture and has worked in research, architecture, advertising, and design.

Among clients he has collaborated with are PepsiCo, the Sacramento Kings, Unilever, The National Arts Centre, Electronic Arts, the Holy City of Mecca, and the Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland. He is an award winning writer and filmmaker and has spoken at several design conferences as well as at Brown, Harvard, and the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Paddy is formerly the SVP Design Innovation and Digital Creative Director at Indigo Books and, prior to that, Executive Creative Director at Bruce Mau Design.

Ranee Lee

Associate Professor, Industrial Design at OCAD University & Founder, DESIGNwith, a design incubator at CF Toronto Eaton Centre

designwith.ca

Ranee Lee 郭恩琳 is an industrial designer and an Associate Professor of Industrial Design at OCAD University. She is the founder of DESIGNwith, a design incubator for democratizing the learnings and creation of design through a corporation-academia-community partnership in environmental and social sustainability. Ranee’s professional practice in product design transitioned into non-profit design work as the co-founder of Thinking Forward, a registered charitable organization that has since been acquired by YSM in Toronto.

Prior to becoming a full-time faculty member at OCAD University, Ranee operated a design business manufacturing home products in both Canada and the Philippines. She holds an MA in Education from University of Toronto on participatory design framework, focusing her work in research-creation and curriculum design. Ranee is currently on sabbatical and is also working on a SSHRC funded project on alternative economies in marginalized Canadian communities.

Raphael Joseph

UX Designer at DFFRNT

dffrnt.ca

At just 20 out of college, Raphael landed his dream job at a reputed ad agency, but soon felt an emptiness and meaninglessness in his work. He decided to come to Canada as a student and pursue a degree in Human-Centred Design from Algonquin College.

Soon after completing his degree, Raphael joined DFFRNT (a strategy and design consultancy based in Ottawa) as a UX Designer. In the heat of the pandemic and out of it, Raphael has led and contributed to the success of a vast number of projects working remotely from home. He believes that a healthy collaborative environment in the team is essential for the success of a client.