Join AIGA Austin for a series of lightning talks on the future of design as told by emerging designers. How can we look towards the future of our industry amidst a fast-changing world? What binds us together despite generational barriers and diverse backgrounds? Come for some inspiration, camaraderie, and all-around good storytelling.

• SPEAKERS
• Jeromy Lee
• Designer, photographer, drinker of natural wine. When not designing and building websites, Jeromy is road tripping around the country on photoshoots. And when he’s not doing that, he’s doing his part on the AIGA Changemaker Series, helping to put on design thinking workshops for non-profits. While you’ll often catch him in the woodshop restoring furniture and leatherworking, his real talents are playing sloshball and pickleball. Whatever those are.

• Kate Hodges
• Kate is a Design Researcher focused on informing the future of Support and Services at IBM. Her passion for understanding human behavior, decision-making, and the intersection between the digital and built worlds has formed the foundation of her career. She’s looking to continue expanding my design skills through asking the right questions and turning research into action.

• Sonal Mcewan
• Sonal is a graphic designer currently working in the marketing department at Austin-based open ear headphone company, AfterShokz. In her present role, she oversees the branding of marketing assets on the company’s digital channels, including social media and email marketing. She graduated in 2018 from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in graphic communication and has spent the last three years as a designer specializing in branding, marketing design, and hand-lettering. When she’s not working, you can find Sonal cheering on her hometown sports teams or baking.

• Sean Tomas
• Sean is a content strategist who helps design government websites and applications. He has a background in writing and editing, UX research and design strategy. Prior to joining the world of design, he worked in journalism, publishing, grant writing and communications. He was the founder and editor in chief of the Austin-based arts journal fields magazine. He also taught English in Japan for three years. He graduated from the Austin Center for Design in 2020.

• Carmen Viloria

• Carmen Maria is an immigrant from Venezuela, a Texan at heart, and a global citizen at her core. While fluent in English and Spanish, design is yet another language she uses to bridge gaps and find common ground. Carmen works as a Product Researcher at LendingClub and is a part-time graduate sociology (MA) student at Texas Woman’s University. Driven to make a difference in the fintech world, she’s interested in intersectional feminism, racial inequality, and exploring how social dynamics influence personal financial decisions and outcomes.

  You can find Carmen roaming the halls of a museum, keeping her eyes peeled during a horror film, curled up behind a book, running with RAW, riding her bike, playing soccer, or walking her dog, Leo!