Earlier this year, The Zebra announced that the company would become a remote-first workplace, meaning it would open up hiring opportunities to candidates outside the Austin area and even allow for employees in Austin to stay fully remote.

With this shift in our workplace landscape, it became critical for our design team to adapt in how we collaborate. By starting with a strong team culture, implementing new tools and staying open to feedback, our team has adjusted to remote work through continued iteration and steady progress.

Not to be weird about it or anything, but we freakin’ love Austin Design Week. It’s among the highlights of our year, every year, and we’re really excited that this year we’re back in-person for an event or two. We’ve missed seeing you all, even if it may be through a mask now.

Perhaps we should introduce ourselves: we are M+P, a boutique creative staffing agency for creatives by creatives. That’s right, we find talented individuals for the jobs we once held (the person writing this intro, Hannah, was once a candidate of M+P’s as a copywriter / strategist, so our bonafides are for real), and not to brag but we’re damn good at it.

ADW gives our staff an excuse to go to a bunch of events to meet y’all and learn alongside you. We like to put together our own itineraries so that you know what a few creative recruiters are interested in seeing and get inspired to make your own plan. Read on to see where we’ll be!

Before joining The Zebra, I worked on a team as the youngest and only female designer. In that role, I often hesitated to speak up and felt my point of view was not sought after by my peers. I felt isolated and I vowed to be an advocate for myself and design moving forward. My next role at The Zebra allowed me the chance to reflect on how my own actions as well as a team’s culture contribute to an inclusive workplace. Every manager I’ve had at The Zebra has been a strong advocate for me and leadership has helped me take risks and feel supported even when I’ve failed. I’ve found that building a safe space to share ideas, elevating individual successes, and seeking diverse perspectives are all keys to personal and team advocacy.

Whether you want to get hired in the creative industry or are hiring for your creative team, there are a few things to keep in mind. Luckily, the folks at creative staffing agency, The Creative Party (Mathys+Potestio) know a thing or two about hiring.

Below, they share a few tips for those who are building a team or looking for a job in the creative industry.

“The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment, not the reverse.” - Herman Daly

With everyone traveling much less and eating more at home, this year’s virtual format will make #ADW20 the most sustainable Design Week yet!

But our passion for environmental stewardship doesn’t stop with Design Week itself—last year we had a half-dozen events that explored the intersection of design and sustainability. Sessions on the circular economy, car-free trip planning, green roofs, and fast fashion presented new ways of addressing issues of waste, pollution, and quality of life.

In an effort to provide the ADW community with thoughtful resources for navigating the current reality, we asked #ADW19 hosts to share their insight on life and work at home. Below, Jannis Hegenwald, staff designer at Atlassian and Trello and host of last year's event "Beyond Being There: How Remote Design Can Make Space for the Best Ideas" shares six tips on how to improve your team's remote collaboration.

Over the last couple months, a lot of teams have been thrown into the deep end of remote work. Getting started with remote work without prior experience or a heads-up can be difficult and leave teams feeling unproductive and frustrated. Whether you're brand new to remote work or a remote pro who's been doing it for years, here are six tips that are sure to improve your remote collaboration immediately.

1. Set yourself up for success

There's no I in team, but that doesn't mean you should brush over your personal workspace. Finding a home setup that works for you is key to being a productive remote worker and a good collaborator. The most important part about your home setup is that you have a designated work space. For some, that means having a room you can turn into your home office, with a proper desk, a door that closes, and everything else that allows you to be productive. But a lot of people don't have the luxury of an extra room, or would feel isolated and unproductive in a personal office.

Reposted from The Creative Party

Austin Design Week is running from November 4-8 this year, and it promises to be better than ever. We’re always eager for a week’s worth of events that educate and bring the design community together, and that is precisely what this year’s schedule does.

But where will we be, you ask? Just about everywhere…

Looking for some recommendations for a fun, informative and impactful itinerary? Take a look at our top picks, and find out what Praxent designers Andy, Debra and Doug are most looking forward to at each event.

As we get ready for #ADW19, we asked our community partners to share with us how they #MakeSpace. Here's a post by Devon Bieniawski, former Director of IIDA (The Commercial Interior Design Association) in Austin, about the role of an interior designer and how to make designs that last.

William Coombes is kind of a big deal at Visa.

As the VP of Core Design and Austin Site Leader, it’s safe to assume he’s got a lot on his plate, and a lot of people eager to work with him. This year, Austin Design Week was lucky enough to win him over, and by extension partner with Visa.

We asked William a few questions to better understand his vision as a design leader, and how that plays out in the context of Visa, the city of Austin, the design community at large, and—of course—users.

What did the decision process to sponsor ADW look like?

Visa has a long history of recognizing the important role design plays and in attracting top-notch design talent. Over the last year, we’ve brought together all of our global designers into a unified design organization and felt that the time was right to step up and lend our voice to design conversations. We started by sponsoring Design Week in SF last spring and are proud to sponsor ADW considering Austin is our 2nd largest US location, home to our UX Lab and many of our US-based designers, researchers and engineers. We’ve hired amazing talent across the globe; we’ve got a great story to tell and we want to continue to be a part of the diverse design community that we represent in Austin.

I’ve spent most of my career building design capabilities and communities within organizations as a recruiter and team builder and when I think about corporate design architecture my mind immediately goes to a defined space with doors, walls, windows, desks, too many displays, and probably fairly empty on any given Tuesday afternoon. However, after a geek out session with our friends over at PDR Corp (a local architecture and design consultancy firm) - I started to understand placemaking quite differently.

“Building a new corporate office is often a huge undertaking and expense for our clients so we want to make sure we leverage every bit of that investment. Which is why PDR starts every project by asking WHY. WHY are you doing this project? What are your aspirations and your biggest obstacles? From there we can help them shape opportunities. We believe successful placemaking has a positive answer to all these questions, and our design process uncovers not only the user’s unique cultural and physical needs but also addresses bottom line business goals.

Another key factor in successful placemaking is technology, we know technology allows humans to work from anywhere, so the office needs to be meaningful and impactful or else it will become a dead waste. We inspire people to want to come to work so they can create great things together and thrive. Without creating a compelling reason to come to the office even the “coolest looking” office will sit empty. The future of work is changing rapidly so we help clients make sure that what is right for them to today will still be right for them tomorrow...”Shawna Hills, Regional Director at PDR, talked me through their unique design process and how they help clients begin this transformational journey by discovering their own “why”, not just starting with where, or even what.

We knew early into planning that an event with a packed schedule in a packed city like Austin needed to help its attendees get around. So, we were lucky enough to find Austin B-cycle, a public bike share system owned by the City of Austin and operated by the local 501c3 non-profit Bike Share of Austin.

“If we can provide a solution to a problem for local Austinites looking to increase Austin’s ranking in the design world, then yeah, we’re happy to do it,” said Tim Willingham, Marketing and Events Manager for Austin B-cycle.

David Orr, Bike Share Program Manager for the City of Austin, even hopes some time on the bikes during the week could even spark some design brainstorming.

“Jumping on a B-cycle will make it easy for people to get from event to event and get even more great ideas on how to make Austin, and the world, a better designed environment,” he said in an email.

How you can bike for free

Use promo code ADW2018 at Austin.bcycle.com for an Explorer Day Pass, which allows you to ride around Austin at no cost anytime from November 5th-9th.

Austin B-cycle is bigger than just bikes

With dozens of bike stations across the city, Austin B-cycle provides more than just transportation: They also bridge the gap between brands and people with in-person marketing. A couple of their partners include entertainment media companies like Netflix and Showtime.

A week of learning, exploring, and creating certainly breeds growth, but it might also breed fatigue. As tempting as it might be to head home early and cuddle with your dog, we’ve got just the thing to help keep you going: the Hub.

What’s the Hub, exactly?

It’s our dedicated chill space during Austin Design Week. Located on 612 Brazos St at The Refinery, the Hub keep its doors wide open (get it?) for attendees Monday through Thursday, 10 am to 5 pm.

Can I do anything else there aside from hang out?

You can get some work done in between sessions, especially since you’ll have access to free wifi. You can take a look at the Austin Furniture & Design installation, and keep up with @be_hind_doors Instagram feed as we project it in the space all week.

Also, we’ll host a handful of events throughout the week at the Hub. You’ll find everything from morning yoga to a lettering workshop to an open discussion about ageism, so you won’t distance yourself too much from the action while you catch up on emails.

In her novel White Fur, Austin-based writer Jardine Libaire said of the transition from day to night, “Even a city that’s broken and dirty can, in that time, be divine and intimate.”

Not to call Austin broken and dirty, but the sentiment rings true. We trade squint-inducing light for orange and purple hues, have-to’s for want-to’s, hustle for tranquility.

The Austin Design Week programming reflects the pace of our lives. During the day, we’ll provide you with tons of choice—a chance to curate your own schedule. And as the city slows down, we will too. Attendees will end the day together, reflecting on a variation on the theme of Open Doors.

If you’re anything like me, you probably hyped yourself up about Austin Design Week, only to remember that you also have a job, and boss that expects you there when all of the ADW fun’s going down.

We get it: Bosses care about things like outputs and deadlines, and we might distract you from that for a little bit. But we believe ADW is time well-invested, not wasted. Read on to see what you can take back to work with you, in terms your boss understands.

“I can scope out opportunities for partnerships.”

Is your company looking to try something ambitious, but needs some help executing on it? Lots of organizations will show and discuss what they can do throughout the week, which can give you a better sense of their values and capabilities than a website landing page probably ever could.

“We could use some new ideas around here.”

You’ll discover tons of different perspectives and approaches to design at ADW. It’s pretty likely that at least one of them you encounter can help you get out of a creative rut.

“I might find our next great designer.”

When we asked for proposals that centered around the theme “Open Doors,” we emphasized that designers take as broad of an interpretation as they see fit. We had no clue what would come to us from the other side of that submission portal.

One reason for this: Part of learning new things is discovering new things to learn. Asking designers to conform their proposals to our motivations behind “Open Doors” would’ve not only contradicted the theme itself—it would’ve resulted in a far less interesting and illuminating week of programming.

What will that week of programming look like, exactly? We’ll spare you the details until the end of September, when our full schedule goes live. However, if you’re eager to know how ADW can help you grow as a designer and a person, we noticed a few common lessons sprinkled throughout this year’s programming that excites us to share right here and right now.

Jane Hervey, founder of #bossbabesatx, headed a show-stopping event during last year’s Austin Design Week.

Working alongside &Feminist, #bossbabesatx organized a panel and art installation that explored the place where our personal/political narratives intersect with our social/built environment. Hosted at Lewis Carnegie Design Studio, the event also featured a film screening from Open Architecture: Austin.

Jane recently spoke with us to reflect on her experience and give some guidance to those of you who want to put your best foot forward at Austin Design Week this year.

How they chose what and who to include:

People need to hear from those they can relate with, and they need to hear it presented in a way that is conceptually accessible and that that provides the most educational environment.

So in designing the panel, and thinking about who was going to be on it, but also who we collaborated with, how we talked about space, how we talked about the influence of gender equality on how we think about space, just, you know, how we cultivate culture, it really made sense to create something that was creative but had, you know, a creative component.

Members of our Advisory Board share why they’re excited for this year’s theme, along with advice for submissions.

TGIF!!!!!! This Inspiration Friday welcomes us into the month of November and is the very last one (sniffles) before the 2017 AUSTIN DESIGN WEEK!

In this Inspiration Friday, discover designer/artist Jessica Fontenot and architect Ann Armstrong’s inspiring pieces that hopefully spark some creativity before you dive into the weekend!

Check it:

Austin Design Week is less than one week away, and I hope your excitement matches ours (aka A LOT)! Today, I get to introduce you to two men that are holding a workshop that explores the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it influences design. AI is one of the most intriguing and complicated ideas and experiments that I, myself, will never understand. Is AI really the new brain? Will AI replace all of human kind? Or take over the world?? Probably not, or at least I won’t be there when it happens.

Okay, so let’s move past my overdramatic opening and meet Atlassian’s design strategist Jannis Hegenwald (JH-right) and MU/DAI's Experience Designer Adam Zeiner (AZ-left).

Hellooooo Austinites!! Guess what?! Only FOUR more days until our annual Austin Design Week! I hope you’re prepared for everything to come, and if you want to learn more about what to expect read of our features on our blog page!

This wonderful fall Friday welcomes Principal Architect Mark Odom and Project Architect Mari Russ from Mark Odom Studio! Read on to see where/how their inspiration influences their work in the architectural design space.

This week, I met with Meghan Skornia (MS) and Eric Leshinsky (EL), two fantastic urban planners from Asakura Robinson, to learn all about how design impacts the environmental and communal structure of Austin. At Asakura Robinson, they have worked on countless projects, and from Nov. 10-16, you can see their installation “No Lifeguard on Duty” at the Waller Creek Show!

Today, you lucky readers get to discover where and how Meghan + Eric seek inspiration and how it influences their realm of design.

It's Inspiration Friday, a weekly series where Austin designers talk about the things that spark their creativity.

Happy Best Day of The Week!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully you checked out our most recent, and very first ever, Inspiration Friday from just a few Fridays ago. If not, check it out so you know what we’re up to on some random Fridays.

This week we got an inside scoop on the one and only AIGA Austin President and IBM designer and mentor, Oen Michael Hammonds! Here’s what he shared about what inspires him.

Last week, I enjoyed a cup of coffee and the, unfortunately temporary, nice and cool weather at Cenote with local street artist Liza Fishbone. Liza, originally from St, Louis, has recently found her home here in the colorful city of Austin— locals, don’t kick this one out, she’s really cool, I promise.

Read on to discover what fuels Liza’s inspiration, artistic talent, and capability of morphing dreams into art.

Since I was a freshman in high school, I always imagined myself pursuing a career in architecture. When I came to the University of Texas as an undeclared major, I discovered that the university offers one of the best architecture schools in the nation. “Perfect!” I thought, as I instead applied to the Moody College of Communications to earn my degree in advertising. Don’t get me wrong, I’m obsessed with advertising — advertising, NOT ads. But, my refusal to join the gang of architects was because I didn’t know if I could commit to such a tedious, time-consuming major, which sometimes lingers over me. Especially when I meet great architects like Austin’s beloved Michael Hsu.

Let me share with you my rainy afternoon with Michael in his office of architecture where we discussed experiential design, inspiration, and all things architecture.

Every Friday morning our agency holds a team-wide roundup called Inspiration Friday. This is a time when we all share with each other things that we’ve seen during the week that we personally applauded or found particular inspiring to our practice.

With Austin Design Week approaching, I thought this format would be an exciting way to get primed for the conference, as well as learn a little more about the hosts of the many workshops, talks, and studio tours. Each week leading up to the conference, participants from this year’s event will be sharing 3-5 things that inspired them, along with a few of their go-to resources for inspiration.

Today we highlight Chris Perez and Bo Duncan, Co-Founders and Creative Directors of Left Right Media. Here’s what inspired them in their in their own words.

By now, you’ve hopefully glanced over the schedule for this year's Austin Design Week! And, if you’re like me, you have been tediously reading every single event, organizing and creating your very own schedule. And let me tell ya, it is a difficult task to select which events out of the 60 you want the attend.

From a tour at fd2s graphic design studio to an exploration of street art and chalk presented by Liza Fishbone, the masterminds behind ADW put together this special week filled of awe-inspiring events for the creative Austinites like you and me.

The time has come. It's... here!! dun dun duuuun

The announcement that you, the creatives, have been oh-so patiently waiting for is finally here. And, I get the honor to amp up the anticipation for the 2017 Austin Design Week!

Over the summer, I conducted an interview series “Design Phase Zero”, where I met with local Austin designers, including interior design, fashion design, and entrepreneurs. This week, we’re kickin’ it back up again with our final designer of the series! Last, but certainly not least, architect Beau Frail shares his design processes covering the community-based and sustainability realm of architectural design.

Beau Frail earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and went on to the University of Texas to earn his graduate degree in architecture. He worked as a Project Architect Michael Hsu Office of Architecture for two years, but has found his passion using architecture to benefit communal needs. Recently, Beau has been heavily involved in his Tiny Victories competition that provided micro-home designs for Community First! Village, which is an affordable housing community for the homeless.

Read on to learn more about Beau’s journey as an Austin-based architect:

Hurricane Harvey is the most destructive hurricane since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, resulting in up to $125 billion in damages. The eye of the storm rolled over Rockport, completely demolishing the town. Other areas, such as Port Aransas, Port Arthur, and Lake Conroe are severely affected as well; and, unfortunately, many areas in Harris County experienced the most damage.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 150,000 Texas properties have been damaged. The maps below (FEMA, Aug. 31) reveal the affected areas.

#DesignWeLove is a trending hashtag on our Instagram page, where we share the most creative Austin designers as well as snippets of inspiring art that we come across. In my most recent post, I shared some architecture and interior design, a ginormous sculpture, an example of product design, and of course, decorated cookies.

This week (yup, you guessed it), I’m doin’ it again and showing you my personal favorites from ADW’s recent Instagram posts. Let’s take a look:

In our latest blog post, we explored Isabella Rose Taylor’s successful career in the fast-paced fashion industry. Recently, I got to speak with the lovely Denise Roberts, an interior designer who started her very own home staging and interiors company called Love Ding.

Denise’s appreciation for design in the space around her started at a very young age. She then took her passions to college where she studied interior design at Texas State University.

Discover everything and more about Denise’s journey into the expressive interior design industry that surrounds Austin:

Last week, we began our interview series: Design Phase Zero with entrepreneur Hayley Swindell from The Refinery. This week, I had the pleasure to meet with the extremely creative and very intelligent Isabella Rose Taylor. The first order of business took place where all the magic happens: in her busy and lively studio. Surrounded by Isabella’s canvas paintings, sketch books, paintbrushes, textiles, and her two adorable dogs, she spoke about her life as a successful creative professional.

Isabella is a young fashion designer that grew up right here in Austin, TX. She is a member of Mensa International, a high IQ society, and by the age of just 16, she graduated from Parsons School of Design in NYC studying fashion design. But wait, her journey doesn’t stop there. Isabella has also successfully expanded her brand into large retailers and participated in New York’s Fashion Week.

From here, we’ll let Isabella take it away in our Q+A:

Get excited, because our interview series Design Phase Zero is in full swing! In the upcoming weeks, we will be featuring various Austin designers and reveal their stories working in the design world. Design Phase Zero uncovers the steps and early processes that creative professionals endure as they venture on to their next project.

Our series starts with entrepreneur and business owner Hayley Swindell from The Refinery. I had the honor to meet with the extremely enthusiastic and driven Hayley, as we chatted (over Topo Chicos at Cafe 1886) about her journey into the exciting, fast-paced creative industry.

Hayley and her family moved to Austin after her dad retired from professional baseball. She then attended The University of Texas where she earned her degree in political science and government. Her journey started in print advertising at Austin Monthly, and it was there, that Hayley discovered her motivation to someday start her own business.

Later on, Hayley worked as the Director of Development at The Marbridge Foundation, which is a community for adults who have a wide range of cognitive challenges. Her younger brother has autism, so she holds this cause very close to her heart. While working for the Marbridge Foundation, she thought of an idea for an e-commerce store, later established as the Hip Humanitarian.

"Creative" is no longer a dirty word, and if you are labeled as one, you can bet you're right at home in Austin. Austin is a wonderful community of artists, designers, and makers of all kinds, and these groups are convening in some amazing formal and informal gatherings all over town.

From collaborative workshops to guest speakers, creative people all over Austin are coming together to explore innovation and participate in conversations with people like you and me.

I’ve compiled a list of upcoming events in Austin that you can attend when you’re in some serious need of letting your creative juices flow.

Oh, how fortunate we are to live in a city that sparks creativity. A city that welcomes a variety of unique personalities, all of which contribute to the wonderful world of design that surrounds Austin, TX. Whether we come across snippets of inspirational art or bump into magnificent architectural and technological masterpieces, we are opened to an entire and never-ending world of creativity. And for that, we thank you, Austin.

Folks over at Austin Design Week looked high and low for pieces of design and craft and are using the hashtag #DesignWeLove, to reveal cool findings from all over Austin. Their Instagram @austindesignweek features great designers and their awesome work.

Here are some of my top #DesignWeLove picks from ADW’s Instagram so far:

Austin Design Week announces its theme for 2017 (drum roll please)... Finding Place!

Finding Place… no, we’re not wondering how you find your way home after a late night on Rainey Street - unless it’s in a creative and inspiring way that relates to design (then definitely let us know). Rather, we are diving into the designer’s mind and discovering how local designers “find place”.

Whether you find place within your home, community, culture, identity, experiences, inspirational spots, etc. the theme is completely up to your own unique interpretation. ADW wants to explore where and how you find place and how it fuels your creativity and inspires your work.

We asked some members of Austin Design Week’s 2017 Advisory Board what “Finding Place” means to them. We hope their answers can help get ya goin’.

At last year's inaugural Austin Design Week, many designers, artists, and creatives were welcomed to participate in various events, where they showcased their talent and shared their minds with each other and the community. Due to the event’s success, this year we are extremely excited to hold our second annual design week and give designers of all disciplines another opportunity to experience everything that is ADW.

So what is ADW?

Austin Design Week is a week-long celebration (November 6-10) of the city's creative economy. Through workshops, speaker talks, studio tours, and many other ancillary events, Austin Design Week unifies the greater design community and the people that make up the weird, the wonderful, and the uniquely artistic personality of the city.

Take a look at a few of the most memorable events from last year and see how you can get involved by hosting your own ADW event this year.

I've been a digital designer for 20 years. There, I said it!

Since moving to Austin from NYC a year ago, I've actually been shy talking about my career in public creative settings. For me, it's kind of like talking about my age. I've been around since the Dotcom boom doing print, web, app and mobile design. I've consulted, held full-time jobs and worked in many industries. I thought I did and saw just about everything. However, it wasn't until living in Austin recently that I felt I learned something unexpected and pretty important.

Being Socially Intelligent

Austin has a culture of openness, helpfulness, empathy and support –something I had never experienced before at such a mature and intelligent level. For instance, it wasn't a typical for me to go to a Meetup and have a conversation about the deep importance of "meaning" in a company, or have everyone drop what he or she is doing in order to make sure I was supported in a task I was trying to accomplish at that moment. People care tremendously and know that care comes back. You'd think you'd get those types of things in a big city like New York, but not really!

Austin’s inaugural design week was a success; bringing together over a thousand designers over five action-packed days. We're all a little more connected and a lot more in-the-know about what’s happening across Austin design.

Check out a few highlights from all five days of Austin Design Week where we toured some amazing design studios, got hands on with jewelry making and hand lettering and talked about everything from the role of design in government to business strategy. To see a full list of events that happened during the week, check out the schedule page.

But first, stay connected.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up-to-date on all things Austin Design Week.

How did you get involved with Austin Design Week?

I was recommended by friends at SXSW. Since they are the real cool kids I tend to follow where they lead me.

What is DesignThinking?

The top of mind concept as we approach the mentorship of Gensler designers: DesignThinking. What is it, how do we cultivate it, how is it part of the unique perspective of each of our people?

Why is it important to your work at Gensler and the field of architecture?

The truly open and multidisciplinary approach to DesignThinking is perhaps the most inspiring aspect of working at Gensler. Working to grow young talent, to mentor up-down-across ~ all bring a new way of paying forward all the lessons learned, and the skills honed over each of our tenures. This is a turnabout for many seasoned architects and designers, but is perhaps a far healthier approach. We are more open to sharing knowledge when the mental constraints of ‘this is my specific role’ or ‘that is the ‘exact job I am trying to teach this person’ are removed.

How can DesignThinking impact us most?

We work hard to live a culture that proves the best work and the best solutions are a collaborative inclusive process; that we don’t all approach things from the same perspective; and that you can achieve your own success by celebrating the talents and successes of others.

Austin Design Week is just one week away. Our team has been busy getting ready for all of the incredible events happening.

Next week the best creative minds in Austin will come together to share their work, ideas and spaces with us. Each day we’re inviting the community to participate in riveting design talks from local leaders, hands-on workshops like jewelry making, or interesting new topics like design in government.

As we gear up for an amazing week, we are thrilled to reveal Doreen Lorenzo and James Victore as our 2016 keynote speakers.

Though hard to believe, when I graduated from SCAD there was no formal UX program offered there or at any other design school like it. Similarly, when I was applying for jobs most were a mix of research, visual design, and business with ambiguous titles (ones that rarely included the word “experience”) and a long list of desired skills. We learned about User-Centered Design in school through whatever skill or craft we were majoring in at the time, in my case Industrial & Service Design. We later learned UCD was primarily about applying those principals to digital interfaces.

This however, meant it was largely a “learn-as-you-go,” “fake it till you make it” scenario. At that time we would have to sneak UX representatives into meetings or search Google for terms that were just beginning to popularize. Buzz words like “responsive design” were rarely discussed in boardrooms and UX as a department was known as the “wet blanket” or “magic wand”. There was a perception that we soiled solid ideas by asking questions like, “does the USER actually want or need this?” or were brought in to fix products that were already designed in a silo. We were typically told we didn’t need to be there because they had a high billing strategist or an outspoken creative director who could handle it. “We’ll give you a call when we need some wires…thanks.”

As Austin continues to rapidly transform from it’s former alternative college town persona into a highly populated, world-recognized urban destination, the role and culture of our downtown has shifted. We are growing denser by the minute and the cranes in the skyline and renderings of fancy towers in the news indicate we are not slowing down anytime soon. With new office buildings, hotels and residential destinations springing up constantly, we are asking a lot of our urban core. This density, while thrilling to an urban landscape architect like myself, puts a massive amount of pressure on downtown public space and an added level of responsibility on urban designers to be strategic about our visions for the new Austin. The implemented strategies must maximize minimal space and provide sustainable solutions that preserve and highlight the limited natural assets available downtown.

Hotels, restaurants, bars, special events and our beloved urban bat population are drawing all types of people to downtown Austin, requiring designers to find the perspective of a new and diversified user base. People aren’t just coming downtown for 9 to 5 jobs anymore. They are looking for a destination to live, learn, work, stay, exercise, host guests and play in. Downtown users are looking for a destination where they can comfortably practice an all new (to Austin) lifestyle.

Design is something my parents don’t get. Twenty years after I started my first design job at IDEO (and where I spent a dozen years in total, in three stints), they still struggle to explain to their friends just exactly what their son does. But not to worry - a year after co-founding the Design Institute for Health, a joint collaboration between the new Dell Medical School and the College of Fine Arts at UT here in Austin, my parents’ shorthand is now just “he’s a professor”, which is reassuringly respectable for a pair of immigrants in their 70’s.

Unlike my parents, industry has embraced design in ways I could never have imagined when I first started out. Some of the previous blog posts make that case better than I can. But, like my parents, there are still some holdouts, where design is not just unfamiliar, but sometimes still unknown.

Health (and more traditionally, healthcare) is one of those holdouts, but not necessarily because of a lack of desire. The regulations and boundary conditions that make our health industry so complex also serve as hurdles to the adoption of design as an agent of change. A confluence of truly unique circumstances here in Austin gives us the best chance in a generation to create a new model for what a modern health system can look like. And the creative approach to problem solving that is design is at the heart of the effort. We’re working hard to demonstrate the value of combining health and design.

Design is a broad and nebulous term. I have to admit that my definition of design changes as often as buildings rise and fall in Austin. My work at SXSW has given me the opportunity to meet with and work with an incredible and diverse set of designers who never fail to introduce me to new ideas, methodologies and design philosophies. This constant discovery of new approaches to problem-solving through design is at the root of my ambiguity, but I think that’s a good thing, it means that design is everywhere.

At SXSW Eco, our focus is highlighting creative ways of driving social and environmental change. Rather than treat design as a single theme within our program, design is a lens through which we explore our ten themes, including cities, food systems, communications and energy. Monday through Wednesday of next week, design will be at the forefront of participatory sessions, summits, workshops and much more. Join us to augment your own definition of design, and how in all its forms it can be deployed to advance impact.

SXSW Eco HIGHLIGHTS

• Place by Design Competition, the cornerstone of SXSW Eco’s design program, runs all three days and showcases 36 Finalists rethinking the way we use and interact with public space.

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I started my career in design in 1997 for frog, the iconic design firm known for their work with Apple. We had opened our first digital office the year before I started after acquiring Virtual Studios, a digital design company started by Collin Cole and Mark Rolston. frog was interested in adding digital interfaces to their products and Collin and Mark were local pioneers in that area.

At the time there were only seven user interface designers, technologists and artists that made up frog Austin. That was how small our digital practice was then.

Austin was still a very small town. Downtown was desolate. Our new frog office was at 8th and Congress. If you can believe it, the rent was 46 cents a square foot. The digital design community was just a handful of companies mostly producing CD-ROMS for trade shows.

Meanwhile a small event was percolating in Austin: the SXSW New Media Festival.

It started out very small and the event was more likely to be attended by people you would have never spoken to in high school, let alone the trend-setting entrepreneurs, designers and technologists you find there today.

When I first moved to Austin and asked a UX designer about the design community, I was surprised by his response: “There isn't really a community.” There are a lot of talented designers, and some great organizations, but not one community.

Design can be found in our living rooms, at the office, in our cities, and in our pockets; Innovation in design has radically changed the world we know. With this has come a shift in what society celebrates and what we value. Great design is redefining how we interact with our world.

There is much to gain when designers work hand-in-hand with other designers. Major cities like New York and Stockholm first popularized the design week concept, showing what can be accomplished when designers come together to explore the process, creation and practice of design. Meanwhile SXSW brings talent from all over the world to Austin, but who is featuring the amazing work that's happening here in our city?

There are so many talented design leaders, organizations and initiatives happening in Austin. The Design Institute of Health opened up alongside the new Medical School to reinvent the way we think about health care; the UT Center for Integrated Design is the first integrated design program at a major public university in the U.S.; IBM design re-created a design studio environment within a global enterprise; Argo Design is exploring the future of transportation; Michael Hsu Office of Architecture is reshaping Austin one building at a time.