Principal, DesignIntelligence
Bob Fisher has spent his entire career either practicing or serving various disciplines of design. He brings more than 20 years of strategic foresight, business, branding, communications and marketing experience to DesignIntelligence and DI Strategic Advisors, where he helps professional design practices and educational institutions succeed.
Previously, he served in a strategic communications role in the education sector and was a founding partner at Studio Tandem, and as art director at Cartoon Network, where he helped develop the network and show brands in both business-to-business and consumer products contexts.
Design in Flux: Emerging Risks and Opportunities in Practice and Education
Design thinking got a big push with the publication of Tom Kelley’s book, The Art of Innovation, in 2001, and the establishment of Stanford Univeristy’s d.school a few years later. Since that time, design has continued to capture the imagination of people outside the disciplines: from business leaders to everyday consumers.
The growth in awareness and demand has come with consequences: both positive and unintended. The design professions and academia are faced with an increasingly complex environment in which to practice and teach. From changing consumer demands to technology to new types of competition—designers and design educators are faced with challenges, risks and unprecedented opportunities.
In this session, Bob Fisher of DesignIntelligence brings a cross-industry, cross-disciplinary view of how design thinking’s impact on business, education and the professions continues to evolve; the potential threats to traditional design education models; and ways in which some design educators are leading innovation.
