How do you measure something as intangible—and essential—as imagination? This issue dives into the ROI of imagination, proposing how KPIs and OKRs might look for an “Applied Imagination Department.” It makes the case that imagination isn’t a personality trait or luxury — it is actually an evolutionary advantage for strategy, design, and innovation in an AI-accelerating world. (By “evolutionary advantage” I mean that it is what has gotten us out of (as well as into) tight spots throughout...

Julian Bleecker reflects on the art of making futures tangible through design artifacts — “functional fictions” that let organizations prototype possibility instead of merely predicting it. Drawing parallels between his analog cycling computer at OMATA and Bill Bowerman’s 1967 book *Jogging*, he shows how artifacts can manifest imagined worlds into being. These objects are not finished products, but fragments of alternate presents — rough, conversational probes that help teams learn, adapt, and navigate shifting technological terrain. In an...

Julian Bleecker examines how dystopian science fiction, once meant as warning, has become an inadvertent design manual. From *Star Wars* aesthetics to *Minority Report* interfaces, he observes how the seductive visual grammar of control and spectacle often overshadows the cautionary moral. The essay asks what happens when we stop heeding dystopia’s warning and instead start reproducing it — and how we might shift toward designing futures that invite optimism, not fear. Bleecker proposes that stories of possibility need...

The latest Near Future Laboratory newsletter shares updates on upcoming events, including their workshop at the AIGA 2025 Conference and a rebroadcast of their podcast episode featuring Kirby Ferguson discussing his new project, Infinite Remix.

The future is not a forecast, but a bargaining chip to negotiate the kind of world we're willing to fight for, or against. However, our collective imagination has stalled in a cul-de-sac of recycled aesthetics, making it more important than ever to imagine alternative futures.

As part of the A.I. + Designed Fictions Research Studio, I've been exploring the concept of morning pages and daily writing rituals in an era of AI. This led me to create Vibewriter, a tool that combines generative writing with ludic exercises, allowing users to write under pressure from AI-generated prompts.