Side Projects

One of the best ways through it all

I've hosted..let's see..I think 3 or 4 episodes of this new style of Office Hours where folks sign up to share a Side Project.
Episode N°264 was slamming.
Anushka shared this awesome project her and friends did at Design Science Lab where they made these speculative artifacts as like..little corner store trinkets.
Brilliant. And by that I mean Super Fun.
Fits right in line with the post the other day about instrumental value of The Absurd.
You have to check the episode out. I've started putting them online.
Do you have something to share?
Sign up for this Friday's Office Hours - June 27th at 0900UTC-0700!
(But please only sign up if you can make it — 09:00UTC-0700, that's California Time)
Or, RSVP to attend!

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Free Design Futures Workshop

The LA Design Festival Starts Tomorrow!

Join me on Saturday June 28st at 3:00PM at the 2025 LA Design Festival for a hands-on introduction to futuring through Design Fiction.
Location: B1 100 - BRIGHT FUTURES WORKSHOP at ROW DTLA
(That's Downtown Los Angeles, just to be clear..we call it DTLA to be on-brand.)
Sign up to attend the 90 minute workshop.
In this compact workshop, we'll explore how to prototype possible futures using artifacts rather than predictions. We'll step beyond traditional storytelling to create tangible glimpses into what could be — using props, products, and everyday ephemera from worlds just around the corner.

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A Speculative AI Future

Analysis of trends — in a newspaper from a possible future

There are a ton of new people here, so it might be worth explaining what I do here.
You know how some strategic foresight or futuring firms will gather research, analyze trends, and then publish a dense report to inform decision-making?
Well, I do that too..but I take it a step further.
I create tangible, evocative artifacts that embody those insights. Instead of just reading a report, you experience a piece of the future. Like this newspaper that's come straight back to us from an AI-saturated world. It's not just imagined, but materialized. It's a slice of evidence from a possible future you can hold in your hands.
This method? Design Fiction?
It works. It sparks richer conversations, clearer alignment, and more actionable strategies. These artifacts help organizations explore implications, tensions, and opportunities. And it does so viscerally, tangibly, not abstractly. You feel into possibilities in a way that has a rich, memetic quality.
If you're curious, grab a copy of the newspaper.
If you're working through big questions about the future and need a creative partner, let's talk.

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Dissonance Induced Cognitive Distortion

A New Design Fiction Dispatch from The Future

Speaking of Newspapers from an AI Future, this item appears — a pharmacological intervention to mitigate the thing many of us are probably feeling.
An artifact that implies mental health challenges introduced by AI, and the potential need for interventions in an increasingly AI-driven world.
Of course, and to be clear, 'Dissonance Induced Cognitive Distortion' is a Design Fiction artifact meant to make implications, insights, ponderings, and the themes of things like a New Yorker essay into a curious, creative frame.
It is not in the DSM-IV..yet.
You can see the growing list of Design Fiction Dispatches from The Future over on the site.

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