Lecture, Exposing the Magic of Design - May 10th, 2011, 6:00pm to 7:30pm

The process of design appears magical, as designers are able to connect disparate ideas in order to create new and exciting innovations. But design isn't magic - it's a rigorous and methodical process; design synthesis, the act of translation, can be taught and learned. In this talk, Jon Kolko will present the theory, methods, and techniques of design synthesis in an easy to understand format. He'll describe why synthesis works, and provide examples to illustrate the power of a rigorous design process. 

Lecture location:  This Lecture will be held at the Unviersity of Toronto.  

University of Toronto
Claude T. Bissell Building, Room 205 
140 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G6 
CA

Workshop, Methods of Design Sythesis - May 11th, 2011, 10:00am to 3:00pm

In this hands-on workshop, Jon Kolko will teach attendees how to translate research data into compelling and innovative design ideas. Attendees will learn various synthesis methods, such as Reframing and Insight Combination, and will try these methods in a supporting and collaborative environment. This workshop will expand on ideas from Jon's new book Exposing the Magic of Design: A Practitioner's Guide to the Methods and Theory of Synthesis, published by Oxford University Press earlier this year.

Workshop Location: Torch Innovation

376 Bathurst
Second Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5T 2S6

About our Speaker

Jon Kolko is the Executive Director of Design Strategy at Thinktiv, a venture accelerator in Austin, Texas. Jon is also the Founder and Director of Austin Center for Design, an educational institution teaching interaction design and social entrepreneurship. He has worked extensively in the professional world of interaction design, solving the problems of Fortune 500 clients. His work has extended into the genres of consumer electronics, mobile, web, supply chain management, demand planning, and customer-relationship management, and he has worked with clients such as AT&T, HP, Nielsen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ford, IBM, Palm and other leaders of the Global 2000.

Prior to joining Thinktiv, Jon has held positions of Principal Designer and Associate Creative Director at frog design, a global innovation firm. He was also a Professor of Interaction and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he was instrumental in shaping the Interaction and Industrial Design undergraduate and graduate programs. Jon has also held the role of Director for the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), and Editor-in-Chief of interactions magazine, published by the ACM.

Unfinished Business Series

Unfinished Business Events are monthly lectures and workshops co-organized  and designed by Torch Innovation, Normative Design, and Strategic Innovation Lab at OCAD. The lectures share perspectives on creativity, design and innovation and the accompanying workshops provide attendees with practical skills that they can use in their teams and organizations.