Central District Design Conference 2018 | Schedule

FRIDAY, April 27

Canzani Building 

Workshop | SKETCHFIT   (Group A)                                                                      
SKETCHFIT is a dynamic, high energy, full-body sketch workout and fitness exercise that applies fundamental sketching techniques in a team-oriented setting. This exercise assists designers in rapid idea visualization, front-end problem solving and gets the creative engine rolling both inside and out.

Presenter: Deno Ellis, Evo Design

Workshop (Group B) | Lextant

Presenters: Susana LaLuz-Hawkins and Pily Támara

Workshop | SKETCHFIT   (Group B)
SKETCHFIT is a dynamic, high energy, full-body sketch workout and fitness exercise that applies fundamental sketching techniques in a team-oriented setting. This exercise assists designers in rapid idea visualization, front-end problem solving and gets the creative engine rolling both inside and out.

Presenter: Deno Ellis, Evo Design

Workshop (Group A) | Lextant

Presenters: Susana LaLuz-Hawkins and Pily Támara

Keynote Speaker | Contemporary Vehicle, System & Experience Design Challenges
Work done by human-machine interface (HMI) professionals, designers and user experience (UX) professionals in the Midwest, particularly Detroit, Chicago and Columbus, is charting the course of future products, services and systems in the automotive and mobility industries. The design strategies being conceptualized, modeled, tested and implemented cover a wide range of topics like next-generation component and interior design of all vehicle types, electrification, service integration, connectivity, digital strategy, driver assistance, smart systems, autonomy and more. These teams are also defining the path of process and mindset change as the auto industry adapts human-centered design principles and techniques. In his session, Parrish Hannah will provide an overview of the design challenges on the horizon and discuss the roles, expertise, tools, methods and techniques of automotive and mobility design practitioners using some real-world examples.

Speaker: Parrish Hannah, motiv

SATURDAY, April 28

In the Field

Lauren Purkhiser works as a design researcher at Priority Designs to transform business goals into strategic research plans to strengthen the design process with actionable insights. She gleams structure from qualitative chaos to shape meaningful insights and their application. Purkhiser looks to research methods to ground design work with relevance and bridge the gap between research and design processes. She has an insatiable thirst for knowledge that only feeds her curiosity and love of creative problem solving.

Speaker: Lauren Purkhiser, Priority Designs

Think Design | Change the Future

Designers have always been in the business of change, but our increasingly volatile and complex world demands that we view the concept of change through a new lens. We can no longer approach creativity and innovation from a linear, incremental or iterative prospective, but must instead harness and leverage a more provocative and transformative way of thinking and acting if humanity is to mature. In this presentation, participants will hear how the practice of Futures Thinking and Foresight will help today’s designers to imagine new categories, reframe systems of abstraction and discover emerging ontologies. As famed futurist Jim Dator is fond of saying, “Any useful idea about the future must appear to be ridiculous.”

Speaker: Frank Spencer, Kedge

The Tail Does Not Wag the Dog 

This presentation is an exploration of the creative industry and how "creatives" live within it. Leah McDougald will share her perspective on the power struggle between empathy and ego, the unnecessary stress it may cause and how collaboration is the lifeline to growth. 

Speaker: Leah McDougald, McDougald Research

Redefining Success
Emotional connections redefine what success really is. Cori Rowley, product designer and entrepreneur, opens our hearts and minds to a broader view of what success can look like. Detaching your achievements from only being tangible objects—and allowing them to be experiences—is a truly freeing journey.

Speaker: Cori Rowley, IDSA, Design Central 

A "Sense"ational Cooking Experience

Sight, smell, sound, touch and taste... all work together when preparing, cooking and serving a meal, and are arguably the most important tools in any chef's toolkit. However, for the blind and visually impaired, cooking without sight presents challenges which can't be solved by just checking in the back of the cookbook! Join in as we tell the story of how a group of CCAD students partnered up with FirstBuild and GE Appliances to tackle the complex problem of accessibility in the kitchen, whipping out a solution which provides a truly "Sense"ational cooking experience for the visually impaired! 

Speaker: Symon Harrah, IDSA, FirstBuild