NeoConversations

What becomes more valuable when producing design becomes easier? AJ Paron speaks with Julie Maggos, Senior Director of Experiential Design at IA and co-leader of the firm’s AI research, about reframing the role of designers in the age of artificial intelligence. Drawing on a deeply personal lesson in reframing, Julie explores why judgment, intention, critique, and meaning may matter more as AI-generated output becomes abundant. They also examine how firms can preserve mentorship for younger designers, use AI as a creative sparring partner rather than a shortcut, and keep human experience at the center of the design process.This season of NeoConversations is proudly sponsored by IDCEC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As sustainability becomes a defining challenge for the architecture and design industry, designers are being asked to think beyond aesthetics and performance to consider the lasting implications of every material, every specification, and every decision.Host Nubia Henderson is joined by Jonce Walker and Katia Lucuy of Beyond at HLW to explore embodied carbon, material transparency, circularity, and the growing responsibility designers have to shape healthier buildings and a healthier planet.Together, they challenge common misconceptions about sustainable design and explore why accountability, curiosity and informed decision making may be the most important design tool of all.Find out more: gobeyondwithus.com/projects/grant-thornton  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of NeoConversations, host Nubia Henderson sits down with polymath David Shing, known as Shingy, for a conversation on what it means to design for creativity in a culture shaped by constant consumption.Recorded during NeoCon, the conversation explores how workplaces, learning environments, and digital spaces can better support active creation, human connection, and more expansive ways of thinking. From tactile tools like doodling and LEGO’s to post-COVID workplace expectations, Shingy challenges us to rethink the environments we build and ask whether they truly help people create, collaborate, and bring their full selves to work.This episode was recorded in the NeoCon Podcast Lounge Powered by SURROUND. Thank you to our Lounge sponsor, Unika Vaev, and partners: B+N, DARRAN, Framery, Momentum, and UpSpring.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of NeoConversations, host Nubia Henderson sits down with futures designer, author and Royal Designer of Industry Nick Foster RDI to explore how designers can navigate a world increasingly shaped by AI, automation and rapid technological change.Drawing from his book Could, Should, Might, Don’t: How We Think About the Future, Foster reflects on the cultural, ethical, and deeply human dimensions of design. From his work leading speculative projects at Google X to his belief in what he calls “the future mundane,” the conversation examines how design moves beyond artifacts and outputs to focus on process, responsibility, and the ways people experience technology in everyday life.Together, they discuss the evolving role of craft in the age of AI, the tension between what technology can do versus what it should do, and why the future must remain grounded in humanity, reflection, and care. The episode also explores mentorship, representation, and Foster’s perspective on using design to open pathways for the next generation of creative thinkers.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What happens when curation becomes the point of view?On this episode of NeoConversations, host Nubia Henderson sits down with Chris Force of SixtySix Magazine to discuss Paved States, the exhibition presented with Haworth and co-curated alongside Patricia Urquiola. Together, they explore the evolving relationship between design, culture, publishing, and experimentation through the lens of emerging designers working beyond traditional industry constraints. The conversation also examines how blurred boundaries between living and working are influencing new approaches to materials, storytelling and creative practice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.