2018 AIGA Design Educator's Conference

San Luis Obispo, California

July 21st—July 22nd

Sponsored by

A journey takes many paths.

Design Thinking is a process for activating change. Creative thinkers in numerous disciplines are realizing the power of this and designers have the tools to be leaders in discussions about civic engagement, social justice and ecological advocacy. Leading these efforts, designers are not only empowered with an understanding and agility to use the design process, but we also recognize that transformative designs, at a wide range of scales, require team effort. In addition to double blind peer-reviewed paper presentations, the conference will offer workshops on facilitation, design leadership, collaboration, and civic engagement.

This conference differs from previous AIGA Educators conferences as it is exploring the interdisciplinarity of design as it relates to education and other disciplines, as well as topics using design-thinking to fuel institutional and social/environmental change. We envision this conference to address how to teach design thinking and collaboration to serve change in our current political and social environment with an emphasis on workshops and collaborations.

Meet the planning team

A state-of-the-art venue.

The conference will take place at the San Luis Obispo Performing Arts Center, a modern performance facility located on the beautiful Central Coast of California at the campus of California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). Open since September of 1996, the Performing Arts Center incorporates two main venues: the Christopher Cohan Center, including the majestic 1,286-seat Sidney Harman Hall, the 180-seat classroom Philips Hall, and the multi-purpose Pavilion that holds various capacities up to 400 people; and the 498-seat Alex & Faye Spanos Theatre.

PAC Harman Hall PAC Dressing Room

Talented speakers and workshop leaders.

Changing Directions™ will feature a diverse lineup of voices ranging from industry gurus with years of accumulated wisdom to rising professionals who are challenging convention. They share a common disdain for what is comfortable, status quo, and safe. They were not afraid to take a different route on their journey through design philosophy, and in doing so, have earned success and recognition for their breakthrough work. Each speaker and workshop leader has one main goal: to reveal to you a path that you never thought existed.

Day One: July 21st

Time Event Leader
7:00AM—8:30AM Madonna Inn Mornng Hike ––
8:00AM—10:00AM Registration ––
10:00AM—10:20AM Welcome Speech ––
10:30AM—11:00AM Design for a Massive Change Bruce Mau
11:05AM—12:00PM Teaching Co-Creation as a Design Tool Vitor Lourenco
12:00PM—1:50PM Lunch Break ––
2:00PM—2:55PM (Re) Think Design Thinking Patrick Jouin
3:00PM—3:40PM Facilitating Interdisciplinary Design Teams Campana Brothers
3:45PM—4:15PM Afternoon Session Break ––
4:20PM—5:00PM Unpacking Collaboration Elliot Jay Stocks
5:00PM—7:00PM Chamisal Vineyards Wine Tasting ––
8:00PM—12:00AM After Party at the Madonna Inn ––

Day Two: July 22nd

Time Event Speaker
9:00AM—10:00AM Registration ––
10:00AM—10:20AM Welcome Speech ––
10:30AM—11:00AM Design Thinking to Ignite Change Paula Scher
11:00AM—11:25AM Morning Break ––
11:30AM—12:00PM Education and Creativity Isaac Mizrahi
12:00PM—1:30PM Lunch Break ––
1:35PM—2:55PM Design Leadership Emily Pilloton
3:00PM—3:40PM Civic Engagement, Social Justice, and Eco Advocacy Tim Brown
3:45PM—4:15PM Afternoon Session Break ––
4:20PM—5:00PM Design with No Discipline Ron Arad
5:00PM—5:30PM Incorporating Design Across the Disciplines Phillippe Starck

See What others are saying.

Learn More about the host organizations.

Questions? Send us an email to Hello@changingdirections.com

Convinced?

View ticket pricing below and register today!

Ticket Type Members Price ($USD) Non-Members Price ($USD)
All Access Pass 750.00 1000.00
Day One (Workshop) Pass 350.00 500.00
Single Workshop Pass 75.00 150.00
Day Two (Conference) Pass 500.00 750.00
Single Presentation Pass 100.00 200.00
Student Conference Pass 250.00 250.00

Early bird specials—Must register before March 15th, 2017

Ticket Type Members Price ($USD)
All Access Pass 500.00
Day One (Workshop) Pass 250.00
Single Workshop Pass 75.00
Day Two (Conference) Pass 350.00
Single Presentation Pass 100.00
Student Conference Pass 100.00

See you in:

Thank you to our sponsors: