Northwest Film Forum

Design’s origins lie in the mechanization of production a hundred years ago and the rise of consumer societies. Although the core of design, as it is taught and practiced, has remained much the same, each year we move away at a dizzying pace from being industrial societies based on manufacturing, toward knowledge societies based on information. 

Design is being reinvented around the world, and Seattle is one of the places that is at the center of this reinvention. In this presentation, Surya Vanka will describe how the design profession is transforming to remain relevant to the future.

• Please note this event is hosted at the Frye Art Museum, at 704 Terry Avenue. RSVP is required—reserve your seat online here >
  
  
• Don't miss our ByDesign closing night party: join us post-event for cocktails and conversation at the beautiful Fireside Room at the Sorrento Hotel (party begins at 8pm).

Surya Vanka is a designer, corporate leader, educator and author who has worked at the leading edge of designing physical and digital experiences for over twenty-five years. He has broad industry experience including most recently as director of user experience at Microsoft. Surya was a tenured professor of design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a fellow at the prestigious Center for Advanced Study. He is the author of two books on design, several publications, and has taught design in more than 20 countries. He is the winner of two Microsoft Engineering Best Practice Awards, a Microsoft Achievement Award, Accessibility Achievement Award, World Brand Congress Leadership Award and several industry recognitions. Surya is called upon as industry leader to review and accredit curricula in the United States and Europe, lead cross-company design initiatives and serves on the advisory board of the Design Management Institute. An exceptional speaker with a broad range of corporate and research experiences, Surya is frequently invited to keynote speeches at the most prestigious conferences, and has won top speaker awards three times. Surya’s work has appeared in numerous publications and news programs, including Form, I.D., Design Council, WIRED, Interactions, the BBC and National Public Radio. He regularly teaches courses on interaction design, user experience, product development and strategic innovation around the world. Surya was selected to chair the 50th Anniversary Conference of Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) in August 2015 in Seattle. The theme of the conference “The Future of the Future: The Next 50 Years,” with the bold ambition to convene 800 designers from around the world to spark the reinvention of design for 21st century.