Writing a memoir at the same time as developing materials for a new course in design leadership has taken what is typically a mundane task for me – introducing myself to my students – in a surprising direction. I needed to practice what I preach; – design and story-telling go hand in hand. I needed to tell them my story – an authentic account of why I got into design, and how I landed up teach a course about design leadership.
Both design and story-telling contribute to the way in which we make the world of our daily experience, by making things up. Both require setting a distinct frame and sending a character, the hero of a journey through the turgid waters of life, to face a challenge that can only be overcome with a creative narrative, and emerging tranformed and better for the ordeal.
The presentation deck for my introductory lecture is attached HERE.
Text in the small light font is designed to carry the story to the extent that the images don’t and can’t. I have kept it to a minimum.
Many of the slides contain photographs that I have taken over the past 45 years. I have always expected that I might show them one day. I never thought that it would be like this.