Duncan Anderson Design Lecture Series

Co-Founder & Creative Director at Hydrific

Thursday, January 29, 7:00pm

CSULB Duncan Anderson Online Zoom Event

Zoom: https://csulb.zoom.us/j/81904977088

Meeting ID: 819 0497 7088

Emilie Williams is an industrial designer based in New York City and co-founder and creative director of Hydrific, part of LIXIL. With a mission to enable the sustainable home of the future, Hydrific—the venture she helped co-found four years ago—recently launched its first water-conservation-focused smart home product, Droplet. 

With more than 20 years of consumer product design experience, Emilie has built an extensive portfolio spanning housewares, electronics, and plumbing products for top-tier brands. She holds more than 130 U.S. patents and has received dozens of international awards, including IDEA, Red Dot, iF, G’Mark Japan, German Design Award, GOOD Design, and others.

Studio MORMOR

Envisioning a Professional Design Career: From a 9 to 5 and Beyond

Thursday, February 05, 7:00pm

CSULB Department of Design, Duncan Anderson Gallery

As a graduate of the CSULB BA Design program, I have built a career in retail display and store design, working in-house for design-build agencies and contracting for companies such as Nike and Google. Entering the professional world can feel daunting, especially during turbulent economic times or for ambiverts like myself. In this talk, I share practical tips and strategies for navigating life after graduation and shaping a design career on your own terms. Whether pursuing a traditional 9-to-5 role or carving out a unique path through freelance and contract work, the world is your oyster. 

Megan Barrett is a Retail Experience Designer and Textile Artist with more than 12 years of experience across design-build agencies and in-house retail marketing teams at Nike and Google. Through 3D modeling and photorealistic renderings, she tells brand stories through retail displays and branded environments, including store designs and exhibits. Independently, her work has expanded to include design and marketing for real estate developers, styling and sourcing décor for staged home MLS listings, and co-owning a vintage retail business, Studio MORMOR, in Long Beach, California. 

Outside the built-design world, Megan’s love of textiles is expressed through knitwear design, a dedication to handcraft, and the exploration of materiality using sustainable, reclaimed, and recycled materials.

VIEWSDESIGN

Functionalism - Does it Work?

Thursday, February 12, 7:00pm

CSULB Department of Design, Duncan Anderson Gallery

As industrial design has evolved, its principles have expanded beyond utility, simplicity, and clarity toward a richer understanding of function—one that is alive with meaning and emotional resonance. This lecture explores that broader scope and illustrates how each product, depending on its character, calls for a unique balance of expressiveness and restraint. 

Wolfgang Joensson is a South African–born German industrial designer and educator who lives in Paris, France, and Corona del Mar, California. Throughout his career, he has worked with international clients ranging from small startups to industrial giants, creating award-winning product, graphic, interface, and package design that can be found in shops and museums worldwide. He is also the author of a book examining how good design helps products achieve iconic status. Outside of design, his passions include cocktails, cooking, culture, and conversation with clever people.

“If You Were a Brand”

Visual Storytelling Through Collage

Thursday, February 19, 7:00pm

CSULB Department of Design, Duncan Anderson Gallery

In this hands-on workshop, students will use collage to create a mood board that represents themselves as a brand. Through intuitive image-making, the workshop explores how identity, emotion, and narrative translate into visual language, building skills that directly apply to branding, creative direction, and storytelling in professional design practice. 

Aida Ohadi is a Spatial Experience Designer and multidisciplinary creative who designs immersive environments for exhibitions, branded experiences, and cultural events. A storyteller at heart, she focuses on translating ideas and brand narratives into emotionally resonant, multi-sensory spaces. 

Her practice spans experiential design, set and production design, and cultural programming, all in service of creating thoughtful, concept-driven experiences rooted in human connection. Aida holds a BA in Design from California State University, Long Beach, and an MS in Spatial Experience Design from ArtCenter College of Design. 

In addition to her professional work, she is a cultural curator and community event organizer through Art Is for Ordinary People (@art.is.ordinary), where she creates accessible art and design experiences that bring people together in unexpected ways. 

More of her work can be found at www.aidaohadi.com.

Nonfiction

Designing Between Earth and Space

Thursday, February 26, 7:00

Dare to imagine a future where we can hack our bodies, cure insomnia, provide energy for everyone, feed astronauts on their journey to Mars, and remove barriers so that all abilities are fully supported. By combining design, science, technology, art, and sustainable business models, we can begin shaping a better tomorrow both on Earth and beyond. This talk explores the power of unbound imagination and what it truly takes to turn science fiction into reality, leaving audiences inspired and hopeful for the future. 

Phnam Bagley is a French industrial designer, futurist, and aerospace architect known for her transformative contributions to design and innovation. As co-founder and creative director of Nonfiction, a design and innovation firm, she has dedicated her career to bringing science fiction concepts to life in service of a more sustainable and human-centered future. 

Born and raised in France, Phnam’s fascination with design and the cosmos led her to study industrial design at Strate and earn a Master’s degree in Space Architecture from the University of Houston’s Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture. Over a 20-year career, she has worked across sectors including wearables, biotechnology, healthcare, luxury goods, transportation, sports, and aerospace, holding key roles at IDEO, Lunar, Matter, and Lifestyledesign. 

In 2016, she co-founded Nonfiction to translate speculative ideas into real-world solutions, from neurotechnology wearables developed with UC Berkeley to improve sleep, to renewable energy systems for rural Africa, to humanoid robots for assisted living with Homy Robotics, to deep-space food systems and orbital habitats with Sierra Space. Her work exemplifies impact-driven innovation aligned with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and has contributed to more than $750 million in fundraising, sales, and acquisitions. 

Beyond her studio practice, Phnam is a passionate educator and advocate for democratizing design knowledge. She co-produces and co-hosts Future Future, an educational video series, and teaches industrial design at the California College of the Arts, where she mentors the next generation of designers. She speaks globally at events including TED, SXSW, and COP, sharing insights on space architecture, innovation, and human-centered design. 

She also serves as Chair of Design at OSMED, advancing the role of design in shaping an inclusive, human-centered future of space medicine and exploration. Through her multidisciplinary work, Phnam continues to inspire and lead, demonstrating that thoughtful, innovative design is essential to creating a better world for people and the planet.

SAA Interiors + Architecture

Thursday, March 12, 7:00pm

CSULB Department of Design, Duncan Anderson Gallery

As CEO and Founding Principal of SAA interiors + architecture, Nelson Algaze has been the driving force behind the firm’s evolution into a dynamic, multi-market practice recognized for simplifying complexity, delivering long-term value, and guiding clients through an ever-changing real estate landscape. Since founding SAA with Rick Shlemmer in 2000, Nelson has cultivated a culture of innovation, accountability, and client-focused collaboration, growing the company from a bold startup vision into a recognized leader in corporate interior design with offices throughout Southern California and New Jersey. 

SAA’s reputation as a trusted, results-driven partner is built on its integrated approach to architectural and design challenges and a consistent commitment to excellence in execution. A licensed architect with more than 30 years of industry experience, Nelson is deeply engaged in architectural leadership councils across Los Angeles and has spent the past two decades bridging the gap between architectural innovation and systemic inefficiency. His leadership reflects a steadfast commitment to authenticity and forward-thinking design.

Thursday, March 19 , 7:00pm

CSULB Department of Design, Duncan Anderson Gallery

Information TBA

Thursday, April 9 , 7:00pm

CSULB Department of Design, Duncan Anderson Gallery

Information TBA

CMF: The Essence of Design

Thursday, April 16, 7:00pm

CSULB Duncan Anderson Online Zoom Event

https://csulb.zoom.us/j/83392554271

Meeting ID: 833 9255 4271

CMF (Color, Material, and Finish) shapes how design is perceived, touched, and trusted. It is the layer where form becomes experience and intention becomes human. 

Chief CMF Designer and Head of Innovation with 18 years of professional experience across automotive and consumer product design. My work centers on CMF strategy, surface innovation, and sensory design, with a focus on how light behavior, materiality, and texture influence perception, user response, and brand meaning. 

With experience spanning North America, Europe, and Asia, I work at the intersection of design, engineering, and manufacturing, translating emerging materials and finishes into scalable, market-ready solutions. My work positions CMF as a strategic system, addressing sensory hierarchy and shaping the future of material innovation.

The Haptic 9 Co.

Finding Your Career Path

Thursday, April 30, 7:00pm

CSULB Department of Design, Duncan Anderson Gallery

Our world is overloaded with visual and audio data, yet we often neglect the sense that makes us most human: touch. Keith Kirkland shares his journey to build a world where designing for touch (haptics) is as accessible, affordable, and approachable as designing for sight and sound. His work spans guiding the visually impaired, making art more accessible, and digitizing the movement economy, offering a roadmap for how we can collectively design a future that allows us to embody data instead of simply displaying it. 

Keith Kirkland is a haptic designer, engineer, and founder of The H9 Co., a haptic design consultancy dedicated to creating products focused on haptics, accessibility, and movement learning. His career sits at a rare intersection of hard science and high fashion, supported by degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers University, Accessories Design from FIT, and Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. He previously co-founded WearWorks, where he led the creation of the Wayband, a haptic navigation device that enabled the first blind person to run the New York City Marathon without sighted assistance. 

Today, Keith is laying the foundation for the future of the haptics industry through his “9 Bridges” framework and is currently focused on M9 Assurance, an AI-driven infrastructure designed to solve the “2-Hour Problem” of administrative burnout in healthcare, helping clear the path for widespread adoption of haptic technologies. A sought-after TED speaker and educator, Keith served as the Leonard Pryor Fellow at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he curated the college’s first all-touch art exhibition and established an ongoing partnership between the Nelson-Atkins Museum and design students to make more art accessible through blind touch tours. He also publishes educational music under the ASCAP moniker “Keithius.”

Moose Toys

Thursday, May 7, 7:00pm

CSULB Duncan Anderson Gallery

My passion for design and a creative mindset led me to the Art Center College of Design, where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design. I began my career as an intern designing new toy concepts for Wild Planet Toys in San Francisco, consulted with LEGO on new toy ideas, designed motorcycles and ATVs for Honda Motor Company, and created footwear for automotive racing applications. 

Today, I concept, create, and execute some of the most popular toys, including the relaunch of the Erector Set. I blend creativity and innovative thinking into every product I oversee, ensuring the design language remains consistent with brand foundations and strategy. 

Knowing that my products help children develop skills such as problem-solving, understanding cause and effect, collaboration, conflict resolution, and sharing fuels my creative process. At the same time, helping companies achieve their strategic initiatives drives my business leadership approach. Outside of toy design, I enjoy traveling with my family on road trips and international adventures, as well as learning about and hunting for antiques.