Creative Capes

Most founders wait for the right idea. Tessa Clarke spent years doing exactly that before realising she'd been looking for the wrong thing, she should have been looking for a problem she cared about. Since co-founding Olio in 2015 with Saasha Celestial-One, Tessa has grown the food sharing app to more than 10 million users and an estimated £1.1 billion in social impact, alongside a B2B arm tha...

Acts of kindness feel good, but they are rarely profitable. Ivo Gormley has spent nearly twenty years proving it's possible while creating an incredible community around helping people. We sat down with him to find out how. Since starting GoodGym in 2007 with a single newspaper run, Ivo has built it into a movement of 25,000+ volunteers across 60+ cities. He's been awarded an OBE and made...

How can design create impact at a systems level, across business, government and the planet? Cat Drew has spent a large part of her career answering exactly that question. Chief Design Officer at Design Council, the UK's design body, set up nearly 80 years ago to help rebuild the post-war economy. Cat works at the intersection of design, business, policy and sustainability. Cat is also faculty...

How design leaders build influence, navigate conflict, and lead across cultures. In this episode, Ekaterina sits down with Julia Whitney, executive coach and former General Manager and Executive Creative Director at the BBC, where she led a 150-person UX and design team. Julia spent over 20 years as a design leader across the UK and US before turning her experience into a coaching practice that he...

By 26, Ivy Ross had jewellery in the permanent collections of 12 international museums, including the Smithsonian and V&A. She went on to hold executive roles at Calvin Klein, Swatch, Mattel, Gap, and Disney before arriving at Google, where her hardware design team has since won over 240 global design awards and helped Fast Company name Google the most important design company in the world in...

How can designers reach the executive level, and what are their responsibilities and the impact they get to create? To find out, join our Design Executives Series with Tim Greenhalgh, Founder and Creative Director at Like a Moth and former Chief Creative Officer at Landor & Fitch, one of the most iconic creative agencies in the world. Tim is also faculty member of our Executive Programme for D...

How IDEO uses play to solve real business problems. In this interview, Ekaterina sits down with Michelle Lee, IDEO Partner and Executive Managing Director of IDEO San Francisco. Michelle Lee began her career as an aerospace engineer, working on satellites, wondering why it took so long to launch one. A friend's room full of toys changed everything. What followed was a winding path through the...

Nearly 30 years ago, James Hilton answered an ad in Creative Review, met a stranger named Ajaz Ahmed, and they signed Virgin as their first client. That was the beginning of AKQA. AKQA went on to win Grand Prix Cannes Lions, James was named the UK's number one digital creative director three times, and they were acquired by WPP for around $550 million. He also made the Creativity 50 alongside...

How Bompas & Parr built a creative agency that stands out. In this interview, Ekaterina sits down Sam Bompass. Nearly 20 years ago, Sam Bompas quit his job in property PR to make jelly. Since then, as co-founder of Bompas & Parr, Sam has cooked on molten lava, built a breathable cloud of gin and tonic, and founded the British Museum of Food. His studio works with governments, global brands...

With so many AI tools flying around, it’s easy for creative teams to feel overwhelmed. Which tools actually matter? And more importantly, what stays uniquely human in design leadership as technology evolves? In this episode of Design Leadership in the Boardroom,Ekaterina sits down with Cal Thompson, VP Design at Headspace and curator of Future London Academy’s Product Design Strategy course. Cal s...

With so many AI tools flying around, it feels overwhelming for any creative team to choose the ones that will make a difference.  This is why last week, we decided to have a conversation with Charles Migos, Chief Product Officer, Founder of Intangible.ai , Design Leaders faculty member and one of the most exciting voices in design today. He is a design executive who has spent 30 years building too...

What does it really take to protect creativity inside large organisations, and why do some CEOs champion design while others struggle to? In this episode of Design Leadership in the Boardroom, Jim Prior, former Global CEO at WPP and Chair at Design Bridge & Partners , Superunion shares 25 years of experience leading some of the world’s most influential creative companies. Hosted by Future Lond...

In the second episode of Design Leadership in the Boardroom , we’re joined by Christophe Egret — visionary architect, artist, and co-founder of Studio Egret West, to explore how creativity, spirituality, and leadership come together to shape cities and the people who build them. 🎙 Hosted by Future London Academy , this episode dives into architecture with soul , exploring what it means to build me...

Join us for the first episode of our Design Leadership in the Boardroom series, where we speak with executive leaders across architecture, product, AI, branding and psychology to unpack the strategies, practices and frameworks that help them succeed at the highest level. This time we’re joined by neurodiversity coach Emma Wee to learn how to create environments where neurodivergent talent thrives,...

Join us for the fifth episode of our Chief Design Officer Series, where we talk to Chief Design Officers from the most forward-thinking companies. This time, we are joined by Sean Carney, former CDO of Philips. At Philips, Sean led a team of 700+ designers and helped generate over $800 million in sales pull-through. Sean shared a powerful case study of how design contributed directly to business t...

Learn about our Design Leaders programme 👉 https://fla.wiki/4dm4cVcPatou Nuytemans, CEO EMEA of Ogilvy, one of the world's most iconic creative agencies. Discover how she went from being an "unlikely candidate" from Belgium and rose through the ranks by embracing diverse roles across three continents, pioneering digital transformation, and turning around challenging regions. In this...

Don Norman, the legendary designer who coined the term "User Experience" and served as Apple's VP, shares insights from his remarkable career. At 89, he reveals why most designers fail to reach the C-suite, how AI will reshape design (not replace it), and his mission to revolutionise design education. Grab a cup of tea and settle in, this conversation might change everything you do f...

Janaki Kumar is Chief Design Officer at JPMorgan Chase & Co., a thought leader, innovator, and author who was named a Women of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal in 2016. Janaki is a proven leader in building, coaching and inspiring high performance design teams, leveraging design-thinking, customer empathy, and co-innovation. She is the co-author of Gamification at Work – Design...

Jeri Ellsworth is an inventor, entrepreneur and founder of Tilt Five, the world’s first augmented reality gaming system. During our interview, she shared where her passion brought her to an amazing career plot twists: from building race cars and running computer stores to creating aerospace navigation systems and leading hardware innovation at Valve Corporation. When her first AR startup failed, a...

Chief Design Officer Series: Episode 2 Mark Kawano, Chief Design Officer at Zoom, shared his 25+ years of experience in companies like Apple, Slack, and Adobe and the importance of influencing Design beyond the design organisation. Join us for the third episode of our Chief Design Officer Series, where we talk to Chief Design Officers from the most forward-thinking companies.  https://fla.wiki/41f...

Chief Design Officer Series: Episode 2 Travis Isaacs, Chief Design Officer at Webex Collaboration at Cisco, shared his perspective on the unique superpowers designers can bring to the boardroom and the essential skills needed for success in executive roles. Join us for the second episode of our Chief Design Officer Series, where we talk to Chief Design Officers from the most forward-thinking compa...

Chief Design Officer Series: Episode 1 Claudia Abt, Chief Design Officer at citizenM hotels oversees design and space planning for new hotel developments. She shares her perspective on being a designer at the C-level, what she had to learn when she became a Chief Design Officer and what value she brings to the business through design. Join Future London Academy for the first episode of Chief Desig...

In our new interview, Stefan Sagmeister legendary designer, typographer and co-founder of Sagmeister & Walsh shares thoughts on the evolution of his career, design agencies and creative process. Watch the full interview to hear more about: 👉 Why scaling is not the best way 👉 What is the future of creative industry 👉 How to create purpose-driven work This episode is a must-watch for creative...

In this engaging conversation, Timothy Goodman shares his journey from working with top brands like Apple, Nike, Google, Samsung, MoMa, Netflix, YSL, Time, The New Yorker to his passion for public art, personal expression, and tackling societal issues through his work. Learn about his creative process, the balance between commercial and personal projects, and the challenges and risks he has faced...

Join us in a conversation with Veronica Fuerte, Creative Directress and Founder of Hey Studio, a Barcelona-based creative agency known for its colourful, playful geometric designs. Hey Studio worked with many clients worldwide, including Google and Apple. During our interview, Veronica shared insights from her 16-year leadership journey why it's important to hire a coach, keep your team small, and...