
Creative Capes
By Future London Academy

Creative CapesDec 03, 2023

John Maeda, Microsoft’s VP of Design And AI Shares His Leadership Secrets
How can creative leaders thrive? And how does AI come into play? John Maeda is here to answer your pressing questions.
In our first episode of Creative Legends, the series where we talk to creative industry icons, we interviewed Microsoft’s VP of Design and AI. He shared his lessons on how to be a great leader, become an excellent communicator and navigate design in the age of AI.
𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡
John Maeda is a world-renowned artist, computer scientist, educator and investor currently serving as VP of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft. John is a TED speaker, industry influencer and author of books The Laws of Simplicity, Creative Code, and Redesigning Leadership. He was called the “Steve Jobs of academia” by Forbes and named one of the "75 most influential people of the 21st century" by Esquire.
For more than a decade, John has worked to integrate technology, education and the arts into a 21st-century synthesis of creativity and innovation. He taught media arts and sciences at MIT for 12 years and served as the Associate Director of Research at MIT Media Lab.
He is the first-ever recipient of the White House’s National Design Award for algorithmically-generated visualisations informed by data and AI.
For more leadership insights check our Executive Programme For Design Leaders.
Learn more: https://fla.wiki/3R7M8Dr

R/GA's Global Chief Creative Officer on how to achieve a C-level design role
In our last episode of this Design Leadership series, we talked to Tiffany Rolfe, Mom & Global Chief Creative Officer at R/GA. Tiffany shared insights on how to stay relevant in an ever-changing industry, fight imposter syndrome, step out of your comfort zone, get to a C-level position as a Creative and the skills you need to become a successful Chief Creative Officer while also being a parent. Tiffany leads a team of over 200 cross-disciplinary designers, thinkers and makers that create work at the intersection of storytelling and technology. R/GA’s clients include Nike, Verizon, Samsung, Airbnb, Slack, ESPN, and Instagram.
For more leadership insights check our Executive Programme For Design Leaders. Learn more 👉 https://bit.ly/3wXJox1

How to Lead the Advertising Industry with Saatchi & Saatchi's Chief Creative Officer
In our fourth episode of Design Leadership webinars, we talked to Kate Stanners, Global Chairwoman & Global Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi. She has played a key role in the transformation of the agency post the acquisition of the digital agency Outside Line, successfully combining digital, social and design into the creative offering. She has won numerous awards for clients including Carlsberg, T-Mobile, Pampers, Holsten Pils, Lurpak, Nurofen and Cadbury. She is also part of the committee at the V&A museum and is President of D&AD.
Kate shared insights on being one of the first creative women in the Advertising Industry, her journey and tips for getting to the top, the importance of asking for help and coaching, and the skills you need to become a successful Chief Creative Officer and how to get there.
For more leadership insights check our Executive Programme For Design Leaders.
Learn more 👉 https://bit.ly/3wXJox1

Meta’s first Chief Creative Officer on what he learned from working with Barack Obama and on the connection between business and design.
In our third episode of our Design Leadership webinars, we talked to Josh W Higgins, VP, Executive Creative Director for Atlassian leading multi-disciplined Creative, Design, Ops and Production teams who work across all consumer touch points. Previously, Josh was the Global Chief Creative Officer for Reality Labs at Meta and Design Director for President Obama’s 2012 historic political campaign.
Josh shared insights on how design can change the world, how to create the role of CCO at global companies like Meta, how to implement users' feedback and how designers can learn about the influence of business has on their work.
For more leadership insights check out our Executive Programme For Design Leaders.
Learn more 👉 https://bit.ly/3wXJox1
Chapters
00:00 - Welcome to our Design Leadership webinar
02:00 - Josh X Barack Obama: Trust
06:14 - The Value of Design: Design can change the world
10:30 - Josh X Meta: Rebrand, Branding Marketing, Brand Book
15:30 - Dynamics of CCO + CMO: Does your business need both?
19:13 - From Exec Creative Director to First CCO of Meta
23:40 - Creating the role of CCO: How to talk to top management
28:22 - Meta - Oculus Quest: How Design changes Product/Brand Awareness

Global Chief Creative Officer at BCW Global on the main qualities of a design leader
In our second episode of Design Leadership webinars, we talked to the wonderful Fede Garcia, Global Chief Creative Officer at PR agency BCW Global. Fede shared insights on how to motivate teams to create bold ideas, what is the future of advertising, how cancel culture influenced creativity, what it means to be creative and what are the main qualities of a good leader.
For more leadership insights check our Executive Programme For Design Leaders. Learn more 👉 https://bit.ly/3wXJox1
Chapters
- Welcome to our Design Leadership webinar
- Social Media, Creativity and Impostor syndrome
- The infinite game
- Brand marketing: promoting yourself and the brand on Social media
- Creative career: from Creative Director to Chief Creative Officer
- What does a Chief Creative Officer do?
- How to build a creative culture, empower bold ideas and creativity
- How to prove the value of creativity and design, taking the risk
- Balancing high-quality work and mental health
- Self-awareness, happiness, and enjoying life / how to become happy in life
- Future of advertising: Transmedia storytelling
- Power of emotions in creativity
- Q&A - Qualities of a good leader
- What is the difference between being creative and being a creative
- Who can become a good leader?
- Creativity VS Business
- How to sell ideas and be a confident leader
- Being a quick learner and having the growth mindset
- Time management skills and workload prioritisation
- Is resilience important?
- Creating a vision

Chief Creative Officer at Mejuri on how to scale brands and design teams
In this interview, Justine Lançon, CCO at modern jewellery brand Mejuri, will share everything you need to know about being a Chief Creative Officer. What does it mean to be a creative leader? How Mejuri branding was created? What qualities and skills do you need to grow from the creative director to CCO? How to build and hire a design team?
For more leadership insights check our Executive Programme For Design Leaders at bauhaus.futurelondonacademy.co.uk

Business Psychologist Sinead Keenan on The Skills Future Business Leaders Need to Have
Our fourth guest in our Leadership Series was Sinead Keenan, Business Psychologist at SpencerStuart – a global leadership consultancy firm with 57 offices in over 30 countries. We discussed what are the future skills Business Leaders need to have. Sinead also gave advice on how to find your purpose and how to give and receive feedback.
Sinead will also be a teacher on our Executive Programme For Design Leaders. Learn more here

Asana On Creative Operations For Agencies
We were super inspired speaking to Ariel Ross, a creative operations expert with over 15 years in scaling agency processes. Her expertise lies in developing operational frameworks for creative agencies, making projects run smoothly and keeping teams happy. We chatted about what three qualities every great project manager should have. Also, the biggest mistake every company makes on creative operations that we can learn from. If you want to see their faces, check out this chat on our YouTube 📺
Ariel has also curated all her tools/frameworks into an online course – Creative Ops 👉 https://bit.ly/3gK3hBB

Ragged Edge On 14 Years of Growing from its Mistakes
We loved how honest Max Ottignon was in our chat. Max is the Co-founder of Ragged Edge – a fantastic London-based branding agency working with some of the fastest-growing startups such as Mindful Chef, Bulb, to name a few. We discussed mistakes Ragged Edge made throughout the 14 years it has been running. What makes its company culture so special, and what makes a bad haircut. For those who want to see their faces, you can watch this chat on our YouTube Channel 📺

Illo TV on Illustration in Branding and Picking the Right Business Partner
We were super inspired by our interview with Ilenia Notarangelo, Co-founder, CEO and Creative Director of Illo TV. The Turin-based creative agency specialises in Illustration and motion design and has created some remarkable work for the likes of Google, Airbnb and Samsung. We talked about how Ilenia started her career from a not-so-creative place. Also, the importance of picking the right business partner, and overcoming the psychological struggles of running your own company. For those who want to see their faces, you can watch this chat on our YouTube Channel 📺

Dixon Baxi on Starting and Running Your Own Branding Agency
We learnt so much speaking to Aporva Baxi, founder and ECD of branding agency, DixonBaxi. Aporva has an amazing career working as a creative director across the world and is now running the agency for more than 18 years. We chatted about what it was like to drop the career of a creative director in high demand to start your own agency. And how important it is to always stay creative. If you're a visual listener, watch this conversation on our YouTube Channel 📺

Steve ‘Buzz' Pearce on The Power of Design in Business
Our final guest in our Leadership Series was the legend that is Buzz Pearce, SVP of Design at checkout.com. Buzz has over 20 years of experience in the design industry, leading teams at Skyscanner, Skype, and Microsoft, to name a few. We discussed how to communicate the value of design to your leadership team. Also, he explained how to build a safe, company culture to give honest feedback.
Buzz will also be a teacher on our Executive Programme For Design Leaders. Learn more here

Lovework Studio on Why Ugly Logos are a Good Thing
Obsessed with branding? Then listen to these great tips from Campbell and Robyn Butler, Co-founders of Lovework Studio. Together they have worked with some of the best brand agencies around. From Wolff Olins, Design Studio, Dragon Rouge and many more. In our chat, they explained why ugly logos are a good thing, and how to present your ideas to clients in an unconventional way. If you're a visual listener, watch this on our YouTube Channel.
Campbell and Robyn also curated The Ultimate Course on Brand Design & Strategy, Branding Now. Learn more here.

Guy Duncan, CTO of Tide: How to Reduce Work Stress and Prioritise Your Time as a C-level Executive
The third guest in our Leadership Series was Guy Duncan, Chief Technology Officer at Tide – one of the fastest-growing FinTech companies in the UK. Guy has over 20 years of tech leadership, previously as a CTO of BMW and other large organisations like Valtech and PayU. Be prepared to get really practical insights on how to convince your leadership team to launch your idea, how to reduce your work stress and how to prioritise your time as a C-level executive.
Guy will also be a teacher on our Executive Programme For Design Leaders. Learn more here

Huge Inc. On Why Creative Leaders Make Great Business Leaders
In our second interview in our Leadership Series, we were joined by Fura Johannesdottir, Chief Design Officer of Huge Inc. Fura has over 20 years of experience in the industry, working for brilliant companies like R/GA, Publicis Sapient and loads more. We discussed her approach to design leadership and the best way of talking to business leaders about the power of design.
Fura will also be a teacher on our Executive Programme For Design Leaders. Learn more here

Zaha Hadid Architects on Bauhaus, Design Leadership and Why Creatives Should Question Everything
Our first guest in our new Leadership Series is Bidisha Sinha, Senior Associate at the legendary Zaha Hadid Architects. We chatted about the need for a new Bauhaus, what it was like to work with Architecture pioneer, Zaha Hadid, and the challenges and rewards of being a design leader.
Bidisha will also be a teacher on our Executive Programme For Design Leaders. Learn more here

Superframe on How to Use Trends and Foresight in your Business Strategy
We had a great chat with Sébastien Van Laere, Founder of Superframe – an agency using insight and foresight to develop brand-, innovation- and business strategy for some of the biggest global brands. We discussed why thinking about the future is important in our lives, some of his favourite trends of 2021 and whether Clubhouse is a trend or just a fad.
Sébastien also curated our Innovation Strategy Course – A practical course for Senior Strategists who want to level up their strategic thinking 👉

Reed Words on Copywriting, Tone of Voice and Branding with Words
In a Design Hotline edition of the Creative Capes Podcast, we sat down with Mike Reed and Sam Russell of Reed Words – chatting about all things brand language, played some quick-fire, brand writing games and answered our special guests' burning questions on brand writing and language. Mike and Sam are also curated our Building A Brand Language course – learn how to write for brands consistently and with impact 💥 more info here 👉 https://bit.ly/3jHJByN

Tendril On Building Creative Partnerships
On episode 16 of the Creative Capes Podcast, we had a great time speaking with Christopher Bahry, Co-founder and Creative Director of Tendril - a design-driven animation, VFX, and digital innovation studio with offices in Canada and Brazil. Christopher shares how important creative partnerships are in growing as a designer, human and a business. We also discuss his learnings from co-founding Tendril 10 years ago to now, as well as what's the next big thing in motion design. If you want to see Ekaterina's and Christopher's faces, head over to our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy
Christopher is also one of our industry experts on our Creative Business Masterclasses 👉 Learn how to run and scale your design business

Base Design On Taking Creative Risks
On episode 15 of the Creative Capes Podcast, we had so much fun speaking to Thierry Brunfaut, Founding Partner and Creative Director of Base Design - an international network of studios based in Brussels, New York, Geneva and Melbourne. Thierry shares how he set up Base Design 30 years ago - as well as the risks he took, and everything he learnt along the way. If you want to see Ekaterina's and Thierry's faces, head over to our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy.
Thierry is also one of our experts on our Creative Business Masterclasses 👉 Learn how to run and scale your design business

JKR On How To Create An Effective Brand Strategy
On episode 14 of the Creative Capes Podcast, we sat down with Sean Thomas, Executive Creative Director of JKR - a global creative agency that has been reigniting some of the world’s most well-known brands for over 30 years, from Budweiser, Burger King, Dunkin to Heinz, Snickers, The National Lottery and many others. In this conversation, Sean will share his thoughts on how to create an effective brand strategy as well as his learnings on winning and losing clients. If you want to see our faces, head over to our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy.

Dropbox On Authentic Leadership
On episode 13 of the Creative Capes Podcast, we had a blast speaking to Elizabeth Gilmore, Creative Director of the brand studio at Dropbox. We are certain you've all heard of Dropbox! Dropbox originally started as a files storage service and now is more of a smart workspace with products like Dropbox Paper that allow teams to collaborate on creative projects wherever they are. In today’s conversation, Liz will share her thoughts on how to build strong brands, increase conversions and why authentic leadership is important for any creative team. We hope you enjoy our chat and if you want to see Ekaterina's and Liz's faces and matching lipsticks, head over to our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy.

Mars Inc. on Scaling Design Thinking
We've got a special episode of Creative Capes Podcast 🎙 for anyone who is trying to scale Design Thinking in their organisation. We sat down with Nicole Licciardi – Global Design Thinking Senior Manager at Mars Inc 🍫 who is the driving force behind their User Centricity movement and, in our opinion, a superhuman. 🔥 We've been collaborating with Nicole for the past 2 years on building and scaling Design Thinking learning programmes across the globe and it's really amazing what she and her team managed to achieve.
In our chat with Nicole, we talked about how the movement started, the challenges at every step of building Design Thinking capacity in the organisation and how they overcame them and managed to scale the movement at Mars globally. We hope you enjoy our chat and if you want to see our faces, watch on our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy.

intO on De-Westernising Research
We sat down with Joanna Brassett, Founding Director of intO – an innovation consultancy that works across the world developing strategies for companies like Uber, Skyscanner and Nike. In this episode, Joanna explains what cultural context in research is and how it can help us understand socio-cultural trends that are relevant, that influence business in the future and improve user experiences. We hope you enjoy our chat and if you want to see our faces, watch on our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy.

Wolff Olins on Design Leadership and Dyslexia
We had a chat with Emma Barratt, Creative Director and Head of Design at Wolff Olins London. In this conversation, Emma spoke about design leadership and her journey of becoming a Creative Director in the most admired agency in the world. We also discussed the challenges of being in high positions and her personal battle with dyslexia. We hope you enjoy it and if you want to see Wolff Olins’s work and our faces – check out this interview on our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy.

Anyways Creative On How Collaboration Is Key
We sat down with Claire Campion, Senior Creative at Anyways Creative. In this conversation, Claire shares some amusing stories from her career, including how she messed up an interview at Anyways and still got hired. We also dive into how Anyways created an immersive experience for Sonos in New York while being in London, what creative process they have in the studio and why collaboration is a big part of everything they do. We hope you enjoy it and if you want to see Anyway’s work and our faces – check out this interview on our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy

BUCK On How To Learn Anything You Want
We sat down with Ben Langsfeld, Group Creative Director at BUCK. We chatted about how Buck created a very special culture that makes people leave their egos at the door, how to work on a project for 8 months and not to get bored, and how to learn anything you want. We hope you enjoy it and if you want to see Buck’s work and our faces – check out this interview on our Youtube Channel @futurelondonacademy

Wolff Olins Founder Michael Wolff Telling Stories
From how he got his first clients, the importance of branding, founding Wolff Olins and stories about his time in the army – British graphic design legend Michael Wolff reveals details about his past never heard before in this first episode of 'Michael Wolff Telling Stories'.

Jonny Burch on How To Progress In Your Design Career!
We visited the founder of Progression Jonny Burch to all talk about career progression and design. We spoke about how to find a founder with the same values as you, what skills you need to be a design manager and what Jonny wishes he knew about career progression before working at Deliveroo!

DeepMind - Design Functionality over Beauty
We sat down with Dem Gerolemou at DeepMind - an AI research company that joined Google in 2014. In 2016 Deepmind Health was launched to explore how advanced technologies can support clinicians in providing patients the care they need quickly and efficiently. We discussed ethics and empathy in relation to AI technology in healthcare, how Dem approaches his role as a User Interface Designer, and how much he benefitted from being a mentor.

Depop: Gen Z and Millennials – What's The Key Difference?
We sat down with Ilaria Squicciarini from Depop – a social marketplace where over 13M people go to buy, sell and discover unique items. Their mission is to empower fashion creatives, offering them with a platform that celebrates their individuality. We talked about changes in customers’ behaviour in the past years, how Gen Z use technology and how they create campaigns that go viral.

John Lewis On Innovation Catalysts, Alpha State & Change!
We sit down with Hilary Lovie, Commercial Innovation Manager at John Lewis & Partners. We talked about how to drive innovation within a big organisation, what role innovation catalysts play in this transformation and how to get your brain into the alpha state!

Service Design For Horses, Future Proofing Yourself and Making Up a Brief!
We sit down with Liz LeBlanc, Associate Head of Design at Livework, the oldest service design in the world. We talked about the service design process, how to manage a studio and how to future proof yourself.

Why Startups Fail, Hiring a COO & The Best Marketing Channels!
We sat down with Dharmesh Raithatha, Product Partner at Forward Partners and talked about how to acquire your first customers, hire people, go from Pre-Seed to Series A and how to test your MVP.