Birmingham Design Festival: My talk on empathy & design (and why soft skills aren't soft!)

I was deslighted to be asked to take part in Birmingham Design Festival this month and deliver a talk about the power of empathy for having greater impact with creative work. I wanted to challenge the notion that soft skills are soft and give practical ways to implement empathy when taking on design projects.

Click on the video below to listen to the full talk (minus the audience!).

The whole festival was incredible and I left feeling inspired by the designers who shared insight into their work, ethos and processes. There was a mix of talks and workshops throughout the weekend so there was plently to get your teeth stuck into. If you want to keep an eye on future events put on by Birmingham Design Festival, take a look at their site. https://birminghamdesignfestival.org.uk/

I was hugely inspired by the ethos of a lot of designers, in particular Jack Renwick (who gave a very honest and funny talk about her life and work), Marina Willer (Pentagram partner who spoke about her processes and personal projects), Jim Sutherland (because, ideas!) and Aaron Draplin who is full of character and injects so much fun into his work and life. It was also great to hear from my good friend Rich Wells who helps to run Printed By Us which helps vulnerable people through screen printing workshops. 

Photos of my talk by the fabulous http://richwells.me