Modify Vancouver, hosted by the Vancouver Design Nerds, will introduce participants to Design Fiction through the research of guest speaker Ian Wojtowicz.

This workshop will spark creativity, collaboration and a method for generating conceptual ideas as they pertain to local issues around Vancouver’s mobility and public space.

Participants will work in small groups to put theory into action, re-imagining a Vancouver without any limits. Designers use the practice of Design Fiction to propose and provoke discussion about what is and what could be, to produce projects that sit between the plausible and imaginary. This is a unique technique that takes a speculative approach to creative work; think science fiction for the present! Join the Design Nerds and use your creative imagination to design near future realities around such areas as public transportation and public space.

This workshop session is one in a series of four Design Sundays, and can be experienced as such or as a standalone event.

Workshop Leaders

Jesi Carson is inspired by compelling stories, engaging spaces and discovering cultures through travel. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree of Interaction Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, where she undertook interactive systems design and sustainability studies in addition to human centered design and research. Jesi co-founded Basic Design, a social enterprise with a passion for upcycling, and sits as Board Chair of Cultivate Projects, a non-profit focused on building collaborative food gardens. As a new Project Lead and member of the steering committee for the Vancouver Design Nerds, Jesi strongly believes in the power of design as a tool for activism.

Sarah Hay holds a Bachelors of Industrial Design from Carleton University and a Masters of Applied Arts in Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Armed with these and 10 years of experience in the sustainability and design space, she runs a little studio affectionately named Slow & Steady Design. Her clients/collaborators are more often than not ambitiously involved in protecting and restoring our creative, environmental and local economies. Sarah has been involved with the Vancouver Design Nerds since arriving in Vancouver in 2004, which is kind of crazy and a testament to her inherent nerdiness and desire to collaborate with others. She lives on a boat with her family in a cooperatively owned marina in South False Creek.

Theunis Snyman is an aspiring social entrepreneur working his way to not working at all, but doing what he loves. As co-founder of Basic Design and Vancouver Trash Lab, and Project Lead for the Vancouver Design Nerds, Theunis strives to be socially conscious while practicing good design and having fun. Theunis holds a Bachelor's Degree of Industrial Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. His creative strength lies in his ability to make and prototype using unconventional materials. An avid dumpster diver, Theunis is not afraid to take risks and fail often on the path to the right design solution, and he believes that good design should have a purpose.

Ian Wojtowicz is an artist and researcher working in new media. His projects have exhibited internationally at venues including ISEA, the Carnegie Museum of Art, The New School, California College of the Arts and Harvard University. He graduated from MIT in 2011 with a Masters in Art, Culture and Technology where he received an MIT Fellowship Award. He has contributed to projects nominated for Genie, Emmy and Webby Awards, as well as featured in Wired Magazine, a TED talk and a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign. Ian was also the Founding Editor of one of the first cultural magazines published online and has taught at Emily Carr University.