We’re thrilled to introduce the jury of the 2022 Innovation by Design Awards. Innovation by Design honors creative design in business, and this year’s jurors hail from some of the world’s most prestigious design-led companies and institutions. Meet them below, and stay tuned as we add even more experts.
YooJung Ahn, head of design, Waymo
YooJung Ahn is the head of design at Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going. At Waymo, YooJung is responsible for the design and strategy for the Waymo Driver and related products, and for developing a consistent design language for the company. She joined Waymo in 2012 and led the design of its first autonomously driven car prototype, nicknamed Firefly, and since has led the design work for the Waymo Driver and its application across Waymo One and Waymo Via, for which she and her team have won a number of prestigious design awards.
Nathan Allen, head of global sustainability programs and partnerships, Google
Nathan Allen is the head of global sustainability programs and partnerships at Google. Over the past seven years since he joined the company, he has led a wide range of initiatives, including multiple interactive installations at Milan Design Week and Tokyo DesignArt as well as the design and build of the first Google Store in Manhattan (which received a LEED Platinum rating). He sits on the boards of the nonprofit organization BioDesign Challenge, the Advisory Board of Greenpixie, the Circular Design Council for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and chairs the LGBTQ+ Council for Google Hardware.
Donnel Baird is founder and CEO of BlocPower, a startup that helps electrify buildings across America.
Ti Chang is the co-founder and Chief Design Officer of CRAVE, a luxury vibrator company elevating pleasure through beauty and innovation. Chang leads the design vision for the company’s full line of products which have won international design awards –including Fast Company’s Innovation By Design award– and were among the first pleasure products to be adopted by mainstream retailers. She is best known for mainstreaming the category of pleasure jewelry with the introduction of the iconic Vesper necklace in 2014, one of the most celebrated and iconic products changing the conversation around pleasure. In 2020, she was featured in the award-winning documentary The Dilemma of Desire. Chang is a classically trained industrial designer with an M.A. in Design Products from the Royal College of Art in London and a B.S. in Industrial Design from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a champion of improving the inclusivity in the industrial design industry by playing a key part of establishing the Women in Design professional chapters of Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), and she now serves on the advisory board of CRAVE Foundation for Women.
Alastair Curtis, chief design officer, Logitech
Alastair Curtis is chief design officer at Logitech, where he is responsible for leading design across all of Logitech’s business teams and brands, rethinking and redesigning innovation for the company, and helping to establish and nurture a design-led culture. Alastair has an MA from the Royal College of Art and a BS from Brunel University. He is a founding member of the recently announced Design for Good, a consortium of some of the world’s most prominent design-led companies and institutions that is joining forces to combat the climate crisis.
Aleks Gryczon, design partner, Work & Co
Aleks Gryczon is a Design Partner at Work & Co, a global digital product agency. She has created award-winning digital experiences for clients including Apple, Airbnb, H&R Block, Etsy and breastcancer.org. Outside of Work & Co, Aleks has kick-started multiple non-profit initiatives, including “Many Thanks” a non-profit organization created to show gratitude to essential workers during the global pandemic.
Sagi Haviv, partner, Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv
Sagi Haviv is a partner and designer at Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, the firm responsible for many of the most famous logos of all time, including those for NBC, National Geographic, Showtime Networks, State Farm Insurance, Chase Bank, PBS, NYU, Conservation International, and many others. Most recently, the firm designed the logos for discovery+, Animal Planet, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, and the entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery.
David Murray, head of design, GoFundMe
David Murray currently leads the design group at GoFundMe. Before joining GoFundMe, David led design for the global product design consultancy WillowTree, where he partnered with clients including HBO, Pepsi, 21st Century Fox, Orange Theory Fitness, CBS Sports, and Regal Cinemas.
Emem Offong, UX Design Lead, J.P.Morgan Chase
Emem Offong is a UX Design Lead at J.P.Morgan Chase where she leads a team creating experiences that empower long-term financial planning. Her previous background in digital and editorial design includes stints at Mental Floss, Entertainment Weekly and New York Magazine. In addition to JPMC, she serves on the executive board of The Society of Publication Designers, a professional network of multi-disciplinary visual creatives.
Ben Ostrower, principal and creative director, Wide Eye
Ben Ostrower is an entrepreneur and creative director with over 20 years of experience in digital media. As Wide Eye’s principal and creative director, Ben works with clients to create memorable brands and visually tell clients’ stories. Ben has built a roster of hundreds of clients around the U.S. and abroad, including the Biden White House, the ACLU, March for Our Lives, the NAACP, and dozens of high-profile political figures including Stacey Abrams, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker. Ben has been interviewed as a brand expert by the Washington Post, CNN, Fast Company, and the BBC. Prior to founding Wide Eye in 2009, Ben was a producer of award-winning PBS documentaries and was a professional photographer.
Nichole Rouillac, founder and creative director, Level
Nichole Rouillac is the founder and creative director at Level, a West Coast, women-led industrial design consultancy. Her expertise lies in taking complex, innovative technologies and shaping them into products that foster emotional connections between consumers and brands. As a mother and female leader, Rouillac strives to bring balance to her own business and to the practice of industrial design at large. Her passion for creating an inclusive industry led her to serve as Chair of IDSA’s Women in Design SF for several years and to level’s involvement as a core member of the Diversity in Design Collaborative. Level was listed as #3 in FastCompany’s Most Innovative Design Companies of 2021, and Rouillac and level’s work has garnered wide recognition, including design awards such as IDEA Gold, Red Dot, iF and Spark Platinum. Before founding level, Rouillac was creative director at HTC, and led teams at One & Co. and NewDealDesign.
Whitney Rutter, CEO, Local Projects
Whitney Rutter is the CEO of Local Projects, the 2021 Fast Company Design Company of the Year, which also received Best Design in North America for its work with Greenwood Rising. Throughout Whitney’s career, she has been at the forefront of the intersection of art, culture, and technology, including projects with the world’s top museums. In addition to LP, she serves on the board of ArtTable, the foremost organization for advancing women in the visual arts.
Victoria Slaker, VP, industrial design, Ammunition
Victoria Slaker helped form Ammunition in 2007, and as a leader for the industrial design group, she has been instrumental in cultivating one of the industry’s most awarded product design teams. Working with a broad range of companies from nascent startups to global brands, Slaker focuses on creating beautiful, iconic products that build businesses and define categories. She has created brand-defining products for companies including Beats by Dre, Polaroid, Square, and Williams-Sonoma.
Yuri Suzuki is an artist, designer and electronic musician. He explores sound and visual language through artworks and projects that examine the relationship between people and their environments, questioning how both visual art and sound evolve to create personal experiences. Suzuki has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including at Tate Britain, V&A, the Barbican and MoMA New York. Central to Suzuki’s practice is collaboration – he has worked with various musicians including will.i.am and Jeff Mills, as well as commercial clients such as Google and Roland, creating music based products and digital experiences that explore the relationship between sound and technology. In 2018 Yuri was appointed as the latest partner at Pentagram London leading his team of designers, composers and developers, working with an international client base who are looking to push the boundaries of design, technology and sound crossing the field of low and high tech.
Stephanie Taylor, CEO, Building4Health
Dr. Stephanie Taylor, a graduate from Harvard Medical School, became alarmed about the possible role of the hospital building in new infections that her patients were getting. Realizing that she knew nothing about the design and management of buildings and mechanical systems, she eventually returned to school to obtain her master’s degree in Architecture and Engineering. Dr. Taylor, the CEO of Building4Health, Inc. now works as an international consultant and research leader to better understand how the design and operation all building types impact occupant health.
Richard The, cofounder, TheGreenEyl
Richard The (he/his) is a designer, artist, and educator. His work, ranging from graphic design to installations to user interfaces, investigates the aesthetic and cultural implications of an increasingly technology-driven society. He studied at the Berlin University of the Arts and the MIT Media Lab, and he has worked at Sagmeister Inc., led a design group at the Google Creative Lab, and is cofounder of the trans-disciplinary design studio TheGreenEyl. He is an assistant professor of art media and technology at Parsons School of Design. His work has been recognized by international design institutions such as D&AD, Art Directors Club New York, AIGA, Communication Arts, Type Director’s Club Tokyo and Ars Electronica, Linz, and he has taught at NYU ITP, School of Visual Arts and MIT School of Architecture.
Amy Thibodeau, chief design officer, Gusto
Amy Thibodeau is the chief design officer at Gusto, where she empowers designers, researchers, and content strategists who are working on products that connect companies with their employees in a more meaningful way. Previously, Thibodeau was a senior director of UX at Shopify, where she led a cross-functional team of over 130 people working on core business products. During her time at Shopify, she also led the launch of the Polaris design system, built the Platform UX team, founded the Design Ops practice, and held her first job leading the content strategy discipline. In earlier iterations of her life, she was one of the first members of Facebook’s now gigantic content strategy team.
Danielle Thompson, founder, Design Match
Danielle Thompson is a UI/UX product designer specializing in the fintech market. She has helped companies raise over $200 million in seed and VC funding, and she is now the founder of Design Match, a service connecting amazing design talent with ambitious startups all over the world.
Bob Weis, global Imagineering ambassador, Walt Disney Imagineering
Bob Weis is Global Imagineering Ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the team that creates, designs and develops Disney’s theme parks, attractions, resort hotels, cruise ships, and retail, dining and entertainment centers around the world. Bob’s role was originated by longtime Imagineering leader and Disney Legend Marty Sklar. Taking his inspiration from Marty, Bob leverages the deep legacy of Imagineering along with his personal experience to advocate for and mentor current Imagineers. He also works to ensure a steady pipeline of diverse future talent by forging strong relationships with universities and other organizations. Additionally, Bob focuses on finding new ways to leverage Imagineering’s rich culture of storytelling in media and publishing. Prior to this role, Bob served as president of Walt Disney Imagineering for more than five years. Most recently, he led teams tasked with exploring, developing and bringing to market groundbreaking new ideas that enhance and expand Disney’s global portfolio of experiences and products. In addition, Bob has led design and creative teams for high profile projects that include Shanghai Disney Resort and the extensive transformation of Disney California Adventure Park. Outside of Disney, Bob has collaborated with the Smithsonian and other prominent museums, and he serves on the advisory committee for the Walt Disney Family Museum and the board of trustees for the National Museum of the American Indian. His feature film and documentary projects have been shown on Lifetime and American public television. Bob is the recipient of multiple honors from the Themed Entertainment Association, including Best New Theme Park for Shanghai Disney Resort and the Buzz Price Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been awarded an honorary Ph.D. from Cal Poly School of Environmental Design, where he graduated with a degree in Architecture.
Heather Winkle, head of experience design, Capital One
Heather Winkle is a design leader dedicated to delivering human-centered experiences that engage customers, maximize business results, and drive meaningful progress in technology and humanity. As head of experience design at Capital One, Heather leads a team of more than 700 designers—including research, strategy, UX, UI, visual, motion, service, content, physical, voice, AI, ML, and accessibility—united in delivering products, services, and systems that are transforming how people experience banking, money, and Capital One itself. Prior to Capital One, Heather designed more than 50 first-of-their kind business and consumer products at companies including Apple, eBay, Yahoo, Adobe, Intuit, and Netscape. Heather holds a BFA in industrial design from Carnegie Mellon University and graduated with distinction from New York Institute of Technology with an MBA in leading innovation and organizational behavior.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
