Greg Van Alstyne, portrait
Service Director

Greg Van Alstyne is co-founder and service director of DesignJam. He also co-organizes, co-facilitates and manages DesignJam workshops and BigTent events. 

Greg is a designer, teacher, researcher and futurist with more than twenty-five years practice in strategic communications and experience design, creative concept development, visualization, art direction, branding, publication design, and design management. As Director of sLab (Strategic Innovation Lab at OCAD University, @ocadslab), Greg is responsible for developing, managing and implementing the lab's research program. His strengths include visual communication, presentation, facilitation, critique, and evaluation. Prior to his OCAD appointments Greg held positions in media, design and education settings including founder of the Department of New Media at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Creative Director at IconNicholson NY, and inaugural Director of the Institute without Boundaries (IwB).

Location: 
Toronto
Organizations: 
Affiliations: 
Director, Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab), Associate Professor, Faculty of Design

DesignJam "TrafficJam" is an all-day innovation jamboree – a curated open space guiding more than a hundred design leaders & design learners, sharing ideas, tools & perspectives, to better understand & address a complex problem. Nicknamed "TrafficJam," DesignJam Toronto gathers young leaders, mentors, teams and aspiring entrepreneurs to conceive innovative user experiences and activate ideas to improve mobility in the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area.

Design Jam 
 

The theme: “TrafficJam”: How can we improve mobility in our region?

Finding & meeting challenges & opportunities for improving traffic & transit in the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area (GTHA) through design thinking, innovation & entrepreneurship.

 

How can we improve mobility in our region?


Facilitators & Mentors

Our spotlight is slated to feature great people including:

  • Adam Lawrence, service innovation director & co-initiator of Global Sustainability Jam, GovJam & Service Jam, the world's biggest service design event
  • Jennifer Leonard, founder of Brand New Ways, IDEO alumna, co-author of Massive Change
  • Peter Stoyko, Industry Canada service designer whose work visually unpacks urban mobility
  • Matti Siemiatycki, U of T expert in transportation policy, infrastructure, and planning
  • Roger Keil, York University research chair whose work illuminates global suburbanization
     

Workshop choices include

Creating
Better Futures

Strategic foresight

Mapping Mobility
Visual thinking & visual production

Making Systems Human-Centred
Service design thinking

Designing Flourishing Business
Sustainable business architecture

 

Schedule

9–10:30 am  Welcome, Orientation, Lightning Talks
10:30–12 am Morning Workshops
12–1:30 pm Food, fuel, music
1:30–3 pm Afternoon Workshops
3:30–4:15 pm   Workshop Reports & design critique
4:15–5pm Expert feedback & panel

 


For more information please contact: designjam@ocadu.ca

 

Ontario Centres of Excellence logo   Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs logoMaRS logo

 

Organized by Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab) as part of OCAD University's Campus Linked Accelerator (CLA), DesignJam has support from OCE and ONE in partnership with MaRS and OCADU's Imagination Catalyst. We draw from methods and insights developed in OCADU's Strategic Foresight & Innovation (SFI) community, a unique graduate program creating new kind of designer: a strategist who sees the world from a human perspective and re-thinks what is possible; an innovator who imagines, plans and develops a better world.

DesignJam Waterloo Region – a day-long innovation jamboree – guided more than a hundred design leaders & design learners, sharing ideas, tools & perspectives, to better understand & address a complex problem.

 

Nicknamed “Food&HousingJam,” DesignJam Waterloo gathered young leaders, mentors, teams & aspiring entrepreneurs to conceive innovative user experiences & activate ideas to improve food & housing security in the Kitchener & Waterloo Region through design thinking, innovation & entrepreneurship.

Coverage

DesignJam LP : Visual Thinking, Visual Production with Greg Van Alstyne & Kelly Kornet

From napkin sketches and diagrams to photos, storyboards, and the all important slide deck, your visuals say a lot about you, your organization’s values, and how you communicate. Visual communications play a critical role in conceiving, developing and sharing innovative vision, whether we call it the big picture, the roadmap or the blueprint.

From napkin sketches and diagrams to photos, storyboards, and the all important slide deck, your visuals say a lot about you, your organization’s values, and how you communicate. In this practical workshop you’ll learn smart ways to work – with your eyes, your hands and your laptop – to improve and sharpen your ideas and your output.

From napkin sketches and diagrams to photos, storyboards, and the all important slide deck, your visuals say a lot about you, your organization’s values, and how you communicate. Visual communications play a critical role in conceiving, developing and sharing innovative vision, whether we call it the big picture, the roadmap or the blueprint.

The good news is that thinking in a visual way, and creating great visual materials, is teachable, learnable and easier now than ever before. In this practical workshop you’ll learn smart ways to work -- with your eyes, your hands and your laptop -- to improve and sharpen your ideas and your output.

Attendees in Visual Thinking, Visual Production event

Photo: Greg Van Alstyne

Our two-part approach coaches and connects visual thinking -- generating and discussing ideas -- and visual production -- expressing and communicating key points about your company’s products, services and value proposition. We’ll cover visual approaches to:

  • Generating and improving new ideas
  • Understanding people’s needs and wants
  • Choosing and using illustrations, photos & videos
  • Creating attractive and effective slide decks

 

Whether you’re creating a business, or making your business more creative, come and try your hand at doing it better with visuals. Attendees will gain practical tools & skills including:

  • Techniques for visually generating & refining ideas
  • Visual tools for evaluating alternative product & service choices
  • Ways of working with visual sources including Creative Commons
  • Processes and rules for creating better presentations

Requirements

  • Attendees are encouraged to bring material and ideas (product / service / value proposition / brand) they wish to advance
  • All paper and pens are provided
  • Slide design exercises require laptop with MS Powerpoint or equivalent software
  • Search exercises require device with Internet access (free wifi available) 
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