Adrian Westaway Co-founder & Director of Technology and Magic at Special Projects Adrian is an inventor, engineer and experience designer on a mission to make the human-technology interaction meaningful and delightful. As co-founder of Special Projects he harnesses technology, inclusive research and magic thinking to devise design propositions that feel familiar yet wondrous. A self-taught magician since the age of 11 and full member of the Magic Circle, he relentlessly pursues his conviction that “designers should use magic thinking and try to introduce surprise, delight and fuzzy feeling in the things they create.” After becoming the first ever James Dyson Fellow in 2007, and a Fellow of the Royal Commission of 1851, in 2010, for his work on interactive lighting systems, Adrian built a playground in Peru, had whisky with Derren Brown as a student in Bristol, and tried to make his teachers disappear. His contagious passion for magic and engineering made him a beloved tutor and lecturer in Design & Innovation at Queen Mary University and the Royal College of Art, in London and a visiting faculty member at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. There he teaches ‘Magic and Design’, a nomadic workshop where students are introduced to methods of using design and technology to create enchanted products and experiences.

Julien Renault grew up outside of Paris and attended design schools both in France (Reims School of Art and Design) and in Switzerland (ECAL). Two different cultures and approaches to design which have partly shaped Renault’s own way of addressing his work. On one hand artistic, free and personal, on the other hand systemic, objective and rational. Renault uses both pragmatism and intuition when he dives into a new project, creating a dialogue between sense and sensibility. Settled in Belgium, Renault’s studio is steadily growing thanks to long-term collaborations with brands such as Cruso, Hay, Hem, Kewlox, Massproductions, Stattmann …

Martín Azambuja is an independent graphic designer and illustrator.

Martin is an art director, designer and photographer. He is also an academic and teaches at Central Saint Martins, School of Fashion and at the University of Brighton. He resides in South London where he runs his creative studio Andersen M. His film work has won many international awards and both his design and photography has been exhibited internationally.

Megan Bowker is creative person practicing design in the world. She is well-versed in creating ideas and systems at scale and finds meaning in using this skill to advance people and ideas that she believes in. She is always looking for thoughtful, inspiring people, driven by integrity to collaborate with. Please say hi.