Projects or products that predominantly utilize design research and strategy. Examples include: brand strategies, product and project strategies, research methodologies such as surveys, interviews, studies, observations, varied research throughout projects, etc.
Nicolas leads projects at the intersection of innovation, branding and transformation, with deep expertise in both design and business strategy. Over the past 15 years, he has designed a wide range of products, services, and environments. At SYPartners, he’s helped IBM, AARP and Johnson & Johnson bring to life new visions for their businesses and brands; imagined customer experiences for Old Navy, Blue Shield, and Target; and designed exhibits for Nike and IBM. Nicolas served as creative director on IBM’s award-winning THINK exhibit, an immersive multimedia experience that commemorated the company’s centennial. The exhibit is now a permanent installation at Epcot.
Prior to joining SYPartners, Nicolas was a product designer in France, where he worked on innovation projects with Alstom, Coca-Cola, France Telecom, and Umae, a fair-trade company specializing in handicraft products. Nicolas holds an MFA in industrial design from ENSCI, and an MBA from ESSEC Business School.
Since 2013 Emanuela Frattini Magnusson is Global Head of Design of Bloomberg LP, a global data and news company headquartered in New York, where she is responsible for the design strategy of the company’s real estate portfolio consisting of more than 180 locations. Prior to joining Bloomberg she founded and led EFM Design, an international award-winning multidisciplinary practice that spans architecture, interiors, product design, brand development, and graphics.
In addition, she is founder and principal designer of Articolo, a collection of high-quality European-produced furniture, distributed exclusively through the company’s website and creative director of Spinneybeck Leather, producer of accessories and architectural products. Her Propeller Collection of tables for Knoll has been a bestseller since its introduction in 1994 and has won numerous awards, including the ,IDEA Award in Business Week and her collection of accessories is licensed exclusively to the Museum of Modern Art for sale and distribution in the United States.
She has served as a visiting faculty member at Parsons School of Design and Yale University School of Architecture. She began her professional career in Milan collaborating with her father, world-renowned architect Gianfranco Frattini. Her architectural and design work has been widely published, including articles inThe NewYorkTimes, Metropolis, ID Magazine, and Metropolitan Home and numerous books. She holds an MA in architecture from the Milan Polytechnic and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. A Registered Architect in the American Institute of Architects as well as the Ordine degli Architetti di Milano in Italy, she is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional.
For more than a decade, Eric has worked at the intersection of change management, brand strategy and marketing activation. Guided by the belief that individuals and institutions do their best work when aligned around ethical stories, Eric is committed to building brands and organizations that genuinely serve people. Among his most prominent clients are IBM, Alibaba, NVIDIA, Chanel, Cole Haan, BP and Target. Eric recently founded and leads the Designing Change practice at VSA Partners, where he and a team of business strategists, creatives and facilitators help transformation leaders in Fortune 1000 companies to design their futures.
Prior to his current role, Eric launched and led the Strategy Practice at VSA. To tackle the multifaceted challenges faced by multinational brands today, he built a team of strategists with expertise in branding, design thinking, technology, market and user research, and advertising. During this time, Eric also worked closely with his partners at VSA to transform the company’s New York office from a regional, boutique design firm into a full service branding and technology shop.
With a BA in Comparative Literature and Philosophy from NYU and an MA from the University of Chicago, Eric’s background in philosophy and literature form the foundation of his approach to problem solving and opportunity creation. An Entrepreneurship Coach at NYU’s Leslie eLab, Eric is also a guest lecturer in Design Thinking at NYU’s Stern School of Business.
Richard is a principal strategy director at frog with a focus on data, systems intelligence, innovation, and organizational change. In his role, he helps leaders explore the frontiers of human-centered approaches to intelligent systems. Richard has a long consulting background with innovation leaders like Doblin, Monitor, and SYPartners where he as worked on large scale foresight, innovation, and transformation programs across industries including healthcare, information technology, consumer products, urban systems, humanitarian affairs, international development, and national security. Richard in on the faculty at School of Visual Arts Products of Design Master’s program and has conducted projects throughout the world in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and the Middle East. Select clients include: BNY Mellon, IBM, Google, Microsoft, SK Telecom, The United Nations, and the US Department of Defense.