It is with much gratitude and admiration that we celebrate the jury alumni members of the Core77 Design Awards.
Originally from Chicago, Indya McGuffin is a designer, storyteller, and creative strategist currently based in Oakland, California. Indya has dedicated her career to empowering Black creatives, entrepreneurs, and those envisioning more equitable futures through design.
Inspired by her self-designed major at Stanford University, she co-founded PURSUIT Design, a studio that leveraged visual storytelling and creative strategy to help people understand themselves and others. Indya has since returned to Stanford to teach "Print on Purpose," a design course investigating how social justice is imprinted in our local, national, and global consciousness.
In her current role as a Design Operations Lead at Netflix, Indya works with the Design Systems team, ensuring that their work effectively supports the company's creative vision.
When Indya isn't designing, she is competing with her friends to spot music samples, attempting to replicate her mom's recipes, and exploring the spaces around her on foot.
David McKendrick is an British art director and graphic designer. In 2014 he founded B.A.M. with business partner and fellow art director Lee Belcher. B.A.M. is a london based creative agency specialising in art direction, design, publishing and branding.
Formerly creative director at British Esquire. Mckendrick graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2000 and began his career as a Designer at Graphic Thought Facility, one of the most innovative design companies in London. The group produced work for The Tate Gallery, Booth-Clibborn Editions, the Design Museum, the V&A and Habitat, among others.
Previously, McKendrick worked as Art Editor of the Bespoke department at Wallpaper* magazine and as a Senior Designer at the fashionable design group, North.
In 2009 McKendrick was named BSME (British Society of Magazine Editors) Art Director of the Year. In 2008 he was also named PPA (Periodical Publishers Association) Designer of the Year. In 2007 he won Best Magazine Design at the MD&JA (Magazine Design & Journalism Awards)n for Esquire's relaunch.
In November 2015 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Design at Southampton Solent University. McKendrick also is a visiting lecturer and guest tutor at, Glasgow School of Art, Bath School of Art and Design, Southampton Solent University and most recenly Nottingham Trent University.
Experienced innovation leader with a passion for fostering creativity, building strong team cultures, and leveraging technology for good. As Global Director of Technology Innovation at Nike, Délia brings digital and physical innovation concepts to life by building high-performing teams, shaping digital strategy, and developing streamlined innovation processes. Her 15+ years of experience include time at Netflix, DentsuACHTUNG!, PVH, and Google.
Lisa McNally works at the nexus of transportation, technology, and social impact. Lisa has dedicated her career to designing programs that promote sustainable and equitable access to critical commodities such as clean energy and shared mobility—everyday services that significantly improve quality of life—especially for those who need it most.
As Engagement Lead at Lacuna Technologies, Lisa helps cities make better use of streets and curbs through open technology while optimizing the benefits of emerging mobility for the public good.
Bringing expertise in smart cities, livable communities, and climate change policy, Lisa has designed and delivered programs that provide meaningful solutions for everyday users of our built environment. Lisa holds a MS from the University of Oxford, as well as a BA in Anthropology and BS in Environmental Policy from UC Berkeley.
Greg McNamara is an award-winning designer and creative leader.
He is a founder of Mast, a collaborative product studio that crafts interwoven experiences. They create cohesive product experiences through physical objects and services, that aim to be transformative. At Mast, Greg focuses on working fusing technology and material innovation with his passion for brand storytelling. Recent work includes working on a new paradigm for a connected experience design for Lexus, a wearable platform and branding for Loopd, crafting a new design language for Pearl Izumi's running team, and designing headphones and interfaces for a VUI platform for OV.
Previously Greg was the global head of design & innovation at Sol Republic. Greg led the design team from day one, defining the brand with a small team and shaping product strategy through the growth phase to build a globally successful brand with a passionate following. Greg has been part of teams at Astro Studios, One & Co, Lunar, and Frog Design over the years. Before working in consumer electronics, he was nurturing his enduring love of sneakers as a footwear designer; at North Face in the advanced concepts group, and for New Balance.
Afshin Mehin is the founder of Card79, a creative studio based in San Francisco. The studio focuses on tackling complex and future-facing projects, working on everything from Brain Computer Interfaces to Autonomous Vehicles for agile Startups like Postmates as well as large companies like Amazon and Lululemon. Afshin’s experience blends the old and new, having worked for traditional furniture designers like BarberOsgerby and Terence Conran as well as futuristics institutions such as M.I.T. ’s Media Lab Europe and Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
Shashank Mehta is a principal faculty of Industrial Design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Currently, he is the Activity Chairperson of the Institute’s Professional Education Programme.
Over the last five and half years, Shashank also served as the project head of the Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs, a unique and ambitious design intervention scheme for the country’s large MSME sector. Supported by the Ministry of MSMEs, Government of India, the scheme reached out to over 200 MSME clusters through organization of Design Sensitization Seminars, Design Awareness Programmes and Design Projects.
Over the years Shashank has taught at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels, spanning various design disciplines. Shashank has spearheaded the introduction of new course modules 'Design Process', ‘Indigenous Innovations’, ‘Service Design’, ‘Design Audit’, and ‘Introduction to Experience Design’, that are in sync with the rapidly changing demands and aspirations of the industry and economy in general. He also anchored and conducted several workshops on these topics for the participants from various sectors of industries. In 2007, he developed the vision report and the curriculum for the four year undergraduate programme in Product Design. Shashank also developed curriculum for the Postgraduate Programme in Product Design Engineering.
Jeremy Mende is a visual artist and designer from San Francisco, California. In 2000 he founded MendeDesign, a creative practice that balances commercial projects with strategic design work for socially oriented non-profits. The studio has been recognized internationally for its work and currently has pieces in several collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Jeremy is a professor of design at California College of the Arts.
Craig Metros is an accomplished automotive designer with more than 35 years of experience. He began his career at Ford Motor Company in 1985 and throughout his tenure, he led the design and development of multiple car and truck programs in countries around the globe. In 2014, Metros was appointed Design Director of North America where he oversaw the design and styling of all North American vehicles including the Mustang, F-Series trucks, the Ford GT race car, and the rebirth of the Bronco.
Since retiring from Ford Design in 2020, Metros has taught Transportation Design at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, and sits on CCS’ Alumni Board. He frequently serves as a design patent consultant and design expert witness and creates mixed-medium art influenced by motorsports, hot rods, and NASA.
Peter Michaelian is head of design at Dolby Laboratories for products and experiences. Through industrial and environmental design, he and his team help to bring advanced audio and visual experiences to the world.
Previously, he served as creative director at frog in San Francisco. Michaelian received undergraduate and master’s degrees from The Cooper Union in New York City and taught as an adjunct professor of design at The Cooper Union, University of California-Berkeley and California College for the Arts. He is named on 58 patents and 25 international design awards.
Carly Mick specializes in manufacturing innovation for soft-goods including on-demand manufacturing. Currently she is leading the fabric development team as the Director of Manufacturing innovation at Skyscrape, a company that created the first of its kind thermally adaptive insulation. Also, a textile addict who spends her free time dyeing yarn and weaving rugs.
Dave Milestone has worked extensively in human-centered innovation and social impact. He currently serves as Managing Director for the Americas at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), where he helps governments apply technology and AI to deliver more responsive, citizen-focused services. He has built and led TBI’s growing Americas portfolio across eight countries, shaping strategies that center on people’s needs in areas such as health, education, climate, and digital public infrastructure.
Dave has spent his career advancing human-centered design (HCD) and innovation in global health. As (Acting) Director of USAID’s Center for Innovation and Impact, he oversaw a large innovation portfolio, championed the use of HCD to shape product design and delivery, and co-created Design for Health, a partnership with the Gates Foundation.
He has advised leading organizations, including Stanford BioDesign, McKinsey, and major global health donors, on how to design products, partnerships, and systems that reflect real user needs and drive adoption at scale.
Dave holds a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin, an MS in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, along with graduate degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School and Northwestern's Kellogg School and an engineering master’s from Stanford University.
J Milligan is the Executive Producer at Toca Boca, a play studio that makes digital toys for kids. He is spearheading the company’s new video division dedicated to exploring the new kids TV and video landscape. Before joining Toca Boca, Milligan served as creative director of the content innovation lab and digital media group at Sesame Workshop.
Radha Mistry has a background in architecture, narrative environments, and strategic foresight. As the Practice Leader for Foresight at Autodesk, Radha explores the impact of emerging technologies and how it will change the way we design and make things in the future. Prior to Autodesk, Radha focused on the Future of Work with the Steelcase Applied Research group. Her work sought out ways organizations could drive Innovation through design. Previous to Steelcase, Radha was part of the Arup Foresight + Innovation team in London and San Francisco, crafting speculative futures for global clients; and was one of the original co-founders of GOATstudio in New Orleans — bringing some “swagger” and better opportunities for young architects. Radha has also exhibited during the Lisbon Architecture Triennale and worked on design-led community engagement initiatives in cities across Europe.
Harry is an industrial designer and leads technical innovation at Beta Design Office, shaping how ideas are transformed into patentable IP with real-world value. Working across homewares, packaging, through to consumer robotics, his approach is driven by a deep understanding of materials and manufacturing processes. He loves understanding how people interact with products and creating beauty through well resolved function. Outside the studio, Harry can usually be found in his workshop fixing motorcycles.