Jury Alumni

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  Jon Grossman

  Senior Industrial Designer, Verily Life Sciences

  2021 Commercial Equipment Jury Captain

  Jon is a senior industrial designer at Verily, Alphabet's healthcare & technology company, where he leads design and UX for a range of medical devices and their connected services. He collaborates with scientists, engineers, clinical experts, designers, and researchers to break technology out of the lab, and productize cutting edge innovations to help people live healthier lives.
  
  Previously, he was an industrial designer at frog in San Francisco, where he consulted with startups and corporations to turn research insights into product opportunities.

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  Wesley Hall

  Senior Designer, Douglas Elliman

  2021 Design for Social Impact Jury Member

  Wesley Hall, a Senior Designer at Douglas Elliman is a skilled graphic designer, illustrator, and creative consultant with 20 years of experience working with clients to generate design-driven solutions for marketing collateral, instructional design, print, and project management needs. He is the Co-Operator of FLOX Studio.

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  August Heffner

  Creative Director, Instrument

  2021 Interaction Jury Captain

  August is a designer and creative director. He works to bridge the divide between the functionality of digital products and the emotion of brand marketing. He began by leading internal design teams at MoMA, J. Crew, Kate Spade, & Casper. He’s been a regular contributor of editorial illustrations to The New York Times and an instructor at Parsons and SVA. August transitioned to digital product design and began leading project teams for Huge, and Work&Co. Today, August leads a team at Instrument where he creates digital first brands, marketing, and products for organizations including Twitter, PATH and the WNBA.

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  Nessim Higson

  Executive Creative Director, WeTransfer

  2021 Visual Communication Jury Captain

  Nessim Higson is the Executive Creative Director at WeTransfer, where he is in charge of the creative brand, identity, and visual language of the company. He was previously the Web Design Director for Squarespace helping oversee the continuing development of the platform and brand, and how it can be a leading force in championing creativity globally. He helped lead the charge on innovation within SQSP through helping establish their web concepts team and oversaw the rebrand of the company in 2019.
  
  Prior to joining Squarespace, Nessim lived and worked in Amsterdam for 6 years and has continued to run his independent studio IAAH / iamalwayshungry working with a range of clients such as Adidas, The Criterion Collection, DC Comics, TED, Google, and a wide range of global advertising and design agencies.
  
  Nessim is a firm believer that great communication can not only shift the economic marketplace but has a responsibility to contribute to the social fabric of society.

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  Hanah Ho

  Senior Art Director, The New York Times

  2021 Interaction Jury Member

  Hanah is a designer residing in Brooklyn, New York. She is currently a senior art director at The New York Times, developing campaigns and visual identity for podcasts and audio. Previously she was at the branding and design agency Champions Design, and Hillary for America where she worked to elect the first female president. She is currently serving on the board of AIGA NY and is passionate about connecting designers with new opportunities and engaging in the design community. She holds a BFA in Communication Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

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  Josh Itiola

  Designer and Planner, Vitsoe

  2021 Furniture & Lighting Jury Member

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  Randall Jones

  Interior Designer, Yabu Pushelberg

  2021 Furniture & Lighting Jury Member

  Randall Jones is an interior designer at Yabu Pushelberg and adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design. She is an alumna of Howard University and received her MFA in Interior Design from Parsons School of Design. She founded Obsidian, the black student design organization at Parsons in the Fall of 2018. She also serves on the Parsons Committee on Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice. Randall is committed to working to help expand the pipeline of students and professionals that are under-represented in the design industry. Currently, her work focuses in luxury hospitality, retail, and residential design. Prior to interior design, Randall spent 7 years working within the advertising and marketing space as an Art Director.

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  Jonathan Kim

  Senior Industrial Designer, Shopify

  2021 Commercial Equipment Jury Member

  Jonathan is a Senior Industrial Designer based in Toronto, Ontario. After 5 years of working in San Francisco as a core part of frog's industrial design team, Jonathan moved to Canada in early 2020 to pursue a new adventure with e-commerce powerhouse, Shopify. His experience as a design consultant spans across leading brands and start-ups in the tech, retail, automotive, government, and healthcare industries. As a part of Shopify’s budding hardware division, Jonathan works at the forefront of commerce innovation, bridging the gap between digital and physical in the retail arena.
  
  Born and raised in the Northern Virginia/ DC area, Jonathan is an east-coast creative looking to make lasting, meaningful products and experiences. Though his expertise lies in physical products, he believes that excellent, culture-shifting design comes from the convergence of multiple disciplines and diverse perspectives.

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  Folake Knudsen

  Product Designer, Workday

  2021 Consumer Technology Jury Member

  Folake Knudsen is a Product Designer at Workday in Copenhagen where she is focused on Peakon, a platform for measuring and improving employee engagement, inclusion, and growth.
  
  Previously, Knudsen has worked at Bang & Olufsen, where she was responsible for the consumer-facing mobile app and software/hardware interactions, BMW, helping to build its connected mobile app for its fleet of luxury vehicles.
  
  Knudsen previously earned a Master’s degree in Human-computer interaction from DePaul University.

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  Sloan Leo

  Founder/CEO, Flox Studio

  2021 Design for Social Impact Jury Captain

  Sloan Leo (they/them) is an artist and the Founder/CEO of FLOX Studio Inc. FLOX Studio is a community design and strategy studio that works with curious optimists who are committed to getting things done. FLOX is on a mission to increase the community design capacity of mission-driven enterprises so that the entire ecosystem is more brave, creative and resilient. Prior to founding FLOX Studio, Sloan Leo spent 15 years leading non-profit staff and volunteer teams at the Environmental Defense Fund, The Trust for Public Land, and other organizations at the intersection of community, justice, and design.

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  Michal Levin

  VP of Product, Hero

  2021 Strategy & Research Jury Member

  Michal is the VP of Product at Hero, aiming to help people manage their health better, and live their lives to the fullest. She is passionate about solving hard problems that make a difference in people’s lives, and in a career of over 15 years, led UX and product across Google, Verily Life Sciences, Zoox, modu and more. She authored the book "Designing Multi-Device Experiences" (O'Reilly Media) and several other publications, mentored dozens of startups, and spoke at local and global conferences. Also the mom of two toddlers, an avid audible listener and a big fan of live music shows.

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  Alex Lobos

  Graduate Director, Industrial Design, Rochester Institute of Technology

  2021 Design Education Initiative Jury Member

  Alex explores design, technology, sustainability and emotional attachment as means to elevate quality of life. He is Professor and Graduate Director of Industrial Design at Rochester Institute of Technology, and Research Fellow Emeritus at Autodesk. At RIT, Alex leads a top-ranking program focused in interdisciplinary collaboration, accessible technology and applied design research. Alex and his students have partnered with Autodesk, AT&T, Colgate-Palmolive, General Electric, Makerbot, Stryker, Staples and Unilever, in projects covering digital fabrication, sustainable behaviors, learning futures, generative design, and everyday living. Alex holds a MFA from University of Notre Dame and a BID from Universidad Rafael Landivar.

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  Alda Ly

  Principal, Alda Ly Architecture PLLC

  2021 Built Environment Jury Captain

  Alda Ly is founder and principal of Alda Ly Architecture (ALA), a New York-based architecture and interior design firm that specializes in using biophilic principles to transform how healthcare, commercial, and cultural spaces work, look and, more importantly, feel. ALA was founded in 2017 when groundbreaking co-working platform The Wing tapped Alda to design its East Coast and California locations. ALA now works with a growing number of entrepreneurs, startups, and established organizations looking to overhaul traditional work, care, and retail models. Clients have ranged from Bloomberg and functional medicine provider Parsley Health to women’s loungewear company ThirdLove and social-action technology firm Blue State.
  
  Alda was born in New Zealand and raised in a working-class suburb of Los Angeles, where she watched her cabinetmaker father draw kitchen elevations and accompanied him to open houses to see how people shaped their spaces. From the moment she studied freehand drawing as a UC Berkeley undergrad, Alda knew she wanted to become an architect, and went on to earn a master’s in the field from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Before opening ALA, Alda worked at Rafael Viñoly Architects, 212box, HWKN, and Leong Leong. Alda is a Registered Architect in New York.

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  Evelio Mattos

  Creative Director & Host, Package Design Unboxd

  2021 Packaging Jury Member

  Evelio Mattos is a Creative Director of packaging and the host of Package Design Unboxd, he also hosts the Packaging Podcast, and is the Former Editor in Chief of The Dieline packaging blog. Evelio was named “One of the 200 Best Packaging Designers” by Lurzer’s Archive, and Graphic Design USA’s “People toWatch” his most recent work for Walpole UK in partnership with James Cropper and Intl. Direct Packaging was documented to illuminate his thesis that sustainable packaging can be fashion forward and not granola. Clients include Sonos, Michael Kors, Birkenstock, and start-ups like United Sodas of America.

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  Ian Montgomery

  Creative Director, Guacamole Airplane

  2021 Packaging Jury Captain

  Before starting Guacamole Airplane, Ian worked as an in-house designer for Chubbies, Areaware and Mollusk Surf Shop. He did his undergraduate coursework in Environmental Science at Stanford and masters work in Packaging Design at Pratt, where he received funding from the National Science Foundation to build a series of experimental recycling machines, and created The Packaging Cookbook.

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  Josh Morenstein

  Co-founder, Branch Creative

  2021 Home & Living Jury Captain

  Josh Morenstein is a co-founder, partner, and creative director at Branch, an industrial design and branding agency in San Francisco.
  
  Founded in 2013, Branch has been recognized for excellence and authority in a variety of projects in industrial design and brand consulting services to clients from Fortune 500s to start-ups. Branch’s work has been featured in publications including Fast Company, Vogue, Wired, Metropolis, Dezeen, and Wallpaper magazine. Fast Company Magazine has recognized Branch as one of the "30 Most Important Design Companies of the Year"
  
  With over 20 years of design experience, Josh has led award-winning design teams on some of the most diverse and innovative projects ranging from furniture to electronics, consumer goods to packaging. Prior to founding Branch, Josh was creative director and partner at fuseproject as well as the Design Director at NewDealDesign.
  
  Josh’s work for clients such as General Electric, Coca Cola, Johnson and Johnson, Prada, Issey Miyake, Swarovski, Samsung, Target, Puma,and L'Oréal established him at the forefront of marrying form with function, and of brand with product. Josh’s work has been exhibited in museums and competitions including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Triennial, MOMA, and Chicago Art Institute, and has been recognized with over 50 international design awards from organizations such as IDSA, ID Magazine, iF, Fast Company, and Red Dot.