It is with much gratitude and admiration that we celebrate the jury alumni members of the Core77 Design Awards.
Amélie Lamont is an independent product designer(d) and writer based in Brooklyn, NY. She specializes in using cultural studies and design anthropology to inform her design process.
She’s also the co-founder of Good for PoC and creator of The Guide to Allyship, two resources aimed at helping marginalized communities. She’s had the honor of presenting her research and work at places such as The White House, The Great Discontent, Etsy, Twitter, Dropbox and Cooper.
Emilie Lasseron is a seasoned leader working at the intersection of brand, innovation and design. A human-centered approach to products, systems, and storytelling drives her work.
Most recently as Senior Strategy Director at Wolff Olins, Emilie created new brands for Sage Therapeutics, a biopharma focused on brain health disorders including the first and only treatment specifically approved for postpartum depression, and Zymergen, a molecular technology company using a unique integration of biology, machine learning, and high-throughput automation to create previously unimaginable materials.
Previously, she led in-house design and innovation teams at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital and Celmatix, a biotech focused on women’s health. She also spent years at IDEO and other innovation consultancies working across diverse challenges including improving the bone marrow transplant process and repositioning long-acting birth control.
Adam Lawrence is a change facilitator, stand-up comedian and professional actor with a background in psychology and the global automotive industry. For years he has been using expertise gained in the world of theater, film, music and storytelling to help organizations influence and impress their customers and partners. He has been a pioneer in the use of full-bodied development tools in service design, and in his focus on the dramatic arcs of experiences. Adam is co-founder of WorkPlayExperience, and co-initiator of the Global Service Jam - the world's biggest ever service design event (so far). Follow him on Twitter:@adamstjohn
Scott is someone who throws around words like design, product, and strategy, but ultimately just likes working with interesting colleagues on exciting software products for people who need them. In recent years, he has led design at Capitol AI, a startup aiming to modernize and simplify data storytelling, and Azavea, a geospatial software shop committed to civic, social, and environmental good. Some time ago, he designed & stewarded the local search experience on Google Maps for about 4 years. And threaded throughout his career are sundry adventures in design & strategy for startups known & unknown. He lives in Philadelphia and is desperate to tell fewer dad jokes.
Margaret Lee is a Leadership Coach helping Design and Product executives and practitioners to lead with authenticity and confidence. Prior to coaching with Design Dept., Margaret was a User Experience leader at Google, where she built and led teams in Chrome, Search, and Maps. She led Google Maps UX from its early days as a groundbreaking desktop experience, to an indispensable tool for navigation and local exploration. Margaret also served as Director of UX Community + Culture at Google, a program she founded to serve and empower the company’s global User Experience organization. Decades in the tech industry has shaped her current commitment: to create conditions for teams to flourish and individuals can uncover their unique potential and leadership style. Margaret speaks and writes about her personal journey as a leader, the importance of a healthy culture in the workplace, and our collective responsibility to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
If Woojin Lee were not a designer she would be a private detective.
She currently works as a Senior Art Director at SapientRazorfish, in New York. She has worked on some great projects, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Dove, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and other fast pace pitches, that have utilized new technological trends such as apps, responsive platforms, touch screen, and social media. The sophisticated nature of these experiences along with her previous experience founding her own design boutique in Seoul have drawn her toward projects that focus on an entire and integrated brand experience.
She has been named as the recipient The Red dot award, The Creativity Media & Interactive Awards, and The Creativity International Awards. Also her first responsive design project for Mercedes-Benz was selected as a 2015 Webby Awards Honoree in the Websites Best Practice category.
She was a foreign correspondent the Korean design and culture publication, G colon. Her first book, 2587 days: A Record of Creative Encounters in New York, was published in 2014 in Korea and describes her experiences living, studying, and working in New York. Woojin has also taught as an adjunct faculty for FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology).
Woojin received her BFA degree in Crafts from Kookmin University (Seoul) and her MS in Communications Design from Pratt Institute (New York).
Nik has a wealth of experience across corporate design teams at Philips Design, Microsoft, and HP, as well as growing several design-focused startups.
Notably, he was part of the founding team at Razer, leading the design group to develop the design language and product portfolio. As well as growing the Razer brand, his design work has heavily influenced the gaming industry as a whole.
Nik now specializes in computational design for 3D printing. He will be especially interested to see similar, new technology and innovation in the applicants this year.
Creative professional with international experience in product innovation, strategic product design and development.
Bryan is an Architect, artist, designer, educator, and Design Justice Advocate. He is the founder/Design Director Colloqate Design in New Orleans LA, a nonprofit multidisciplinary design practice dedicated to expanding community access to design and creating spaces of racial, social and cultural equity.
Nicolas joined Ammunition in 2014. As a senior designer, he works closely with clients to help shape ideas into elegant, manufacturable solutions. Notable examples of his work include the UNICEF Kid Power Band, the Polaroid Hoop camera, and the Ammunition X Gantri Gio lighting collection.
Originally from a small town in France, Nicolas grew up finding inspiration and beauty in ordinary objects which eventually led him to pursue a career in industrial design. Prior to joining Ammunition, he worked with companies including Decathalon, Electrolux, and frog design. Nicolas graduated with a master’s degree in industrial design from ISD in France. His work has been featured in TIME magazine and was recognized by IDEA, Fast Company, Core77 and the Halo design awards.
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.
Adam is a Principal Designer at MatterÖ, where he leads creative teams from concept creation to product delivery. His expertise and passion is in the integration of hardware and digital design.Before joining MatterÖ in 2013, Adam was a Principal Designer at frog and an Industrial Designer at fuseproject.
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.
Jon Levy joined the Spin Master Ventures team in 2021. A passionate entrepreneur in the children’s entertainment industry, Jon co-founded Mastermind Toys, a highly successful Canadian retail toy chain, in 1984. From a niche beginning selling educational computer games for children, Jon’s vision grew into a passion to find the very best of everything kids would be excited to play with and learn from. During his career, he developed a unique expertise for curation, presentation, and marketing toys, defining the Mastermind Toys experience
He now brings his experience cultivating life-long partnerships with toy inventors and creators from around the world and decades of business development acumen to Spin Master Ventures. Jon is continuing his life’s passion to find the most talented entrepreneurs; unique start ups and creative inventors by traveling the world and engaging with disrupters in the industry. At Spin Master Ventures, he is focused on finding the right opportunities to invest in the future of play and accelerate growth through partnering with the aspiring toy business leaders of tomorrow.
As Partner of Base, an international branding studio with a presence in New York, Brussels, and Geneva, Min spans the spectrum between design, strategy, and management. She has helped to build personality-driven brands for an eclectic range of clients that include MoMA, The New York Times, JFK Terminal 4, Meatpacking District, Neuehouse, Kiki de Montparnasse, Coca-Cola, Gagosian Gallery, Puma, Milk, Museum of Sex, L'Oreal, Le Pain Quotidien, Pantone, Wellesley College, Kanye West, and more.
A graduate of Yale University's MFA program, Min is an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts and a guest critic at Parsons School of Design. Next to passionately building brands and building Base, she is an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts, guest critic at Parsons The New School for Design, served as a board member of the AIGA/NY and served on the steering committee of NYCxDESIGN and is a regular speaker at design conferences.
Her work has been featured in and has contributed her thoughts on design and branding to publications that include The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal, Adweek, Creativity, Creative Review, Surface, Fast Company, and others.