Join us on October 21st at 4:15 – 5:30PM for a fireside chat with Ivy Ross, Google's Chief Design Officer for Consumer Devices, in conversation with Helen Maria Nugent, Dean of Design at California College of the Arts.

Ross will share her insights on neuroaesthetics, an emerging field in cognitive neuroscience that explores the biological foundations of aesthetic experiences and their potential to enhance health and wellness. She will explain how this research influences the work of her design teams at Google and provide examples of the large-scale immersive experiences she has curated for Milan Design Week. These installations investigate how color, sound, form, and material affect both the body and the mind.

Ross’s new book, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us (Random House, 2023), co-authored with Susan Magsamen, is a deep dive into neuroaesthetics. Copies will be available for purchase at the event and Ivy will be available to sign your copy.

Reserve a spot!

SPEAKER BIOS:

Ivy Ross | Chief Design Officer for Consumer Devices, Google

Ivy Ross is the Chief Design Officer for Consumer Devices at Google. Ivy and her team created the design language for the Google hardware products that launched in 2017, winning over 240 design awards over the last three years. Business Insider recently named her one of the 15 Most Powerful Women at Google. In 2019 she was voted number 9 of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company. She was featured in the Surface Magazine issue on barrier-breaking figures in 2019. Previously, she held executive positions ranging from head of product design and development to chief marketing officer and president of several companies, including Calvin Klein, Swatch, Coach, Mattel, Bausch & Lomb, Old Navy, and Gap.

 Ivy draws on her background in wide-ranging fields including sound therapy, quantum physics, psychology, and play. One of her most notable innovations is Project Platypus, an experimental design initiative where a core team develops a new brand in an enriched environment over three months; the model has been adopted by Mattel (where she was formerly head of innovation) and Procter & Gamble (on whose design board she served). She also served on the Vatican’s Arts and Technology Commission and judged the 2017 Spark Design Awards, the 2018 Core 77 awards, Dezeen Design Awards 2020, Frame Design Awards 2020, Design Leader of the Year Awards 2020, and the Fast Company Design Awards.

Helen Maria Nugent | Dean of Design, California College of the Arts

As Dean of Design at California College of the Arts (CCA), Helen Maria oversees nine diverse degree programs including six BFA degrees in Fashion Design, Furniture Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Industrial Design, and Interaction Design, as well as three graduate programs including an MBA in Design Strategy, an MFA in Design, and a MDes in Interaction Design. 

Helen Maria’s previous roles include serving as Director of the First Year Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), where she led the development of innovative foundation courses focused on creative research. She also founded SAIC’s Designed Objects department which has educated many leading practitioners. Additionally, she co-directed the influential Workshop for Art Research and Practice (WARP) at the University of Florida. 

Together with Ron Kirkpatrick, Helen Maria established Haelo Design, an interdisciplinary studio currently focused on exploring human emotional connections and designing for love. She frequently consults on the strategic future of design education.