People-centered designer Marquise Stillwell spent his youth in Ohio learning to be a good neighbor and going to art museums with his grandfather. Always part of a community of makers—auto factories, steel plants, engineers and industrial designers—his curiosity for people and spaces grew into a passion for creating systems and formulas that make built environments better for all people. Not surprisingly, his ability to be open, vulnerable, listen and hold space is at the center of his design practice.

This special Clever Extra, recorded live at RISD as the keynote presentation of Design Week RI, four creative thought leaders come together for a discussion on the power of creativity. As a social value, creativity often gets dismissed as “making things pretty” rather than being understood as the fundamental impulse and effort behind every creation. Here, with Panelists Rosanne Somerson, Sara Ossana, Umberto Crenca and Sophie Chien, we are discussing creativity as a core component of personal empowerment.

We teamed up with Tarkett for this Clever Extra to unpack the idea that we can consciously impact our wellbeing through design choices. We spoke with Mausi McDaniel of Tarkett about the cultural drivers that are influencing our collective consciousness, and with joy expert, Ingrid Fetell Lee, about our unconscious emotional responses to cues in our surroundings. Goal: We can work with all of this knowledge to design spaces that truly support the health and wellbeing of humanity. Yay!

We teamed up with Tarkett for this Clever Extra to take a deep dive into Neoculture - a term coined to describe the way diverse cultures are coming together as never before to create entirely new cultures with new values. Suzanne Tick, a product and textile designer, and Chris Stulpin, Chief Creative Officer for Tarkett have done extensive research into the attitudinal shifts and megatrends that inform Neoculture, how it impacts the future of the built world, and why it matters to the design community.