Design Field Notes, Fall 2025
As part of the Jacobs Institute’s course DES INV 95, Design Field Notes invites you into conversations that explore how design shapes—not just responds to—the technologies and futures we live in.
Guided this semester by host Pierluigi Dalla Rossa—designer, technologist, and educator—the series highlights makers, artists, and researchers who are crafting alternative narratives about the future. Together, we’ll ask: What role should design play in deciding which technologies emerge in the first place?
Pierluigi frames the challenge this way: Would the submarine exist without Jules Verne’s tales of the deep? Would humans have pursued flight without centuries of myth about soaring through the air? Designers must become researchers of the future, weaving stories that inspire optimistic, collective visions of tomorrow.
Through guest talks and open discussions, Design Field Notes surfaces practices that challenge the status quo and position design as central to shaping emerging technologies—expanding beyond usability into imagination, storytelling, and invention.
All talks are free and open to the public. NEW THIS SEMESTER: Events take place in person at Jacobs Hall. Click on the image below to see more details on the Fall 2025 lineup:
Join us Monday, September 22nd at 5:30 PM for a talk with Afshin Mehin, founder of Card79, a design studio dedicated to exploring future forms and emerging technologies. With a background spanning mechanical engineering and product design, Afshin builds products that operate in both digital and physical domains, from robotics to neurotechnology.
Afshin has collaborated with leaders at Neuralink and MIT’s Media Lab, refined his craft at acclaimed studios like Barber Osgerby and Terence Conran, and partnered with industry leaders including Amazon, Lululemon, and Ford to launch transformative products and businesses. Prior to founding Card79, Afshin was part of the design teams at IDEO and Whipsaw in the Bay Area.
Monday, September 29 2025, 5 - 5 pm PT
Monika Seyfried