School of Art Welcomes Leading Expert on Life-Centered Design

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Dutch designer and co-founder of the Life-Centered Design School, Jeroen Spoelstra

The School of Art in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences welcomes Jeroen Spoelstra, Dutch designer and co-founder of the Life-Centered Design School in the Spanish Pyrenees. During his visit, Spoelstra is teaching workshops to art and design students, giving a public talk Thursday, Feb. 29, at 5 p.m. at the Studio and Design Center and will lead a community workshop on life-centered design at The Ramble, Friday, March 1, 3-5 p.m.

Spoelstra is one of the leading figures in the design world on life-centered design. With nearly 20 years of design experience in product design, human-centered design and education, he shifted to life-centered design inspired by his move to the Spanish Pyrenees, witnessing climate change first-hand and how this affects nature and local communities.

Since late 2020, Spoelstra developed a life-centered philosophy and practical approach, resulting in the launch of the Life-Centered Design School in 2022. Through the school, he helps creative professionals transition from human-centered design to life-centered design. It creates the space for designers and other creatives to build a mindset and skills to design in climate-friendly and socially just ways.

"Hosting Dutch designer Jeroen Spoelstra is very exciting for us, we began planning his visit over a year ago," said Gaby Hernández, endowed associate professor of graphic design and interim assistant director of the School of Art. "Now that he is here, it is delightful to see him interacting with students and community members while having deep and meaningful discussions about what the future of design looks like."

Hernández added, "Spoelstra is one of the leading figures in life-centered design—a revolutionary design research and making approach that decenters human needs and focuses on other living and non-living entities that may be affected by our design decisions. This is closely related to other parallel efforts in our graphic design program area—to challenge exclusionary canons, to learn about and revive the application of indigenous knowledges and contribute to the preservation of nature and deceleration of climate change."

In addition, Hernández describes how these topics are currently impacting all aspects of design, from ideation to production, every day. She shares how bringing experts who can help students acquire this new and future-looking knowledge is fundamental to her and the graphic design faculty's commitment to offer the best possible design education.

All are invited to hear directly from Spoelstra, Thursday, Feb. 29, at 5 p.m. at the Studio and Design Center in the Windgate Art and Design District located at corner of Hill Ave. and MLK. in south Fayetteville. The talk is free and open to the public.

Additionally, Friday, March 1, the community is invited to a community workshop at The Ramble. Participants will imagine how to give nature a voice in design processes through making a non-human persona. They will also prototype design artifacts that help community members connect with this non-human persona and act more sustainably, together.