In 2009 Ben wright co-founded DesignStudio alongside business partner and fellow designer Paul Stafford. Their vision was to bring design back to the heart of the business and allow designers to play a large role in every step of the process.

DesignStudio is a collective of designers, thinkers and makers based in London and San Francisco. Recent rebrands include Airbnb, The Premier League and Deliveroo. DesignStudio creates work that makes a meaningful difference, builds loyalty, drives growth and connects communities across every aspect of the brand experience.

Irobe Yoshiaki was born in Chiba Prefecture in 1974. Upon completing a Masters Degree at Tokyo University of the Arts, he joined the Nippon Design Center (NDC). After working at NDC’s Hara Design Institute, he went on to establish the Irobe Design Institute within the NDC organization. Applying his superlative graphic design techniques with a sharp editorial perspective, Mr. Irobe undertakes design work across a broad spectrum, from standard graphics to spatial design. His major works to date include: VI and signage planning for the Ichihara Lakeside Museum; design direction for the Takeo Paper Show 2011 (“Books”) and the Naka-Boso International Art Festival (Ichihara Art x Mix); and package design for Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Co., Ltd. Mr. Irobe also proactively participates in diverse projects such as the Ginza Navigation Tags System and the TOKYO PROJECT in conjunction with his personal quest to enhance the quality and functionality of information design in public spaces. He has won numerous design awards both in Japan and abroad, and became AGI member in 2016.

Jiang, Qiong Er, artistic director and CEO of SHANG XIA, is an internationally renowned designer. After many years studying in Europe, Jiang brings a cosmopolitan approach and bi-cultural experience to her designs. Respectful of tradition, she draws inspiration from a vast range of sources, and this is reflected in her versatile work, of which is collected by museums around the world.

In 2009, she established the contemporary lifestyle brand SHANG XIA, and took the positions of artistic director and CEO. Jiang and SHANG XIA are dedicated to bringing fine Chinese crafts to the world. They infuse old crafts with contemporary design, weaving concepts from East and West to create a 21st century lifestyle.

In 2013, Jiang was honored “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” of the French Republic in recognition of her contribution to cultural exchange between China and France.

In 2016, Jiang was then honored by French Government as “Chevalier de L’Ordre National du Mérite” in Shanghai.

Patrick Blanc is both a botanist and an artist, and is well-known for his Vertical Garden works all over the world. Patrick create his first commissioned vertical garden for the Museum of Sciences and Industry in Paris in 1986. And his Vertical Garden was patented in 1988.

Ever since then, Patrick has created about 300 Vertical Gardens all over the world, indoor and outdoor, under various climates, from Riyadh to New York. Patrick worked with world-famous architects including Jean Nouvel, Kazuyo Sejima, Herzog & de Meuron, Tadao Ando and others.

Patrick has received many awards including the Botany award, French Academy of Sciences in 1993, Silver medal, Architecture Academy, 2005, and Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, 2005. His Vertical Garden was listed as “One of 50 Best Inventions of the Year”, Time Magazine in 2009.

Born in 1981, Adrien Rovero holds a Master’s in Industrial Design from the ECAL/University of art and design Lausanne Switzerland. Active in the realms of furniture, lighting and exhibition design, he opened his studio in Renens in 2006.

He thinks up and designs objects for such highend brand stores as Hermes (France), Pfister (Switzerland), Droog Design (Holland), Campeggi (Italy), Nanoo (Switzerland), Tectona (France) and the Cristallerie Saint-Louis (France). His pieces are on display in a number of renowned galleries, including the Galerie Kreo (Paris), Libby Sellers (London), and the Galerie Ormond (Geneva).

Clients availing themselves of his exhibition design talents include such institutions as the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Grand-Hornu Images (Belgium), the Manufacture de Sevres (France), the mudac (Lausanne) and the Villa Noailles (France).

Adrien Rovero’s work is rooted in his keen observation of the details and needs of his surroundings. This inspires highly inventive designs, as uncluttered as they are effective, and comprising a formal vocabulary built up out of assemblage, repurposing and shifting around shapes, materials, references and purposes.

The Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), the Grand-Hornu Images (Belgium) and the mudac (Lausanne) have acquired works by this young designer to add to their collections.

Toshiyuki Inoko is the founder of teamLab. He was born in Tokushima City in 1977 and graduated from the University of Tokyo in 2001, from the Department of Mathematical Engineering and Information Physics. He went on to attend the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies before leaving in 2004.

teamLab is an artist collective formed in 2001. It is a collaborative, interdisciplinary creative group that brings together professionals from various fields of practice in the digital society: artists, programmers, engineers, CG animators, mathematicians, architects, web and print graphic designers and editors. Referring to themselves as “Ultra-technologists”, their aim is to achieve a balance between art, science, technology and creativity. teamLab is represented by Pace Gallery in NY, Ikkan Art Gallery in Singapore and Martin Browne Contemporary in Sydney.

Selected teamLab exhibitions include “teamLab: Transcending Boundaries”, PACE LONDON, London; “DMM.PLANETS Art by teamLab”, Tokyo; “teamLab: Living Digital Space and Future Parks”, Pace Art + Technology, California; "Expo Milano 2015", Milano, Italy.

teamLab will hold an exhibition in Beijing in the near future.

Henrik Mathiassen, Design & Creative Director, partner at design-people.

Ever since 2005 Henrik Mathiassen has been one of the partners at design-people, a prestigious Danish design-agency internationally recognized for its range of prize-winning design-solutions.

Henrik Mathiassen has over the years designed, managed and directed a number of advanced projects within design of B2B and consumer products.

A portfolio which has received more than 20 design-awards over the years, including the highly desirable Red Dot Award, the iF Design Award and most lately, Best of The Golden Pin Design Award.

A sharp eye for details, a clear understanding of each product’s DNA, plus a constant focus on the manufacturing possibilities of products are all explanations of this impressive track record.

Holding an MA-degree in Industrial Design from the well-reputed Aarhus School of Architecture, Henrik Mathiassen’s talent was spotted early, when one of his student-projects was exhibited at the Contemporary Danish Design show in London in 2000. Following this, his career quickly took off when he founded his first agency, Mathiassen & Falkenberg Industrial Design, in 2001. Four years later this company merged with Schroder design development, and design-people was born. The company today employs 16 people full-time, and is still growing.

LAYER is focused on creating meaningful experiences based on extensive research and human behaviours. The new holistic design practice incorporates a more diverse creative toolbox, including industrial design, mechanical and electrical engineering, user experience design, user interaction design, branding, and human-centred research.

Benjamin Hubert is an award-winning British design entrepreneur, and founder of creative agency, LAYER. The new agency is the evolution of Benjamin Hubert Ltd. and is focused on experience-driven design for both the physical and digital worlds. Led by Benjamin and a growing creative team, LAYER is partnering with forward-thinking brands – including Nike, Samsung, BMW, Maggie’s cancer charity, Fritz Hansen, and Herman Miller – to create products that will help define the way we live, work and communicate in the future, from smart wearables and furniture systems, to the next generation of televisions, mobile devices, and grooming tools.

Benjamin graduated from Industrial Design & Technology at Loughborough University in 2006, and began his career at DCA Design, the largest design consultancy in the UK. He moved to London in 2007 to work for internationally renowned design consultancy Seymour Powell as senior industrial designer on a variety of prestigious projects, including Eurostar interiors. He then joined Tangerine, the agency at which Jonathan Ive worked prior to Apple.

In October 2010, at the age of 26, Benjamin founded Benjamin Hubert Ltd. with the aim of creating long-lasting products that would truly connect with people and become new heirlooms.

Following five successful years of growth working with the world’s foremost interior product, luxury and consumer goods brands, Benjamin wanted to establish a platform to fully represent the studio’s multi-layered approach to design and its growing roster of creative partners.

Cristiano Pigazzini was born in Italy, and has been living in Sweden since 2003. He studied economy in Milan and Design management in Sweden. In 2008, Cristiano and Johannes Carlström founded Note Design Studio, a Stockholm-based studio of design working within the fields of architecture, interiors, products, graphic design and design strategy.

To note something, to get noted: Note Design Studio is named after what the team try to achieve. Note Design Studio like to pay attention to their surroundings, and try to create things that make others do the same. By looking at what is unique in every project and emphasizing that, Note Design Studio transform non-material values into tactile objects and spaces.

Marcus Wendt is a visual artist living and working in London, and Creative Director of digital art studio FIELD.

His works take a starting point from physical-sensorial experiences; from unstable processes and chaotic, emergent systems.

Born in 1982, Marcus applies digital techniques as a native language, striving to find a universal visual language that reflects a world in constant transformation. A childhood split between East Germany and Bavaria, later his deep involvement in the creative coding scene, and the move to London to co-found avant-garde design studio FIELD, have shaped Marcus' perspective on questions of identity in a post-digital world.

Marcus graduated with distinction from the Kassel School of Art and Design in 2009, after studying Design and Fine Arts with Joel Baumann (tomato interactive), Bernard Stein (Ott+Stein, Meta Design) and Bjørn Melhus.

Independent works and commissions have been exhibited worldwide, including La Gaîté Lyrique, Paris; Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt; Wood Street Galleries, Pittsburgh; China Museum of Digital Art, Beijing.

Morihiro Harano is a multi-talented creative director with stellar achievements not only in advertising but also in new business development, strategy, product design and media initiatives. Joining Dentsu in 1994, Harano was committed to helping the agency’s digital subsidiaries with their digital initiatives. After leaving Dentsu, Harano helped a media startup to conclude a successful IPO, following which, he returned to Dentsu to launch Drill, a non-traditional creative agency. In 2011, he co-founded PARTY and led it to win the Independent Agency of the Year at Spikes Asia 2012. Soon after, in 2012, he founded Mori Inc., which is selected as ‘The World's Leading Independent Agencies 2014’ by Campaign UK.

His works include, among others, ‘OK Go: I Won't Let You Down’, ‘NTTDocomo: Xylophone’, ‘Honda. Great Journey.’, ‘Pola Dots’ and ‘Menicon: Magic’. Harano is a consistent award winner at home and abroad and has received to date a multitude of awards such as TED: Ads Worth Spreading, MTV Video Music Awards, D&AD Yellow Pencil, Cannes Gold Lions, One Show Gold Pencils and the Grands Prix at Spikes Asia and AdFest.

He has also served as a judge and a jury president for numerous awards including D&AD (2013: the foreman for Mobile), Cannes Lions (2013: Innovation / 2012: T&I / 2009: Design) and Spikes Asia (2012: the jury president for Digital/Mobile).

Ever since they began collaborating in 2007, the artists and filmmakers Lernert & Sander have been known for their high-conceptual art films, eye-catching installations and keen fashion aesthetic. Driven by their cheeky sense of humour, Lernert & Sander’s simple yet stunning approach has earned the duo numerous awards, international accolades and industry-wide recognition. They live and work in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.