May 21: How Design Defined Silicon Valley

Before “design” became a discipline with titles, teams, and frameworks, it was a quiet force shaping how people interacted with technology in the Valley. From the early days of Hewlett-Packard and Xerox PARC, to the product revolutions led by Apple, this talk traces the evolution of design as both craft and catalyst.

Join us for a conversation with Barry Katz (add title), Patrick Coyne, longtime editor of Communication Arts, and Hugh Dubberly of Dubberly Design Office moderated by Ise Lyfe of the Stanford d.school, as we explore how graphic design, industrial design, and interaction design helped define Silicon Valley’s identity. Together, we’ll look at the origins of visual communication in tech—from early branding and print to the rise of digital interfaces—and how designers shaped not just products, but culture.
As the industry now navigates AI, automation, and rapidly shifting tools, this moment offers a chance to reflect: what lessons from the past still matter? And what does it mean to design with intention in a place where the future is constantly being built?
This event is part of Design Silicon Valley, bringing together creatives, technologists, and thinkers for an evening of insight, context, and conversation.

Panelists:

BARRY KATZ
Barry is Emeritus Professor of Industrial and Interaction Design at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and formerly Adjunct Professor in the Design Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Stanford University.
In addition to his academic affiliations, as IDEO Fellow Barry worked for more than 20 years with the world’s leading design and innovation consultancy and continues to consult with governments, companies, and academic institutions worldwide. He is the author of 8 books, and his writings on design as a strategy of innovation have appeared in many academic, professional, and popular journals.
His current activities include postwar reconstruction in Ukraine, the post-pandemic workplace in Silicon Valley, and the M.Des. program at U.C. Berkeley.

PATRICK COYNE / Communication Arts
Patrick Coyne is editor and designer of Communication Arts, the leading professional journal for graphic designers, art directors, design firms, ad agencies and corporate communications departments. In addition to determining the layout and editorial direction of the magazine, Mr. Coyne writes feature articles and the editor’s column. Coyne received the 2004 Design Leadership Award from the American Institute of Graphic Arts and was named a 2012 AIGA/San Francisco Fellow. He has also guest lectured at numerous creative clubs and universities.

HUGH DUBBERLY / Founder, Dubberly Design Office
Hugh Dubberly graduated from Rhode Island School of Design and earned an MFA in graphic design from Yale. He managed design teams and creative services at Apple Computer for 10 years before he became director of Interface Design for Times Mirror. As Vice President of Design at Netscape he was responsible for design and production of Netscape’s web services for 5 years. He is a principal in Dubberly Design Office. He teaches at San Jose State University, the Institute of Design at IIT, and at Stanford University. In 2000 he co-founded DDO.

Moderator:

ISE LYFE / Associate Director for Affiliates and External Partnerships | Hasso Plattner Institute of Design @ Stanford
Ise Lyfe is a Social Enterprise Executive, Professor, and Artist with 20 years of experience in specified audience engagement, project development, transportation innovation, design, and advocacy. He is appointed as Head of Strategy for Affiliates and External Partnerships at the Stanford d.school, appointed Senior Associate at Fehr & Peers, and is Chief Executive Officer at Lyfe Productives.

Thank you to Stanford d.school for co-hosting #DesignSiliconValley