This is the site for the PRIMER 2018 conference held May 3 2018. PRIMER 19 will be held in New York in June 2019. Join our mailing list (below) or follow our social media channels for updates.

PRIMER was created to prepare you for the future, and to equip you to help shape it.  

In 2018, we are inviting an even wider range of speakers from the design, strategy & futurist communities. We are still loyal to the core of our offering which is Speculative Design; so you can be sure to hear some amazing talks from Speculative & Critical Designers from around the world, as well as student work from top design schools in the US.

SEE THE FULL AGENDA

What you’ll hear at PRIMER

We have over 20 speakers on 2 separate stages. Talks will traverse issues across the social, political, environmental and global impact of design.

We’ll discuss topics such as:

• • Practical and critical frameworks for inspecting aspects of the future to cultivate innovation

  • How science fiction has and will shape the technology of tomorrow

  • Policies and implications around space/air transportation and other emerging technologies

  • New economic systems to combat an era facing climate change

  • And what humanity’s next chapter might look like…in the near and far future

Workshops will cover a variety of toolkits and methodologies for strategic foresight and futures thinking. Each facilitator will bring their own unique lens—from looking at the future through your grandchildren’s eyes to considering the urban and social landscape, these sessions and talks are here to pave your journey toward transformation and possibilities.

Why you should attend

• You care about the impact your work will have on our future

• You are in a domain and industry that has the power to affect society’s culture, politics, and economies and want to incite change on a global scale

• You are part of an emerging technology group or product and looking for a radical reframing of how you look at the world and your work

• You are a visionary and want new tools to shift boundaries and usher in new methods of thinking and ideation

• You are simply looking for inspiration and new lenses to apply to your work or craft

In short, we are building a global community of thought leaders and visionaries—people who want to imagine a brighter future and deliver impact at their company or practice. We need people like you to help drive innovation with a close eye on ethics and responsible design strategies. The world we are imagining is not science fiction; they are the realities we live in today and the agendas we must shape for a better tomorrow.

Who comes to PRIMER?

Designers
Futurists
Researchers
Strategists
Product Managers
Artists
Architects
Science Fiction Writers/Film Makers
Scientists
  

PRIMER is a project of the Design Futures Initiative,a 501c3 nonprofit which produces the Speculative Futures meetups and has established chapters in San Francisco, Austin, New York, Berlin, and London and has over a thousand members worldwide.

Read about the 2017 Conference here

Conference Code of Conduct
Our conference is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks, workshops, parties, Twitter and other online media. Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference without a refund at the discretion of the conference organisers.