Brutal Honesty with Zuzanna Skalska
Zuzanna says:
“It’s not the time to fake, that means use the color of the material, understand what true color means”
With Zuzanna we talk about just everything that is strategic design thinking to how to get out of our comfort zone to color-matching in plastics, to being the only woman in the room and how businesses need to understand that their brand is made of people. And all that while being brutally honest.
Zuzanna started her career in 1998 at Philips Design and for years she contributed with SignalS of Change analyses to international visionary design projects. Then for almost 15 years she was involved in Design Management & Trends consultancy at a leading Dutch design consultancy Vanberlo (today part of Accenture Industry X.O). Since 2014 she has been a founding partner of 360Inspiration, working for clients from various industries, including many blue chips and market leaders. Zuzanna's core expertise areas include Up-Front Innovation, Industry’s Cross-fertilization, SignalS of Change and Strategic FutureS Thinking. Her research and consulting activities concentrate on 8 crucial industry fields: CE, DAP, Home, Healthcare, Mobility, FMCG/Retail, Urban and Finance. She works closely with CEOs and decision makers on strategic scenario’s development as well with R&Ds/in-house creative teams on specific projects. With almost 25 years of experience Zuzanna skillfully translates her knowledge into actionable innovative programs, using many of her own, self-developed tools. Simultaneously, she has been engaged in promotion of creative industry as Member of the Board and then Advisory Board member of Dutch Design Week as well in the international design education, as a lecturer at TU/e University in Eindhoven and at Parsons School of Design in New York. She is a co- founder of School of Form – a design academy in Poland.
Skalska has been a jury member at many prestigious design competitions like IF Design Awards and a keynote speaker at many recognized business conferences and economic summits. She is an active journalist and contributing editor to leading design and lifestyle magazines. In addition, together with her partners Greenhat Innovation and Blue Media/Autopay, she publishes an annual book - a comprehensive volume on SignalS of Change research.Her professional and public activity has been often recognized not only by the prestigious world’s design awards. In addition, in recent years she has been granted prestigious titles, such as one of the 50 most influential women of Eindhoven region, one of the strongest contributing expats in Eindhoven or one of the best professional speakers in Poland. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Zuzanna has been living in the Netherlands since 1992.
