What to Expect at San Francisco Design Week 2025
San Francisco Design Week 2025, running from June 2 to June 10, invites designers and creatives to explore this year’s theme “Reform” — how design can drive meaningful change in society. Expect a packed schedule of inspiring events, hands-on workshops, innovative exhibitions, and powerful conversations.
10 Highlights of San Francisco Design Week 2025
1. Studio Crawl Night: A Self-Guided Tour Through SF’s Top Design Studios
Step inside the creative spaces shaping San Francisco’s design culture. Studio Crawl Night 2 gives you the rare opportunity to visit multiple top-tier studios in a single evening. With one registration, you’ll gain access to an open-house experience where you can explore design work, meet the people behind it, and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of innovation.
- Studios Included:
- Studio Hinrichs
- The New Company
- Volume Inc.
- Faulkner Architects
- Location: Multiple locations across San Francisco
- Date & Time: Thursday, June 5, 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP via SFDW
- What to Expect:
- One Pass, Multiple Doors: Visit as many participating studios as you’d like in any order.
- Meet the Creatives: Chat with designers, see what they’re working on, and learn how they bring ideas to life.
- Behind-the-Scenes Access: Get a peek at workspaces, prototypes, and the inner workings of active design firms.
- Casual Networking: Enjoy refreshments and conversation in an informal setting.
2. The Scent of Nostalgia: A Living Green Wall Within Reach
Experience design through scent, space, and memory with this unique living installation presented by Ovata. Inspired by the traditional Korean Byung-poong (folding screen), this portable green wall composed of California native plants acts as a sensory anchor in the bustling venue. Rather than being static decor, the installation guides movement, creates intimate gathering spots, and invites reflection on nature, memory, and place.
- Location: 101 Spear Street Suite B5, San Francisco, CA 94105
- Date & Time: June 2 – June 10, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (self-guided, come anytime)
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP via SFDW
- What to expect:
- Hinged, frame-based panels filled with California native plants
- QR codes on each panel reveal stories of the plants and their ecological significance
- Subtle, natural fragrance to engage the senses
- Inspired by Korean folding screens (Byung-poong)
- Designed for visual flexibility and space shaping
- Encourages organic movement and calm gathering spaces
3. Color as Catalyst: Design for Social Impact with Project Color Corps and Fuseproject
Discover how color can do more than decorate—it can transform communities. This powerful fireside chat brings together two design visionaries, Laura Guido-Clark (Project Color Corps) and Yves Béhar (fuseproject), to revisit their collaborative work with the Willie Mays Boys & Girls Club in Hunters Point. Moderated by Dawn Zidonis, the conversation explores how community-driven design and the emotional power of color can create equity, joy, and belonging.
- Location: Four One Nine – 419 10th Street, San Francisco, CA
- Date & Time: Tuesday, June 4, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP via SFDW
- Speakers:
- Laura Guido-Clark – Founder, Love Good Color & Project Color Corps
- Yves Béhar – Founder, Fuseproject
- Moderator: Dawn Zidonis – CEO of Design Bay Area & SF Design Week
- Why Attend:
- Learn how color impacts perception, mood, and behavior
- See how community-led design can create real-world transformation
- Gain inspiration from two leaders at the intersection of design and social change
- Explore how design strategies can foster equity and emotional connection in public spaces
4. The Tension of Design Between the Familiar and the Unfamiliar with James Hurst
What makes a design truly unforgettable? According to creative leader James Hurst, it’s the delicate tension between what feels familiar and what challenges expectations. In this sharp, engaging talk, Hurst draws from two decades of experience designing for brands like Google, Pinterest, and Tinder to reveal a creative framework that balances the strange and the recognizable.
If you’re navigating the blurred lines between creativity, culture, and emerging tech—this session is for you.
- Location: Four One Nine – 419 10th Street, San Francisco, CA
- Date & Time: Tuesday, June 4, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP on SFDW website
- About the Speaker:
- James Hurst – Partner & Chief Creative Officer at Zag
- Former Head of Brand Design at Google, Global Creative Director at Pinterest, and Creative Director at Tinder
- Author of “Use Design To Design Change”
- Instructor of “AI and Aesthetic Intelligence,” a course focused on creative adaptation in the AI age
- What to Expect:
- Creative Tools & Frameworks
- Cultural Insight
- Real Stories
- Brand and product case studies from the frontlines of global tech design
- Team Empowerment
5. Shaping the Future of Health Through Design with Level
In an age where AI is revolutionizing health and MedTech, how do we ensure that innovation remains human-centered? Hosted by the award-winning women-led design studio level, this in-person event explores the intersection of industrial design, wellness, and next-generation technology. Through a behind-the-scenes look at their design process, level invites guests to reflect on what it takes to create elegant, intuitive, and life-changing health products.
Whether you’re a designer, technologist, healthcare innovator, or simply curious about the future of well-being, this event promises valuable insights and inspiration.
- Location: level Studio – 530 Hampshire Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
- Date & Time: Tuesday, June 4, 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP on SFDW website
- Schedule Overview:
- 4:30 – 5:00 PM – Networking, refreshments, and product showcase browsing
- 5:00 – 5:45 PM – Conversation with Nichole Rouillac, Founder & Creative Director of Level
- 5:45 – 6:00 PM – Audience Q&A
- 6:00 – 6:30 PM – Networking resumes and continued access to design exhibits
- What to Expect:
- Exclusive Design Process Reveal – View prototypes and real-world MedTech and HealthTech solutions developed by Level
- Thought Leadership – Nichole Rouillac discusses how AI and thoughtful design can solve the most pressing challenges in health
- Networking Opportunities – Connect with industry professionals and explore new ideas over drinks and light bites
- Women-led Innovation – Celebrate a leading female voice in a space traditionally dominated by male-led firms
6. Cultivating Resilience: Reimagining Urban Landscapes
As climate change reshapes our cities, how can outdoor spaces adapt—and thrive? This intimate conversation brings together four of the Bay Area’s most visionary landscape designers to share how they’re transforming urban environments into resilient, beautiful, and culturally relevant ecosystems. Moderated by Miranda Jones, co-founder of Galanter & Jones, this session explores the intersections of ecology, community, and design.
From coastal protection to edible gardens, the talk dives deep into the strategies that are redefining what sustainable urban living looks like.
- Location: Four One Nine – 419 10th Street, San Francisco, CA
- Date & Time: Tuesday, June 4, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP via SFDW
- Featured Speakers:
- Molly Sedlacek (Orca) – Specializing in sustainable coastal design that adapts to rising sea levels and shoreline pressures
- Daniel Nolan (Daniel Nolan Design) – Known for crafting drought-resistant gardens that are both low-maintenance and high-impact
- Holly Kuljian (Pine House Edible Gardens) – Expert in food-producing landscapes that redefine the relationship between nourishment and place
- What You’ll Experience:
- Design Strategies for a New Climate – Learn how designers are adapting spaces to withstand environmental stressors
- Ecological Storytelling – Hear how landscapes can communicate culture, identity, and resilience
- Inspiration for City Dwellers – Whether you’re in a backyard, rooftop, or public park, discover ideas you can bring to your own community
- Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue – A rare gathering of designers working across food systems, architecture, and environmental design
7. Show of Hands: A Curated Art Exhibition at Heath Ceramics
What does it mean to shape the world by hand in a time of increasing automation? Heath Ceramics’ Show of Hands invites you to explore that question through a diverse and tactile collection of works spanning clay, paint, textiles, and metal. Curated by Tung Chiang, Heath’s Clay Studio Director, this month-long exhibition celebrates craftsmanship, curiosity, and the quiet revolution of the handmade.
This showcase kicks off with a special Opening Night Reception on June 5—don’t miss your chance to meet the artists, explore their processes, and connect with San Francisco’s design and maker community.
- Dates: June 5–22, 2025
- Hours:
- Weekdays: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
- Weekends: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Location: Heath Ceramics Showroom Gallery, 2900 18th Street, San Francisco, CA
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP via SFDW
- Featured Artists:
- Ayano Shioya – Ceramic forms with minimalist elegance
- Brendan Monroe – Surreal biomorphic illustrations and sculptures
- Brian Madden – Inventive explorations in color and geometry
- Max Frommeld – Functional art with playful industrial roots
- Rafi Ajl – Objects bridging design, sustainability, and storytelling
- Sarah Wertzberger – Bold and tactile textile compositions
8. When UX Meets AI: Designing for an Algorithmic World
In a world increasingly run by algorithms, what does human-centered really mean? At this SFDW 2025 session hosted by UC Berkeley Extension, Abdalla Emam—seasoned UX expert and co-founder of Indy Pixels—dives deep into how designers can shape AI systems that are not just powerful, but understandable, ethical, and empowering.
This lunchtime talk is a must for anyone working at the intersection of design and technology, especially those navigating the evolving UX roles in AI-rich environments. Whether you’re crafting smart assistants, productivity platforms, or AI-driven healthcare tools, this session will offer practical principles and real-world design strategies for building trust and transparency into your work.
- Date & Time: June 5, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
- Location: UC Berkeley Extension, 160 Spear St., Floor 6, San Francisco, CA
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP via SFDW
- What You’ll Learn:
- The UX principles essential to AI: explainability, control, and user agency
- Key challenges like data bias, over-automation, and algorithmic opacity
- Real-world examples in productivity, entertainment, finance, and healthcare
- Emerging UX roles in prompt engineering and behavior modeling
- About the Speaker: Abdalla Emam
- Abdalla brings a rare blend of design, AI, and entrepreneurship to the table. With product design experience at Google, Apple, Atlassian, and more, he’s a leading voice in human-centered AI. He’s also the author of Design Container, a UX framework book, and teaches at UC Berkeley Extension, where he’s helping shape the next generation of design leaders.
9. Inside of Nebula: Healing Through Scent, Space, and Story
Step out of the everyday and into the scented dimension of design at Inside of Nebula, a one-day immersive art and design installation by internationally acclaimed artist Xinye Lin. This isn’t just an exhibition—it’s a ritual in motion, combining solid perfume, ambient architecture, sound healing, and light to guide visitors through a deeply personal and meditative journey.
Hosted at Google’s Community Space, Lin’s work invites you to reflect on how fragrance and spatial storytelling can be tools for emotional healing and presence. Whether you stay for five minutes or an hour, Nebula offers a rare opportunity to experience art as a portal—to memory, to stillness, and to new sensory possibilities.
- Date & Time: June 5, 2025, 2:00 PM – 6:30 PM (open walk-in experience)
- Location: Google’s Community Space, 188 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP via SFDW
- Schedule:
- 1:00 – 2:00 PM: Opening Ceremony & Artist Talk
- 2:00 – 6:00 PM: Immersive walkthrough — solid perfume altars, soundscapes, light installations
- 6:00 – 6:30 PM: Afterlight Social — music, tea, and reflective conversation
- About the Artist: Xinye Lin
- A RISD-trained architectural designer, musician, and author of Artful Awakening
- Taps into Eastern philosophy, material innovation, and poetic sensory design to reconnect visitors with their inner worlds.
10. Echoes of Future Matter: A Panel on the Next Frontier of Making
How do we build for a future we can barely imagine? At the intersection of speculative design, material innovation, and emerging technology, this thought-provoking panel brings together leading voices in architecture, fabrication, and ecological design to explore exactly that.
Part of the Echoes of Future Matter exhibition, this one-hour panel invites attendees to go beyond form and function, and think of design as a system-level agent of change. It’s a must-attend for anyone curious about the shifting boundaries between machine intelligence, materiality, and human creativity.
- Date & Time: June 5, 2025, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
- Location: Diaspora Hub, 221 11th Street, San Francisco, CA
- Admission: Requires SFDW ONE PASS
- Tickets: RSVP via SFDW
- Panelists Include:
- Alexey Dubov – Co-Founder of BuildTech VC and Mighty Buildings (3D-printed sustainable homes)
- Daghan Cam – Co-Founder of Aibuild (AI-powered robotic fabrication)
- Oluseun Taiwo – Co-Founder of Solideon (autonomous micro-factories)
- What You’ll Learn:
- How digital and analog techniques can be integrated in the design process
- How technologies like robotic fabrication and AI tools are transforming production
- The power of speculative and systems design in real-world innovation
- Ways cross-disciplinary teams (designers, technologists, and investors) are shaping the future collaboratively
San Francisco Design Week 2025 offers a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the dynamic world of design. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a curious newcomer, the festival provides a platform to learn, connect, and contribute to the ongoing dialogue about the future of design. With a diverse range of events and experiences, SFDW invites you to be part of a community committed to shaping a more thoughtful and innovative world.
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