Cusp Conference Live in Chicago at the Museum of Modern Art & Design, 2015
Designer & Inventor
Energise your audience with wonder
Cusp Conference Live in Chicago at the Museum of Modern Art & Design, 2015
Tom Lawton, an award-winning British artist, inventor & product designer, brings his innovative visions to life with creativity and determination.
As a polymath, he explores new horizons, finding joy in discovery. Tom's speaking topics span lateral thinking, innovating on a budget, sustainability, resilience, and the importance of following one's passion.
His engaging style makes him a compelling speaker, inspiring others to view the world of invention and creativity through his eyes.
Tom holds multiple patents and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has appeared on our screens and throughout the media over an illuminating creative career spanning 25 years. He was the star of his own primetime television series - Tom's Fantastic Floating Home and is a guest lecturer at The Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA), UCL, London.
Tom is represented by PepTalk (UK/USA) & We are Minds (Europe/Worldwide).
Professor Andrew Hudson-Smith FRSA FRGS FAcSS
An Inventor's Tale: The Epic Adventure of a Life Lived with Imagination and the Pursuit of a Childhood Dream to Become a Great Inventor
What would it be like to follow your heart and to live a life with pure imagination – that’s the basis for an inventor’s tale, Tom’s life story and book in writing. To dream the impossible dream, to never give up and to see it through – against all the odds and with the courage of a tiger. From WakeYoo to Wonder, Tom’s tale inspires everyone to follow their intuition and to dare to dream of a world where everything can be made a little bit better and we can all find joy together in balance.
Unleashing Creativity: Discover Inspiration All Around You
Even in the most mundane situation, inspiration is staring at us and good ideas are right there under our noses, waiting to be discovered. Every problem has a solution in waiting and the path to a better world is just a daydream away. Whatever your resource, good ideas are the catalyst for an emerging new world. It just takes a creative brain - and we can all nurture that if we follow our intuition and trust our unique perspective of life. With humility and passion Tom shows how to unlock the power of creativity and the wonder in us all.
Uplift & Wonder: Lifting Spirits Through The Art of Relaxation
Life can be so stressful but it doesn’t have to be that way. Inspired by a deep desire and commitment to making beautiful, therapeutic peace machines, Tom elegantly demonstrates the art of doing nothing and how to lift spirits through the power of good design. A labour of love, Tom brought Uplift & Wonder to the public in response to a world in a spin and fast heading into burnout. Navigating the pandemic with creativity, courage and hard work, Tom’s story of devotion to the people he loves is a heart-warming tale that deserves its place in the history books as his legacy begins to unfold.
Designing for Endurance: Resilience Through Life, Design & Engineering
In 2015 Tom set his mission on providing an antidote to planned obsolescence with a number of original and durable designs that outlast their competitors and define a new category of product innovation that serves to be engineered for life. From the ingenious skateboard bike to Million Mile Light, the battery free running light where you are the power source, to Honking Handlebars and Uplift, a solar powered spiralling sculpture designed to soothe your soul. Tom tasks himself by thinking outside of short-term product lifecycles and with the power of good design - reminds us of how anything can be designed to last a very long time.
Doing The Right Thing: Sustainability & Compassion at the Heart of Design
It’s never to late to turn things around but we have to imagine the world as we want it to be. Forget government guidelines, there is a human necessity beyond rules and regulations for us to come together and set everything right. Nature is being depleted on an industrial scale and we can all play our part in restoring Earth to her beauty and balance. Design has an important role to play but so too do our habits and behaviours – and this doesn’t mean a world without fun. Quite the opposite – 'doing the right thing' has never been a more enjoyable pursuit. As a pioneering eco innovator, Tom’s story developing sustainable products began in 2003 and in 2009 he won the US Green Dot Award for inventing Firewinder, a spiralling light that is powered by the wind and makes the most of bad weather, generating a spectacle of light that inspires everyone to see the beauty of renewable energy. This talk shines a light on his inspirations in nature and some of the challenges he faced before the world woke up to a sustainable and regenerative future. Be prepared to have your soul stirred by Tom’s value driven approach to a life.
Please email an outline of your talk request to [email protected]
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