For the past two years I have had the privilege to work with a local group of designers, the Vancouver Design Nerds. We describe ourselves as a "network of collaborating designers and social entrepreneurs, who share a desire to engage design opportunities with a spirit of creative play, to challenge the normative environment of the city and to dive into an array of topics – from playful to the critical and in between.” The projects I've been involved in are temporary urban interventions that make use of public space to inspire pedestrians to stop and enjoy the street, as well as community workshops designed to bring residents and stakeholders together over an array of placemaking and social wellbeing topics.

Projects like these gave me a deeper understanding of how much goes into a professional project, beyond the design itself. From coordination with the city, and the regulations and planning that comes with these types of ventures, to the reward of seeing an idea come to life and to experience the public's reaction.