Clean Energy & Education Through the Power of Music
Disruptive Innovation Festival (online)
Archive · 2012 – 2017
Earlier ventures, objects and exhibitions.
Before Aletheai: clean-tech education, publishing, recycled materials and speculative design. Different materials, the same question: what makes people change what they do.
Ventures and projects
What came before.
2014 – 2017 · Co-founder and Chief Product Officer
Shake Your Power CIC
SPARK, the first energy-generating musical instrument. Granted a US patent and two London Design Award Golds (SPARK in 2014, DIY SPARK in 2015). STEM pilots in the UK, the US and India, with UCL Academy and Pratham; manufactured in Shenzhen.
2014 – · Founder
Monogram Publishers
Independent publishing house. Publisher of The Art of Getting Stuff Done (2022).
2012 – 2014 · Founder and designer
Glass Lab / Trash Surface Bureau
Recycled-glass surface products made from the commercial waste of London businesses. Featured in FRAME Magazine, Inhabitat and Designer Pages.
2012 · Royal College of Art
Fictional Objects
Speculative objects for futures that do not exist yet (the Human Behaviour Control Machine, the Lightning Harvester, the Prayer Transmitter, the Dream Time Machine), made alongside the MA dissertation on myth and design.
Awards
Recognition.
| Year | Award | For |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Gold, London Design Awards | DIY SPARK |
| 2014 | Gold, London Design Awards | SPARK |
| 2013 | Judges' Choice Award, Mind the Gap | NCKU, Tainan |
| 2013 | Shortlist, Sustain RCA Awards | Royal College of Art |
Exhibitions
Shown at the V&A, Droog and the Museu del Disseny.
| Year | Exhibition | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Africa Energy Forum | London (Jun 2016); Washington (Jan 2016); Dubai (Jun 2015) |
| 2015 | Green Tec Awards | Berlin |
| 2015 | Design for Life: 99 Projects for the Real World | Museu del Disseny, Barcelona |
| 2014 | Construct de-Construct | Droog, Amsterdam |
| 2014 | Resource | ExCeL London |
| 2013 | Going Into Business | Protein, London |
| 2013 | Sustain RCA Awards (shortlist) | Royal College of Art, London |
| 2013 | Show RCA 2013 | Royal College of Art, London |
| 2013 | Mind the Gap | Royal College of Art, London; NCKU, Tainan (Judges' Choice Award) |
| 2012 | Calling the Future | V&A, London |
| 2012 | Bureau Odyssey | Iceland Design Week, Reykjavík |
Talks 2014 – 2016
Earlier talks.
Design & Technology
University of Hertfordshire
Design & Technology
UCL Academy, London
Innovation through Design
European Commission, Brussels
Sustainability & Design
Central Saint Martins, London
Praxis: Culture and Sustainability
Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge
Sustainability in Design: What's Next?
19 Greek Street Gallery, London
Design Charities
19 Greek Street Gallery, London
Waste-Land of Plenty
Julie's Bicycle at The Proud Archivist, London
Press
Written about the work.
| Year | Outlet | Piece |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Better Future Awards / London Design Awards | SPARK project page |
| 2013 | FRAME Magazine | Feature on Glass Lab (print, Nov/Dec 2013) |
| 2013 | Trend Office | Another Beautiful Way to Recycle |
| 2013 | 3rings / Designer Pages | Glass Lab by Diana Simpson-Hernandez |
| 2013 | Inhabitat | Glass Lab Turns Waste from London Businesses into Beautiful Recycled Products |
| The Greenhouse | Pioneer: Diana Simpson-Hernandez, Trash Surface Bureau |