Nick Foster RDI MA RCA BSc FRSA
‘Fosta’ is the creative alias of Nick Foster RDI, a Futures Designer based in Oakland, California.
Through a rich career spanning over 25 years, Nick has held influential design leadership roles in renowned global entities including Google, Sony, Nokia, and Dyson. He has established himself as a pioneering figure in the field of Futures Design, and in 2021 was awarded the title ‘Royal Designer for Industry' in recognition of his significant contributions to this field – a title reserved for only 200 living individuals, and the highest accolade for a British designer.
In his most recent capacity as the Head of Design at Google X, Nick led a diverse team of designers, researchers, strategists and prototypers in the development of world changing technology projects, from brain interfaces and learning robots to stratospheric internet balloons and neighbourhood-scale nuclear fusion. Nick is widely known for his approachable, down-to-earth and occasionally irreverent approach, which explores everyday moments from emergent futures, dwelling on the mundane in order to make the future relatable and digestible, rather than escapist and unattainable.
Nick is an accomplished public speaker, and has given keynote addresses in cities all over the world, to audiences large and small. From presenting at the Frankfurt motor show, to a private salon at the Smithsonian museum, his audiences typically include technologists, designers, innovators, policymakers, and those with a thirst for new ideas about the future. In addition to his professional pursuits, Nick accepted an honorary role as visiting professor at the Royal College of Art in London, he acts as advisor to the United Nations Development Program, and frequently tutors students at colleges and universities across Europe, Asia and the USA.
Born in Derby, a city synonymous with the Industrial Revolution and the development of the jet engine, Nick was named 'Young Engineer for Britain' by the British Engineering Council. In 2001, he earned his Masters degree from the Royal College of Art, and in 2018, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Nick moved to California in 2012, where he lives with his wife, Jayne
“Nick Foster is one of the world’s foremost leaders in speculative design”
/ FORTUNE /
Nick presenting to the Frankfurt Motor Show - 2017
Speaking appearances
Stanford University, Graduate School of Business - California, 2024
Universidad de Diseño y Tecnología - Madrid, 2024
Gitex, keynote address - Dubai, 2023
California College of the Arts - San Francisco, 2023
The Next Web, keynote address - Amsterdam, 2023 - LINK
Nike Digital Futures Summit - Oregon, 2023
University of Applied Arts - Vienna, 2023
Harvard + Stanford MBA Climate Summit - California, 2023
Edmond de Rothschild Foundation - Tel Aviv, 2022
In conversation with Aldo Cibic - Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic - Shanghai, 2022
MDES commencement speech, Berkeley University - California, 2022
BMW Designworks - Los Angeles, 2022
Z/Topia, Podcast appearance with Matt Ward - 2021
IKEA Digital Days, keynote address - Copenhagen (remote), 2021 - LINK
Google - San Francisco, 2020 - LINK
Emerging Practices Conference - Shanghai, 2019
Pan-Tongji Design Week - Shanghai, 2019
Worldz, Cultural Masters - Los Angeles, 2019
FUTURES working group, Smithsonian Museum - Washington DC, 2019
Really Interesting Speaker series, Casper - San Francisco, 2019
Worldz, Cultural Masters - Los Angeles, 2018
Primer Conference, keynote speaker - Berkeley, 2018
PTTOW summit - Los Angeles, 2018
Mercedes Benz - Frankfurt Motor Show - Germany, 2017
PTTOW summit - Los Angeles, 2017
IDSA awards - Detroit, 2017
Partly Broken Spaces - San Francisco, 2016
Interaction 15 - San Francisco, 2015
dConstruct - Brighton, 2015
‘It’s Grim up North’, IDSA - Silicon Valley, 2014
An Evening of Design & Fiction - IDEO SF, 2013
Emerge conference - Arizona State University, 2013
Interesting North - Sheffield, 2010