A Postcard from LA: On Designing Your (and Our Collective) Future

Creative insights and the details of our Nov 15th Possibilities Club Field Trip!

Oct 10, 2025

Hello from Los Angeles 😇🌴

— the City of Angels (and where I spent 4 formative years of my young adulthood).

Side note: On Tuesday, I visited my alma mater — the University of Southern California — and it was surreal (and surprisingly uncomfortable). I thought I was in for a nostalgic treat. Think: sipping on a milkshake at the cafe my now-husband professed his love for me, and skipping through hallways where I used to care for drunk students and cater lots of free food — as a resident assistant for 3 years. BUT…it actually felt oddly alienating and intrusive 😬. More on that in a future post.

Anyways, in a serendipitous turn of events, I have the delight of being in LA these next few days to attend the American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA)’s Conference — an annual gathering of over 2,000 creative leaders in predominantly visual design careers.

Quick history: Founded in 1914, AIGA first existed as an arts club in New York City. Since then, the organization has grown to 25,000 members and actively influences design-driven social change, innovation in printing and typeface, design education, and is a prominent organizer in the arts arena — hosting exhibits and competitions around the world.

So, as I sit for a little break — cross-legged somewhere on the second-floor of the brutalist Westin Bonaventure Hotel (a futuristic structure with cylindrical interiors and a history of credits in films like “Interstellar”, “Blade Runner”, and “The Dark Knight Rises”) — I am energized to get back to this creative gathering (yet equally eager to spread its spirit with you all — our readers).

So, here’s a mini recap of the conference so far →

Rehearsing Our Futures, Immersing Musical Audiences, & Re-designing NASA.gov

One of my most memorable sessions from yesterday was an interactive talk led by Julian Bleecker, a multi-hyphenate designer, artist, engineer, and entrepreneur. His talk “Imagine the Futures of Creative Practice: A Design Fiction Workshop” explored the framework of creating fictional, performative artifacts as a means to exploring and rehearsing our possible futures.

He shared the unconventional choice of high-jump athlete Dick Fosbury — who shocked everyone at the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City by approaching the high-jump bar backwards (the first time in the history of the sport that anyone had tried that) — winning him the gold metal.

Julian Bleecker's slides on the athletic feat of Dick Fosbury and the invention of suitcases with wheels.

Through a series of interesting examples, Julian Bleecker paused on the truly remarkable fact that the power and creative intellect to create something new and different from our current realities...is in each of us: whatever the subject of our passions may be.

For those of you who have been around for a bit, you know that this notion is our kryptonite…and the impetus of Tomatokind Magazine. Limitless possibilities is so much a part of our identity that it is in the name of our flagship workshop series: Possibilities Club. (Don’t know what I’m talking about? Keep reading! 😉)

Next up at the AIGA Design Conference, I deeply enjoyed a workshop on relational design and radical collaboration led by 2 wonderful facilitators at the University of Maryland’s Academy for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Christina Hnatov and Mira Azram. Christina and Mira shared about their experimental approach to transforming a national orchestra festival — leaning into dynamic storytelling, multi-sensory engagement, and personal connection — to revive a struggling classical music scene in Maryland.

It was actually the most engaging 2 hours I have ever experienced at a conference — by far. Popsicle sticks, glue, mythical creatures, and space futurism were involved.

Workshop led buy Christina Hnatov and Mira Azram.

And, just 10 minutes ago, I left an evocative session about the spectacular redesign of NASA.gov, the digital ecosystem representing one of the most iconic, exploration-minded, and inspiring U.S. government agencies (by popular opinion). The presenters walked through the choreography and care it takes to re-build and re-brand a well-established scientific (and cultural) institution, and how they took creative risks to transform NASA’s digital footprint to match its interstellar one.

So, that’s a taste of what I’ve been up to the past 48 hours.

Meanwhile, we are designing explorations and creative experiences of our own…

You’re Invited!

Last week, we announced Possibilities Club Field Trips — monthly group hikes designed to inspire curious conversation and connect creatives in the great outdoors.

Each field trip is co-led by me (Vanessa Li) and a creative guest
Trips are centered on the core values of: curiosity, story, exploration, inclusivity, community, & movement.
Hikes vary in difficulty (easy/moderate), lasts about 2 hours, and are located within the greater SF Bay Area (for now).
Field trips are designed with a specific creative motif and learning objective in mind (facilitated by intentional activities and conversation prompts).
Think of it as a true school field trip (except no permissions slips needed)!
Save the date! Our next field trip is November 15th with Magali Mathieu, a startup founder-turned-vitality coach — and we are beyond excited.
Sign-ups go live next Thurs, October 16th. 👀

But wait, what is Possibilities Club?

Possibilities Club is a playful, expansive workshop series for anyone pursuing a dream. We launched it this April, and Field Trips are the newest variation!

At Possibilities Club, we believe a creative life requires: