Fergus Laidlaw

Fergus is a creative technologist who thrives when collaborating with diverse teams to create impactful projects.

His work focuses on human interaction with emerging technology, often exploring tangible physical mediums. He is driven to make the leading edge of technology accessible to those that need it most, using design as a tool to translate. 

He studied architecture at Cambridge University, where he learnt to design as a craftsman, considering human interaction with the built environment. Since then he has worked on a variety of projects - physical, digital and hybrid, prioritising rapid iterative prototyping within his design process and always seeking real world validation.

My favourite design tool is an early prototype. That can take many forms but fundamentally I love making things that I can give to people and watch their response. I love the moment where they use something in an unexpected way, or when I see excitement or confusion on their face. That moment of validation, whether positive or negative, is the most exciting part of the process for me. 

That prototyping started off being mostly physical, prototyping architecture and furniture and observing how people respond to interventions in the built environment. But has developed through a huge variety of mediums. For the last few years my focus has been on mediating digital interactions, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, which constantly drives and inspires my work as can be seen in my major project Kleio.

I love collaborating, so please reach out!