Interview with Jennifer Leonard
conducted by Aaron B. Jackson
What artists have influenced your work?
Jenny Holzer, John Cage, Bucky Fuller, Marshall McLuhan, Joseph Beuys, Beastie Boys, my brother.
How has growing up on Lake Huron shaped your career?
Ha! Perhaps the expansiveness of Lake Huron and the Atlantic Ocean (I was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia) impressed upon me at an early age the notion of design beyond boundaries and limitless possibilities?
What led to you co-authoring the book Massive Change: The Future of Global Design with Bruce Mau?
I was at the right place at the right time. Bruce invited me to write the book, as I had just completed the post-graduate design program in his studio, a proven journalism background, and a successful radio program that was consistently pulling in rich content. The people I was fortunate enough to speak with live-to-air each week for over a year (on my show “Massive Change Radio”, on the University of Toronto’s CIUT 89.5) cumulatively drove the content for the Massive Change book. Talking to such a broad diversity of visionaries in such a compressed period of time, and then creatively synopsizing and arranging their points of view into a single volume, was the most inspiring educational experience of my life. Despite a few kinks in the plan, The Massive Change book is a gift that keeps on giving. I’m truly grateful for all it has afforded me.
What connections if any do you find between working as a designer and as a writer and as a Radio Broadcaster?
The journalistic process (both print and radio) is not far off from that of design. The connections are many: research, interviews, synthesis, storytelling, iterating, iterating, iterating!
How did you get into Radio Broadcasting?
I’m a huge music geek, so I first got into it as a DJ while in graduate school for Journalism (at the University of Western Ontario). Every Tuesday morning I played whatever I wanted for four hours. Along with my morning coffee, I was in heaven. About 10 years later, after living in New York and freelance writing for a smattering of arts magazines, I experienced radio wave withdrawals. So I decided to spark it up again while in design school – but this time it was entirely dialogue. Today, I’m happy to say that I’m back at it again. Check out my podcast every Monday on Worldchanging.com .
Can you describe the Institute Without Boundaries and how it has helped your career?
It was an experimental, multi-disciplinary think-tank held within the Bruce Mau Design studio. (I was one of six people in its inaugural year, 2003.) The point was to bask in the optimistic glow of global design for a full year, and work our asses off to meet real-world deadlines while figuring out what the heck it all meant. More than anything else, it was up to the participants to chart its course. I maximized my time there and enthusiastically gave it my all since it was a big decision to go back to school. As a result I’ve reaped just rewards. No regrets.
What do you see yourself doing in five years?
Asking questions. Listening. Dreaming up new ideas. Sharing. Bringing people together. Inspiring. Finding humor in life. Laughing. Listening to music. Dancing. Working. Playing. Loving.
What is your favorite animal and why?
I’ve always been a sucker for horses. I love their gentle strength, grace, and speed.
What is your favorite artistic medium to work with?
Audio and text. Tie.
How did you get involved with giving lectures?
By invitation! Also, I admit it, I’m a born communicator. So I joyfully embrace all opportunities that I feel might open up to become lively conversations, i.e. not just me “giving lectures” but me participating in a dynamic dialogue with the audience. These opportunities tend to build one after the next, and so on and so on and so on...
