Talia Cotton
Controlling Chaos
Design is, by definition, an act of intentionality. As designers, we shape form to achieve a desired result. Yet today’s technologies increasingly introduce elements that resist traditional control. Random values, evolving data, and user interaction—to name a few—are no longer peripheral; they are central to the systems we design.
This raises a provocative question: If we’re sacrificing control, are we still designing? Are we still designers when the medium itself resists being designed?
In this talk, Talia Cotton explores the tension between control and chaos in contemporary creative practice. She shares the methodologies she employs to regain authorship, the frameworks she builds to direct unpredictability, and the moments she chooses to surrender control—on purpose. Audiences will leave with new strategies for designing within systems that shift, react, and evolve—and a renewed sense of what it means to create with intention in a medium that refuses to sit still.
About Talia Cotton
Talia Cotton is a designer, coder, educator, and leading specialist in the intersection of branding and technology. She is Principal & Creative Director at Cotton, an award-winning design and technology agency pioneering design through data and custom code. Prior to Cotton, Talia led the design and development of data-driven and algorithmic brand identities at Pentagram. Talia has received recognition from major design awards and publications, and was awarded the Young Guns Award, recognizing top creative professionals under 30. She has spoken in seventeen countries including OFFF Barcelona, D&AD China, and the Latin America Design Festival in Peru. Talia teaches coding and interaction design at Parsons School of Design and Harvard Graduate School of Design.
