Every designer needs to be a climate designer
One-on-one sessions for any designer ready to pivot into climate design
I’ve been working at the intersection of design and climate since 2016. And because of this, I’ve developed an understanding of how important design and creativity is in addressing our climate breakdown.
Combining 10 years of teaching a professional practice class at CCA while also building out Climate Designers, I’m eager to share what I’ve learned with others so that every designer can be a climate designer.
Topics we can discuss
+ Creating a vision of what you want to (and can) do with your current creative talents
+ How to transfer your skills towards climate solutions and companies
+ “Climifying” your existing design work with climate in mind
+ How to share with the world who you are and what you want to do
+ How to be proactive and stand out in a sea of noise
+ Specific areas you could apply your creative talents towards
+ The nuts and bolts on interviewing, networking, content creation, and more
+ Tips and tricks I’ve learned (and still learning) from my experience both as a freelancer, entrepreneur, design educator, and a climate designer
Or whatever else you want to chat about 😀
You’ll leave your session
+ Feeling more confident in pursuing climate-focused work
+ Having a clearer vision of what you want to do and how to get there
+ Feedback on how to revamp existing or current projects in your design portfolio
+ Concrete directions to explore based on your own situation, interests, and experience
+ Suggestions to explore further learning to take climate action
“This has been the best half an hour of the last couple of years of my life”
— Cole Fitter
Book your 30 minute call!
$Pay-what-you-can*
We can cover a lot in a half hour. Bring your questions, ideas, concerns, aspirations.
Get in touch to learn how you can become a climate designer.
*My sliding scale is $15–$55. After the call, Venmo me (@Marc-OBrien) the amount you feel comfortable making.
Kind words from 1:1 participants
Having worked with Marc closely for a year now, my climate design journey is better tenfold because of him. It’s easy for a young professional to feel overlooked among the hundreds of other folks doing work in the climate and design spaces, but Marc has been incredibly supportive of me. From expanding my independent climate and design research, to providing resources and connections in the climate space, to recommending classes and books I can learn from, his drive for enacting change and disrupting the status quo through design and community is unlike anyone’s I’ve worked with before. He serves as a huge inspiration to me and where I want my career to go!
— Rachel Cifarelli
As a fresh graduate passionate to work towards sustainability leadership, I first met Marc in 2019 during a global conference and learned about climate designers. As an international candidate, job searching was challenging during the pandemic. Marc’s mentorship helped me discover and utilize my strengths to create opportunities for me to leverage my skills of strategic thinking, networking and leadership. I was able to start my podcast, take up volunteer projects and initiatives with the design community globally.
— Jahnavi Mange
As someone who never went to a design school, I lacked the confidence to engage in conversations around the context of design and Marc emboldened me to bring my unique perspective to a conversation or during brainstorming ideas. His easy to approach demeanor makes him a terrific teacher and I am lucky to call him a mentor.
— Sandeep Bedadala
I highly recommend booking time with Marc – it will be an inspiring and creative session. He’s got a wonderful ability to facilitate “aha!” moments and can help you break through some creative barrier.
— Emily Spade
Just finished a great session with Marc and am feeling so inspired/ready to dig in to the action steps that we talked about! Would definitely recommend him to anyone looking for clarity and a more defined vision for their projects, and am so glad we connected.
— Jessie Artigue
I’m grateful that Marc showed me that I can pursue my dreams of finding the type of job I’m looking for. During the session, Marc shared useful resources that I’m using to re-define what I want to pursue and where to spend my energy in taking climate action.
— Carmen Escobar
I had the chance to talk with Marc O'Brien about how the world is reacting to Climate Change and how important it is for each individual, no matter what industry she or he works in, to have a role in the sustainability world. Marc helped out a lot with pinpointing the important steps to be considered in our daily lives, and how our skills can be beneficial for climate. He also shared resources to better understand myself and know how to start my journey towards sustainability. Anyone who would like to have a different perspective about sustainability and understand how to approach their own journey, I would recommend to talk with Marc.
— Najwa Karam
Want to go deeper?
I offer 60-minute deep dive sessions. We’ll work together to discuss topics for growth and create an actionable plan together. Each session will end with measurable goals to keep you on track.
$90/session
Get in touch to learn how you can become a climate designer.
About me
From 2016–2022, I co-founded and ran The Determined, a design strategy and creative consulting studio for brands solving the climate crisis.
During this time, I’ve honed my expertise at applying a variety of design talents with climate science, policy, and behavior, which resulted in a number of successful brand, campaign, product, and service launches.
Knowing that there were many other designers like me who want to use their design work to address climate change, I co-founded Climate Designers in 2019. Climate Designers is a global community of designers (and design adjacent creatives) across every industry who are committed to using their skills for climate action. In 2022, we were the recipient of the 2022 Future Voice Award, presented by the Interaction Awards, founded by the Interaction Design Association.
“Marc shared useful resources that I’m using to re-define what I want to pursue and where to spend my energy in taking climate action.”
— Carmen Escobar
Teaching Experience
Teaching Transition to Professional Practice @ CCA. Photo: David Asari
Since 2013, I’ve been adjunct faculty at California College of the Arts in San Francisco, CA. I’ve taught seniors in the Graphic Design undergrad program as well as Interaction Design grads on how they can transition themselves from being a student to becoming a professional.
It’s been amazing to see the path of so many of my previous students in the design industry. Many of them have worked in-house, at small design studios, and even branched out on their own.
Outside of academia, I've taught a variety of classes on Skillshare, General Assembly, and Terra.do.
I’ve also been coaching professionals, both within the Climate Designers community and beyond, looking to level up their work or switch into the creative space. Some of them are self-taught designers, taking online and in-person classes to gain the skills needed to get into the design industry.
Some of the companies people I’ve coached have worked for: Adobe, Chronicle Books, Disney, Dropbox, Facebook, Holstee, IBM, Ingalls Design, MacFadden & Thorpe, Mende Design, NBC Sports, Salesforce, SoulCycle, Sutter Health, VehicleSF, Volume SF, Yelp, Zen Desk.
I've been told by many that I speak with honesty and directness. Although blunt at times, my advice and ideas are centered around compassion and understanding. People appreciate this as it focuses our conversations and keeps us on track.