Why I believe in creatives more than ever.
D&AD President’s Lecture
May 2026
Talia Cotton is a globally recognized creative leader shaping technology’s impact on design. She runs Cotton, an award-winning design & code agency.
All Inquiries
Also See
About
Talia Cotton is a globally recognized creative leader whose work has influenced how technology shapes the future of brand and design.
She is Founder & 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 over seventeen countries across four continents including OFFF Barcelona, D&AD China, Fast Company Middle East in Qatar, 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.
Select Clients
Awards & Recognition
D&AD Graphite Pencil
D&AD Wood Pencil
Creative Review Annual Awards Creative Innovation Award
ADC Silver Cube
Best-In-Show
Boundary Analytics
Communication Arts
ADC Young Guns (Under 30)
Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards Nominee
Emerging Designer
D&AD Graphite Pencil
D&AD Wood Pencil
Creative Review Annual Awards Creative Innovation Award
ADC Silver Cube
Best-In-Show
Boundary Analytics
Communication Arts
ADC Young Guns (Under 30)
Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards Nominee
Emerging Designer
D&AD Graphite Pencil
D&AD Wood Pencil
Creative Review Annual Awards Creative Innovation Award
ADC Silver Cube
Best-In-Show
Boundary Analytics
Communication Arts
ADC Young Guns (Under 30)
Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards Nominee
Emerging Designer
Public Speaking
Talia Cotton’s talks don’t just inform—they transform the way people see design, technology, and sometimes themselves.
Since 2023, she has spoken in more than 25 countries, addressing audiences at global conferences, corporate boardrooms, and universities, always with a balance of candor, rigor, and humor. Her talks explore the future of design and creative innovation, showing how technology and computation can expand the boundaries of branding and communication. Whether unpacking the practical uses of code or envisioning the next horizon of design, Talia’s goal is the same: to leave audiences with both inspiration and a sense of possibility.
Snippets
Where there is unknown, there is opportunity.
D&AD President’s Lecture
May 2026
The modern designer surrenders to factors that are out of their control.
Typographics 2025
Summer 2025
The work that stands out is the work that goes off the computer
Typographics 2025
June 2025
Sometimes you have to make people uncomfortable to make something new.
RGD Toronto
November 2024
The client is always right and the designer is always right, but what they’re right about is different.
Front and Center Podcast
May 2025
Don’t say the C word!
Nicer Tuesdays
November 2024
The logo is no longer always the brand.
Canva Create
2024
Lead with the art, and the tool will follow.
Canva Create
2024
Don't force yourself to be fearless.
Untold Podcast
September 2025
Why I believe in creatives more than ever.
D&AD President’s Lecture
May 2026
Where there is unknown, there is opportunity.
D&AD President’s Lecture
May 2026
The modern designer surrenders to factors that are out of their control.
Typographics 2025
Summer 2025
The work that stands out is the work that goes off the computer
Typographics 2025
June 2025
Sometimes you have to make people uncomfortable to make something new.
RGD Toronto
November 2024
The client is always right and the designer is always right, but what they’re right about is different.
Front and Center Podcast
May 2025
Don’t say the C word!
Nicer Tuesdays
November 2024
The logo is no longer always the brand.
Canva Create
2024
Lead with the art, and the tool will follow.
Canva Create
2024
Don't force yourself to be fearless.
Untold Podcast
September 2025
Why I believe in creatives more than ever.
D&AD President’s Lecture
May 2026
Where there is unknown, there is opportunity.
D&AD President’s Lecture
May 2026
The modern designer surrenders to factors that are out of their control.
Typographics 2025
Summer 2025
The work that stands out is the work that goes off the computer
Typographics 2025
June 2025
Sometimes you have to make people uncomfortable to make something new.
RGD Toronto
November 2024
The client is always right and the designer is always right, but what they’re right about is different.
Front and Center Podcast
May 2025
Don’t say the C word!
Nicer Tuesdays
November 2024
The logo is no longer always the brand.
Canva Create
2024
Lead with the art, and the tool will follow.
Canva Create
2024
Don't force yourself to be fearless.
Untold Podcast
September 2025
Upcoming & Recent Talks
Last updated 06.14.2026A more accurate reflection of upcoming talks can be found at cotton.design/news
OFFF Montréal
TBA
September 2026
Montréal, QC
Sloss Tech
TBA
June 2026
Birmingham, AL
Slingshot AI for NY Tech Week
Panel with Andrew Hulin and Joey Augustyn
June 2026
New York, NY
Interface Québec
Creativity Will Never Be Replaced
June 2026
Québec City, QB
D&AD Festival: President’s Lecture
Creativity Will Never Be Replaced
May 2026
London, UK
First Round (Under Consideration)
Presenting Everything Is Waves
May 2026
New York, NY
FITC
The Rebirth of Craft
April 2026
Toronto, ON
National Student Show (Keynote)
Designing (in) the Unknown
April 2026
Dallas, TX
Yale MFA by way of Pentagram
Designing (in) the Unknown
April 2026
New York, NY
Tyler School of Art and Architecture
Designing the Future
March 2026
Philadelphia, PA
INTL Festival
Creating Change
November 2025
Glasgow, Scotland
Typographics
TBA
June 2025
New York, NY
City & Regional Magazine Association
On AI Ethics
June 2025
Denver, CO
Fast Company Middle East
TBA
May 2025
Doha, Qatar
École cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL)
Background, Philosophy, Methodology, Epilogue
April 2025
Lausanne, Switzerland
MICA
GD MFA Spring Lecture Series
April 2025
Baltimore, MD
Paradiso Festival
Untitled
March 2025
Mérida, Mexico
Nicer Tuesdays
On coding, creativity, and becoming your own boss
November 2024
New York, NY
Pratt Institute
Guest Lecture
November 2024
Brooklyn, NY
RGD DesignThinkers Toronto
Designing What Doesn’t Exist... Yet
November 2024
Toronto, ON
Kikk Festival
Designing What Doesn’t Exist... Yet
October 2024
Namur, Belgium
Basquerville
We Are Clearly the Most Amazing, Capable People in the Entire World The End Go Home (Closing Keynote)
October 2024
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Behind the Scenes by COLLINS & Molly
This Will Be Boring
October 2024
New York, NY
Screen to Screen at Wix Playground
Panel with Rich Tu, Hezi Jacob
July 2024
New York, NY
Bump Festival
On Newness
June 2024
Kortrijk, Belgium
Canva Create
”Branding at Scale” (Panel led by Mark Wilson, Fast Company)
May 2024
Los Ángeles, CA
FITC Toronto
Outdoing Ourselves
April 2024
Toronto, CA
Latin American Design Festival (Closing Keynote)
Designing What Doesn’t Exist... Yet
April 2024
Lima, Peru
OFFF Barcelona
Designing What Doesn’t Exist... Yet
April 2024
Barcelona, Spain
D&AD APAC
On Making Meaning Through Code
January 2024
China (Virtual)
Wix Playground
Why I Code
January 2024
Tel Aviv (Virtual)
ACU Art & Design
Coding: A Design Philosophy
December 2023
Abilene, TX (Virtual)
Geneva University of Art and Design
Designing with Code in 20 Minutes
November 2023
Geneva (Virtual)
TYPE01 Launch at The One Club for Creativity
Overcoming
November 2023
New York, NY
Parsons MPS Communication Design
What Does It All Mean?
November 2023
New York, NY
MIT Media Lab
Future Sketches Lunch Lecture Series: “The role computation plays in my (various) online typography works, and my recent foundation of design agency Cotton”
September 2023
Cambridge, MA (Virtual)
Carnegie Mellon University Design Lecture Series
Brick Walls
March 2023
Pittsburgh, PA
UIC School of Art & Design
"Embrace the Impossible”, and Other Lessons in Coding
March 2023
Chicago, IL
Mason Gross School of Design (Rutgers University)
A Love Story
February 2023
New Brunswick, NJ
Lightricks
Digital Interface as Brand Expression
January 2023
Virtual
The New York Times
Talia Times Three (Start/End/In-between)
December 2022
New York, NY
Mother Design
Motherloving Code!
December 2022
New York, NY
University of Pennsylvania
Design Senior Seminar: Meet a Designer
December 2022
Virtual
UH Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts
I Hate Technology: A Talk
November 2022
Houston, TX
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Talia Cotton and the Incessant Quest for Meaning in Technology
October 2022
Provdence, RI
InScript Experimental Type Festival (TDC)
Coding Typography: A Taxonomy
October 2022
Virtual
Brillo Festival (for illo.tv)
Dearest, Darlingest, Most Wonderful Technology: My Evolving Relationship
October 2022
Turin, Italy
Buzzfeed News
Why I Code
October 2022
New York, NY
OFFF Tel Aviv
Designing With Code
September 2022
Tel Aviv, Israel
F+F School of Art and Design Zurich: Jan Steinbach’s ‘Design for Screens’ class
Why I Code (Abridged)
September 2022
Zurich, Switzerland (Virtual)
Wix Playground Academy (Tel Aviv Outpost)
What Coding Can Do/What Coding Can’t Do
July 2022
Tel Aviv, Israel (Virtual)
EditorX / Dribbble Webinar “Digital design in 2022: How to grow as a creator”
How I became a designer/coder & other common questions I wish I knew the answers to not so very long ago but instead had to figure them out myself because desiging with code literally wasn’t a thing: A Quick Talk
July 2022
Virtual
AIGA Porfolio Development Studio
My Portfolio, What I Do, How I Got Here
July 2022
Virtual
Future London Academy: Future of Branding Week
What Coding Can Do/What Coding Can’t Do
June 2022
London, UK
Wix Playground Academy (NYC Outpost)
What Code Can Do / What Code Can't Do
June 2022
New York, NY
Design Museum Week
The most important coding lesson I’ve ever learned (and the runners up)
April 2022
Virtual
Prophet Visiting Designer Talks
The 8 Methodologies of Algorithmic Design (Abridged)
April 2022
Virtual
Google Visual Design Summit
Why We Do What We Do
November 2021
Virtual
Parsons Communication Design Lecture Series
Why We Do What We Do (Let’s Pretend Design Didn’t Matter)
October 2021
Virtual
Verizon Adfellows Internal Introduction
Hello
June 2021
Virtual
AIGA ModMag Conference 2018
On the Print/Digital Crossover
June 2018
New York, NY
Interviews & Pods
Design Next Podcast by Craft
I haven't seen this before; that's what makes it excellent
April 2026
Host Daisy Crowder
Front & Center
Unsolicited Advice: With Talia Cotton
May 2025
Alex Center & Kevin Batory
See No Evil Livestream
On building Cotton, navigating bias as a woman founder, and envisioning the future of creative technology
April 2025
Thiago Maia & James Wignall
Mindful Creative
Optimism as a strategy for creativity without limits
April 2025
with Radim Malinic
Creative Review
Talia Cotton on Coding and Creativity
May 2024
by Aimee Mclaughlin
Women at Work
Talia Cotton, designer, coder and educator, on how to merge technology and creativity and break new ground with love and passion
May 2024
by Hey Studio
Creative Capes (by Future London Academy)
Talia Cotton on starting an agency after leaving Pentagram
April 2024
Ekaterina Solomeina
tim rodenbröker creative coding
A conversation with Talia Cotton
April 2024
at Glashaus, Barcelona
TYPEONE Magazine Issue 07
Designer Feature & Interview
October 2023
Amber Weaver
Envato Meet the Experts
Meet the Experts: Pushing Design Possibilities Through Coding with Talia Cotton
June 2023
Kelsie Rimmer
Page Magazine
Interview mit Talia Cotton: Code Can Solve the Problem of Design Bias
May 2023
Anne Kaiser
The One Club for Creativity
Morning Buzz with Adam Zen: Season 2 Episode 2
April 2023
Adam Zen
TYPEONE Magazine Issue 06
Designer's List Feature
March 2023
The Brand Identity
Talia Cotton on working at Pentagram, inspiring students and creating meaningful design with code
November 2022
with Poppy Thaxter
GDUSA
Responsible Designer to Watch
November 2022
The One Club for Creativity
Young Guns 20: Talia Cotton Interview
November 2022
Ladies, Wine & Design
Talia Cotton, graphic designer and coder
November 2019
The Design Kids
Why designers are turned off by coding, and the impact automation and algorithms could have on design
July 2019
GDUSA
Students to Watch Feature
February 2018
Parsons School of Design
Alumni Spotlight
February 2018
Press
Press Highlights
Talia Cotton departs Pentagram to launch Cotton, an agency specifically for coding and design
It's Nice That
February 2023
This unreal website embraces the most notorious UX design trend
Fast Company
October 2022
This brilliant font is made entirely out of backslashes
Fast Company
September 2024
Occult Classic
Brand New
October 2025
Pentagram visualises the tiny, invisible bits of plastic floating in the air around us
It‘s Nice That
April 2021
The Edit: five projects including Talia Cotton’s generative identity for Guilty by Association
The Brand Identity
May 2022
Talia Cotton on Coding and Creativity
Creative Review
May 2024
Talia Cotton departs Pentagram to launch Cotton, an agency specifically for coding and design
It's Nice That
February 2023
This unreal website embraces the most notorious UX design trend
Fast Company
October 2022
This brilliant font is made entirely out of backslashes
Fast Company
September 2024
Occult Classic
Brand New
October 2025
Pentagram visualises the tiny, invisible bits of plastic floating in the air around us
It‘s Nice That
April 2021
The Edit: five projects including Talia Cotton’s generative identity for Guilty by Association
The Brand Identity
May 2022
Talia Cotton on Coding and Creativity
Creative Review
May 2024
Talia Cotton departs Pentagram to launch Cotton, an agency specifically for coding and design
It's Nice That
February 2023
This unreal website embraces the most notorious UX design trend
Fast Company
October 2022
This brilliant font is made entirely out of backslashes
Fast Company
September 2024
Occult Classic
Brand New
October 2025
Pentagram visualises the tiny, invisible bits of plastic floating in the air around us
It‘s Nice That
April 2021
The Edit: five projects including Talia Cotton’s generative identity for Guilty by Association
The Brand Identity
May 2022
Talia Cotton on Coding and Creativity
Creative Review
May 2024
Communicated Arts
Fresh Feature: Cotton Design
April 2025
Visuelle
Backslash by Cotton Design
September 2024
Backslash
Creative Review
Art organisation Backslash gets an appropriately slanted identity
September 2024
Backslash
Fast Company
This brilliant font is made entirely out of backslashes: A new branding system by Cotton Design for Cornell Tech's art organization uses a single shape.
September 2024
Backslash
The Brand Identity
Defying norms at -21°: how Cotton Design weaved technology and art into Backslash’s visual language
September 2024
Backslash
Brand New (Under Consideration)
You Take That Back
September 2024
Backslash
GDUSA
Cotton Creates Generative Brand ID For Creative Week
June 2024
Creative Week
Brand New (Under Consideration)
Data Mining
May 2024
Boundary Analytics
The Brand Identity
In Boundary Analytics’ data-driven identity, Cotton Design ensures that the concept is king
May 2024
Boundary Analytics
It’s Nice That
Talia Cotton departs Pentagram to launch Cotton, an agency specifically for coding and design
February 2023
Cotton
The New York Times
The Year in Illustration: The most memorable New York Times illustrations of 2022
December 2022
NYT Illustration
Fast Company
This unreal website embraces the most notorious UX design trend
October 2022
The Last Agency
The Brand Identity
The Edit: five projects including Talia Cotton’s generative identity for Guilty by Association
Guilty By Association
Fonts In Use
Wyth (Feature)
May 2022
Wyth
Fast Company
This logo constantly redraws itself
April 2022
Guilty By Association
It’s Nice That
Can design be unbiased? Possibly, with Talia Cotton’s infinite logo identity made using code
April 2022
Guilty By Association
GDUSA
Infinitely Generative ‘Unbiased’ Logo
April 2022
Guilty By Association
Logo Lounge
In Search of Non-Biased Design
April 2022
Guilty by Association
Creative Bloq
This awesome hand-drawn logo changes every time you see it
April 2022
Guilty By Association
CommArts
Pentagram updated this iconic New York cultural center with a new identity that eliminates confusion and opens possibilities.
June 2022
92NY
Grafik
An Interactive, Audio-Centric Website And Updated Brand For Vig Bar
September 2022
Vig Bar
Mindsparkle Mag
Vig Bar (Feature)
May 2022
Vig Bar
Admire The Web
Vig Bar (Feature)
May 2022
Vig Bar
Hover Stat.es
Although visually charming, this interactive project highlights the serious problem of airborne microplastics
December 2021
Plastic Air
Print Mag
‘Plastic Air’ is an Interactive Experience Showing Just How Prevalent Airborne Microplastics Are
April 2021
Plastic Air
Fast Company
Drink lattes? Order takeout? You're breathing in invisible toxins
April 2021
Plastic Air
It’s Nice That
This website visualises the tiny, invisible bits of plastic floating in the air around us
April 2021
Plastic Air
What Design Can Do
New interactive website visualises the microplastics in the air we breathe
Plastic Air
Plastic Air
EditorX
2020 in review: A year in web design
December 2020
Dear New York
The New York Times
The T List: Five Things We Recommend This Week
July 2020
Dear New York
SiteInspire
Intro to Coding for Designers (Feature)
2020
Intro to Coding for Designers
The Next Web
10 web design trends that will dominate your screen in 2020
December 2019
Intro to Coding for Designers
Google Design
Google Design’s Best of 2019
December 2019
Recursive Minisite
TypeWolf
Site of the Day
2019
Portfolio 2019
TypeWolf
Top 40 Favorite Designer Portfolio Sites
2019
Portfolio 2019
Gallery
June 2025
June 2025
May 2026
May 2026
June 2025
June 2025
May 2026
May 2026
June 2025
June 2025
May 2026
May 2026
Workshops
École cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL)
Audioreactive Concert Poster Series
April 2025
Lausanne, Switzerland
MICA
Audioreactive Animated Spotify Playlist Covers with Kiel Mutschelknaus
April 2025
Baltimore, MD
Paradiso
Think Like a Coder (No Code)
March 2025
Mérida, Mexico
Basquerville Festival
Interactive Typography
October 2024
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Latin American Design Festival
Interactive Typography
April 2024
Lima, Peru
Creative Coding/Interactive Posters
Typographics TypeLab
Summer 2023
New York, NY
Wix Playground Academy Summer 2023 Bootcamp
Creative Coding/Interactive Posters
Summer 2023
New York, NY
Mason Gross School of the Arts (Rutgers University)
Constructing an Interactive Valentine's Card
February 2022
New Brunswick, NJ
UH Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts
Coding Typography/Interactive Letterforms
November 2022
Houston, TX
Buzzfeed News
Interactive Headlines
October 2022
New York, NY
Google Visual Design Summit
Making the Generative Form
November 2021
Virtual
Courses
Next Level Coding
Advanced coding class with a focus in designing with meaning.
Fall 2022–present
Parsons School of Design
Core Interaction: Coding
Required intro to coding course that usually converts students from fear to fierce.
Fall 2019–present
Parsons School of Design
Core Interaction: UI/UX
The basics of UI/UX. Students build an app for social good from concept through research, wireframes, prototype, and design.
Spring 2025
Parsons School of Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Moot Court Design Fiction: Rendering Ames Real
January 2024
with Sankalp Bhatnagar
Algorithmic Print Design
Portfolio-focused class for various print projects made with code.
Fall 2021
Parsons School of Design
Intro to Coding for Designers
Founded six week workshop for designers to learn coding basics.
Summer 2019
at index.space
Critic & Judge
D&AD Awards
Writing for Design Jury
May 2026
London, UK
OCAD
External Examiner
April 2025
Toronto, Canada
Creative Review Annual Awards
Jury, Creative Technology
April 2025
Global
Young Ones
Judge
April 2025
Global
ADCC Awards
Design Jury
Fall 2024
Toronto, Canada
Yale School of Art
Year-End Thesis Critic
Spring 2024
New Haven, CT
University of Pennsylvania
Senior Thesis Visiting Critic
Spring 2023
Philadelphia, PA
Latin American Design Awards
Design Jury
March 2023
Virtual
Society for Publication Designers - SPD 58
Digital Jury
February 2023
Virtual
Wix Playground Academy (Tel Aviv Outpost)
Portfolio Review
Summer 2022
Virtual
Mason Gross School of the Arts (at Rutgers University)
Thesis Critic
May 2022
New Brunswick, NJ
Select Projects
A curated list of projects. A longer list can be found at cotton.design/work
Guilty By Association
Guilty By Association
Plastic Air (Google Arts & Culture)
Google Arts & Culture · Pentagram
System Health
System
Boundary Analytics
Backslash
Eternal Research
Cotton Launch SIte
Guilty By Association
Guilty By Association
Plastic Air (Google Arts & Culture)
Google Arts & Culture · Pentagram
System Health
System
Boundary Analytics
Backslash
Eternal Research
Cotton Launch SIte
Guilty By Association
Guilty By Association
Plastic Air (Google Arts & Culture)
Google Arts & Culture · Pentagram
System Health
System
Boundary Analytics
Backslash
Eternal Research
Cotton Launch SIte
Thank you
to present and past collaborators and team members. At Cotton, Chris Kim, Noah Schwadron, Minkyung Cho, Beatrice Wu, Sewon Bae. Prior, Nikki Makagiansar, Gabrielle Merite, Ed Ryan, Sarah Kay Miller, Abby Matousek, Tamara McKenna, Camila Pérez, Chris Guerrero, Yoshi Torralva, Michael McCaughley, Rebecca Matt, Kavya Singh, Taylor Hale, Hanah Ho. To my high school math teacher, Alon Krausz. To my formative teachers along the way, Brendan Griffiths, Justin Bakse, Kevin Brainard. To Michael Bierut, who sets a primary example. And to my clients for their trust.