Thomas Bley is a designer and teacher interested in interdisciplinary research, conceptual and methodological development, and strategic processes. Bley’s approach to design is simultaneously analytical and informal: he ranges from communication to industry, systems to services. The only German designer to have taken part in Memphis in 1982, Bley has been the president of Zebra Design, New York, and general director of Frog Design, California. He has developed innovative academic courses, such as the interdisciplinary program at KISD Köln International School of Design, and the MEDes Master of European Design at leading universities in various European countries. In 2006 he was a founding member of NELDRIC – Network of Leading Design Research and Innovation Centers in Helsinki, with partners in Europe, the United States and Asia. In his professional career he has acted as a consultant for large companies and public organizations, focusing on hardware and software, brands and products. Today he continues to work with important companies and public organizations.