Could Should Might Don't

Join us at CCA’s Nave Presentation Space on Tuesday, September 17, from 6:00–8:00 pm for a special event that is part of the Fall 2025 Design Lecture Series: a book launch, talk, and fireside chat with Nick Foster for his newly published book, Could Should Might Don’t.

In this talk, Nick explores how we grapple with the concept of the future, and how that struggle has given rise to four distinct mindsets—each with its own origin story, virtues, blind spots, and inevitable shortcomings.

Nick will also share insights from his work and creative process, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the ideas and stories that shaped this book.

The event will conclude with a short fireside chat with Nick about the practice of futuring, moderated by CCA’s Dean of Design, Helen Maria Nugent.

Books will be available for purchase and Nick will sign your copy.

SPEAKER BIO

Nick Foster RDI is a Futures Designer based in Oakland, California. He has spent his career exploring the future for globally renowned technology companies including Apple, Google, Nokia, Sony and Dyson.

As Head of Design at Google X, he led a team of designers, researchers and prototypers developing nascent technologies such as brain-controlled computer interfaces, intelligent robotics, stratospheric internet balloons and neighborhood-scale nuclear fusion.

Despite the ambitious nature of much of Nick’s work, he’s well known for his down-to-earth and occasionally irreverent approach to the future, and in 2013 he coined the term 'Future Mundane'. In 2018, Fortune magazine described him as ‘one of the world’s foremost leaders in speculative design’ and in 2021 he was awarded the title Royal Designer for Industry - the highest accolade for a British designer - in recognition of his significant contributions to the discipline.

He’s also an accomplished writer and public speaker, producing multiple books and sharing his thinking about the future with audiences across the globe. Nick was born in Derby - the birthplace of the industrial revolution, and a city once synonymous with innovation, manufacturing and technology. In 2001, he earned his masters degree from the Royal College of Art and in 2018 he became a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He has lived in California since 2012 with his wife, Jayne.

Host or Publisher California College of the Arts