BRUCE MAU

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Bruce Mau is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Massive Change Network (MCN), a global design consultancy based in the Chicago area. Across nearly 40 years of design innovation, Bruce has worked as a designer, innovator, educator, author and artist on a broad spectrum of projects in collaboration with the world’s leading brands, organizations, universities, governments, entrepreneurs, renowned artists and fellow optimists.

To create value and positive impact across global ecosystems and economies, Bruce evolved a unique set of 24 design principles — MC24  — that can be applied in any field or environment at every scale. The MC24 Design Principles underpin all of Bruce’s work — from designing carpets to cities, books to new media, global brands to cultural institutions, and social movements to business transformation — and became the subject of his book, “MC24.”

Books are central to Bruce’s purpose of achieving and inspiring understanding, clarity and alignment around visions of a better future. In 1985, Bruce designed Zone Books’ groundbreaking inaugural double issue, “ZONE 1 | 2: The Contemporary City,” a multi-perspective embodiment of the contemporary city. The impact of his design on the actual content of the book was acknowledged by the editor and co-founder, who included Bruce as an author on the spines of early volumes. Bruce retained the role of design director for Zone Books for two decades, an opportunity that led to major milestones in Bruce’s career.

In 1995, Bruce collaborated with Rem Koolhaas to conceive the landmark architecture book, “S,M,L,XL,” on the remarkable visionary work produced by the Dutch firm OMA and its acclaimed founder. It was a new kind of narrative in architecture – Bruce wanted people to experience the reality of architectural life, “what it means to dig a hole in the ground and change the world.”

At the age of 39, Bruce self-published “The Incomplete Manifesto for Growth” – his offering, incomplete, of a way of thinking about how to sustain a creative life. His 43-point statement that he describes as having a “gentle spirit” delivered a universal calling that spread throughout the world, with translations into dozens of languages, serving as a beacon for creatives.

Bruce is co-author of several books, including “THE NEXUS: Augmented Thinking for a Complex World – The New Convergence of Art, Technology, and Science,” with Julio M. Ottino, dean of Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering; “The Third Teacher” with OWP/P Architects and VS Furniture; and “Spectacle” with David Rockwell. He has contributed to the development and design of more than 250 books for Art Gallery of Ontario, Gagosian, Getty Research Institute, Mark Francis, Frank Gehry, Douglas Gordon, James Lahey and Claes Oldenburg among others.

In 2003, Bruce partnered with George Brown College in Ontario to co-found the Institute Without Boundaries (IwB) as a collaborative studio-based educational program for entrepreneurial designers capable of constant learning. The first project of the IwB was the groundbreaking Massive Change exhibition. Two cohorts of 15 IwB students each spent a full year working with Bruce in his Toronto studio and became co-authors of the project, including the exhibition, a product line, website, radio show and the best-selling book, “MASSIVE CHANGE,” published by Phaidon.

Building on the mission of Massive Change, Bruce, along with MCN co-founder Aiyemobisi “Bisi” Williams, created Massive Action to inspire and empower 100 million designers who can accelerate positive change through life-centered design. A global multidisciplinary immersive learning initiative to collectively design a better future, Massive Action launched in September 2022. The inaugural project was a collaboration between MCN and University New South Wales Arts, Design & Architecture (UNSW ADA) to translate MC24 into action prototypes that address Sydney’s most urgent challenges. 

Bruce serves as a professor and strategic curricular advisor for multiple higher education institutions. His various positions include: Institute Professor & Professor of Practice in Graphic Design at The Design School at Arizona State University; adjunct professor and member of the University of New South Wales Arts, Design & Architecture Academic and Executive Team; and visiting professor at academic institutions across North America, including Pratt Institute and the McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University in his hometown of Sudbury, Ontario. Additionally, Bruce is a distinguished fellow at Segal Design Institute McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University. A former William and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Professor at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Bruce holds an honorary doctorate from SAIC, an honorary doctorate from University of Sudbury and an honorary diploma from his alma mater, OCAD University, among other honorary degrees.

When it comes to his achievements, Bruce is most grateful to be an honorary Royal Designer for Industry (RDI), a distinguished appointment for top non-UK designers by the Royal Society of Arts in London, which he credits for “triggering the MC24 process.” For his contributions to Canada’s creative community, Bruce is recognized by the Design Professionals of Canada (DesCan) as a DesCan Fellow; additionally, he is the recipient of the Advertising & Design Club of Canada’s (ADCC) Les Usherwood Award. Bruce counts his Design Mind National Design Award from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, as his “most touching honor” because it acknowledges a body of intelligence created beyond the individual work – and came as a complete surprise thanks to his studio’s nomination on his behalf. 

Bruce’s work and life story are the subject of the feature-length documentary, “MAU,” which premiered at SXSW in 2021. Currently available on TVOD in North America, the film has brought design into the cultural spotlight.  

Throughout his career, Bruce has, in the words of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, “expanded the notion of what design is and expanded the potential scale of impact.” In these times of complex, interrelated challenges that are unlike any we’ve faced before, Bruce believes life-centered design offers a clear path towards identifying the full context of our problems and developing innovative, sustainable and holistic solutions. While Bruce’s greatest happiness comes from his family, he remains dedicated to do as much work as he can to improve the world.

Recognition

These are highlights of Bruce’s thirty years as a design innovator. For a full listing of his accomplishments, download the PRESS KIT to view his CV.

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