Derek Kinsman

I am a Cannes Innovation Lions and Ennies losing maker of things residing in Guelph, ON, Canada. Usually those things require code, sometimes power tools and hand tools, most of the time it's for other people, and often it's done with others. I specialise in radical generalism (thanks for the term Sara Hendren), have a keen focus on ethics in technology (thanks to the Eyeo Festival community), and am more concerned with why we make the thing and the people we are making for over how we make it.

While I deeply enjoy the proof of life stage of a project, I'm just as comfortable writing production code, researching, fixing & logging bugs, writing documentation, making flowcharts, and working in spreadsheets. I started life on the design side and even though I'm likely not a good choice to lead modern software design, I am very comfortable talking & collaborating with designers and still enjoy doing branding, communication, & print design.

Currently, I work in the social good / civic tech space as a tech director with the wonderful people at Coforma (formerly &Partners). Prior to that I've worked with the mighty fine folks at Siberia, Teehan+Lax — on the Labs team, and other places that no longer exist or are in fields outside my interest space (advertising).

Much of the work I've been involved with in recent years has been completed under NDA. Previous clients come from a diverse set of industries including social impact & civic tech, music production, active apparel & high fashion, telecommunications, smart home, home automation, home security, automotive, advertising, wellness & fitness, healthcare, and medical cannabis. If you would like to learn more about my involvement in these projects reach out using your preferred method of contact below.

I can also be found building & designing websites for my friends (see: here, and here), designing analogue games of rôle—play, and publishing important works of proto science fiction.