Eric Karjaluoto (http://www.erickarjaluoto.com) is a founding partner of the digital agency smashLAB (http://www.smashlab.com). He has directed projects for groups including CN, Tourism Vancouver, and Canadian Heritage. He is a strong advocate of strategy and pragmatism in design.

In 2007 he spearheaded Design Can Change (http://www.designcanchange.org) an effort to unite designers and address climate change. The team at smashLAB has also launched the online community MakeFive (http://www.makefive.com) and a crowdsourced design and marketing site called undrln (http://www.undrln.com). TIME, the Lotus Awards, and ICOGRADA have recognized his work; meanwhile, the agency has been featured in The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, and Studio 4.

Eric writes about design, brands, and experience at ideasonideas.com and has spoken at events for the AIGA, SEGD, and GDC. Eric studied at the Emily Carr Institute and lives in Vancouver with his lovely wife and two delightful little boys. (He still talks to his mom and dad almost every day.)

He recently released his first book, Speak Human: Outmarket the Big Guys by Getting Personal (http://www.speakhuman.com).