Photo: © Stefan Maria Rother

Michele Gauler is a psychologist with an art degree from the Royal College of Art who combines her unique background in cognitive psychology, software development, art, interaction and critical design with her love for pen, paper and play. In her work she gives shape to thoughts, concepts, intentions, intuitions and feelings, as well as inspires change and growth in people through visual coaching formats.

Some of her work has been on display at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA), at Art Basel and at Fendi Spazio during  Salone di Mobile, Milano. In 2010, together with Eyal Burstein, she was awarded with the Design Miami Designer of the Future Award. She creates images, objects and experiences that invite us to engage with topics like death & data, perception and consciousness, as well as gives shape to the intentions and ideas of others as a self-employed coach and designer.

Born to a Portuguese mum and German dad in 1973, she lives and works in Berlin with her husband and their daughter.

Education

• 2006 // Master of Art (RCA) in Design Interaction (with distinction) at the Royal College of Art, London
• 2000 // Dipl-Psychologin (German Psychology Degree comparable to an MA)

Jobs & Employment

• 2006 to now // Self-employed, giving shape to thoughts
• 2017 to now // Co-Founder of Conscious U*, an online-training company
• 2014 // Faculty member of The School of Life, Berlin
• 2009 // Co-director of Beta Tank, a conceptual design agency
• 2000 to 2004 // User-experience expert at IBM Development, Germany

There are always two sides of me at work:

Firstly, with my background in psychology, usability, user-experience and critical design, I naturally take on the perspective of you, your team, your clients and students:

• What is the essence of your thought? Which feelings are present?
• How will you or they perceive an image or experience?
• How can an image, object or experience express the core of a thought and at the same time spark an insight or engagement

And secondly, with my love for drawing, illustration and design, I listen and think with my hands, usually with  pen & paper:

• How do the words and concepts I hear translate into visual metaphors, structures and stories?
• Which patterns emerge?
• How can I or we together create something meaningful from this? Something intriguing, delightful and beautiful that draws people in and touches them on a deeper level?

While writing this, I notice that I often hang around in the areas where two mindsets meet, for instance at the intersections of:

psychology & art
logic & intuition
structure & play
thoughts & images

I like Instagram

Instagram is the social platform I am most active on. I mainly post my self-initiated projects and pages from my sketchbooks.

In the beginning, I found it really scary to post my work on Instagram. Over time I noticed, how these tiny steps out of my comfort zone moved me forward regarding my illustration style. Today, I use Instagram to test out new things. – If you have a creative outlet in your life, I can highly recommend finding a medium-scary place to share your work in order to grow!