Origin stories are always fascinating — learning about the moment in someone’s life that led them to follow a particular path. Steven White grew up in a world of fantasy, stories, creatures, and adventure. Looking back, he is unapologetic in his self-identification as a bookworm; he was, after all, the type of kid who would read at the dinner table and be asked to put away his books past bedtime.
Some of the early stories that fascinated the young mind of White were the writings of C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. This inspiration paved the way for White to become a wordsmith that would go on to concoct his own worlds through short stories, poems, and computer games.
Fast forward to today, White continues to bring those early influences into his work. Currently, he runs his studio Seven, which describes itself as expanding design & minds beyond space & time via innovation strategy, metacognition learning, and artistic pursuits. In the past, he’s held design leadership roles, training large corporations and military forces — operating at the intersection of business and design.
Most recently, he published his debut graphic novel, Ancient Futures — a sci-fi story that carries a call-to-action to what he refers to as dope your life, which means restoring faith in yourself. It is a graphic novel whose characters are metaphors of modern civilization, ancient culture, physics, science, philosophy, metacognition, Jungian archetypes — the list goes on.
He describes the journey of writing Ancient Futures during the coronavirus pandemic as cathartic and his way of integrating the various facets and interests that make up his world. In addition, the production process was collaborative; White recruited illustrator Aaron McConnell to bring his ideas to paper.
In 2022, Ancient Futures successfully exceeded its Kickstarter goal, and copies of the novel are currently available for purchase.
Steven White holds a Master’s Degree in Design & Innovation Methods from the Institute of Design.
Steven White’s advice
Trust yourself more. Believe in yourself more. This will lead you in the right path as far as sharing that faith with the world or putting your trust in certain things.
In our podcast, Underscore, I spoke with White about his journey, early influences, and perspective on creativity and design as methods of self-inquiry and awareness.
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