 How and where do we find wonder? And don't bother googling it because like the third hit is wonder bread and that's just not at all what we're after. If, however, you insist on a search bar, try searching the fifth element. You'll come across the popular foursome of earth, wind, water, and fire. But the ancient Greeks believed in a fifth. Now they thought this element to be intangible, mysterious, never quite understood, but entirely necessary. And it was only when all five came together that you could achieve the greatest mystery of all. Now as both a magician and a designer, I find myself thinking a lot about wonder. So how are these two seemingly distinct disciplines actually inseparable? Well at their core they both revolve around people. Design isn't about creating a new product or service. Instead it's how those designed elements can affect the people for whom they were conceived. And similarly magic isn't about tricks, momentary deceptions. Instead it's all about those as tools that can then achieve an emotional response in the minds of an audience. Design begins by gaining empathy, constantly asking why to uncover a deep understanding of people's subconscious needs. And magic must not only understand the subconscious, but leverage its subtle power over perception. Take for instance the misnomer that is misdirection. Excuse me, is this the tip? And where did the ball come from? Ohhh! Okay so you don't know how it appeared, but you feel misdirected so this trick becomes little more than an intellectual puzzle missing a piece. Good magic doesn't feel like deception. And often it's because the magician is allowing you to deceive yourself. Now we're all making assumptions all the time. And if you can use those assumptions to your benefit, well that's a lot more powerful. You know what? It is. That's what I'm saying. But no, here's the thing. The thing about it is, well, the thing is, I apologize. Now a magician wants deception to disappear because it allows the audience to experience the infinite potential of a world unbound by the word impossible. Innovative design does the same thing. It puts a pause on reality, allowing people's imaginations to engage with a new experience they never thought possible. But the beauty about design is that these experiences exist in the real world. So the line between real and imaginary is constantly being blurred. Take for instance when this guy came out. Game changer. I mean, look at it, right? It's beautiful. The subtle profile is tapered so it seems impossibly thin to contain the power within. Incidentally, magicians were tapering the edges of tables since the early 1900s so the audience, like yourself, would be unaware that a girl could be hiding on the inside. Or how about an example from the world of service design? A woman staying at a hotel needed a wake-up call. At 7 a.m., the phone rang. She picked it up to hear only a click. And as she replaced the receiver, there was a knock on her door. When she opened that, she found not a person, but a steaming cup of coffee in need of an early morning owner. A beautiful mystery. As a magician, I create wonder. And to me, that seems noble goal. But design has the power to put magic into the hands of other people, allowing them to experience wonder in their own lives. It takes a little bit of faith, some confidence and uncertainty. But it's by embracing the unknown that we learn as children and love as adults. And it's right there. As we pursue those things just out of reach, that's where we find wonder. Thank you.