james.today
James Bolden

James Bolden

Designer·Builder·Connector

Working at the intersection of design, consciousness, and collaborative intelligence.

Philadelphia, PA · Available for select engagements
i. Practice

I lead creative and technical transformations for purpose-oriented organizations large and small. Product strategy, systems design, brand visioning, app development, and creative facilitation for thought leaders, impact-driven companies, and NGOs. Lately my focus is human–AI collaboration: agentic research, agent-operated software, and interfaces where teams and agents work together, live and asynchronously.

Trained as a sculptor and architect; practicing as a designer, developer, builder, and creative director for eighteen years. Most days I am somewhere between the visual, the spatial, the technical, and the strategic — looking for the pattern that connects. Along the way I build tools, and open source as much as I can.

ii. Selected Work
2022 — present Philadelphia

Iris Cocreative

Founder & Creative Director

An international design and development studio serving organizations focused on connection, collaboration, communication, culture, and consciousness. I direct branding, web design, web development, and creative facilitation across a small team of designers and engineers.

Creative directionBrand systemsWeb platformsAI development
2017 — 2022 Distributed

Montaia

Co-Founder · CEO

A collaborative ecosystem of initiatives in loving service of purposeful projects and people around the world. I co-founded the company and led it first as Chief Design Officer, then as CEO — running the creative studio, the global community of purpose-driven creatives, and the collective co-engineering the next generation of collaborative tools.

Company leadershipProduct designCommunity design
2015 — present Global

Evolve World

Artistic Director

A decade of creative direction for a global intercultural-dialogue initiative — shaping visual language, gathering aesthetics, and the experiential frame for cross-cultural exchange.

Art directionConvening design
2015 — 2017 Philadelphia

Being Design

Founder · Co-Owner · Creative Director

A small global design agency I co-founded, focused on web development and digital systems for conscious businesses. Led client-facing strategy for web identity and business design, alongside systems integrations, analytics, and project delivery.

FoundingWeb strategyClient direction
2008 — present Here, now

Independent Studio & Art Practice

Artist · Multi-disciplinary Designer

A through-line beneath every other engagement: a personal studio practice spanning sculpture, drawing, architectural concepting, brand visioning, and what I sometimes call soul mapping — the work of helping a person or organization find the shape of what they're actually here to do.

I like to make things that educate, liberate, and inspire.

SculptureDrawingArchitectural conceptBrand visioning
iii. Earlier
2012 — 2014 3D Designer Revive Holistic Design · Oakland
2012 — 2013 Parkour & Gymnastics Instructor Bay Island Gymnastics · Oakland
2011 Graphic Designer EnlightenNext · Lenox, MA
2007 Architecture Intern EwingCole · Philadelphia
iv. Education

Syracuse University

B.A., Sculpture & Architecture

2008 — 2012

Founder, Syracuse Parkour Club.

Rhode Island School of Design

Pre-college, Architecture

2007 — 2008

Ten Directions

Integral Facilitator Certificate Program

2019 — 2021

v. Practice & Tools
Disciplines

Creative directionBrand identityApp development (PC, Mac, Mobile, Web)Web designSystems engineeringAgentic researchParametric & generative designMotion & interaction designData visualization & sensemakingHuman–AI workflow designProduct strategyDesign facilitationIntegral facilitationArchitectural conceptSculpture & drawingArt direction

Tools

Claude CodeCodexFigmaWebflowHTMLCSSJavaScriptTypeScriptNext.jsThree.jsSupabaseVercelLiveKitn8nMCPGitGitHubWeftPhotoshopIllustratorInDesignAfter EffectsCinema 4DBlenderRhinoGrasshopperPencil & paper

Ways of working

Small teamsLong horizonsSacred geometry as design principleAI as creative partnerStudio-not-factoryRapid evolutionsEmergent solutionsTools that build toolsResearch through building

Currently exploring

Digital Pattern LanguageAgent-operated softwareSpatial interfaces for collective intelligenceLive collaborative video & agents