Portland Design Week / Chasing Rabbits

Author

Matt Watson

As part of Portland Design Week, Watson was proud to host a conversation that cut through the noise—Chasing Rabbits, a panel about the tension between creative curiosity and creative discipline. In a world that valorizes multitasking and rewards constant output, we took a step back to ask: what happens when chasing ideas becomes chasing our tails?

The panel brought together four remarkable voices from across design, culture, and storytelling:

Howard York – A creative director and educator with five decades of experience in New York, San Francisco, and LA
Muneera Spence – Yale-trained designer, systems thinker, and international design educator
Cynthia Fuhrman – Chief Operating Officer of Portland Center Stage and longtime theater executive
Jacob Wilkinson – Design Director at Nike with deep experience in brand and product storytelling

Moderated by Matt Watson, the evening was both expansive and unflinchingly honest. We talked about ambition, distraction, perfectionism, impostor syndrome—and how the myth of the “creative genius” is often fueled by burnout masked as inspiration.

“The best creatives I know aren’t the ones chasing every shiny object,” said Matt. “They’re the ones who can stop, reframe, and return to the root problem with fresh eyes.”

Why Chasing Rabbits?

We chose the title intentionally. Anyone who’s ever tried to build a brand, ship a campaign, or write something worth reading knows the sensation: one idea leads to another, which leads to another, until you’re 42 tabs deep and unsure where you started. Some of that is healthy. Most of it is noise.

The panel explored how to know the difference.

In design and communication, the work doesn’t begin with visuals. It begins with discernment—knowing which thread to pull, and which rabbit hole to let go.

Key Themes from the Night

The Myth of Multitasking – Creativity requires focus, and our attention is a finite resource. The panelists shared how distraction impacts not just productivity, but depth of thinking.
Process vs. Obsession – There’s a fine line between following your instincts and spiraling. Good design systems provide structure—but too much structure can kill momentum.
The Role of Theater in Design – Cynthia Fuhrman offered an unexpected bridge: how storytelling and live performance mirror the design process—high stakes, finite time, infinite potential.
Education & Unlearning – Muneera Spence challenged the room to consider how we’re teaching the next generation of creatives: are we building thinkers or software operators?
The Long Game – Howard York brought generational perspective. Trends fade. Substance lasts. And that takes patience.

A Full House, A Full Conversation

The studio was packed. The conversation was real. And while the evening didn’t offer tidy answers, it offered something better: a shared recognition that chasing ideas can be exhilarating—but chasing clarity is what actually moves the work forward.

In a creative economy defined by speed and saturation, we need more moments like this. Spaces to pause, reflect, and recalibrate. To remember that good design isn’t about chasing every rabbit—it’s about knowing which ones to follow all the way through.

Want to revisit the talk? Check out the event video here: Chasing Rabbits on Vimeo

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