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R. MICHAEL HENDRIX

I lead Huldunótur, a Reykjavík-based strategic design practice that helps organizations navigate growth, organizational change, and international visibility without losing the qualities that make them distinctive in the first place. My work combines design strategy, qualitative research, storytelling, and collaboration to help people clarify who they are, align around new opportunities, and build lasting cultural and strategic value.
My practice focuses on the deeper conditions that shape organizations and communities. I work to understand people and place before translating those insights into meaningful experiences, stronger identities, and clearer strategic direction. I help teams navigate transition while strengthening their cultural relevance and sense of purpose. Although the work often begins with research and strategy, I care just as deeply about making ideas tangible through exhibitions, publications, films, workshops, and public experiences.
Before founding Huldunótur, I spent fourteen years at IDEO as a Partner and Global Design Director, leading design and innovation work across the United States, Europe, and Asia. I worked with organizations ranging from the White House and the GRAMMYs to global companies in consumer products, healthcare, and technology. Together we expanded the role of design beyond products and branding, using it to drive innovation, improve customer experiences, support organizational transformation, and shape long-term growth strategy.
Today I advise companies, governments, universities, cultural institutions, and founders on design strategy, innovation, customer experience, brand positioning, organizational change, and the future of the creative industries.

01

NEW CULTURAL FUTURES FOR SEYÐISFJÖRÐUR

Huldunótur, in collaboration with curator Hlín Helga Guðlaugsdóttir, conducted a research and co-design initiative exploring how culture can support social and economic resilience. The project combined qualitative interviews, contextual observation, co-design workshops, speculative scenarios, and community engagement. We examined Seyðisfjörður’s cultural strengths alongside pressures including the 2020 landslides, regional merger into Múlaþing, seasonal tourism, declining local agency, demographic change, and operational strain on cultural institutions.

Our research found that culture in Seyðisfjörður is not a standalone sector, but part of everyday life—connecting arts with identity, education, hospitality, craft, belonging, wellbeing, and the local economy. The town’s cultural foundation is strong, but fragile, relying heavily on a small group of dedicated leaders. Participation is present but uneven, with some residents feeling disconnected from cultural decision-making.

Rather than prescribing a fixed vision, the project identifies pathways for Seyðisfjörður to use culture as a practical engine for renewal, resilience, and shared stewardship.

File Under: Design research, civic engagement, cultural identity, futuring, co-design

02

BAKING IN STRATEGY WITH BRAUÐ & CO

Huldunótur was engaged to guide the leadership team through planning and discovery to codify cultural values, set growth objectives for the coming year, and link these actions to a communications plan. Over four months, we collaborated through group discussions, an executive offsite, and employee interviews. These efforts resulted in clear objectives for 2025, focusing on bakery and logistical efficiencies, an employee handbook to ensure cultural consistency, and a communications outline to reinforce commitments.
The most public outcome is the handbook, a culture manifesto nicknamed “No Rules,” inspired by punk zines. Handmade collages illustrating Brauð’s values reflect artisanal baking and the company’s non-conformist roots. Designed to be mobile-friendly and easy to understand, it supports employee engagement while honoring Brauð’s fair-minded, collaborative work culture.

File Under: Growth Strategy, Brand Innovation, BRAND ARCHITECTURE, Executive Advisory

03

REIMAGINING DESIGN EDUCATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

Led by me—drawing on prior experience helping Berklee College of Music develop the groundbreaking Bachelor of Arts in Music Industry Leadership and Innovation, along with more recent work building an entrepreneurship micro-credential at Bifröst University and developing new MA courses at the Iceland University of the Arts—I brought a proven program-building perspective to the engagement.

Over six months I led a research-driven strategy process combining expert interviews, competitive program analysis, and synthesis of weak cultural signals across design, technology, and industry. The work translated insights into an actionable program framework—articulating a differentiated educational model built around balanced human/AI intelligence, regenerative material thinking, and transdisciplinary collaboration. Outcomes included a proposed curriculum arc, a brand-based concept linking campus and urban innovation spaces, and practical recommendations for recruitment and industry engagement—creating a shared narrative and roadmap to align stakeholders around launch. The degree program will launch in 2027.

File Under: Growth Strategy, Brand Innovation, PEDAGOGY

04

DESIGNING A BRAND NEW IDEO

As IDEO made design thinking increasingly popular in the United States it attracted the interest of MBA programs and the public sector. While their adoption of the practice was welcomed, this new audience introduced a conservative mindset to the approach, often reducing it to formula. Concerned that the methodology was being elevated above the creativity of the work, I led a global brand redesign to emphasize the experimental nature of our organization and amplify it through our branding.

This redesign also established IDEO as a platform brand. By freeing the logo from a grid, it easily paired with sublogos and partners creating a flexible archtiecture nicknamed the “little black dress” because of it’s ease of dressing up or dressing down. Secondary design language emphasized the iterative and in-process nature of design.
To ensure the brand was not merely expressed but truly lived, I introduced new tools and systems that linked creativity to performance across the company. These included company-wide make-athons to co-design the identity; the State of the Art sentiment dashboard to help executives assess creative momentum; and discussion cards for project teams to reflect on the strategic ambition of their work. I also led the redesign of the Cambridge studio interiors—featured in Metropolis magazine—to embody our culture of experimentation and inclusivity. This combination of brand, environment, and measurement reinforced that IDEO’s value was not design thinking as a formula, but design as a creative force.

In 2019, with the new identity defined, I produced a short film to in collaboration with directors at Dress Code to firmly establish IDEO’s place in the 21st century design canon and demystify the evolution of design thinking. Featuring over 30 cases studies in 13 minutes, it is an oral history of 40 years of innovation. The film’s raw visual language and sets emphasized the iterative nature and curoisity that drove our work.

File Under: BRAND STRATEGY, BRAND IDENTITY, BRAND ARCHITECTURE, CREATIVE DIRECTION, IDEO

07

DEFINING “GOOD GROWTH” FOR AN ICONIC TOURISM BRAND

Following the pandemic and the launch of a new hospitality venture, Huldunótur worked across brand, marketing, and digital teams to define what “good growth” could mean in practice. The engagement examined brand fundamentals, the broader tourism ecosystem, and organizational capabilities, with particular focus on resilience amid environmental and economic uncertainty.
Using both speculative design methodologies and the Business Model Canvas, several new venture concepts advanced to implementation, an effort later accelerated by real-world disruptions that underscored the urgency of diversification.

File Under: Growth Strategy, Brand Innovation, BRAND ARCHITECTURE, Executive Advisory

08

A TRADE SHOW BUILT LIKE A MUSIC SCENE

Alongside Love Synthesizers were fellow Icelandic music technology companies Genki Instruments, Cycle Instruments, Inorganic Audio, and Atomic Analog. Together, the group represented a cross-section of Reykjavík’s independent electronic music scene. The challenge was to create cohesion across five distinct brands without adding to the visual and sensory overload common at music industry exhibitions.

The resulting concept, Little Reykjavík, became both exhibition design and cultural tribute. Inspired by the city’s record stores—spaces that function simultaneously as venues, social infrastructure, and creative incubators—the booth recreated the atmosphere of Reykjavík’s grassroots music community inside the exhibition hall.

Iceland’s music culture has long been shaped by these hybrid spaces. Smekkleysa helped establish the model as both label and shop during the rise of The Sugarcubes and the early career of Björk. 12 Tónar became a weekly gathering place where artists connected through informal experimentation, contributing to the emergence of groups like Sigur Rós and Múm. More recently, Space Odyssey evolved from a DJ night at Kaffibarinn into a focal point for Reykjavík’s underground electronic scene, while Lucky Records continues to host pop-up performances and community events.

The 30 m² booth translated these references into a physical environment. Inspired by the interior language of 12 Tónar, one wall displayed real records and collected Icelandic electronic album artwork. Company logos appeared as album covers integrated into the display. A window display showed filmed street scenes from downtown Reykjavík, including views of the record stores themselves, extending the illusion of place beyond the booth walls.

The installation was designed with the practical realities of temporary exhibition spaces in mind. Everything needed to be lightweight, affordable, quick to assemble, and easy to dismantle. Printed foam boards created the illusion of architectural walls, while standard electrical cable channels—readily available at hardware stores—were adapted into shelving for vinyl sleeves. Furniture was rented through the exhibition venue and supplemented with inexpensive IKEA pieces. Many of the records themselves were borrowed from friends in Reykjavík, reinforcing the collaborative and community-driven spirit behind the project.

Furniture choices reinforced the atmosphere. Visitors sat on drum thrones at the deep listening bench positioned in front of the record wall, while a living room sofa and Persian rug created a place for conversation and pause amid the intensity of the show floor. Behind it, a wall of risograph gig posters transformed new product launches into fictional band announcements, treating hardware releases less like consumer electronics and more like artifacts from a local music scene.

The center of the space functioned as a shared performance and demonstration platform. Each exhibitor’s instruments and software were interconnected through a communal demo pod, allowing impromptu collaborative performances and silent disco concerts throughout the exhibition. Coffee was always available, echoing the hospitality and informality of the Reykjavík spaces that inspired the project.

The installation quickly became a recognizable destination within Superbooth itself. Social posts from attendees, neighboring exhibitors, and media visitors documented the booth’s live performances, collaborative demonstrations, and informal atmosphere throughout the exhibition. Coverage of the First Love synthesizer by outlets including Perfect Circuit and Synthtopia further extended the visibility of the project beyond the exhibition hall.

Rather than operating as five adjacent brands competing for attention, Little Reykjavík became a temporary scene of its own—an environment that communicated not only what these companies make, but the culture, relationships, and creative conditions from which the work emerges.

Creative Direction and Design: Huldunótur
Wall Illustrations: Sullivan Hendrix
Poster Designs: Dúa Landmark
Video: Vikram Prahdam, Michael Hendrix
Production: Love Synthesizers
Photography: Jadranko Marjanovic

File Under: SPATIAL DESIGN, BRAND IDENTITY, MARKETING, EXPERIENCE DESIGN

11

MODERNIZING MUSIC WITH THE OPEN MUSIC INITIATIVE

In the digital era, music consumption shifted from “ownership” to “access,” disrupting the traditional revenue base of the industry as the lines between creators and consumers blurred. The industry's response to innovation had been artist development, lacking mechanisms to address this shift.
In 2016, I co-founded the Open Music Initiative (OMI) with Panos A. Panay and Dan Harple at Berklee College of Music, collaborating with the MIT Media Lab and Harvard Law School. OMI aimed to create an open-source protocol for identifying music creators and rights holders, ensuring real-time payments to song contributors and investors. This approach was a significant departure from traditional methods that involved lengthy processes to identify and compensate rightful parties, often leading to unclaimed funds.
OMI was a grassroots organization that brought together independent and major labels (Universal, Sony, Warner), publishers, artists, technologists (IBM, Intel), lawyers, industry experts, and streaming services (Spotify, Pandora, YouTube). These stakeholders formed working groups to develop the protocol, resulting in a developer API for blockchain-based information sharing.
We also initiated student-driven summer labs to explore new innovation paths for OMI members. Supported by IDEO, students developed over 20 services and products using the API, investigating how accurate creator data could enhance fan experiences. These labs provided weekly updates and helped shape additional features for the Open Music API, demonstrating how clean data and open access could benefit members by creating new consumer experiences.
The public release of the API coincided with the Music Modernization Act's approval in 2018, mandating payment distribution in line with OMI's vision but using less efficient technologies. Berklee and the MIT Media Lab developed RAIDAR, a student-centered music licensing platform, to showcase blockchain's effectiveness in implementing the law’s requirements. With its goals achieved, OMI concluded its operations.

File Under: ENTREPRENEURSHIP, B2B, Open INNOVATION, labs, IDEO, BERKLEE, MIT

13

STAYING TWO BEATS AHEAD TO INNOVATE

Musicians are masters of innovation, constantly finding new ways to adapt to accelerating change. Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation, combines first-person interviews and case studies from Pharrell, Imogen Heap, Björk, Jimmy Iovine and many, many more to showcase their entrepreneurial mindsets. They are creators that aren’t limited by category or genre, teaching us about unlocking our own creativity in the business world.

The book was co-authored with Panos A. Panay when we were both at Berklee College of Music. In our courses, we prepared our students for the professional world by teaching them how to transfer their skills from music making to entrepreneurial behaviors using design thinking.

In addition to the course, we walked-the-walk by founding the Open Music Initiative, an open source fair payments model for creators. Our organization united labels, publishers and artists to address the opacity of artist compensation, spurring the creation of the Music Modernization Act and a new muisc licensing platform at Berklee named RAIDAR.

The book is published by Public Affairs in the US, Penguin Business in the EU, Toyo Keizai in Japan and Cube Press in Taiwan. It has been featured by BBC, Financial Times, and Harvard Business Review among others.

In 2024, a podcast, Two Beats Ahead Live! launched in Reykjavík. The series features Icelandic artists who have become entrepreneurs.

File Under: Innovation methodology, entrepreneurship

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