XAVIER MASSÉ
DESIGNER | EDUCATOR
We design therefore…
we observe, we understand, we sense, we feel, we draw, we make, we share, we care, we tell, we innovate, we start again…
We are.
Currently, I lead the Haliburton School of Art + Design at Fleming College.
Professionally, I have been imagining interactions and experiences to engage businesses and public organizations with their users and customers. I build life and human centered designs to innovate and renovate products, services and brand experiences. I design strategically.
WORK
Leveraging more than 25 years of experience in the field of visual communication, experiential and interactive design, I decided to give back to the community by starting with teaching (in 2010) and now running academic programs.
I left my homeland in the southwest of France and landed in Toronto the year the Skydome went up in 1989. After a short stunt in advertising I quickly caught the Multimedia bug. Many moons later I look back and understand that each project had its own course while sharing key fundamentals.
I follow a co-creative and collaborative process that allows inter disciplinary design teams to be creative and innovative while guaranteeing the project to be delivered on target (strategy, timing and budget).
I have to thank my parents for encouraging me to pursue my interest in drawing and painting when I was a kid. Now, I wish I had more time to practice more often. Anyhow, once in a while I grab my paints, markers and iPad to capture our fascinating and complex world.
BIOGRAPHY
69 Dearbourne Avenue, Toronto ON M4K 1M6
“Ce n'est point dans l'objet que réside le sens des choses, mais dans la démarche.” -- Antoine de Saint‐Exupéry
Xavier Massé (he/his/him/il/lui)
Dean of Fleming College, Haliburton School of Art and Design since May 2023.
As an international veteran of the creative industries, XM’s expertise in digital interactive media led him to believe in listening, inspiring, explaining, showing, learning and exchanging ideas and ventures. Through his work with young designers and artists, he remains deeply in touch with the experimental edge of emerging trends, and the possibilities of tomorrow. He believes in the right balance and complementarities between art, design research, strategy, conceptualization, and prototyping. Along the way he earned a few awards with the Advertising and Design Club of Canada [ADCC], the Horizon Interactive Awards, the Design and Art Direction [D&AD] community based in London England, and the EDF “Sharing Energy 2030” international Challenge.
In early 2016 he took on the roles of interim Dean of ECV Creative Schools & Community Paris campuses (500 students) as well as of Director of International Curriculum Development. It was a unique opportunity to go back to his roots, being a graduate of ECV, an internationally renowned school, where he obtained his degree (in Paris in 1988) with a BA in Art Direction and Design in visual communication. It was during this time that he had the honour and great pleasure to spearhead the project of opening a design school in partnership with the Whistling Woods International in Mumbai India. Also at the same time, he created and implemented the master’s degree in design strategy which gave students the prospect to study in France, China and Canada.
When the interim mission ended in 2017, he came back to teach and coordinate the interaction design programs at George Brown College School of Design (Centre for the Arts and Design and Information technology). During that time, he did have several opportunities to develop and modify the curriculums for both these programs. Also, since he started at GBC his involvement with the Research and Innovation department has been increasing every year. He started as a PI (Principal Investigator) on multiple projects, and then moved on to business development, scoping potential projects and fostering relationships with the industry. As a supporter of work integrated learning, every semester he brought new capstone projects in partnership with industry allies of all kinds from non-for-profit organizations to successful well-established corporations (Loblaw Digital, Home Depot, Canadian Canoe Museum, Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition…).
He started to teach Design Strategy, System Design (products and services) and Design Thinking at the Institute Without Boundaries and Interaction Design program at the Toronto George Brown College, School of Design in 2010. In between 2012 and 2016 he took part of the Digifest Toronto steering committee; a festival celebrating the future of education, creativity, entrepreneurship, game and technology. During this period, he also cofounded Relay, an experiential and event design agency, where he was the senior creative and strategy director.
Prior to the creation of Relay, XM was the senior creative director of WOLFSON BELL a live event & motion graphics production studio in Toronto. And prior to that, at the very end of the 2Oth century, XM became the managing director of the web agency MEDIASYSTEM INTERACTIVE owned by PUBLICIS GROUP in Paris. Throughout his career, Xavier has developed original, inspiring, creative and interactive “memorable moments” for renowned companies such as, 3 Suisses, Auchan, Renault, Apple, Toshiba, Disney, Cap Gemini, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, Accenture, Scotia Bank, Toronto Board of Trade, Canadian Football League, National Magazine Awards, Toronto Life and much more.
Recently in December 2021, XM founded Bocage, a cheese importing and retail business, which is still running in Toronto.
Whenever possible Xavier likes to spend time with his tribe (spouse and three sons and their partners), hiking, canoeing and traveling. And when there is a little bit of time left, he tries to capture the complex textural beauty of our world [urban and nature] through drawing, painting and printmaking.
