Would you like to collaborate with me? I’m in Montreal, I do design and I’m the founder of Mentallys. I also work in finance.
I am a professor and a researcher in design
The son of a carpenter, I'm a former first-generation university student. With a PhD in philosophy, I began my career in France as a "philosophy teacher", before discovering design at the École Boulle in Paris, where I taught for several years. It was also in Paris that I trained in interaction design and set up my own web and graphic design studio, with over 30 references in the cultural, public and non-profit sectors. A Full Professor at the École de design de l'Université du Québec à Montréal, I am now one of the most internationally recognized French-speaking design researchers. Founder of the research journal Sciences du Design, I am the author of several classic books on design, which are required reading in many universities and countries. A pioneer of research in digital philosophy, I am also the author of the book Being and the Screen, published in English by The MIT Press, which earned me an invitation to lunch at French President François Hollande's table in 2015. I'm currently working on Vocabulaire du design, the first and largest specialized french-speaking design dictionary, which brings together over a hundred authors, and which I co-edit with my colleague and friend Éric Kavanagh, full professor at Université Laval's École de design.
I am the founder of Mentallys
Holding also a master degree in clinical psychology, having an experience as a web designer, over time I came to see connections between things that were evolving separately. This is how, around 2011, I came up with the idea of developing a digital platform for mental health. When I arrived in Quebec in 2019, I initiated a new and unparalleled field of research at the Chaire Diament UQAM: design for e-mental health. With my team, we created the Mentallys platform, which facilitates the experience of accessing mental health care, and whose first version was completed in 2024, after several years of research and development. Created at Université du Québec à Montréal in collaboration with the Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Mentallys is the result of an unprecedented codesign process, involving people living with a mental health disorder, peer helpers and healthcare professionals, as well as community and public partners. Mentallys is a demonstration of what design can do. I've put into it everything I know, can do and love to do. Our mental health deserves the very best!
I also do human-centered finance
I've never had any interest in finance and money will never be my primary motivation. Over time, however, I realized that my level of financial education was too low, and that it wasn't having a positive impact. I decided to become financially smarter, improve my personal finances and help others do the same. Approached by the World Financial Group, I discovered to my surprise that there could be a social mission in finance and, alongside my academic activities, I became a financial security advisor. Registered with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers du Québec and a member of the Chambre de la sécurité financière, I lead Resilience, a team of passionate advisors who help Quebecers better understand money and improve their financial strategies to reduce financial stress and promote well-being. We bring a more human perspective to finances and, thanks to our unique expertise, we make a big difference in people's lives. We are brokers, our services are free of charge.