Phnam Bagley is an industrial designer, futurist, and space architect renowned for her transformative contributions to design and innovation.
As co-founder and creative director of Nonfiction, a design and innovation firm, she has dedicated her career to bringing science fiction concepts to life, fostering a better and more sustainable future for humanity.
Born and raised in France and based in San Francisco, Phnam’s fascination with design and the cosmos led her to study industrial design at Strate and earn a Master’s in Space Architecture from the University of Houston’s Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture. Over a 20-year career, she has designed across multiple sectors including wearables, biotechnology, luxury, robotics, transportation, sports, and aerospace, holding creative roles at IDEO, Lunar/McKinsey, Matter, and Lifestyledesign.
In 2016, she co-founded Nonfiction to transform speculative ideas into real-world solutions, from neurotech wearables with startups out of UC Berkeley, Yale and Rice University, to renewable energy systems for rural Africa, to deep space food systems and orbital habitats with NASA and Sierra Space. Her projects exemplify impact-driven innovation aligned with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, contributing to over $750 million in fundraising, sales, and acquisitions.
Beyond Nonfiction, Phnam is a dedicated educator and advocate for expanding access to design knowledge. She co-produces and co-hosts Future Future, an educational video series exploring design and the future of everything, and has taught industrial design at the California College of the Arts, mentoring emerging designers. She also teaches creativity and innovation to NASA centers, law enforcement, military, and veteran organizations, and speaks internationally at events including TED, SXSW, and COP on space architecture, innovation, and human-centered design.
Phnam also serves as Chair of Design at OSMED, where she advances the role of design in shaping a safer and more inclusive future of human spaceflight. Through her work across disciplines, Phnam continues to inspire and lead, demonstrating that thoughtful, innovative design is essential to creating a better world for people and the planet.