semi
precious

An interdisciplinary creative studio for the greater good.

dream • experiment • build • break • do •

dream • experiment • build • break • do •

semiprecious studio
is focused on challenging what modern life and society can look like in a post-industrial, consumerist, capitalist, colonial and digital age.

focus areas

creative entrepreneurship
bipoc/female leadership
reimagining broken systems
holistic/compassionate healthcare
conscious consumption
less but better

“It is in the fragility of life that we discover our true inner strength.”

Shefali Dang

Projects + Services

  • Green Building icon

    Innovation & Design Strategy

    Launching impactful ventures, businesses, products, and services that people will actually need.

  • Custom Additions icon

    Brand & Product Development

    Crafting authentic identities, stories and experiences that people will actually love.

  • Outdoor Spaces icon

    Research & Insights

    Mapping ecosystems and uncovering unmet customer needs, stakeholder insights, and behavioral and cultural shifts that will impact the future of your business.

  • Decks and Patios icon

    Teaching & Facilitation

    Equipping teams with creative problem solving methods, tools, and mindsets to tackle complex real-world challenges with confidence and optimism.

NEED HELP? LET'S TALK

Leading-Edge Experience

IDEO
Design Innovation Leaders

Bay Area | Shanghai | Singapore

Senior Design Researcher & Strategist
Project & Client Leadership

Helping global businesses tackle complex product, service, and organizational design challenges at the award-winning firm that pioneered human-centered design methodologies.

Canvas Therapeutics
Cannabis & Hemp Health

Seattle | Bangkok

Co-Founder
Chief Creative Officer, Polite

Building a cannabinoid health and wellness venture to disrupt the emerging cannabis and hemp industries with proprietary physician-developed formulas, patient-centered solutions, stigma-shattering branding, and accessible education.

Iovine & Young Academy
Disrupting Higher Education

University of Southern California

Adjunct Lecturer
M.S. Integrated Design, Business & Tech
Course Creation & Experiential Learning

Founded by music industry moguls, Jimmy Iovine and Dre Dre (Andre Young), the Iovine & Young Academy is proving that new entrepreneurial models of interdisciplinary education can develop diverse creative leaders with the skills and mindset to change the world.

Palliative Care Innovation
Human-Centered Services & Systems

Toronto

Researcher & Consultant

Scaling models and approaches of community based end-of-life care, to shift healthcare systems from focusing on treatment and cure, to patient and family-centered quality-of-life and symptom management.

Asking the Right Questions

Connecting the Right Dots

Our world and communities are plagued by big hairy problems, many of which are consequences of systemic inequities, oppression, a scarcity mindset, greed, indifference, careless design, and failing to understand the necessity of holistic and diverse perspectives.

semiprecious studio is focused on challenging what modern life and society can look like in a post-industrial, consumerist, capitalist, colonial, and digital age.

We’re taking time and creating space to explore essential questions:

• How must we re-define what matters most for life and people on earth to thrive?

• How can we re-discover the power of creative exploration, play, rest, and community?

• How should we redesign the nature of business, healthcare, politics, and institutions to serve the greater good?

• How do we build a better future, while standing in the complex reality of the present?

• How will we sustain our optimism, in the face of conflict, injustice, uncertainty, and suffering?

Creating Positive Impact

  • "Sue is an incredible professor. This class has been my favorite of the classes I've taken so far—I've learned the most and also been exposed to the most useful content through this class. Sue's knowledge is vast and deep and she imparts her learning by breaking down concepts clearly and with numerous examples and case studies to make meaning clear. She's friendly and engaging. This class also seems to have the most conversation and student participation that I've noticed so far. I look forward to this class each week."

    USC Iovine & Young Academy Graduate Student, Course Evaluation (Dec 2022)

  • "Sue ran the class the way a Grad–level course should be run, through discussion guided by structured materials relevant to the topics covered in async materials. She also brought in interesting examples that helped bring the ideas, frameworks, concepts out of stagnant school materials and into real life, real understanding."

    USC Iovine & Young Academy Graduate Student, Course Evaluation (Dec 2022)

  • "The breadth of [Sue's course] content has been the most valuable. Even though most of these concepts and ideas are brand new to me, I can tell that this course is just scratching the surface and that there's SO much more to learn. I honestly feel like this course could be a degree program in itself—there's just so much useful content."

    USC Iovine & Young Academy Graduate Student, Course Evaluation (Dec 2022)

Our Community
& Friends

  • Sue Tan, semiprecious studio founder

    semiprecious.studio

    Sue Tan (she/her), Founder

    Design & User Research
    Innovation, Design & Brand Strategy
    Teaching & Course Creation
    Speaking, Writing, Facilitation

    Get to Know
  • Oranssi project manager Jaya Dixon

    Karve Creative

    Vanessa Karkoutly (they/them), Founder

    User-Centered Design
    Design & User Research
    Branding, Identity, Logo Design
    Art Direction & Creative Strategy

    Get to Know
  • Oranssi general contractor Reese Platt

    A Green Legacy

    Brittany Parker (she/her), Founder

    Amplifying BIPOC Entrepreneurship
    Influencer Marketing
    Public Relations
    Strategic Partnerships
    Speaking, Writing

    Get to Know
  • Oranssi construction engineer Jamie Kokot

    create crisp

    Davina Wolter (she/her), Founder

    Experience Design
    Branded Environments & Marketing
    Design Strategy
    Programming & Community Engagement
    Media & Tech Integration
    Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Access

    Get to Know

  • Spitfire Creative

    Pax Bradford (he/him), Founder

    3D Packaging Design
    Inclusive Brand Design
    Spatial/Environment Design
    User Experience Design

    Get to Know