We get so excited when we learn about ways design and art “go beyond” their own traditional fields and impact tech, science, politics, even social justice. This month, there are a number of events in the Bay Area that will engage our minds and inspire our creative muses. Check out the top picks list curated by In/Visible Talks’ co-founders (and long-time practicing designers) Arianna Orland and Dava Guthmiller, discover what creatives are doing to shape the future of everything, and join the conversations.

TEDx San Francisco.

INVT loves TED (technology, entertainment, design). With a “Dare to Know” theme, October’s SF event will include topics from the structure and dynamics of social organizations, to the changing face of tech, to hyper surfaces, and the connections to life/music/tech. The speaker lineup already includes CapWay founder and CEO Sheena Allen, Grammy Award–winning songwriter and producer Oak Felder, artist Leah Rosenberg, and physicist Geoffrey West, PhD. Check the website for updates. $169­­–$219. October 3. 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco.

SF Open Studios 2019.

The annual Open Studios event is one of our favorite ways to take in all the inspiration the City can provide. ArtSpan coordinates with artists in multiple neighborhoods for four weekends of amazing art openings. Art is sold directly from the artists, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to splurge on prized items—or pick up some bargains—for your personal collection. Free. Every weekend from October 12 through November 3. All over San Francisco.

Designs on Democracy: The Roles and Responsibilities of Graphic Designers in the Trump Era.

As graphic designers and media makers, how can we best develop strategic visual communication to win campaigns and stay accountable to the leadership of community organizers? How does our work fit into the grander strategy of change? View campaign graphics from Design Action Collective’s body of work, then join the discussion. Free. October 15. 6:00 to 7:30 pm. San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco.

Social Impact Fair 2019.

The Social Impact Fair provides an opportunity for students and alumni from California College of the Arts’ 35 academic programs to connect with companies and organizations that aim to make positive, meaningful change in the world. You are welcome to participate if you have immediate job and internship opportunities or want to network with the CCA Community. $100–$125. October 18. 2:00 to 5:00 pm. California College of the Arts, 1111 8^th Street, San Francisco.

SPACE Art+Tech Festival.

Space is a province of the known…and the unknown. As the film camera captured the transformation of the modern world, so, too, do emerging digital media point their lenses toward the future. Through art, as we architect space, we envision the future. Explore the possibilities of art, robotics, virtual reality, and more through workshops, salons, and exhibitions. $30–$149. October 25 to 27. GitHub, 88 Colin P. Kelly Jr. Street, San Francisco.

W.E.B. Du Bois’s Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America with Silas Munro.

W.E.B. Du Bois was a prolific author, renowned sociologist, fierce civil rights advocate, co-founder of the NAACP, and historian of Black lives. He was also a pioneer in data visualization. Working with ink, gouache, graphite, and photographic prints, Du Bois and his student and alumni collaborators at Atlanta University generated crisp, dynamic, and modern graphics as a form of infographic activism. At the event hosted by Letterform Archive, view brightly colored broadsheets—made 20 years before the founding of the Bauhaus—that offer a prototype of design practices now vital in our contemporary world of designing for social innovation. Free. October 29. 6:00 to 7:30 pm. San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco.