Patrick is an entrepreneur, adventurer, and student at Vanderbilt. He started his first design firm at the age of twelve, followed by several entertainment-focused social networks that competed with MySpace and introduced him to artists including Sister Hazel, The Gym Class Heroes, and MXPX. During high school, he neglected the things he was supposed to be studying in favor of indulging his curiosity. Over the course of four years, he read nearly four hundred books on everything from behavioral economics to french cooking, engineering, psychology, and art.
Today, Patrick Widen is the founder of a service called EYES|ONLY that uses secrets to connect brands to people that will fall in love with them. He also runs a design consultancy called Blend that harnesses psychology, sociology, and behavioral economics to create products, services, and experiences that make people smile. To date, his touch can be seen in everything from iPhone apps to logos to products and experiences all over the world.
Patrick's adventures have landed him the world's smallest cameo in Esquire, a position as one of the youngest guest lecturers in Vanderbilt’s history, and the beginning stages of two books he hopes to release as soon as they're ready.
"Boredom is not on my menu. Life's to short to spend your time doing something you're not in love with." - Patrick Widen
Patrick's Business Ventures
Blend: Human Driven Design - A human driven design agency that uses an understanding of people to create products, services, and experiences that make them smile.
P.WIDEN - A fashion/luxury brand designed to bring luxury to adventure.
EYES|ONLY - A service that uses secrets to connect brands to people that will fall in love with them.
Personal Projects
The Facebook Experiment - A book of Patrick's adventures in experimenting with Facebook to do everything from getting himself a cameo in Esquire Magazine to meeting celebrities. The book also explores the larger impact of Facebook on the future of society.
Painting Series - Patrick's paintings have no deep, hidden meanings. They're art in its purest form, straight from his brush to a canvas.
Music Album - Patrick is hard at work on his first solo album, which he plans to release independently.
Photography Series - Patrick's current work in photography is centered around capturing motion that is often missed by the human eye.
Consulting
Iridium Dev - Patrick is currently directing design and marketing for this iPhone app start-up.
Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management - Patrick advises MBA students working on projects for Fortune 500 companies on how to harness social media and human driven design to build a smarter brand.
Academic
Vanderbilt University - Patrick is currently studying the interaction of psychology, sociology, behavioral economics, anthropology, and other disciplines to better understand human behavior.
Volunteering
In his free time, Patrick routinely meets with other entrepreneurs, students, and executives to help them integrate human driven design and marketing strategy to help them connect with customers in a more intimate way.
Patrick regularly speaks about design, branding, social media, behavioral economics, and creativity alongside the impact of each of these fields on the future of society.
Please check back for a list of past, current, and upcoming speaking dates.
