Services

The Creative Economist

I provide creative advantages, bridging the knowledge gap between investment capital and the most profound values from life-centered design, creativity, and innovative projects globally.With an unwavering understanding of the immense impact of positive human experiences, thriving communities, and exquisitely designed environments—a realm of intangibles often elusive and thus incalculable by traditional finance professionals.I pioneer the power of assetization intuitively and excavate unique returns from capital investments others simply have no such eyes to see.

Services

Serving: Architecture, Urban Design, Real-Property, Placemaking

  • Assetization This term refers to the process of transforming a concept, idea, or resource into a valuable and tradable asset. It involves recognizing and quantifying the inherent value in something that may not have been traditionally considered as an asset. By assigning value and treating it as an asset, it becomes possible to leverage, monetize, or trade it strategically.

  • Pro-Forma, Projections, Forecasts, Performance These terms are related to financial analysis and planning. Pro-Forma refers to projected financial statements or reports based on assumptions and estimates. Projections involve forecasting future financial outcomes based on historical data and assumptions. Forecasts are predictions of future financial performance or market trends. Performance refers to the actual results achieved and the evaluation of financial success or failure.

  • Design Investment Analysis / Justification Design investment analysis involves assessing the financial viability and potential return on investment (ROI) of design-related initiatives or projects. It examines the costs, benefits, and risks associated with design investments to determine their economic justification. This analysis helps stakeholders make informed decisions regarding the allocation of resources to design endeavors.

  • Creative Assets Financial Engineering This term refers to the application of financial engineering techniques and strategies to creative assets. Financial engineering involves the use of mathematical and quantitative methods to design and create financial instruments, structures, and solutions. Applying these techniques to creative assets aims to optimize their financial performance, enhance their value, and unlock new revenue streams.

  • Systems Thinking and System Returns Systems thinking is an approach that considers the interrelationships and interactions between various components of a system. It involves understanding the complex dynamics and feedback loops within a system to identify opportunities for improvement and optimize overall performance. System returns refer to the positive outcomes and benefits achieved by adopting a systems thinking mindset, such as increased efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability. It recognizes that the whole system is more than the sum of its parts.


Portfolio

The Creative Economist

My four-legged stool comprises economics, art, design, and education. With a diverse portfolio, I collaborate with visionary individuals who are shaping the future. I highly esteem incremental progress, recognizing its significance in driving innovation. Furthermore, I thrive at establishing the essential nodes (silo-busting) that allow cross-functional networks to seamlessly connect and contribute to transformative endeavors.

Portfolio

Neil Ramsay


With no clear way to link design to business health, senior leaders are often reluctant to divert scarce resources to design functions. That is problematic because many of the key drivers of the strong and consistent design environment identified in our research call for company-level decisions and investments.”


McKinsey Co.


Focus: Academia, Business, The Arts

My focus lies in highlighting the artist-thinker in markets, shifting away from the conventional emphasis on the art-object. Through my integrating diverse disciplines, I produce creative processes, offering innovative solutions. I go beyond aesthetics, unlocking economic value by optimizing underutilized intellectual creative-thinking within organizations. This approach drives the development of enhanced, whole-brained products, services, and system designs.

Practice

  • Farm-to-Urban Retreat & Residency Located on a farm in Redland, FL, @farm2urban Neil partnered with a farm to develop a pop-up (2017-19) residency and retreat to provide for creatives' consciousness (artists, designers, academics, technologists working on advancements in social wellbeing) without any linear requirements, simply or not so simply, practicing nowness.

  • ArtsUP! Concepts As the founder of ArtsUP! Concepts of FATVillage, Neil demonstrated the creative utilization of "indoor air rights" by showcasing art installations 12 feet above ground level. This innovative approach allowed for uninterrupted volumetric co-usage of the warehouse facility, as floor and wall space were not required for the successful exhibition of art concepts driving local foot traffic and facility rental revenues.

  • Creative Capital Consultant and Professional Development Leader: Designed Interdependence - National Lab Webinar /DIY Residencies.

  • Ratcliffe Art + Design Incubator Co-founding faculty of the first public-private partnership art + design incubator "RA+DI" in the State university system of Florida, immersing creative practitioners in entrepreneurial practices. RA+DI presented at College Art Association (CAA) Conference 2019 NYC.

  • Visual Arts Marketing / ART5853Designed and instructs a groundbreaking online experiential inquiry studio-art course, pioneering the integration of business and entrepreneurial thinking concepts. This innovative course focuses on the artist-thinker in markets, distinct from the traditional focus on art-objects. Through an exposé and inquiry into art world operating practices, encompassing artists, intermediaries, audience, institutions, collectors, corporations, and markets, participants are immersed in a reflective analysis from a professional viewpoint. The course explores the philosophical query of "how do I show up?" and draws parallels between arts practice and entrepreneurship. Its ultimate goal is to develop a foundational understanding of marketing theory and facilitate effective idea-sharing across sectors.

  • NEW INC Mentor and Workshop Lead at the first museum-led and housed incubator for art + technology + entrepreneurship at New Museum NYC.

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Affiliations


Bio

A New Mind Toward New
and Old Problems

Neil Ramsay, The Creative Economist, serves as a contracted systems thinker and lateral thinker for various teams and projects.Business leaders find it fun working with Neil, as he embodies an expansive combination of "imagination, pragmatism, and aesthetics" that encompasses transdisciplinary and holistic approaches. With his out-of-the-box thinking, Neil brings a fresh perspective to the planning and decision-making processes.Neil's expertise lies in identifying, developing, and leveraging synergies between creative professionals such as architects, artists, designers, futurists, urbanists, and business leaders who aim to build ventures with a more human-centered and life-oriented impact on people, places, and spaces. By adopting nonlinear approaches to problem-solving, he elevates the standards of management, enabling the realization of newfound creative value through qualitative and quantifiable means.His cross-disciplinary insight empowers him to establish connections between seemingly unrelated elements and recognize the enhanced systemic values that arise from these connections. Through the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative aspects of commissioned or proposed creative projects, Neil delves deeper into the ideas, strategies, and operations of clients. This unique skill set bridges the domains of finance, economics, design, art, and real property, allowing him to uncover value that often goes unnoticed.

Contact

The Creative Economist

Colophon

Website Credits

  • Dimitry Saïd Chamy / 2urn Branding, web design/development. Identity developed with the Geometric font from Hamilton Wood Type collection by P22 Foundry

    The Glitching Economist, 2022, single channel 4K video, 17", no sound
    A glitch/type video portrait of Neil Ramsay built on an AI-generated foundation animation of a still image shot by his brother Lance Ramsay. Neil Ramsay’s own words from his text “machines made human, humans made machine” are woven into this machine vision of Ramsay—inflecting it with his linguistic algorithm.

  • Lance Ramsay Photography with post-editing by Dimitry Saïd Chamy