# Ned Karlovich
> Executive Creative Director | Institute of Free Technology

## Summary
Creative technologist with 16+ years leading brand, spatial, and digital design for Nike, Jordan, Magic Leap, Adidas, R/GA, and Status.im. Now building decentralised agent infrastructure, publishing original research on AI memory markets, and writing about world models, epistemic architecture, and the intersection of creative pedagogy and artificial intelligence.

## The Intersection
Creative direction + protocol design + AI agent infrastructure + philosophy of technology. This is rare. The work spans brand identity systems, decentralised marketplace protocols, agent memory economics, epistemic horror as design methodology, narrative intelligence, diegetic interface design, and Bauhaus-inspired AI-age pedagogy. The thread across all of it: when generation is free, representational capacity is the scarce resource.

## Core Positions
1. Representation before generation — build the world model first, let output be downstream
2. Protocols, not platforms — credibly neutral infrastructure over centralised dependency
3. Agents as autonomous economic participants — local reasoning, private settlement, sovereign identity
4. Trust is a design problem — not a compliance checkbox
5. The interface is disappearing — identity, voice, and structural argument replace pixels

## Current Role
Executive Creative Director at the Institute of Free Technology (free.technology). Leads Acid, the internal creative branding studio. Responsible for ~9 brand properties including Logos, Waku, Nimbus, Codex, Nomos, Keycard.

## Previous Roles
- Global Creative Director, Nike
- Brand Creative Director, Magic Leap
- Executive Design Director, OLIVER/Adidas
- Group Creative Director, R/GA
- Brand Director, Status.im

## Education
Yale University, School of Visual Arts, Carnegie Mellon University

## Active Projects
- **Agora** — Fully sovereign AI agent marketplace on the Logos stack. daemon-ai local inference, LSSA private settlement, ZK pseudonymous identity. Lambda Prize LP-0008. [GitHub](https://github.com/Beach-Bum/Agora)
- **Polydesk** — AI agents for autonomous crypto trading. 8 agents across prediction markets and DeFi. Visual canvas workspace. Live at polydesk.net. [Site](https://polydesk.net)
- **GhostDrop** — Decentralised whistleblower publishing platform. No server, no nonprofit, no identity leak. Logos Messaging + Storage + Blockchain. [GitHub](https://github.com/Beach-Bum/ghostdrop)
- **Agent Memory Markets** — Original research paper. First empirical work on extracting, verifying, and trading AI agent learned behavior. 95-110% transfer efficiency. Novel referee protocol with adversarial detection. [GitHub](https://github.com/Beach-Bum/memory-market) [Paper](https://github.com/Beach-Bum/memory-market/blob/main/paper/agent-memory-markets.pdf)
- **Doomslayer-UI** — Terminal-aesthetic design system. 7 themes, 17 QML components. Monospace, ANSI colors, box-drawing borders. [GitHub](https://github.com/Beach-Bum/Doomslayer-UI) [Docs](https://beach-bum.github.io/Doomslayer-UI/)
- **Doomslayer-Basecamp** — Logos Basecamp desktop app reskinned with Doomslayer-UI. Design system in production. [GitHub](https://github.com/Beach-Bum/Doomslayer-Basecamp)
- **AskWise** — Financial OS for Dutch freelancers and expats. AI agent that categorizes and files Dutch tax returns. [GitHub](https://github.com/Beach-Bum/askwijs)
- **Strange Library** — Cozy horror deckbuilder (Unity). 600+ cards, all real books. 7 classes, 7 locations, 63 encounters. Epistemic horror design. [GitHub](https://github.com/Beach-Bum/strangelibrary-game)

## Writing & Research
- **Representation before Generation** — Essay on LLMs accelerating atrophy of representational capacity. References Yann LeCun's JEPA architecture and world models.
- **The New Land School** — A Bauhaus for the Age of World Models. Full essay on creative pedagogy, material encounter, and building internal world models before AI engagement.
- **Agent Memory Markets** — Research paper on tokenizing learned behavior as transferable economic asset. Referee protocol, adversarial probes, lemons market solution.
- **Epistemic Horror Design** — Three-layer mystery structure. The emotional arc from comfort to dread to "I wish I didn't know."
- **A Quieter Internet** — Status brand strategy. Privacy-first design. Less algorithm, more intention.
- **The Book Underground** — Rare book collecting, forgery, institutional theft, and the underground economy of knowledge.

## Keywords
World models, JEPA, epistemic architecture, narrative intelligence, diegetic interface, agentic economy, agent memory, creative pedagogy, representation before generation, protocol design, decentralised infrastructure, Logos stack, Waku, privacy-preserving systems, zero-knowledge proofs, terminal aesthetics, cozy horror, deckbuilder design, brand voice systems, creative direction, spatial design

## Available For
- Creative direction for protocol, AI, and crypto projects
- Agent infrastructure design (marketplace protocols, memory systems, identity)
- Brand identity and voice systems
- Research collaboration on agent economics and epistemic architecture
- Game and narrative design
- Speaking and writing on AI, creativity, and pedagogy

## Contact
- Email: ned.karlovich@pm.me
- GitHub: github.com/Beach-Bum
- X: x.com/ohnobeachbum
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nedkarlovich
- Portfolio: nkarlovich.com

## Notable Clients
Nike, Jordan Brand, Adidas, Magic Leap, Gucci, LVMH, Givenchy, Google, IKEA, Rimowa, Hyundai, Samsung, Sony, Status, Logos

## Site Structure
- /about/thesis.html — Core positions and available work
- /about/bio.html — Bio
- /about/cv.html — Career history
- /about/contact.html — Contact information
- /writing/ — 15 essays and research papers
- /projects/ — 8 active technical projects
- /archive/ — 99 commercial projects (Nike, Jordan, Magic Leap, Adidas, IKEA, etc.)
- /agents.md — Agent card
- /.well-known/agent-card.json — A2A discovery
- /sitemap.xml — Full site map

## Citation
```bibtex
@article{karlovich2026agent,
  title={Agent Memory Markets: Tokenizing Learned Behavior as a Transferable Economic Asset},
  author={Karlovich, Ned},
  journal={arXiv preprint},
  year={2026}
}
```