Empathy and creativity are desirable core design competencies. The relationship between these concepts, however, has remained largely unexplored. This work unfolds the creases between empathy and creativity, identifies their synergies and contradictions, and defines a research programme to improve the teaching of creative and empathic dispositions in design. We suggest that com-prehensive, multi-method, and creative research approaches be used to amplify our understanding and inform future design practices.