Context

Jonathan is a hardware and experience designer based in Toronto, Ontario. After 5 years of working in San Francisco as a core part of frog's industrial design team, Jonathan moved to Canada in early 2020 to pursue a new adventure with e-commerce powerhouse, Shopify. His experience as a design consultant spans across leading brands and start-ups in the tech, retail, automotive, government and healthcare industries. As a part of Shopify's budding hardware division, Jonathan works at the forefront of commerce innovation, bridging the gap between digital and physical in the retail arena. We speak to Jonathan about the pressures of being first generation, making your parents proud for all of their sacrifices, and the legacy we are building as designers for future generations to come. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

For today's episode, we welcome the leaders behind the Office for Product Design. Nicol Boyd began his training in design at the Glasgow School of Art. After completing his undergraduate degree in 1999 he moved to Italy to work for Alessi, where he developed products for among others Achille Castiglioni, Alessandro Mendini, Alberto Meda and Michael Graves. He returned to the UK to continue his design studies at the Royal College of Art, graduating in 2004. The following years saw him working at IDEO, first as a resident in their San Francisco and Palo Alto offices, and later with the Munich and London offices. He also spent a year at Nokia's design department in London, before establishing himself as a freelance designer. This period saw a renewed collaboration with Tomas Rosén and ultimately led to the formation of the Office for Product Design in Hong Kong in 2007. Tomas Rosén originally studied philosophy at Stockholm University before completing a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Linköping University. Scholarships from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation led him to pursue additional postgraduate design studies at the Royal College of Art in London, where he graduated in 2004. Having previously worked on design projects for Volvo and Scania in Sweden, he joined Nokia's design department in London in 2005 and subsequently went on to co-found the Office for Product Design in Hong Kong with Nicol Boyd in 2007. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Gavin Ivester is a hybrid product and brand leader with roots in Silicon Valley industrial design and extensive European lifestyle and tech experience. He specializes in driving profitable, responsible growth through the power of design and brand. Gavin recently exited the role of VP Design at Bang & Olufsen after wrapping up an aggressive product portfolio upgrade. Coupled with new strategy, the company has returned to profitable growth. As Senior VP/General Manager of PUMA's global Footwear division, he drove growth of over 400% to €2billion, and led PUMA's watches and eyewear product lines. Gavin designed the first-ever PowerBook at Apple, headed Nike's Global Footwear Design team, served as Gibson Guitar's Chief Creative Officer, and led a turnaround of Under Armour's Footwear Division. As an entrepreneur and consultant, Gavin has advised on brand and growth strategy for Grammy-nominated music artists and companies in healthcare, banking, beverages, digital media and sports fashion. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Named “one of the most creative people in business” by Fast Company, and “one of the most influential designers working today” by Graphic Design USA, Debbie Millman is also an author, educator, curator and host of the podcast Design Matters. As the founder and host of Design Matters, one of the world's first and longest running podcasts, Millman has interviewed nearly 500 artists, designers and cultural commentators over the past 14 years. Design Matters won a 2011 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, in 2015 Apple designated it one of the best overall podcasts on iTunes, and in 2018 the show was honored by the Webby (WEB-BI) Awards. In addition, Design Matters has been listed on over 100 “Best Podcasts” lists, including one of the best podcasts in the world by Business Insider. The show is about how some of the world's most creative people design the arc of their lives, and Debbie has interviewed guests including Tim Ferriss, Malcolm Gladwell, Marina Abramovic, Steven Pinker, Shepard Fairey, Laurie Anderson, Barbara Kruger, Amanda Palmer, Alain de Botton, Brene Brown, Hamilton Director Thomas Kail, and many, many more. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

There are too many barriers to accessing the education and experience required to become a footwear designer in the sports industry. Rather than waiting on higher education to solve some of those obstacles, we created a solution to this problem by building a new pathway for creators to pursue a career in footwear design: S.E.E.D. (School for Experiential Education in Design). S.E.E.D. is a 2 year program at the adidas Brooklyn Creator Farm in partnership with Pensole Academy that acts as an alternative to a university education for Footwear Design. The program is an Open-Source education model meaning that we tap industry experts inside and outside of the adidas brand to teach, guide, and mentor students while they work on developing Leadership and Design skills through working on real products that will go to market. For today's episode, we welcome the leaders behind adidas S.E.E.D. — Liz Connelly and Cheresse Thornhill-Goldson. A bit about Liz, her career has been focused on identifying high potential talent from non-traditional pipelines and designing programs, processes, and experiences to help that talent reach their full potential. She began her career innovating recruitment and talent development strategies in small business within both the sports and food industries. She joined adidas in 2016 as a part of the Talent Acquisition organization. In 2019 Liz co-founded adidas S.E.E.D. (School for Experiential Education in Design) and moved to Brooklyn to launch the program. Liz now consults on various talent related projects and continues to lead all talent and brand initiatives for SEED in her most recent role as the Senior Manager of Education and Growth for adidas. A bit about Cheresse, she has been in the footwear industry over 13 years. Her career began in Beaverton, OR at Nike where she was a footwear designer for 10 years before moving back to her hometown of Miami, FL to teach design at both the high school and college levels. In January 2020, Cheresse made the move to Brooklyn, NY to lead the adidas S.E.E.D. Program as the Design Director. Cheresse is part of the team that's transforming the footwear industry and cultivating the next generation of diverse design talent. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Samantha is a multidisciplinary visual artist and designer from Humboldt Park, Chicago. She has a BA in Fine Arts from Columbia College Chicago with a minor in Arts Business. Since 2019 she has worked independently as an installation artist, fabricator, graphic designer, and illustrator, with a focus on set-design installations for music concerts, events, and video production. She currently works as a Color Designer for Nike on the women's footwear team at the global design level. In tandem with her design work, she co-hosts Sistematic Podcast with her twin sister - the show about politics and pop culture with an emphasis on the stories of women at the intersection of race, gender, class, and ability. Samantha is also a professional stunt woman and member of SAG-AFTRA- as well as part-time community organizer whose work revolves around issues including gentrification, criminal justice reform, immigration, and self-determination for Puerto Rico. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Fran Wang is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has been at frog for the last 4 years. Prior, she worked at New Deal Design and Skycatch, a UAV startup. As the Associate Director of Mechanical Engineering at frog, she has had the unique opportunity to work on interdisciplinary teams designing holistic experiences, in addition to working on technical projects focused on engineering. Her work at frog includes the Magritte AR gallery at the SFMOMA and the Yona Care project. During our dialogue with Fran, we dive into her path to working in the Bay Area, and life as an engineer in one of the most competitive design markets in the world. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Andi Osana is an industrial designer and aspiring toy designer from the Philippines. She graduated with a B.S. in Industrial Design from De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, being most inspired by dinosaurs, comic books, and popular culture. She values a childlike playfulness and curiosity in her work, and this is reflected the most in her ideation and storytelling process. Her penchant for learning and seeking new experiences has influenced her body of works, which bring to the forefront human connection and interaction. Most recently, she was a part of Offsite's Summer 2021 Cohort 2, where she discovered a community of like-minded individuals that share a passion for their endeavors. In her spare time, she enjoys drawing and making comics, playing video games, and building models and jigsaw puzzles. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

James Melia, founder and director of award-winning Blond design studio. Since 2015, Melia's London based, strategic industrial design firm Blond has been the go-to brain trust that innovative global brands like Sony, LG, Revolut and Rapha keep in their rolodex for when they need a product to disrupt their market. From water bottles to home tech, future-forward companies keep Melia in their inner circle because they need a product that will be a game changer in their customer's life. The differentiator between Melia and other design outfits lies in his starting point for a project. He's a naturally keen observer of human behaviour and has always taken notice of things that most would not. “I was an industrial designer before I knew I was one”, Melia says. When he was a child he remembers going to Amsterdam and marveling at the highly resolved methods of household garbage disposal. “I was fascinated to see how the Dutch households didn't have typical rubbish bins, they put their waste outside in collective containers within the ground, and then trucks with cranes took them away. It's these types of simple and innovative solutions that were of interest to me from as early as I can remember.” Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

With roots in Mexico and the United States, an idea to combine these two identities was born from the need to express ourselves and our points of view through functional objects that we share everyday life with. Los Objects is a brand dedicated to the exploration of ideas through physical products. They are a team of two individuals with different backgrounds, but one of the things they have in common is their background as Industrial Designers. At Los Objects, they approach every product using the design process: they become curious about a topic, research it, brainstorm and sketch ideas, prototype, iterate, test, and make the final object that you get to experience. Their priority is to be curious, to experiment, and to create moments that make our everyday life a little more beautiful. Los Objects was founded by Angela Sevilla, Footwear Material & Color Designer at Nike, and Dustin Le, UX Designer at Collective+. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Jeffrey Jones, an LA based freelance industrial designer and professor with over a decade of experience developing mobile consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and fitness bands. From 2008-2012 Jeff worked at Samsung's Mobile Design Lab in Los Angeles, where he designed a wide variety of mobile phones such as AT&T's Rugby 3 and Galaxy Mini, which sold more than 10 million units globally. From 2012-2019 Jeff worked for Samsung Design America in downtown San Francisco, where he was the lead designer for countless category-creating and line-up products such as the Gear Fit series, Gear S2, Galaxy View and the “Edge” design language for Samsung's flagship smartphones. Jeff has a passion for finding beautiful, simple and iconic solutions for the complex challenges involved with bringing useful and manufacturable products to market at scale. As a freelance industrial designer, Jeff brings innovative form and functional ideas through analog and digital sketching, 3D modeling in NX and Solidworks and rendering in Keyshot. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

We welcome Spencer Nugent back to our platform to talk about objects that we find polarizing. We question why we’re so attracted to brands that take risks to produce products that have us talking; such as the Tesla Cybertruck or the Playstation 5. Is this on purpose, or is this truly innovation? As humans, it’s natural for us to have biases, so when these disruptive products launch, we have debates and pick our sides. Spencer gives us his take with a critical lens on how he approaches these conversations. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Chris Granneberg, an Industrial Designer based in LA. Chris studied Industrial Design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NYC where he graduated in 2004. Soon after graduating Chris joined Karim Rashid's studio in NYC where he was promoted to Product Director in 2009 managing the global Industrial Design projects and team. At Karim's, Chris collaborated and led hundreds of projects with brands including Samsung, LG, Asus, 3M, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Alessi, Orrefors and BoConcept. Leaving Karim's studio in 2013 Chris was recruited at the PepsiCo Design Center as one of the CDO's initial hires. At PepsiCo, Chris managed the Industrial Design component of global structural design projects for both foods and beverages for 3 years. In 2016 Chris relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to launch his design studio. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Spencer Nugent, where we dive into a conversation about the good things about hard things. In the age of instant gratification and intelligent tools, there’s value to taking the long, slow road when creating great things. With these new tools and platforms, ease of production and low barriers to entry can make design more democratic, but without proper restraint, has also made it much more superficial. In this episode, we go deep about keeping it real. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Yuliya Veligurskaya, the Creative Director of Studiocult, based in New York City. Studiocult is a brand specializing in clever jewelry, and accessories. All of the pieces are inspired by everyday objects and crumbs of shared memories. Guaranteed to turn some heads, their accessories are made for those who want to wear something expressive and out of the ordinary. They can create one of a kind bespoke pieces of jewelry for individuals as well as design a range of products including jewelry, handbags and accessories for businesses. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guests are the brothers, Hoang & Anh who founded Creative Session, a design blog dedicated to ideas between the two. Currently, they head design at Playground building brands and products. Playground is a venture firm that partners with entrepreneurs working at the intersection of atoms, bits, and AI to build the companies of tomorrow. The brothers believe building great products begin with developing lasting brand visions, these values are the foundation for strong companies and innovative products. Collectively they have a diverse body of work, designing for companies such as: Amazon, Google, Samsung, Nike, Kanye West, Versace, Audi, Microsoft, Shinola and more. They think the best part about design is the unfamiliar fields you’re thrown into. Currently they’re geeking out with robotics, quantum computing and aerospace. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Anna Lee, is a technical co-founder of Lioness, the women-led sexual health startup that built the world's first and only smart vibrator that improves understanding of sexual pleasure and body through biofeedback data, recently featured at CES 2020, a finalist at Last Gadget Standing, Engadget Best of CES 2020, Refinery29 Best of CES SexTech. Anna was previously a mechanical engineer at Amazon, launching the Amazon Dash Button’s original concept and the Kindle Voyage Page Press Technology. She has spoken at top universities like UC Berkeley and Chalmers University, SXSW, and CYFY India, and most recently named 2020's Forbes 30 Under 30 as well as Paper Magazine's Asian Women Creators You Need to Know. She is a big advocate in Lioness’s mission to expand understanding and research in sexual health, and destigmatize female sexuality. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Amanda Huynh, a Canadian product and food designer working at the intersections of community-building, social innovation, and sustainable design. Amanda’s design career has allowed her to work across a variety of sectors in Vancouver, Bali, Shanghai, and London. Amanda earned a BDes in Industrial Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and worked as a professional designer for several years before pursuing a MSc in Food Design from Scuola Politecnica di Design in Milan, Italy. She is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Thank you @amandahuynh for being on our platform to talk about design. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Jo Barnard, the founder and creative director of multi award-winning design and innovation consultancy Morrama. Having set up Morrama in 2015, just one year after graduating, she has worked with startups across the globe bringing a range of products to market from tech to luggage to cosmetics. A champion of female empowerment within design and of the role of sustainability to create a better design industry, Jo has established an incredible understanding of all things design, from the idea curation phase right through to manufacturing and distribution as she continues to push the boundaries of innovation with Morrama on a day-to-day basis. Thank you @barnards_jo for being on our platform to talk about design. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Robert Brunner, who founded San Francisco-based design studio Ammunition in 2007 to communicate ideas through products, brands, and their surrounding experiences. His work as an industrial designer has spawned numerous brand-defining designs over the past three decades. Prior to founding Ammunition, Robert was a partner at Pentagram and led strategic brand consulting and industrial design programs for Fortune 500 companies. Previously, he was the Director of Industrial Design for Apple, where he established its pioneering internal corporate design organization, Apple IDg. Before joining Apple, Robert co-founded design consultancy Lunar. Named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business,” Robert’s work is included in the permanent design collections of the MoMA in both New York and San Francisco. He is the co-author of the book Do You Matter? How Great Design Will Make People Love Your Company. Thank you @robertdbrunner for being on our platform to talk about design. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Ara Acle, a Bay Area native currently based in Oakland, CA. After graduating from San Jose State University, Ara spent some time at many of the top San Francisco design consultancies including Mike & Maaike, One & Co, and New Deal Design. He also spent 4 years at Frog where he designed for clients in sectors ranging from consumer electronics, AR experiences, medical products, and environment installations. Ara is currently a Senior Industrial Designer at Casper where he is helping the brand build sleep products that bring a sense of joy and comfort to consumers. Thank you Ara for being on our platform to talk about design. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Timothy Seward, the Lead Industrial Designer at Bird. He has been one of the key influencers in advancing the process of Industrial Design by blending multiple disciplines from ID to Motion over the past decade working with top design firms like Y-Studios, Lunar, Huge, and Whipsaw. He helped kick start the look and feel of SONOS in becoming a household name, along with creating stunning products and visuals for major brands such as Nike, Scion, Hitachi, Chrome Bags, Samsung, Fools Gold, Chromeo, A-Trak, Google, Icon Aircraft, Freebord, and Intel. His stance on design and incorporation of motion has helped pave a new path into what it means to be a modern Industrial Designer. Thank you @tkseward for being on our platform to talk about design. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Professor Stephen Melamed, an industrial designer and design educator at the University of Illinois at Chicago; he’s Clinical Professor & Founding Chair of the Industrial Design program at UIC. With over four decades of design experience in consulting, manufacturing, corporate, and not-for-profit sectors., and consulting, Stephen engages with and interweaves multiple disciplines to create a culture of innovation. An apprentice to the Bauhaus designer, artist and author Werner Graeff and his son, the architect and designer Roberto Graeff, Stephen also studied with R. Buckminster Fuller for World Game. Stephen was honored as the 2011 IDSA Midwest Educator of the Year and selected for New City Magazine’s annual Design 50: Who Shapes Chicago. In 2016, he was inducted into the IDSA Academy of Fellows. He’s been named as the inventor/co-inventor on 60 design and utility patents. Thank you Professor Melamed for being on our platform to talk about design. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is William Stuart, the Design Director of Industrial Design at Fuseproject for the last 7 years, which spans disciplines across product, packaging and accessory programs for clients in multiple categories. Clients he has worked with include Western Digital, iRobot, Coway, Vodafone, Forme Life, British Gas, August Smart Home to name a few. He has led the design teams on various projects through strategy and concept design to mass production, and has a deep knowledge in production processes for both hard and soft goods. Including his time at Fuse, he has 15 years’ experience in Industrial Design and Product Development. Before moving to San Francisco, he lived in the UK, and prior to moving to SF worked in London for 10 years working at various consultancies with clients in consumer electronics, aerospace, wearables, medical, telecoms and luxury product sectors. Thank you @williamhstuart for being on our platform to talk about design. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Natalia McLean, the Head of Design at leading Ecuadorian architectural development firm, Uribe Schwarzkopf. Based in the vibrant city of Quito, Natalia brings an encyclopedic knowledge of interior design to luxury residential projects throughout the city. Uribe Schwarzkopf is distinguished by its collaborations with major international architecture and design companies, including Bernardo Fort-Brescia’s Arquitectónica (Peru-Miami), Tatiana Bilbao (Mexico), YOO (London), Philippe Starck (Paris), Marcel Wanders (Amsterdam), Carlos Zapata (Venezuela-Miami), Jean Nouvel (France), Moshe Safdie (Canada-Israel), Bjarke Ingels, and BIG (Denmark). Natalia’s role involves liaising with these international firms to achieve the interior aesthetic they have planned while engaging local craftsmen, materials, and design. Natalia McLean is passionate about the culture, history, and design sensibility of Latin America, and brings a deep respect for traditions and heritage to her work. Originally from Medellin, Colombia, and after traveling the world for many years, Natalia moved to Quito nearly two decades ago, and has made her city her home, working to promote the growing metropolis as a center for design, and championing arts and culture in the community. We’re excited to give you a different perspective on design with this interview with Natalia McLean as we cover architecture in Latin America. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Rinn Hirotsu, a big nerd who likes to have big fun! She’s a Creative Product Designer with experience in toys and games, currently working at Hasbro. Rinn is an enthusiastic collaborator with a Bachelor's degree focused on Transportation, Industrial, and Product Design from the DAAP program at the University of Cincinnati. During our conversation we talked about how toy design is something we dream up when we are kids - and an actual career path! We also discussed what it’s like to work from home, and how students who enter the industry should engage with their colleagues. Thank you @rinnvincible for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Yanci Wu, a product designer who wanders at the intersection of art and science, stories and realities. She’s an observer, thinker, and maker. Yanci uses strategic thinking to bring clarity to situations and design thinking to bring solutions to life. She thrives at solving business and human problems that are complex in nature. As an advocate for emotional design, she applies what she understands about human cognition to making products and services that are valuable to businesses and pleasurable to users. Yanci’s versatile skill set and contextual design processes allow her to contribute in any environment. When she’s not working, you’ll likely find her growing a tropical jungle in an apartment, studying fungi in the forest, watching a documentary, or having a philosophical conversation with friends. Thank you Yanci for sharing your story and inspiring so many, please visit her website at http://yanciwu.com/ and check out her work! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Spencer Nugent, this interview takes us back to last year, June of 2020 to be exact, one of the first conversations prior to building Offsite. Spencer is the founder of idsketching.com and sketch-a-day.com. His experience includes working at General Motors in Warren, Michigan, San Francisco based design firm Astro Studios, heading up his own design consultancy and Studio Tminus where he worked with several clients primarily in the consumer electronics and apparel industries. Our conversation spans different topics such as the relationships educators have with companies and studios, the journey of a student, and the current education model, and how we started Offsite and the course he is teaching: Design Discourse. Thank you @sketchadaydotcom for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Mona Sharma, an Industrial Designer based out of the UK. She’s a designer interested in creating products that are honest, simple and enjoyable. Mona seeks opportunities to experiment with manufacturing techniques, whilst tapping into user perceptions - always with the ambition of pushing boundaries wherever she can. Tune into our conversation with Mona, as we explore different topics in design such as women in design, transitioning from school to industry, and sustainability! Thank you @mona_dsgn for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is David Miller, a recent graduate from the Industrial Design program at the University of Cincinnati, DAAP. David has moved 26 times since starting college, and worked for some of the best Industrial Design studios in the world along the way, but these days you can find him quarantined in his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. As a designer, a teammate, and a human, it’s his mission to show up each and every day with curiosity and a positive attitude. David values both breadth and depth in his skillset, and he doesn't believe in boredom — not in a world with so many new things to learn. Above all, he sees design as a platform to build a world that’s more connective and more deeply rooted in diversity of circumstance and lived experience. He knows it’s no small feat, but a little bit of listening, thinking, and doing (in that order) will help us get there. Thank you @davidmiller.id for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

We interview the team behind Design Truth - our friends across the pond! Design Truth is a small organization based in London, their objective is to keep Industrial Design connected through their podcasts and live webinars. Design Truth is organized by Brad Harper, who’s an industrial design recruiter that has worked with some of the biggest brands and agencies on the planet, and his counterpart is Drew Kendrick, a Senior Industrial Designer with 15 years of experience with work that has made it to market from Medical Devices, PPE & Safety Equipment, Toys, Sports Equipment & more. In this podcast we talk about their work, design in the UK and generally what they are looking for in 2021! Go follow Design Truth on Instagram at @wespeakdesigntruth. Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

As we continue our interviews with Offsite students, we are excited to interview the next batch of Offsite alumni. Our first cohort was a careful selection of 52 skilled students representing over 10 different countries on every continent, except for Antarctica. This is by no mistake. There are not many design institutions in the world where upon waking up in the U.S. you are chatting with another student in Singapore who is finishing their day. Design often finds itself siloed by borders, and so we hope to offer students a truly international perspective and broaden the scope of their work. During this episode, we discuss some obstacles our students faced, fears, and the overall experience and how this compares to traditional academia. Head over to advdes.org/offsite for additional information on Offsite and our next cohort. You can reach out to our students on Instagram: Akshay Bhurke (@akshaycreates), Yvonne Lin (@theoreticalrabbit), Josh Delfin (@josh.delfin_), and Ben Chung (@bentherealoha) and check out their amazing work! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

As we continue our interviews with Offsite students, we are excited to interview the next batch of Offsite alumni. The students include Morgan Wolfe, Maria Mu, Joshua Hoffeld, and Chris Ference - all student designers who tuned in from different parts of the world to be part of this design experience. Given the nature of the pandemic, classes took place online. The central hub of our school is our Slack, which features all of our discussion boards and auxiliary content. Courses take place over Zoom, and are recorded for those unable to attend in person. For this episode, the students dive into their current situation and why they decided to apply for Offsite, and how community in design education is important, now more than ever! Head over to advdes.org/offsite for additional information on Offsite and our next cohort. You can reach out to our students on Instagram: Morgan Wolfe (@morgan.wolfe.design), Maria Mu (@mu.designs.stuff), Joshua Hoffeld (@jhoffeld), and Chris Ference (@chris.ference) and check out their amazing work! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guests are a group of design students who attended Offsite’s first cohort. The students include German Monetti, Henry Ripley, Taylor Mau, and Olive Kennington - all student designers who tuned in from different parts of the world to be part of this design experience. For this episode, the students talk about taking a risk and signing up for this program as a way to elevate their skills, they discuss how their skills evolved, how they made friends, and build an amazing community together. Head over to advdes.org/offsite for additional information on Offsite and our next cohort. You can reach out to our students on Instagram: German Monetti (@g3rman11), Henry Ripley (@henryreedripley), Taylor Mau (@tmau.design), and Olive Kennington (@olive_designn) and check out their amazing work! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

The conversation continues! We are interviewing Betsy Barnhart, the Program Director of Industrial Design at the University of Kansas. Betsy is focused on providing a connection between academic institutions and private practice to tackle large-scale, complex design problems. Prior to joining KU, Betsy was an Assistant Professor at Iowa State University where she led multi-disciplinary sponsored studios with a focus on market disruption and innovation. During our conversation with Betsy, we will be talking about the state of design education, and how we need to re-write curriculums to help underrepresented students succeed in the classroom. There's still a gender gap in design, inequalities, and it begins at the design education level - so where are the design educators? Why aren't they standing up for change? Go follow @betsy_barnhart_id to see her amazing work! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Matt Marchand, currently developing outdoor gear as an Industrial Designer with Dick's Sporting Goods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is passionate about an innovative incorporation of physics and philosophy into products. There is a lot to do, and he is thankful to be a part of the process. He loves to sketch and is always looking forward to a future of collaborations and learning. Thank you @matt.marchand for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Hannah Fink, a San Francisco-based designer with a background in metal and woodworking. Her process is rooted in exploring form through physical model making and prototyping. A recent graduate of Pratt Institute’s MID program, she draws her inspiration from her former scuba diving and marine research career and hobbies like surfing, welding and weightlifting. Fink has her B.A. from Vassar College and her Masters of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. Thank you @therealhannahfink for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Bengt Brummer, a Senior Industrial Designer at Google. He was born in Germany and spent his childhood in both Sweden and Germany in a bilingual family. After training and working as a chef in various countries in Europe and the US and earning a BFA in the Culinary Arts from Örebro University in Sweden, he attended Parsons School of Design in NYC. In 2011, he graduated with an MFA in Industrial Design from Konstfack. Bengt likes projects that cross disciplines - consumer electronics, branding, culinary arts and home decor - they’ve been and continue to be the work that hold the most meaning for him. He considers himself a global citizen and has worked in professional studios in Europe and the US within both the fields of Culinary Arts and Industrial Design. Thank you @benbentobox for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Danielle Chen, a Senior UX Designer at EY Design Studio where she creates user-centered, intuitive and delightful experiences across different industries including insurance, finance, and government services, etc. She considers play as an essential part of learning and creating deeper connections in our work and life, and is invigorated by expanding people's ways of thinking by exposing them to new and unique perspectives through the lens of play. She actively speaks about important social issues including through her social platform as well as a podcast she co-hosts called “Push&Play” where she discusses the intersection between design and social issues. Prior to joining EY, Danielle worked as a product designer in both the toy and healthcare industries. She holds a Master’s in Integrated Product Design from University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s in Product Design from Drexel University. Thank you @dchen.play for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guests are Jeremiah Robison, Founder and CEO at CIONIC and Daniel Zarem, a Senior Industrial Designer at Fuseproject - who both worked on the VOX Ventilator. Fuseproject, in partnership with CIONIC, a medical device and technology start-up, and several independent mechanical engineering (ME) consultants, banded together to respond to the open innovation challenge. More than 200 teams from 43 different countries submitted their concepts, and our submission was selected as one of seven to build working prototypes for the final round of judging. The final design, dubbed VOX, is a rapidly deployable, pneumatically driven ventilator that prioritizes modularity, uses off-the-shelf solutions, and is optimized for a Covid-19 healthcare context. VOX costs less than $1,000 to produce and can be assembled in under 4 hours. Thank you @fuseproject and @jerobiwan for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest Liana Thomson, an Accessories Product Developer at EQ3 where she leads design for the brand’s tabletop, decorative, and other accessories. In addition to her role in developing accessories for EQ3, Liana leads the packaging task force, working to ensure EQ3’s packaging standards are eco-friendly ensuring products offerings are sustainably enhanced and consciously created. Liana holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Manitoba with a focus in architecture. While at the University of Manitoba, Liana edited the Faculty of Architecture’s annual journal and contributed to the City of Winnipeg’s annual Arts + Architecture Competition On Ice. Thank you @lianathomson for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest Jeff Smith, an industrial designer and Cloud Adoption Specialist at Autodesk. Jeff has a rich product design and development history, and prior to joining Autodesk, he worked for more than 20 years as design director of Reflex Design, Inc. - a Florida based consulting group serving a range of domestic and international clients. The diversity of products included fitness equipment, medical, industrial, consumer and kitchen products. Jeff also spent eight years as adjunct faculty at the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale. While there, Jeff taught Solidworks, sketching, product design, personal watercraft design and design for manufacturing. Thank you @blaster701 for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Once in a while, someone tells us to shut up about politics. If you want to avoid trouble, stay away from politics. Politics is a hot potato. You can’t sell things to people that are disagree with you. But then again, what is wrong with an industrial designer going out and taking a stand for sustainable products or methods? Or other things like education, healthcare, etc. If you can not agree, you can not work with them. Design is change. Change needs courage. All design is political. Today’s podcast we talk with designers Michael DiTullo and Spencer Nugent, who have both worked at big organizations such as Nike and Vivint Smart Home to small studios like frog and Astro Design - they have managed and interacted with all walks of life. Is design political - or do we just lay low? Given that our country elected a new president, what does this mean for design - and how are we affected? Tune in to hear Michael and Spencer talk about their experiences in the industry and how we need to stand up for what’s right.

Our next guest is Matt Carr, VP of Design at Umbra. Matt is an integral part of the Umbra design team since 2001, Matt has contributed countless designs to their product line. His work has been featured multiple times in The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph, Surface Magazine, I.D Magazine, Met Home, Monocle, and Living Etc. Matt is compelled to create products that balances business and imagination. Subtle details, an appreciation for imperfection, and the reinvention of traditional objects are distinguishing features of his designs. As VP of Design, Matt oversees a global design department headquartered in Toronto. Thank you Matt Carr for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Dave Joseph, an Industrial Designer who is a material fanatic, design thinker and all-around wonderful human being. Dave comes from a long line of product designers and entrepreneurs. It really is in his blood. Making significant contributions to product design across many brands including Milwaukee Tool, McDonalds, and Contigo, Dave has continued his family’s heritage of excellent design and innovation. After working on the Lunatik brand at MNML in Chicago, Dave launched his own industrial design studio before co-founding a Chicago based tech startup called Ovie. Thank you @davejosephid for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is Brittany Pierone, the designer behind DI PIERONI, a luxury goods brand grounded in high taste. With a focus on utility and minimalism, these fashion necessities are premium and functional for life and travel. The brand seeks to speak to culture and timeless aesthetics and be useful to a range of lifestyles. Her team is focused on designing modern products, by honing the relationship between timeless materials and modern design lines. The brand’s mission is to partner with non-profit organizations to raise awareness and means to support those in need. During our conversation, we talked about her humble beginnings at Arizona State, graduating with a degree in Industrial Design in 2014. Early on Brittany knew she had a love for making and building - from building a scale model of the Hindenburg blimp out of toothpicks to job shadowing her high school pole vault coach at Nike. Design matched her DNA. While in college Brittany interned for Nike, designing shoes in Women’s Training and Golf. Upon graduating, she returned to Beaverton to join the Nike Running design team. She spent a year working on color design and special projects before being promoted to Nike Field Sports team. International travel with Nike, exposed Brittany to living conditions all over the world, that both broke her heart and inspired her. In search of more meaning, Brittany quit her beloved role at Nike to go to Africa to work with women and children battling HIV in Ethiopia. Motivated by the joy of giving back and the freedom America provides, she returned to LA to build what is now her brand called DI PIERONI. Founded on the definition of compassion, Brittany was able to marry both her passions. Today, she continues to push the boundaries in product design, while raising awareness and funds for people in need all over the world. Thank you @b.pierone for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our next guest is design educator Josh Owen, a Distinguished Professor and Director of Industrial Design at The Rochester Institute of Technology. Josh is also an award winning, internationally renowned industrial designer and author. His studio’s work is produced by significant manufacturers in the US and Europe, and the projects are featured in many permanent museum collections around the globe. Because Owen’s varied roles are in high demand, he is selective about the commissions from industry that his studio accepts. They work on fewer projects but focus on building quality relationships over quantity, accounting for the attention and accolades given to their work by the media, industry, and cultural sectors. During our conversation, we talk about the evolution of his work, how he got started, and the future of design education. Thank you @joshowendesign for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Howard Nuk, a Canadian industrial designer, entrepreneur, inventor, speaker, and co-founder of Palm Ventures Group, Inc. Born in Toronto, Canada, he lived there until his family moved to Ottawa at the age of 11. Nuk studied Industrial Design at Carleton University, School of Industrial Design, Faculty of Engineering. After graduation, Nuk was hired by the global design and innovation firm frog, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he began working under renowned designer Hartmut Esslinger who famously designed the Apple Macintosh SE with Steve Jobs from 1983-1989. Over the next 11 years, Nuk would become Creative Director and lead frog's west coast design teams. Nuk also worked at Ammunition as Vice President of the Industrial Design Studio. There he worked with partners Matthew Rolandson, Nuk's former frog colleague, and Robert Brunner, former Apple Design Director who famously hired Jony Ive. During his time at Ammunition, Nuk designed products for Beats by Dre, Square, Nook by Barnes and Noble, Adobe and Sky. In 2012, Nuk joined Samsung Design America where he met Dennis Miloseski, a fellow designer and his future co-founder. At Samsung Design America, Nuk and Miloseski provided leadership in the definition, design, and development of products that live within the mobile and home IOT ecosystem. Under the leadership of Nuk and Miloseski, SDA is credited for developing the wearables category at Samsung, including both wrist-worn and audio-based smart wearables. Notable products include Samsung Gear Fit, Samsung Gear S, Samsung Gear S2 among others. Nuk and Miloseski co-founded the San Francisco-based startup Palm Ventures Group Inc in late 2016. Palm secured global exclusive rights to the original Palm brand—made famous in the mid-90's from the launch of the PalmPilot—from TCL Corporation, one of Palm's strategic manufacturing partners and seed investors. TCL Corporation had purchased the Palm brand assets from Hewlett-Packard in 2014. Nuk and Miloseski also brought on 3-time NBA champ, 5-time All-Star, the first unanimous MVP basketball star Stephen Curry as a strategic investor and advisor to Palm. Palm launched the new Palm brand and their first phone also named "Palm" in November of 2018, in an exclusive deal with Verizon. Thank you @howardnuk for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Sean Miller, a Design Team Leader in Industrial Design and Soft Goods at COSMO. Sean is looking to collaborate with other inspiring and talented people to share experiences with while building something great. As a designer he believes design is a necessity in order to create meaningful products to properly shape the world. These experiences influence how we function, feel and think about ourselves and our surroundings. Everything around us can be special while also being useful. During our conversation, we talk about COSMO, and the services and relationships they have with the design industry. Thank you @seanvmiller for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Sean Missal, a Lead Designer at Astro Studios. Sean comes from Western Washington University where he earned his Bachelor Degree in Industrial Design. Born in the 90s, Sean is truly a child of the tech age. Sean interned at Astro before he was snatched up full-time, Astro is quite proud of how the young man has turned out. Although relatively new to the commercial design game, Sean is laying down heavy design and knowledge for some of Astro’s top clients. Before designing, Sean was a pro-gamer with lighting thumbs and smoldering retinas. He turned that couch loving energy into a take no prisoners design machine. As long as Astro translates the design briefs into first person shooter scenarios, Sean excels every time. Thank you @seanmissal for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Kristine Arth, the founder and principal designer behind Lobster Phone. She is known for building brands that carefully balance timelessness with distinct visual expression. Arth has designed identities for global brands such as PayPal, Nivea, Western Digital, and SodaStream, in addition to start-ups such as Love Wellness, Cresco, Loliware, Ori Systems, and Eva Tech. Her work has earned awards from Red Dot, IDA, iF Design, IDSA, SPARK!, GDUSA, IDEA and The Dieline. Arth has juried The One Show, SOTA, IDSA and ADAA; was a keynote speaker at First Round, Brand New, and AIGA. She’s been a featured designer and ongoing host for Adobe Live by Behance. Lobster Phone has been named one of the best design studios for start-ups by TechCrunch. Prior to founding Lobster Phone, Arth was the director of brand at fuseproject, the eponymous design studio founded by Yves Béhar. During her 6+ years at fuseproject she built the brand practice from the ground up and led a team of international, multidisciplinary designers. Thank you @arthkris for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at hello@advdes.org to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!