Design Futures
43 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 4 ratingsGraphic Design? Can you make a living at that? Abso-freakin-lutely you can. Design is all around us. Just look at the apps on your phone, the magazines at the doctor’s office, the stickers on the door of your favorite skate shop, and the logo on the side of that coffee cup containing your $7 whatevaccino. Join us for real stories about life after design school. Learn more at www.designfuturespodcast.com.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Jonny Ouellette
February 26, 2024 05:00 - 44 minutes - 41 MBIn episode 10, the last episode of season four, I talk with Jonny Ouellette, the co-founder and creative director of the motion design firm, Kill 2 Birds and 2002 graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art & Design. We talk about our interactions in the graphic design program at MassArt and our passion for making type move on screen. Jonny shares stories of his client work that involve some of the most watched series and movies in recent years and I dig into our design collaboration on som...
Greg Tariff
February 12, 2024 05:00 - 54 minutes - 50 MBIn episode nine of season four I interview Ringling College of Art & Design graduate and Director of Product Design at BILL, Greg Tariff. We discuss his appreciation for design’s role in the business world and how to navigate a career in Silicon Valley. Greg talks about how his interest in cars led to an internship at General Motors, how networking in New York City led to an agency job in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and how a side project with some agency friends led to a career in product ...
Krystal Hinckley
January 29, 2024 05:00 - 40 minutes - 37.6 MBIn episode eight I interview 2015 graduate of Russell Sage College and Director of User Experience at Upside Collective, Krystal Hinckley. In our discussion Krystal shares details of working on large-scale websites for the state of New York, including the attorney general’s website that she spent two years working on. She also talks about scrolling through the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society photos for project research that ended with her adopting her third cat. We also discuss our time togethe...
Rachel Suflita McKee
January 15, 2024 05:00 - 39 minutes - 36.8 MBIn this episode I talk with 2016 graduate of the College of Saint Rose, Rachel Suflita McKee, about her path from intern to art director at the Boston-based design studio, Pinkergreen. She talks about how the diversity of projects (Boston University Global Music Festival, Flex Rx, Flyte 70, The Bug Club, etc.) at a small studio is special and keeps her engaged with graphic design and the people she collaborates with on those projects. We also discuss a challenging design school assignment, a...
Nael Uppal
January 01, 2024 05:00 - 36 minutes - 33.9 MBFive, four, three, two, one… Happy New Year. In this first episode of 2024 Saint Rose alumni and technical UI designer, Nael Uppal, talks to me about starting a degree in his home country of Pakistan, continuing his education in Albany, NY, and completing his degree back home — it’s called a sandwich degree. Apparently that’s a term. Somewhere in the middle of this culinary delight is some work experience as well. Nael tells us about growing up in a creative family, including hanging out in ...
Lindsay Agnew
November 27, 2023 05:00 - 37 minutes - 35.1 MBAs 2023 comes to a close, I interview Lindsay Agnew, 2010 graduate of the Ringling College of Art & Design and creative director at Panama Jack (She has since moved on to Entertainment Retail Enterprises). In this episode we discuss the trajectory of her career that started at Disney Imagineering working as an environmental graphics designer, where she focused on designing signage and way-finding systems for the Mouse. This in turn led her to working on similar projects for The Villages, a m...
Stephanie Pepaj
November 13, 2023 05:00 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBIn this episode, Stephanie Pepaj, 2019 graduate of the College of Saint Rose discusses her spontaneous decision, based on an over-heard conversation at a coffee shop, to go back to school to get her master’s degree in marketing from Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland. Why not? It was the pandemic and she always wanted to live outside the U.S. While living in Belfast she worked for a digital agency, spent time traveling in Europe, and went swimming in ice-cold water. Apparently, th...
Alex Gennette
October 30, 2023 04:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBIn this episode I chat with Lead Product Designer, Alex Gennette, at Netflix Games. We not only discuss his role in designing for the Netflix Games platform, but we also talk about board games and those tiny figurines that come with many multi-player adventure games. We nerd-out about non-linear content and a project in Alex’s portfolio that required him to design a system for livestream motion graphics. Alex also shares insights about being humble when designing for users. Of course we touc...
Heather Argus
October 16, 2023 04:00 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBHeather Argus, a senior brand designer at the tech company Platform.sh, is a founding member for the Asheville chapter of AIGA. In this episode I talk to Heather about her journey from upstate New York to North Carolina and from being a not-so-confident design student to a role as a design mentor. She talks about the people, her family included, that have influenced her and continue to build her confidence as a designer. Heather also shares some design-adjacent stories about being a booth m...
Kristie Malivindi
October 02, 2023 04:00 - 47 minutes - 44.1 MBIn this first episode of season four of Design Futures I talk with London-based designer Kristie Malivindi of Jones Knowles Ritchie. We discuss her journey from making amazing work and mistakes at the two-person design firm, 2communiqué, to mentoring young designers in her recent role as creative director at JKR, where she works on global brands such as Burger King and M & M’s. We also talk about the in-between years of “being a brat” in Chicago as well as losing her dream design job and the...
Season 4 Trailer
September 20, 2023 22:00 - 1 minute - 968 KBHey future & current designers it’s time for Season 4 of Design Futures. Starting the first week of October you’ll hear all new stories from former students. Season 4 is unofficially titled the international season because in this season I talk to a designer who went on to earn her Masters degree in Northern Ireland, a designer who returned to Pakistan to work in the gaming industry, and two designers who live and work in England. And you’ll hear from other designers living in the state...
Ashley Tucker
February 20, 2023 05:00 - 48 minutes - 45 MBFor all those foodies and a designers out there, this is for you. In this last episode of Season 3, Ashley Tucker, 2006 graduate of the University of Denver (DU) and Associate Design Director at Penguin Random House, joins me for a conversation about food, design, and book publishing. She talks about her transition from a pre-med course of study at Northwestern University to studying graphic design at DU. Ashley also shares her enthusiasm for typography, printed books, cooking, baking, and r...
Sadie Kenyon
February 06, 2023 05:00 - 39 minutes - 36.8 MBWake up listeners. It’s time for episode 8 of season 3. In this episode my guest, 2019 graduate of the College of Saint Rose and Death Wish Coffee Merchandise Coordinator, Sadie Kenyon talks about her journey from designer to working with designers on the non-coffee products for the coffee company. She connects the design skills of paying attention to the details as well as giving feedback to the merchandise coordination of sourcing products and working with vendors to find the right solutio...
Kim Lê
January 23, 2023 05:00 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBIn episode seven, 2018 graduate of the College of Saint Rose, Kim Lê joins me for a discussion about all things Boston, such as what it’s like working for Opus Design, a small design studio, enjoying the T, and finding four-leaf clovers in her neighborhood park — a hobby that started as a college experiment during one summer break. We also talk about her family expectations of career and how those didn’t include graphic design. Kim acknowledges that science was not her strength, as she quick...
Jared Schafer
January 09, 2023 05:00 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MBIn episode six, the first of 2023, 2014 graduate of The Sage Colleges, Jared Schafer joins me for a conversation about 3D motion graphics, water-cooled computers, and creating animated videos for virtual reality. He talks about instead of watching TV he enjoyed a healthy drawing competition with his brother when they were kids that developed his illustration passion and skills. We also discuss the challenges of InDesign, hating web design, and having side projects to fuel your creativity as ...
Moira Gilligan
November 28, 2022 05:00 - 38 minutes - 35.2 MBIn episode five of this season, I talk with 2017 graduate of the College of Saint Rose, Moira Gilligan about her career as a designer and art director in the fashion world. We discuss big budgets, location scouting, and hiring models for fashion shoots. And she educates me in such fashion trends as dressing a goat in a cashmere sweater, chunky white dad sneakers, and high-waisted mom jeans. Speaking of moms and dads, Moira credits her parents with unquestioning support to pursue a creative c...
Yuri Priamo Canales
November 14, 2022 05:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBRingling College of Art & Design and Accenture alumus (he currently works for Brunswick Creative), Yuri Priamo Canales joins me to talk about high level brand strategy in experiential design, running disruption sessions in the Mural whiteboard space, questioning what the client thinks they want for design deliverables, and trying to understand the Metaverse. He also retells the story of organizing his own New York City apartment viewing before anybody else had a chance to look at it, thus en...
Taira Perrault
October 31, 2022 04:00 - 38 minutes - 35.9 MBIn this episode, 2014 graduate of the College of Saint Rose, Taira Perrault, schools me in digital product design jargon like M.V.P.s, D.S.M.s, and sprints as we view her portfolio and nerd-out about components and templates for editorial design experiences. She also talks about her experience with a UX/UI bootcamp where she mentioned to the teachers that some of their exercises about visual design were wrong (hey, she does have BFA in graphic design) and despite that feedback she created a ...
Nelson Couto
October 17, 2022 04:00 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBIn this second episode of Season 3, Boston-based art director, Nelson Couto, talks about balancing a design consulting business with family life and moving rocks in his front yard. One of his strategies is meditating each morning after bringing the kids to school. We also put our memories to the test and try to remember how we met at MassArt over 20 years ago. Nelson also shares his struggles with learning to airbrush, falling asleep on the commute to Boston from Rhode Island, and his love o...
Morgan Denman
October 03, 2022 04:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBIn this first episode of season 3 we’re going to space. That’s right, I talk to NASA designer and 2016 Saint Rose graduate, Morgan Denman, about designing for space. She shares her story about how she got into the space industry and why she wouldn’t ever leave. She also talks about being a cancer survivor and how that experience put into perspective what she really wanted to focus on in her design career. And of course we talk about her time at Saint Rose — the healthy competition of her cla...
season 3 trailer
September 26, 2022 04:00 - 1 minute - 1020 KBHey future & current designers. If you’re hearing my voice you know what that means. That’s right. Season 3 of Design Futures is happening. Starting the first week of October you’ll hear all new stories from former students. In this season we go to the extremes. You’ll hear from a designer who’s work has literally been to space and back. And I don’t mean literally as in figuratively like the kids use that word. It’s literally on rockets and spacesuits. You also hear from a designer who cre...
Season 3 Trailer
September 26, 2022 04:00 - 1 minute - 1020 KBHey future & current designers. If you’re hearing my voice you know what that means. That’s right. Season 3 of Design Futures is happening. Starting the first week of October you’ll hear all new stories from former students. In this season we go to the extremes. You’ll hear from a designer who’s work has literally been to space and back. And I don’t mean literally as in figuratively like the kids use that word. It’s literally on rockets and spacesuits. You also hear from a designer who cre...
Larry Nguyen
February 28, 2022 05:00 - 42 minutes - 39.2 MBIn episode 10 of season 2 Larry Nguyen, Creative Director of Outfit Branding & Design and 2005 graduate of the University of Denver discusses his passion for branding, working with international clients, and getting projects published in design books. Larry shares his appreciation for the eMAD program at DU (listen for the faculty shoutouts) that taught him to take risks, think conceptually, and become a typographic monk. He also discusses the time he created a slide deck for his in-laws in ...
Lesia Gribbin
February 14, 2022 05:00 - 41 minutes - 37.9 MBLesia Gribbin, 2014 graduate of the College of Saint Rose and Group Art Supervisor at Neon joins me for a conversation about travel, working remotely, and creating advertising campaigns for pharmaceutical products. We talk about her time spent in the early morning hours at Picotte Hall, Saint Rose’s art building, where she would work two or three hours before class. And that one time when, because it was so early, nobody was around to help her when she sliced her finger with an X-acto knife....
Jordan McClendon
January 31, 2022 05:00 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MBIn this episode, 2012 graduate of The Sage Colleges, Jordan McClendon, discusses his role as Manager of Digital Communications at the ARRIVE center at the State University of New York (SUNY), his celebrated collection of animated shorts titled “Albany Shorts,” and passion for making his own projects that led him to his current success in the design field. He also talks about spending countless peaceful hours at the Cintiq workstation at Sage working on illustration and animation projects eve...
Whitney Dobladillo
January 17, 2022 05:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBIn episode 7, Whitney Dobladillo brings her signature energy and smile to the conversation as she shares her passion for community building and stories about the communities she’s created and led. Her most recent projects include Type Thursday; Ladies, Wine & Design; and Peruvian Sisters, a community she started with, you guessed it, her sister. We also discuss her design position at the book publisher, Scholastic, where she works on projects for students, parents, and teachers. Whitney talk...
Deb Levison
January 03, 2022 05:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MBIn this first episode of 2022, Deb Levison, 2012 graduate of Ringling College of Art & Design, talks to me about the importance of getting a routine when working remotely, the design process at Maark where she is a senior digital designer, using Figma for almost all her work, and showing or not showing high fidelity prototypes to clients. We discuss the realities of moving into a design leader role and Deb gives students some soul-crushing advice. She also tells us about her journey that inl...
Kim Szkudlarek
December 06, 2021 05:00 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBVegas, baby, Vegas. That’s right. In this episode I interview 2014 graduate of the The College of Saint Rose, Kim Szkudlarek, who quit her design job in Miami, took a road trip, and ended up in Las Vegas. Kim talks about not wanting to sit at a computer all day and instead pursued a career that consists of constructing three-dimensional objects, mixing paint to get just the right color match, and using her designer’s eye to fine tune the details. And who cares about those hot glue gun burns....
Jibran Kutik
November 22, 2021 05:00 - 40 minutes - 37.1 MBPut away the sketchbooks and open up your spreadsheets, calendars, and digital notepad. You’ll need those tools to take some notes on my conversation with Jibran Kutik, Product Design Manager for new customer experience at Twitter. We talk at length about user testing, product design, and all the details in an interface that help you find value in a digital product. Jibran also discusses his passion for being a manager, how Sarasota beaches ruined L.A. beaches for him, and that one time whe...
Glen Carlson
November 08, 2021 05:24 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBIn this episode, Glen Carlson of Metabolon, discusses designing user experiences for scientists, starting the AIGA student group at the University of Denver, and growing up in Silicon Valley. Glen shares his no-interface design philosophy, advocating for the kind of work you want to do, and learning to embrace ambiguity. Join us for a fascinating conversation that also includes pop-culture references to Jurassic Park, the 1989 Tim Burton Batman movie, and Steve Jobs’ garage. Hold onto your b...
Ojwanna Wilson
October 25, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBDesigner Oj Wilson of Teal Media and the College of Saint Rose joins me for a discussion about designing for agency clients, not-for-profit, and political campaigns. That’s right, all those door hangers, lawn signs, and bumper stickers you’ve been seeing the last few months were created by designers like Oj. She shares her involvement with social impact that started with working with her mom’s not-for-profit, the Southern Children’s Network. We also talk about Oj’s passion for soccer, whethe...
Ojwanna wilson
October 25, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBDesigner Oj Wilson of Teal Media and the College of Saint Rose joins me for a discussion about designing for agency clients, not-for-profit, and political campaigns. That’s right, all those door hangers, lawn signs, and bumper stickers you’ve been seeing the last few months were created by designers like Oj. She shares her involvement with social impact that started with working with her mom’s not-for-profit, the Southern Children’s Network. We also talk about Oj’s passion for soccer, whethe...
Susi Cadena
October 11, 2021 04:00 - 38 minutes - 35 MBIn this first episode of season two, Saint Rose graduate and art director at TracyLocke, Susi Cadena talks about working and living in New York City, designing for big brands like Pepsi and Godiva, navigating the process of corporate sponsorship for foreign nationals working in the U.S., and TracyLocke’s Design Collective. She also shares her academic story of starting college as a business administration major that ends with her graduating with a B.F.A. in graphic design and that one drawin...
Season 2 Trailer
September 30, 2021 14:27 - 58 seconds - 901 KBIt’s time to put on the flannel, get back to school, and learn something Welcome to the best season of the year. It’s Autumn. And you know what’s going to make it even better? Yea, you know because you’re listening to this trailer. It’s time for Season 2 of Design Futures. This past summer I had the pleasure of talking with a group of amazing alumni and I’m super excited to share their diverse stories of life after school. In Season 2 we’ll hear from designers who work in the areas of ...
Melike Turgut
June 07, 2021 04:00 - 37 minutes - 34.9 MBIn this final episode of Season 1 Melike Turgut, 2011 graduate of Ringling College of Art & Design, discusses the career path that started with a company-supplied apartment in Brooklyn and led her to the current role as Design Manager of Web Expressibility at Squarespace. We talk about challenging school projects, machine learning, principle designers, and documenting design process with diagrams. Melike also talks about what it’s like to be an adjunct professor of interaction design at the ...
Alyssa Powell
May 24, 2021 04:00 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBIf you’re just out of school you’ll want to listen to this interview with Associate Graphic Designer at Insider, Alyssa Powell. She talks about the challenges of landing her first job and the random connection that led to it. We talk about the non-design stuff at work, including salary, deadlines, teams, and working and learning from co-workers. She also discusses making videos and chalk typography as projects to work through some life issues, how she doesn’t get creative block, and travelin...
Amanda Lenz
May 10, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBIn episode six we travel west to Colorado to talk with illustrator and designer Amanda Lenz. We talk about remembering how to talk to people with the help of renting a desk at a co-working space, illustrating a portrait of Oprah Winfrey for Time Magazine, and being selected for the Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund. Amanda talks about her love of nature inspired by growing up in West Virginia where she was encouraged by her mom to attend special art programs to explore her artistic int...
Dani Dayton
April 26, 2021 04:00 - 31 minutes - 29 MBIt’s baseball season. In episode five, graphic designer at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Dani Dayton talks about designing exhibition and social media graphics, inauguration tickets, and the retail catalog. We discuss the process of using wood flooring as the background for a product photoshoot, the Tao of Pooh, and that magical experience of walking in the Plaque Gallery in the early morning as the sun shines through the skylights. Dani also talks about the challenges of being a stude...
Erica Cotten
April 12, 2021 04:00 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBIn episode four, 2014 graduate of the College of Saint Rose, Erica Cotten and I nerd-out about user flows, prototyping with Sketch and Figma, the art of comic books, and the UI pattern of toggles. We discuss her role as a user experience designer at Salesforce, a cloud-based software company, where she works on story grooming, wireframes, user research, and rapid prototyping. Erica discusses a number of conferences that she’s looking forward to attending post-pandemic to connect with college...
Ron Gibbons & Mackenzie Carey
March 29, 2021 04:00 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MBThe husband and wife team at Macaroni Creative, Ron Gibbons and Mackenzie Carey, join me in episode three. We discuss designing for consumer packaged goods, leaving their full-time jobs to start their own design firm, and being the only designers in the room. They share the challenges of teaching an online course (“props to our teachers” —Mackenzie) on Nerdabe.com and streaming their design process on Adobe Live. We talk about all this and more while New York City fire trucks drive by and th...
Paul Gonzalez
March 15, 2021 04:00 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBIn this episode creative director and entrepreneur, Paul Gonzalez shares stories about making pillows with his mom as a child in Sarasota, FL, his appreciation for House music, and being a professional Salsa dancer. We also discuss his New York City internship and returning to the city to begin freelancing immediately after graduating from the Ringling College of Art & Design in 2012. He also tells us what he learned from those years of freelancing and how that experience helped him start hi...
Josh Terry
March 01, 2021 05:00 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MBIn this first episode I talk to Josh Terry, graphic designer at T Brand Studio at The New York Times, about his role as an editorial designer working on branded content articles for advertising clients. We discuss collaborating with illustrators to design editorial content for interactive experiences. Josh also reflects on drawing boxes, learning art and design history, and developing design concepts at The College of Saint Rose. We also discuss his sweet tooth, being a marine reservist, and...
Trailer - Design Futures
December 07, 2020 21:36 - 3 minutes - 3.19 MBGraphic Design? Can you make a living at that? Design Futures is a show about the lives of designers as they discover their way in the world after graduation. Chris St.Cyr, Associate Professor of Graphic Design at the College of Saint Rose and creative director at the design firm, 2communiqué, interviews former graphic design students to find out what they’ve been doing since graduation. Maybe you’re a high school student or the parent of a high school student wondering if your child can h...