Context

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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!