Context

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

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Antonio Borja, the Associate Director of the School of Industrial Design at the Academy of Art University (AAU). Antonio received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from AAU in 2004. After launching his professional career as a freelancer, he joined General Motors as a creative designer, returning to his alma mater as an instructor in 2009, to teach Design Drawing, Transportation Design, and Digital 3D modeling courses. Since then, he has led a collaborative class that has been sponsored by companies such as Nissan, Peugeot, and Jaguar. In 2014, he became associate director of the School of Industrial Design, where he works with Tom Matano on many initiatives, including the integration of the latest rapid prototyping and visualization methods into the design curriculum. During our interview, we talked about his time living in Michigan, we chatted about cars, the future of transportation, Tesla, and how hollywood movies influence design. Thank you @borjadesign 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 [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

This Context episode is a special edition collaboration with Advanced Design and Sebastian Gier of DesignDrives.  During our conversation, we talked about how Hector Silva launched Advanced Design to bring value to the design community; from a summer workshop to now a nonprofit and design community with a large following on social media, but also a team that drives initiatives like conferences, events, podcast and more. We discussed the future of industrial design education and the disruption of education in the digital age. We also talked about the founding of DesignDrives, and how Sebastian’s journey and experience helped him create this great initiative. Thank you @designdrives for being amazing and inspiring to 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!

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Sam Carr, an Industrial Designer from Raleigh, NC living in San Francisco, CA. Most of his creative energy comes from an internal gnawing for learning and discovery, and usually manifests itself in the form of obsessive internet searches, sketching, 3D modeling, and weekend trips into the mountains and along the coast. When he’s not working on design projects or doing any of the above, you can typically find Sam putting up shots at the nearest basketball court, reading in a coffee shop, or playing pool with a shitty beer in hand. During our conversation, we talked about Sam’s undergraduate journey at North Carolina State University, and the things he learned that got him prepared for real industry projects. Sam has been an Industrial Designer at Dolby Laboratories since 2016, and he discusses what it’s like being part of a small team in a large corporation, and how that hinders collaboration. We talk about how our well being is more important than your design work, and how not to underestimate your mental health, because we are human first. Thank you @sahmcarr 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 [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Mardis Bagley, a Creative Director and Industrial Designer based in San Francisco. He creates products that connect user experiences with brand stories. He believes in a design process that creates sustainability through desire. By creating experiences that surprise and delight, he connects with users on a visceral level. During our conversation, we talked about how he got his start in design, and went from the Midwest to the Bay Area, having worked at Ammunition, Matter, and LUNAR. Mardis now works with his wife, partner, and designer Phnam Bagley at Nonfiction, a design studio specializing in industrial design, branding, strategy, and packaging. They engage consumers through the design of unique and sophisticated products with rich backstories. Thank you @mardisbagley 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 [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next SQ1 speaker is Mauricio Romano, an Industrial Designer at Facebook. Born in Mexico City, Mauricio is a multicultural industrial designer currently headquartered out of Seattle, Washington. He graduated from Western Washington University’s design program, where he was recognized as IDSA's 2015 Student Merit award for the Western Conference. While still in school, he ventured into entrepreneurship and launched a cannabis hardware company, formerly known as Aura, alongside his closest colleagues. Mauricio has worked for Astro Studios, the Intel Corporation, and currently Facebook’s Oculus team. With the experience of having worked in both corporate and consulting settings, Mauricio's skill-set spans across multiple disciplines including industrial design, graphic design, branding, mechanical engineering, manufacturing, and business management. Thank you @romanomau 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 [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: We had the pleasure of hosting our SQ1 speaker Fed Rios. Our conversation begins with Fed’s upbringing, and how art and design had a huge impact during his assimilation to the US. His exposure and early exploration of the arts got him into a good art high school, which eventually led him to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. After graduation, he got a job in Chicago at Radio Flyer. After a couple of years designing toys, he moved on to SRAM, and six years after that, he established his own studio: Fed Rios Design Studio. He’s now in the process of learning everything about running a business, such as client management, etc., things you don’t learn in design school. Thank you @fedriosdesign 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 [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: We had the pleasure of speaking with Tati Ferrucio, a Graduate Student at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and Industrial Design intern at General Electric (GE). Prior to studying at RIT, Tati had professional experience working in Brazil, designing products for Indio Da Costa A.U.D.T. During our conversation, Tati talks about her experience at SQ1, the diverse lineup of speakers, the design culture in San Francisco, and how design organizations need to re-invent design conferences. She also shares her perspective on how international students carry a sense of urgency and experience a unique dynamic with their study abroad programs. Thank you @heytati_id 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 [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

We sat down with Derek Cascio, an Industrial Designer and Professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT). Prior to doing that, Derek worked for a wide range of companies as a designer: Philips, Staples, and Hasbro as a design manager on the Marvel product line. He also started an organization called Design Museum Boston with Sam Aquillano in 2008 which just celebrated its 10 year anniversary. During our interview we discussed our shared love for Transformers, how toys shaped our childhood, but also how it shaped our professional development and who would’ve thought this was possible?—only in design. Derek was also a speaker at SQ1 2018 in Chicago, where he shared his sketching tips with an audience of nearly 300 design students and professionals. After knowing him for the past several years, we’re happy to have him become a part of our Advanced Design family. Thank you @derekcascio 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 [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!