Context

We had the pleasure to sit down with the amazing women leaders of Women in ID Chicago - Mallory Evans and McKayla Barber, both kick ass designers in Chicago who are changing the paradigm and making great strides in our field. We talked about their young careers and the successes and fears that come with breaking into the industry. We also chatted about some important topics affecting all of us, the sense of urgency to help our planet, as designers, being involved - whether it affects you or not, and most importantly, the value of diversifying your team, your life, your circle with women, it’s an obvious recipe for success. Instead of sitting on the sidelines watching people change the world, be a part of it, change human history, have no regrets. Thank you @wiid_chi for being so candid and honest. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Very productive morning chatting with our friend Mark Weiser, who’s an awesome Structural Package Designer at Microsoft. We talked about the awesome things he’s doing at Microsoft, their impact on the design community, and their work around inclusion. To follow Mark’s design work and journey, be sure to follow him Instagram under the handle @meiser. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

It’s been a busy day for us - super fortunate to have so many people here in Chicago this weekend, and all dropped by our CONTEXT podcast to say hi! We sat down with two of our advisors - Emily Engle, Editor at Core77 and Pedro Montalvo, Designer at TURF. We talked about the awesome things they’re doing and their impact on the design community. To follow their design work and journey, be sure to follow Emily and Pedro on Instagram under the handles @_peddz and @notemilyengle. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Our second CONTEXT podcast session is with our Canadian friend Dominic Montante, industrial designer at Umbra - who has designed for Volume Studios and Motorola. We discussed design and failures - had a lovely conversation about aesthetics, visuals, form development, and how to filter good and bad design. To follow Dom’s design work and journey, be sure to follow him on Instagram @dom.design. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Since we re-branded to Advanced Design - we had to make some changes to some of our services. Our ADS Live is now called “CONTEXT”. A podcast where we have conversations about design, discuss the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed. Our first session (and longest podcast, clocking in at two hours) is with seasoned designer Michael DiTullo - who has designed for so many brands such as Converse, Nike, Sound United, and frog. Super grateful we were able to get Michael to join us and discuss how social media is part of our process and life. We discussed how Instagram and the images we post as designers are the tip of the iceberg, there’s so much behind what we do, we also discussed failures, and how we should embrace it, be more open about it. To follow Michael’s design work and journey, be sure to follow him on Instagram @d2lo. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Last ADS Live in San Francisco with the one and only Joe Bowers, also known as @the.well. He shares his story on how he found Industrial Design, his past design experiences, and life at Levi’s. His advice to AD:  live everyday to the fullest, don’t waste time, as it’s something you can’t get back. Thank you Joe, thanks for being real and we hope to continue this collaboration! Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, (formerly known as ADS Live prior to Advanced Design’s rebrand), send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

We had fun with our friend and upcoming SQ1CON 2019 keynote speaker Miguel Harry, an Art Center graduate and Industrial Designer at Google Pixel. We had a lovely conversation about design in Latin America, family, and how design drives us to be the best us we can be. We look forward to dropping some SQ1CON details in the coming weeks. Please follow Miguel’s design work and journey on Instagram under the handle @abstractmaterial. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, (formerly known as ADS Live prior to Advanced Design’s rebrand), send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

We had an awesome conversation with Industrial Designers Elvin Chu and Alex Ortega, they’re both working on some amazing projects and have some awesome things in the works! Elvin works full time as an industrial designer at Ammunition, and noun studio is his side hustle. Alex works as a designer at Volkswagen, and is working on some cool things (that we’ll let him announce). These two young rock stars are an inspiration and we look forward to working with both of them on future endeavors! Please follow Elvin and Alex’s design work and journey on Instagram under the handles @nounstudio and @alex.ortg. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, (formerly known as ADS Live prior to Advanced Design’s rebrand), send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

We had the opportunity to sit down with this young rockstar designer: Elisa Payer, an Industrial Design student at the Academy of Art University, and currently a design intern at Whipsaw. Elisa is gifted, having racked up many design awards and still has a year left before graduating from school. Thank you Elisa for being part of CONTEXT, we look forward to working with you in the near future. Please follow Elisa’s design work and journey on Instagram under the handle @elisapayer. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, (formerly known as ADS Live prior to Advanced Design’s rebrand), send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!

Today we go live with IDSA’s Executive Director Chris Livaudais! His passion for design education and outreach within the community led him to a position on the board of the Atlanta Chapter of IDSA for the past eight years. He earned a short school certificate in experience design in 2012 from Domus Academy and a bachelor's degree in industrial design from Auburn University. At IDSA's 2016 International Conference in Detroit, Livaudais spoke on Objects that Talk Back. We had a great conversation about design education, the evolution and future of IDSA, and meaningful relationships. Thank you Chris and IDSA for always supporting what we do! Please follow Chris’ design work and journey on Instagram under the handle @givinggravity. Thank you for tuning into CONTEXT, (formerly known as ADS Live prior to Advanced Design’s rebrand), send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!