Design Downtime

It’s not just IKEA and fjords, as Katharina Koberdamm joins us to share her deep passion for Scandinavia. Her fascination began in her 20s with Swedish music, which inspired her to take her first solo trip through Sweden and Denmark. Looking at the cultural differences between Scandinavia and her home in Germany, Katharina highlights the minimalist design, the more uniform style, and the serene landscapes of the Nordic countries, and dreams of future trips with her growing family to further share the lands she loves.

Guest Bio

Katharina Koberdamm (she/her) is a design leadership expert and coach from Germany. She is best known for creating the Design Leadership Framework, which helps design leaders be more strategic and structured in managing their teams. Before fully dedicating her time to coaching, Katharina worked as a UX Designer and Lead, collaborating with organizations across Europe. Her passion has always been to make complex things easy to understand, whether it's a user interface, a customer journey, or the abstract challenges of managing a UX team. She holds a degree in Business Administration and specialized in Human-Computer Interaction and User-Centered Design for her diploma thesis. This combination has enabled her to bridge the worlds of business and design effortlessly throughout her career. In her personal life, Katharina loves listening to music, drinking coffee, and traveling. She is married and has a two-year-old son who keeps her very busy.

Links

Katharina’s website: https://designleadershipframework.de/

Katharina’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/designleadership

The mentioned artists:

Ane Brun: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/2L3kwZFd16zjHz9a5kEPAm

Christian Kjellvander: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/2NNMCcN4t0zn04kTzdVAS6

Frida Hyvönen: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/58XdW0XyGukvmGatf7NC2R

Tina Dico: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/6AHLjrNUzvqs8jg5JntmeL

Asgeir: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/7xUZ4069zcyBM4Bn10NQ1c

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Get into the groove, as Donnie D’Amato shares his journey into the world of dance, from dancing in the kitchen with his family to mimicking moves from video games. His passion for dance continued into high school, where he joined a breakdancing group, and an unexpected audition led him to his first paid job for a DJ company. Donnie touches on his unique journey in the dance world, including his appearances on “So You Think You Can Dance” and his involvement with the New York Dance Parade. He also reflects on the balance between following patterns and finding room for personal expression.

Guest Bio

Donnie D’Amato (he/him) is the Founder & Chief Architect of Design Systems House; a consultancy dedicated to the future of design systems.

He is also the moderator of the Slack, Twitter, and Mastodon design system communities, author of gridless.design; a thesis on mismatching the design grid to the web medium, and instructor for User Research and Interaction Design at Parsons School of Design. Previously, Donnie was the first UX Engineer at Compass, and currently he is engineering lead for the UXCore library at GoDaddy.

Links

Donnie’s website: https://donnie.damato.design/

Donnie’s podcast: https://wireframe.fm/

New York Dance Parade: https://danceparade.org/

Central Park Dance Skaters Association: https://cpdsa.org/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Let’s travel into the third dimension with Amy Lee, as she shares about her journey of discovering 3D printing with an initial understanding of the technology as merely a tool to create figurines, and how it evolved, leading her to experiment with more complex items. She tells us of her fascination with the intricacies of 3D printing, including the steep learning curve, the challenges of designing 3D objects on a 2D screen, and the practical hurdles she encountered in her early projects. Amy also talks about how 3D printing has influenced her view of other aspects of life, and how this technology has opened up a world of possibilities for creating custom objects tailored to her specific needs, rather than relying on off-the-shelf solutions.

Guest Bio

Amy Lee (she/her) is a design system leader who believes in the power of collaboration. She has created and led design system teams at large companies like Salesforce and DocuSign, as well as smaller startups. Amy believes that design systems can be a party where everyone is invited. Amy is also an engineer and a musician. She loves the process of creating things and wondering how to make things exist. She has no formal audio engineering training but has built two shipping iPad-based music-making apps. She'll be performing guitar live on stage; she has 4 more months to learn to play guitar. And lately, she's gotten pretty deep into 3D printing and CAD modeling–because why not. Amy lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and enjoys going for walks with her husband.

Links

Amy’s website: https://www.jumpingrobot.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Grab your longboard and join us on the beach, as Val Poon shares her unique journey from growing up in the urban environment of Hong Kong to becoming an avid surfer. Her first surfing experience in Hawaii, which she fondly remembers despite the challenges, set the stage for her lifelong passion. That passion has profoundly influenced her life, from her daily routines to her mental and emotional well-being. She discusses the patience she’s developed, the way surfing has shaped her approach to life’s uncertainties, and how it has even helped her navigate feelings of imposter syndrome. Val recounts experiences surfing in various locations around the world, how each place has offered a different perspective on surfer culture, and reveals her surfing bucket list.

Guest Bio

As a curiosity and UX-driven product designer, Val Poon (she/her) experiments with sensory-rich elements to create digital experiences that captivate and communicate intuitively. Her superpower lies in keenly discerning the right timing to act on user and business needs, much like navigating through waves when surfing. Now learning to code, Val is looking forward to deepening her understanding of our ever evolving digital landscape. A gentle reminder for listeners from Val is to embrace every moment, because then your journey unfolds into a rewarding map of destinations.

Links

Val’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valpoon/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Grab on to your character sheet and roll for initiative, as Chris Strahl shares about his lifelong love of Dungeons & Dragons. He reflects on his early experiences of storytelling and shares insights on his growth as a Dungeon Master, adapting to the unexpected decisions his players make. Chris also talks about his involvement in professional DM'ing, running public games and corporate events, and how he navigates toxic behaviors to ensured a safe, inclusive environment for all players.

Guest Bio

Chris Strahl (he/him) is the CEO and co-founder of Knapsack and the host of the Design Systems Podcast. Knapsack helps the world's leading enterprises go from design to code quickly and accurately using design systems. A respected speaker, he has shared his visionary perspective on the use of generative design and AI technology in next-generation design systems at organizations like Google, Meta, Dribble, Clarity, and other pioneering companies. Outside of work, you can find Chris in the PNW on a river, climbing a trail, or dreaming up new worlds for his latest tabletop game. Chris started tabletop gaming with friends in his teenage years, and he used to be a professional game master in Portland, OR where he lives today. While being a CEO takes up a lot of time, he still holds a weekly game with his friends and spends time organizing games for friends and family.

Links

Chris’s LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisstrahl

Chris’s company: https://www.knapsack.cloud/

Chris’s podcast: https://www.designsystemspodcast.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Turn off the lights and enjoy the vibrant colours, as Soren Hamby joins us to talk about their love of glow art. They share their fascination with natural bioluminescence, and how a birthday party sparked a deeper passion for this medium, leading to participatory art projects and installations. Soren also reflects on the glow art community, and the notion that the value of art isn’t determined by mainstream acceptance but by the impact it has on those who experience it.

Guest Bio

As a Senior Manager of UX, Soren Hamby (they/them) is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion within teams while spearheading the transformation towards accessible design. With a BFA in Design, post-graduate and professional coursework at Cornell, Parson’s, and CUNY, and a wealth of experience in the field, Soren is a seasoned professional committed to making the design industry more equitable.

In their free time, they often indulge their creative side through crafting, fashion, collecting enamel pins, and creating weird art that glows.

Links

Soren’s website: https://www.soren.ooo/

Soren’s social media presence: https://soren.start.page/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

In the first episode of season 2, Sara Wachter-Boettcher shares her journey with powerlifting, and how it helped her redefine her relationship with her body and cultivate a sense of strength and confidence both in and out of the gym. She talks about her early introduction to strength training, and how her interest in lifting evolved over the years. Sara reflects on the societal pressures women face regarding body image and explains how lifting shifted her focus from appearance to physical capability. She also touches on the importance of embracing failure as part of the process.

Guest Bio

Sara Wachter-Boettcher (she/her) is a leadership coach, speaker, author, and the CEO of Active Voice, a company dedicated to creating bold leaders and better workplaces in design and tech. She started Active Voice after spending a decade running a content and UX consultancy. Her books include Technically Wrong, Design for Real Life (with Eric Meyer), and Content Everywhere. Learn more about her work at activevoicehq.com.

Links

Sara’s company: https://www.activevoicehq.com/

Sara’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraboettcher/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Season one of Design Downtime is ending on a high (musical) note, as Brad Frost joins us to talk about how much he loves making music. Brad recounts the early days of his musical journey, playing bass guitar in a family band, and his taste evolving from classic rock to punk and ska, and eventually embracing a wide musical spectrum. He talks about shedding the pressure to commercialize his music and how it allowed him to enjoy it purely for fun. This culminated in organizing "Frostapalooza," a one-night-only concert involving 40 musicians from his network, and Brad shares the massive planning effort to curate and coordinate such an event.

Guest Bio

Brad Frost (he/him) is a design system consultant, front-end developer, speaker, writer, musician, and artist located in beautiful Pittsburgh, PA. As a principal and design system consultant at Big Medium, he helps teams establish and evolve design systems, establish more collaborative workflows, and create better software together. He is the author of the book Atomic Design, which introduces a methodology to create and maintain effective design systems. He co-hosted the Style Guides Podcast and has helped create several tools and resources for web designers, including Pattern Lab, Styleguides.io, Style Guide Guide, This Is Responsive, Death to Bullshit, and more.

Links

Brad’s website: https://bradfrost.com/

Frostapalooza: https://frostapalooza.bradfrost.com/

Frost Frost on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/frostfrost-1

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Angelina Severino joins us to talk about her love of poster art. She discusses the evolution of the poster from a practical advertising tool to a recognized art form, and her personal project to celebrate poster graphic design, detached from its commercial use. The conversation gets quite philosophical as Angelina explores the intersection of design and art, and questions the traditional view that design lacks personal expression.

Guest Bio

Angelina Severino (she/her) is an inspirational design leader with more than 15 years of combined Branding and Product experience in renowned advertising agencies and various tech companies. As a Design Lead at Gamgee, Angelina has brought this innovative startup from 0 to 1, from the very first product MVP to a full, complex product with an advanced multi-brand design system. Angelina is a Top Design Mentor at ADPList, and a Mentor and Advisory Board member at Women in Tech.

Aside from her design work, Angelina creates art posters inspired by graphic design and typography. She and her husband are raising three lovely daughters who undoubtedly keep them busy and inspired.

Links

Angelina’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelina-severino/

Angelina’s website: https://www.angelinaseverino.com/

Angelina’s Postress project: https://posteress.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Grab your clay and join us as Amelia Marschall-Miller shares her journey with pottery, rekindled after a long hiatus since her childhood fascination with ceramics. She is self-taught and enjoys the creative and experimental process of wheel-throwing, where getting comfortable with unpredictability is the key to having fun. Amelia describes her artistic style and influences, and looks to deepen her expertise while keeping pottery an enjoyable and fulfilling activity, rather than a stressful obligation.

Guest Bio

Amelia Marschall-Miller (she/her) is a Senior Director of Experience Design at EPAM Systems. She has spent her career in digital design consulting, having previously worked for Deloitte Digital and TCS. She also co-founded a web and mobile development company in Michigan called Gravity Works - which she led for four years and grew from 2 to 13 people, and is still operating today. After earning a degree in Graphic Communications from Northern Michigan University, her roles have included work in UX and UI design, user research & discovery, front-end development, project management, and operations. After spending 8 years in Colorado and Utah, she now lives in the woods near Traverse City, Michigan. When she's not making pottery in her home studio she enjoys hiking, mountain biking, boating, swimming, and cross country skiing with her husband, John, and blue heeler, Bitsy.

Links

Amelia’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleepingsandspottery/

Amelia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliamarschall/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.