Design is Everywhere

What is the power of story? In this episode, Sam is joined by Jon Campbell, Head of Innovation Capability at EPAM Continuum, to learn about the value of storytelling in design. They chat about how designers convey stories to bring impactful designs and how storytelling is used in the prototyping phase. Later on in the show, they are joined by Debbie Millman, designer, author, educator, and host of Design Matters. Debbie shares her earliest interview experiences and how her process has changed over the years. Together, they discuss how podcasting has evolved and why design matters to them. 

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From the Archive: The Power of Story

How can design be a tool for social good? In this week’s episode, we learn more about how design firms marry social impact and design. Sam is joined by Augusta Meill. Augusta founded Agncy Design, a firm that applies and adapts human-centered design practices to the work of justice and equity. Augusta shares when she discovered the role of design in social impact work and the founding of Agncy. Later on in the show, they are joined by Michael Brennan who founded Civilla, a non-profit design studio dedicated to changing the way our public-serving institutions work through human-centered design. Together they chat about the long-term nature of social impact work and the importance of good leadership. Augusta and Michael answer audience questions. 

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Live Show: Design Firms Focused on Social Good

What is a planetary boundary city? In this week’s episode, we learn more about climate-ready and resilient cities. Sam is joined by Jonelle Simunich, a Foresight Strategist and Manager in Arup’s Global Foresight team and a member of Design Museum Everywhere’s council. Jonelle talks about what it means to be a foresight analyst and the need for planetary boundary cities. Later on in the show, they are joined by Chris Luebkeman. Chris is currently the leader of strategic foresight in the Office of the President at ETH Zurich. Previously, he worked as an Arup fellow and director of global foresight, research, and innovation. Together they chat about [y]our 2040, which aims to be a yearly gathering with different focuses dedicated to co-creating the world they want to live in someday, and designing for the future. Jonelle and Chris answer audience questions. 

Live Show: Building Climate-Positive Cities

What does it look like to design a workplace that supports and values learning? In this week’s episode, we are talking about the role of education in the workplace. Sam is joined by Elizabeth Lowrey, Principal and Director of Interior Architecture at Elkus Manfredi Architects and a member of Design Museum Everywhere’s Board of Directors. Elizabeth chats about the co-creation process at Elkus Manfredi and how employees find meaning in their work.  Later on in the show, they are joined by Michael Horn, a speaker and author on the future of education. His works include the award-winning book Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns and the Amazon-bestseller Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools. Together they chat about what learning in the workplace looks like, how it works, and what research says about the science of learning.  

Reframing the Workplace for the Knowledge Economy

How does design create better stories? In this episode, Sam is joined by Jessica Kender, the production designer of Little Fires Everywhere and Future Man, to learn how research, characters, money and space inform her work. Jessica shares her journey from theater to TV and her favorite tool to use. Later on in the show, Sam and Jessica interview Lisa Clark, a set decorator. Together, they discuss how they collaborated on Little Fires Everywhere and Future Man, what brings them joy in set design and how they combine research and innovation in storytelling.  

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From the Archive: Set Design: Bringing Stories to Life

Many of us are aware of human-centered design, which is all about placing real people at the center of our design work, so that we’re always designing with empathy and thoughtfulness. But what if we take it a step further and design with relationships in mind, so that we’re strengthening the bond between people, or between people and organizations, and build real loyalty? This is particularly interesting when we think about financial organizations and their customers, many of whom are adversely affected by the current financial crisis. So instead of blindly selling services and products, these organizations can focus on where people are in every moment of their journey to develop a life-long and trusting relationship. You can imagine this has business impact as well as social impact for the customer, as the fates of both the company and the customer are intertwined. We discuss with Mike Kirkpatrick, SVP of Client Experience & Strategy at Mad*Pow and Russ Wilson, Chief Experience Officer and Head of Design at Fidelity Investments. Plus our weekly dose of good design.

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From the Archive: From Human-Centered Design to Relationship-Centered Design

How do we design rich interactions between students and teachers remotely? In this week’s episode, we are talking about how to design for concurrent hybrid learning without spending a lot of money on technology, training, and new software platforms. Sam is joined by Allan Chochinov, an educator, writer, and speaker whose recent Medium article titled, “How to Teach Hybrid in the Fall with Zoom and Almost No Money” explores this very topic. Allan chats about the pitfalls of learning remotely and he dives deeper into the factors that affect education via Zoom. Later on in the show, they are joined by Fred Deakin, who runs a studio called FANDCO that specializes in interactive and educational projects. Together they discuss ways to combat Zoom fatigue and designing hybrid learning that works.  

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Designing Hybrid Learning for Roomies and Zoomies

How are museums being shaped and designed with technology in mind? 

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Crafting Museum Experiences through Technology

As part of our monthly Design is Everywhere live series, we learn more about launching a startup and how to design startups for success. Sam is joined by Sara Hartmann, an educator and arts entrepreneurship change agent who has designed costumes for The History Channel, The Boston Conservatory, and more. Sara chats about combining her background in design to the startup world and MassArt’s Creative Economy Workshop Series. Later on in the show, they are joined by Steve Hoffman, the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup accelerators. He’s also a venture investor, serial entrepreneur, and author of several award-winning books, including Make Elephants Fly and Surviving a Startup: Practical Strategies for Starting a Business, Overcoming Obstacles, and Coming Out on Top. Together, they discuss the importance of good design and how to build a successful startup team. 

Live Show: Unlock Your Inner Design-preneur

What role does design play in policing? In this episode, Sam is joined by Jennifer Rittner, a writer, educator, and Principal at Content Matters. Jennifer was the guest editor of our latest Design Museum Magazine Issue, The Policing Issue, which explores how one of the most powerful institutions functions by design. Jennifer shares more on how she chose the contributors for the issue and the role of design in policing. Later on in the show, they are joined by Timothy Bardlavens, a design leader, cultural strategist, and diversity, equity and inclusion consultant and writer. Currently, he is a Product Design Manager at Facebook and he co-founded &Design with Antionette Carroll. In the Policing Issue, Timothy and Jennifer wrote the essay “Designed for Harm: How Products of Policing Enforce Extra-judicial Practices of Control and Submission.” Timothy discusses the products and practices of control and submission and how design can be used for harm. Together, they discuss how to design against harm and rethinking the current framework.

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The Intersection of Design and Policing