Design Notes

By Liam Spradlin

What's Design Notes about?

Design Notes is a podcast about creative work and what it teaches us, hosted by Google's Liam Spradlin. Each episode we talk with people from unique creative fields to discover what inspires and unites us in our practice. Find episodes on your favorite platform: pod.link/designnotes

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Design Notes episodes:

03.14.2023
Designing Better Code: Connie Shi + Matvei Malkov, Google Material Design
Liam speaks with Googlers Connie Shi, a software engineer on Material Design, and Matvei Malkov, a software engineer on Jetpack Compose, and the trio unpack what makes coding a creative practice, and which creative choices are required when you build...
01.31.2023
How Fonts Change the World: Dave Crossland, Google Fonts
Liam and Google Fonts Specialist Dave Crossland explore what digital type can teach us about digital production, emotional expression, and where we fit in the world as designers; and how – with a little imagination – we might unlock new...
12.20.2022
Coding (and Decoding) Social Spaces: Judith Donath, Founder, MIT Sociable Media Group
In this episode, Liam speaks with Judith Donath, the founder of MIT’s Sociable Media Lab, inventor of e-cards, and author of The Social Machine: Designs for Living Online. Donath’s work offers crucial insights into the sociality of digital products and...
11.22.2022
Fearless Design: Aline Borges, The Florist
Liam speaks with Aline Borges, a Zürich-based floral designer who’s made the leap from fashion coordination for magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar to independent floral design and installations. The conversation covers what it’s like to move between different creative...
10.25.2022
⏮️ Harvey Moon, New Media Artist
In this episode, we revisit a conversation from Season 1 with new media artist Harvey Moon, recorded in his San Francisco studio. Liam and Harvey discuss how Moon’s work reveals unseen properties of the world around us, the process of...
10.11.2022
The Impact of Shared Space: Ignacio Ciocchini, Public Furniture Designer
Liam speaks with streetscape and public space designer Ignacio Ciocchini, who’s created much of the public furniture that New Yorkers encounter every single day – from benches that provide personal space, to entire built landscapes for Bryant Park, to chargers...
09.27.2022
⏮️ Kerry Murphy, Co-founder, The Fabricant
In this episode, we revisit a conversation from Season 1 with Kerry Murphy, co-founder of digital fashion house The Fabricant. We uncover how data are spun into virtual threads, and how virtual embodiment can foster self-actualization. In designing couture that...
09.13.2022
Tom Boellstorff, Anthropologist, Coming of Age in Second Life
Liam speaks to Tom Boellstorff, Anthropologist and UCI Professor, whose ethnographic work in Second Life (documented in his book, Coming of Age in Second Life) provides important insights into how virtual space – and our interface with it – informs...
08.30.2022
Welcome Back to Design Notes: Season 2 Trailer
It's been a while, but Design Notes is coming back for Season 2 uncovering even more of what inspires and unites us in our work. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss new interviews with practitioners working on public...
06.08.2021
SF Design Week: Julian Zigerli, Zürich Fashion Designer
In this episode, part of San Francisco Design Week's Digital Edition, Liam speaks with Julian Zigerli, a designer in Zürich, Switzerland creating clothing that allows everyone to decide how what they wear expresses who they are. In the interview, Zigerli...
04.20.2021
Theming with Moooi - 2020 Material Design Awards
This episode is part of a special series of three interviews, recorded remotely with the winners of the 2020 Material Design Awards, exploring what goes into creating an award-winning app. Moooi, winning the award for Material Theming, focuses on aesthetic...
04.20.2021
Dark Theme with KAYAK - 2020 Material Design Awards
This episode is part of a special series of three interviews, recorded remotely with the winners of the 2020 Material Design Awards, exploring what goes into creating an award-winning app. KAYAK has taken their comprehensive price comparison and travel booking...
04.20.2021
Motion Design with Epsy - 2020 Material Design Awards
This episode is part of a special series of three interviews, recorded remotely with the winners of the 2020 Material Design Awards, exploring what goes into creating an award-winning app. Epsy uses motion meaningfully, guiding users living with Epilepsy through...
04.21.2020
BJ Best, ArtyBots
In this episode, Liam speaks with BJ Best, a poet who teaches computers to do what humans can’t in the name of art. His network of ArtyBots is part of a vibrant scene of robots creating, sharing, and collaborating with...
03.17.2020
Laurie Rosenwald, Illustrator and Author
Design Notes is a show about creative work and what it teaches us. In this episode, Liam speaks with illustrator, editorial designer, and author Laurie Rosenwald about how she’s managed to cultivate an aesthetic—and a career—around “making mistakes on purpose.”...
02.18.2020
Kerry Murphy, Co-Founder, The Fabricant
In this episode, Liam speaks with Kerry Murphy, co-founder of digital fashion house The Fabricant, to learn how ones and zeros are spun, woven, and stitched into virtual couture. In designing couture that doesn’t—or can’t—exist in physical space, The Fabricant...
01.21.2020
David Reinfurt, Author (A *New* Program for Graphic Design)
Design Notes is a show about creative work and what it teaches us. For the first episode of 2020, Liam speaks with David Reinfurt, founder of O-R-G, half of Dexter Sinister, and author of A *New* Program for Graphic Design....
11.26.2019
Reflectly - 2019 Material Design Awards
This episode is part of a special series of four interviews with the winners of this year’s Material Design Awards, exploring what goes into creating an award-winning app. Reflectly, a unique journaling app, won this year’s award for innovation by...
11.26.2019
Ruff - 2019 Material Design Awards
This episode is part of a special series of four interviews with the winners of this year’s Material Design Awards, exploring what goes into creating an award-winning app. Ruff is a focused note-taking app that won this year’s award for...
11.26.2019
Trip.com - 2019 Material Design Awards
This episode is part of a special series of four interviews with the winners of this year’s Material Design Awards, exploring what goes into creating an award-winning app. Trip.com is a travel app that won this year’s award for universality...
11.26.2019
Scripts - 2019 Material Design Awards
This episode is part of a special series of four interviews with the winners of this year’s Material Design Awards, exploring what goes into creating an award-winning app. Scripts won this year’s award for Experience, with creative interactions, navigation, and...
10.30.2019
GMUNK, Designer/Director
In this episode, Liam speaks with Bradley Munkowitz, also known as designer/director GMUNK, unpacking Munkowitz’s scintillating psychedelic aesthetic — inspired by actual psychedelic experiences — and why it’s important as a designer to continually challenge and be challenged, maintaining a...
10.01.2019
Qianqian Ye, Artist and Creative Coder
In this episode, Liam speaks with interdisciplinary artist and creative coder Qianqian Ye in her San Francisco studio. The duo traces her journey from wielding calligraphy brushes to building a hand-holding glove, unpacking the vulnerabilities we all share as humans,...
09.03.2019
Harvey Moon, New Media Artist
In this episode, Liam speaks with new media artist Harvey Moon in his San Francisco studio. The duo discuss how Moon’s work reveals unseen properties of the world around us, the process of creating one’s own creative tools, and the...
08.06.2019
Conor Grebel, Bedtimes
In this episode, Liam speaks with Conor Grebel about how lived experiences inform and are conveyed through creative work.Our conversation traces Conor’s journey toward creative work and the “ingredients” that help him craft soothing art for himself and others.Note: The...
07.09.2019
Katie Garcia & Dustin Payseur, Bayonet Records
In this episode, Liam speaks with Katie Garcia and Dustin Payseur, who together run independent music label Bayonet Records.Garcia and Payseur (who also leads the band Beach Fossils) break down the complex relationship between a record label and the creative...
06.11.2019
Liam Spradlin, Host of Design Notes
In this episode, guest host Barbara Eldredge turns the tables, interviewing regular host Liam Spradlin about his own creative journey and reflecting on the themes that unite the first 25 episodes of Design Notes. Read a full transcript
05.14.2019
Rob Giampietro, Design Director at MoMA
In this episode, Liam speaks with Rob Giampietro, Design Director at the Museum of Modern Art. Giampietro shares his journey from studio designer to design manager, explores the unseen details of a museum experience, and describes the responsibility designers have...
04.16.2019
Clinton Cargill, Visual Director at Vanity Fair
In this episode, Liam speaks with Clinton Cargill, the current visual director at Vanity Fair and former photo director at Bloomberg Businessweek. Cargill describes how he mastered the art of critically looking at pictures, what it takes to craft a...
03.19.2019
Ksenya Samarskaya, Type Designer
In this episode, Liam speaks with New York-based type designer Ksenya Samarskaya, exploring how type absorbs influence from its place in time, space, and culture. Samarskaya unpacks how typography represents the histories and complexities of the world around us, while...
02.19.2019
Bee Grandinetti & Hedvig Ahlberg, Punanimation
In this episode, Liam speaks with Bee Grandinetti and Hedvig Ahlberg—two thirds of the trio that founded Punanimation, a community and platform for women, trans, and non-binary folks working with animation and motion design.Bee and Hedvig unpack the ways in...
01.15.2019
2018 Material Design Awards
In this episode, Liam sits down with the winners of the 2018 Material Design Awards—Anchor, KptnCook, Lyft, and SimpleHabit—to discuss how they each adopted and extended Material to build expressive, inspirational experiences. Download a PDF transcript
12.13.2018
Tuuli & Kivi Sotamaa, Ateljé Sotamaa
Tuuli and Kivi Sotamaa are the brother and sister team behind Ateljé Sotamaa, a studio creating emotionally-appealing objects and holistic architectural environments. In the episode: Tuuli and Kivi Sotamaa recount their very first collaboration (back in 1999!) and discuss a...
12.13.2018
Marko Ahtisaari
Marko Ahtisaari is the artistic director of the Helsinki Festival, a former product design lead at Nokia, and co-founder of Dopplr and Sync Project. In the episode: Marko Ahtisaari expands on his journey as a designer and entrepreneur, explaining powerful...
12.13.2018
Stephanie Dinkins [LIVE]
A transdisciplinary artist, Stephanie Dinkins focuses on AI’s intersection with race, gender, and social equity. In the episode, recorded live onstage at SPAN: Stephanie Dinkins unpacks how and why we should actively engage with artificial intelligence. Dinkins also discusses her...
12.13.2018
James Bridle, Author (New Dark Age)
James Bridle is an artist and author working across technologies and disciplines. His artworks have been commissioned by galleries and institutions, and exhibited worldwide. In the episode: James Bridle explores the importance of having agency in—and working knowledge of—the complex...
12.13.2018
Isabelle Olsson, Design Director (Google Home)
A design director working on Google Home and wearables, Isabelle Olsson also oversees CMF (color, material, and finish) for all Google hardware. In the episode: Isabelle Olsson explains how she discovered the discipline of industrial design and explores the approach...
11.27.2018
Jesse Reed, Standards Manual
In this episode, Liam speaks with Jesse Reed, identity designer and co-founder of Standards Manual—a publishing imprint known for preserving and republishing historic design style guides and assemblages of designed artifacts. In the interview, Reed explores his experiences working at...
10.30.2018
Ryan Snelson
In this episode, Liam speaks with Ryan Snelson about his experience redesigning MySpace, championing a gritty and expressive experimental aesthetic, and understanding the constraints of technology and design. Learn more
09.04.2018
Sang Mun, YAW Studio
In this episode, Liam speaks with interdisciplinary designer Sang Mun of YAW Studio. In the interview—recorded in Seoul, South Korea—Liam and Sang explore how the ZXX typeface, which was born from Sang’s experience in special intelligence, tells a story that...
08.14.2018
Libby VanderPloeg, Illustrator
In the twelfth episode, Liam speaks with illustrator Libby VanderPloeg about how she relates to her uniquely illustrative work, deciding what to share with the world, and what happens when the work takes on a life of its own. Learn...
07.10.2018
Madeline Gannon, Design researcher and robot tamer
In the eleventh episode, guest host Aaron Lammer speaks with “robot tamer” and founder of the research studio ATONATON, Madeline Gannon, about how to make robots more approachable, how to design their personalities to work alongside humans as “machinic creatures,”...
06.11.2018
Alexandra Lange, Architecture Critic, Author of The Design of Childhood
Guest host Amber Bravo speaks with architecture critic and author Alexandra Lange about her new book, The Design of Childhood: How the Material World Shapes Independent Kids. Together, they examine how design changes childhood—discussing everything from street design...
05.02.2018
Cameron Koczon, Partner at Fictive Kin
Cameron Koczon is a Partner at Fictive Kin, a New York-based design and engineering studio whose unique approach to product development starts with “a Seinfeld” - an app that does nothing - and ends with a polished core experience. In...
04.10.2018
Nathan Martin, Deeplocal CEO
In this episode, guest host Aaron Lammer speaks with Deeplocal CEO Nathan Martin about the work of an innovation studio, how Deeplocal’s ownership of its design process makes work like punk rock, and how communication and collaboration help the studio...
03.13.2018
Bennett Foddy, Game Designer, Getting Over It
In this episode, Liam speaks with game designer, professor, and philosopher Bennett Foddy about using frustration as a design pattern, positioning games at the intersection of art and software, and who he had in mind when creating Getting Over It. Show...
02.12.2018
Molly Wright Steenson, author of Architectural Intelligence
In the sixth episode, guest host Aaron Lammer speaks with designer and professor Molly Wright Steenson about pattern languages, the important similarities between architecture and AI, and the publication of her new book Architectural Intelligence. Learn more
01.16.2018
Mitch Paone, Principle at Dia Studio
In the fifth episode, Liam speaks with Mitch Paone, Principle and Creative Director at DIA Studio, about creating a jazz solo out of the creative process, using a beginner’s mindset to unlock new possibilities in design, and the difference between...
12.19.2017
Luis von Ahn, Duolingo Founder
The fourth episode is a special edition featuring Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of DuoLingo, recorded at SPAN 2017 in Pittsburgh. In the interview, Luis and guest host Aaron Lammer discuss why von Ahn chooses projects that can make...
11.22.2017
William Okpo, fashion designers Lizzy and Darlene Okpo
In the third episode Lizzy and Darlene Okpo, the designers and sisters behind New York-based fashion label William Okpo, detail what gives their line its identity, the personas that shape a collection, and the intersection of expression and utility in...

What's Design Notes about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Design Notes episodes:

Designing Better Code: Connie Shi + Matvei Malkov, Google Material Design

How Fonts Change the World: Dave Crossland, Google Fonts

Coding (and Decoding) Social Spaces: Judith Donath, Founder, MIT Sociable Media Group

Fearless Design: Aline Borges, The Florist

⏮️ Harvey Moon, New Media Artist

The Impact of Shared Space: Ignacio Ciocchini, Public Furniture Designer

⏮️ Kerry Murphy, Co-founder, The Fabricant

Tom Boellstorff, Anthropologist, Coming of Age in Second Life

Welcome Back to Design Notes: Season 2 Trailer

SF Design Week: Julian Zigerli, Zürich Fashion Designer

Theming with Moooi - 2020 Material Design Awards

Dark Theme with KAYAK - 2020 Material Design Awards

Motion Design with Epsy - 2020 Material Design Awards

BJ Best, ArtyBots

Laurie Rosenwald, Illustrator and Author

Kerry Murphy, Co-Founder, The Fabricant

David Reinfurt, Author (A *New* Program for Graphic Design)

Reflectly - 2019 Material Design Awards

Ruff - 2019 Material Design Awards

Trip.com - 2019 Material Design Awards

Scripts - 2019 Material Design Awards

GMUNK, Designer/Director

Qianqian Ye, Artist and Creative Coder

Harvey Moon, New Media Artist

Conor Grebel, Bedtimes

Katie Garcia & Dustin Payseur, Bayonet Records

Liam Spradlin, Host of Design Notes

Rob Giampietro, Design Director at MoMA

Clinton Cargill, Visual Director at Vanity Fair

Ksenya Samarskaya, Type Designer

Bee Grandinetti & Hedvig Ahlberg, Punanimation

2018 Material Design Awards

Tuuli & Kivi Sotamaa, Ateljé Sotamaa

Marko Ahtisaari

Stephanie Dinkins [LIVE]

James Bridle, Author (New Dark Age)

Isabelle Olsson, Design Director (Google Home)

Jesse Reed, Standards Manual

Ryan Snelson

Sang Mun, YAW Studio

Libby VanderPloeg, Illustrator

Madeline Gannon, Design researcher and robot tamer

Alexandra Lange, Architecture Critic, Author of The Design of Childhood

Cameron Koczon, Partner at Fictive Kin

Nathan Martin, Deeplocal CEO

Bennett Foddy, Game Designer, Getting Over It

Molly Wright Steenson, author of Architectural Intelligence

Mitch Paone, Principle at Dia Studio

Luis von Ahn, Duolingo Founder

William Okpo, fashion designers Lizzy and Darlene Okpo

David Reinfurt, Author (A New Program for Graphic Design)