Revision Path

Husani Barnwell not only has two impressive degrees under his belt from Parsons and Harvard, a mile long resume, but he continues to reinvent himself. He is a storyteller, a designer, and a leader in the industry. His passion and drive shine through in his work and in our conversation! He is honest and open, and our chat was an enlightening experience that I appreciated. His experience ranges from Creative Consultant to Educator and so many things in between. Talking to him highlighted the important work that is happening, and that still needs to happen, in this industry.

If you're not following him, you should be!

Designing for public safety might not sound like the most exciting job, but that's because you haven't heard Brett Marshall describe it. As the principal designer at CentralSquare, he helps design interfaces that are used by police officers, first responders, and public administration agencies across the country.

Brett and I talked about the unique challenges he faces with his work, and he also shared how he went from designing at ad agencies to winding up at his current role. We also discussed Brett's background, and he spoke about some his influences in the industry and what he wishes he knew when he first started as a designer. Learn more about him in this week's interview!

I first heard of about Shar Biggers from one of our past guests, Ida Woldemichael, and from just the first few minutes of our conversation I knew that this was going to be a great interview. Like Ida, Shar worked on the Hillary for America campaign, and helped to shape the messaging and visual style of the candidate during her most recent run for public office.

While we did touch on Shar's political design work and spent some time talking about campaign life, we mostly talked about her backstory and her newest venture -- a brand consultancy and design firm called Provoke. Shar's knowledge of psychology and business also feeds into another one of her businesses -- a line of premium designed phone cases called Aitarah. According to Shar, there's no reason to have design without strategy, and that's something she's definitely applied to her life and her career. Thank you Shar for being an inspiration!

Angelica Quicksey's insights into civic design are unique and insightful. She designs federal government services with a focus on digital transformation. As a recent graduate with two masters degrees from Harvard University, she is also now co-teaching a course on technology and innovation in government.

Angelica is passionate and our conversation touched on the many changes going on in the industry. If you want to learn and be inspired make sure to give this episode a listen!

Abraham Abbi Asefaw is not only an inspiring entrepreneur who has founded two agencies but a relatable and inspiring voice in the industry. As the Co-Founder of The Pop Up Agency, which he created before he turned 30, Abraham has stepped into his role as a leader in the industry with gusto. His major clients include Facebook, Adidas, Nissan, and Sky.

During our conversation, we discussed his journey from leaving the legal field and taking the brave leap into entrepreneurship, the major differences between international clients and American brands, his unique vision for the Pop Up Agency, and his goal to re-define the role of creatives in the industry. Abraham is challenging the status quo and bringing us all along on the ride!

Revision Path is a Glitch Media Network podcast, and is produced by Deanna Testa and edited by Keisha “TK” Dutes.

According to Kim Williams, it takes real grit to be in the design field. She serves as the group manager for the UX core team at Indeed, where she leads a interdisciplinary team of designers, technologists, writers, and researchers working across the globe.

We talked a lot about design leadership -- what it takes to not only build and lead a team, but also how to enable them to do their best work and make sure they have what they need to succeed. From there, Kim shared her journey as a designer, starting from her humble roots growing up in Jamaica to leading design efforts at Ogilvy & Mather, eBay, and now her time at Indeed. It's important as a designer of color in this field that we own our narrative, and Kim's definitely someone who is doing that! Get inspired from listening to her story today!

Melvin Hale may say he's "a regular guy who beat the odds," but with twenty years of design experience and a decade of design leadership under his belt, he's so much more than regular.

We started off talking about Melvin's current work at Facebook, and quickly went on to a look back at his time growing up in Vallejo, going to college in the South, and his journey as a designer through the ad agency world before ending up in Silicon Valley. Melvin also shared tips on how he builds creative teams, spoke on some of his career influences, and even talked about whether or not his kids want to follow in his footsteps. Give this week's episode a listen and learn more about Melvin!

Dexter Ferguson might be a young designer in this industry, but he is committed to using his abilities to really help change the world. By day, he works at Airbus Aerial as a product designer, helping insurance companies make decisions on damages and risks. When work is over, Dexter puts on his entrepreneur hat as the founder of DebtBennies, a job listing board with companies that will help you pay down your student loans. Pretty innovative!

We talked about how Dexter is able to balance both 9-to-5 work with running his own side projects, and he even gave some really great advice to those out there looking to get to the next level in their career. We also spent some time examining Atlanta’s design and tech scene, with Dexter sharing some his favorite things to do in the city. Dexter’s philosophy of striving for progress ensures that his trajectory in this industry is going to be a positive one, and I think we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the future!

A common theme on Revision Path is that there's no set path to being a part of the design industry. Will Miner, the senior director of UX at the education company 2U, is a prime example of this. As technology helps level the playing field for a number of different areas of study, professionals like Will help make sure that experience is simple and user-friendly.

We started off talking about Will's work at 2U, including building and leading teams while keeping diversity and accessibility in mind. He also shared how he first got into design via plant science, why he decided getting an MBA would help further his design career, and even shared news about his next big move. Will is a prime example that there are lots of ways to succeed in this field!

Guests of the show know that before we do an interview, I always ask them what I call “the Oprah question.” But how do you ask the Oprah question to someone who works for Oprah? Turns out that when you’re Dave Hall, that’s a pretty easy task. As the VP of digital design for the Oprah Winfrey Network, Dave oversees a number of different design professionals from coast to coast to create interactive and eye-catching work for web and TV.

Dave walked me through a typical day, including sharing how he works with his team and how they approach new projects. We also spent time talking about the possibilities and challenges for designing for television, and Dave shared information on his upcoming graphic novel project! Dave says that you don’t have to ask for permission to be successful, and his journey as a designer proves that!