The Crit

Simone Brewster, a designer, artist and educator, as well as the subject of the second Platform exhibition at London's Design Museum, joins The Crit to discuss finding a wider purpose behind her varied work, her attraction to answering the same questions in different ways, and the importance of language and representation in design.

Simone's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Negress & Mammy

Worst design: Decorative plates for William Morris Gallery’s Althea McNish exhibition

Most successful design: Temple of Relics pavilion

Most impactful feedback: One of her architecture tutors saying that she needed to take herself seriously

Dream design: Serpentine Gallery pavilion

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil Garnham, executive creative director of Monotype Studio, joins the podcast to discuss the changing landscape of type design, the joys of creating typography for broadcasting companies, and the difficulties of releasing typefaces into the world to have a life of their own.

Phil's picks for his crit were:

Best design: FS Emeric 

Worst design: FS Lola, a typeface used for Sainsbury’s and Greggs

Most successful design: Designing logos for broadcast companies such as ITV and Channel 4

Most impactful feedback: Look at a typeface or logo with fresh eyes by flipping it on its side or upside down

Dream design: Rebranding TG Jones (formerly known as WHSmith’s)

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Johanna Gibbons, founder of landscape architecture practice J&L Gibbons and the current keeper of the Faculty of Royal Designers, joins the podcast to discuss the pluriverse, the entanglements of community and landscape, and the potential for education through ecology.

Johanna's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Dalston Eastern Curve Garden as part of Making Space in Dalston or Urban Nature Project, Natural History Museum

Worst design: Edward Square

Most successful design: Urban Nature Project, Natural History Museum

Most impactful feedback: A difficult community meeting as part of Making Space in Dalston

Dream design: An extentsion of her Schiehallion Seed to Tree Project

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Melia, founder and creative director of London-based design agency Blond, joins the podcast for a conversation about packaging, brand names, and greater attention towards design in medical tech.

James's picks for his crit were:

Best design: Fussy refillable deodorant  

Worst design: A desk he designed for his final project at university

Most successful design: An upcoming packaging design for a US brand 

Most impactful feedback: His colleague Dana Salmanzadeh asking why James is the only person in the studio who pitches and presents projects to clients

Dream design: A catheter

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Designer and researcher Liliana Ovalle visits the studio to discuss exploring different making cultures, learning the limitations of working with craft processes, and her dream of making altars for the home.

Liliana’s picks for her crit were:

Best design: Sinkhole Vessels 

Worst design: Encuentros bar set 

Most successful design: Fragment of a Staircase 

Most impactful feedback: Curator Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher saying she creates designs that look playful but are actually quite serious, similar to the work of designer Shiro Kuramata

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Marshall, industrial designer and partner at Pentagram, visits the studio to discuss the importance of trusting the process, the experience of moving from a designer to a creative director role, and the pleasures of seemingly intractable design problems.

Jon's picks for his crit were:

Best design: Honda. A Great Journey

Worst design: Exhibition design for UNIQLO

Most successful design: Yoto

Most impactful feedback: Daniel Weil telling him to trust the process (and all feedback from his wife)

Dream design: A range of cookware inspired by Richard Sapper’s La Cintura di Orione for Alessi

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charlene Prempeh, founder of A Vibe Called Tech, joins The Crit for our 2025 holiday episode, examining the pleasures and importance of “good enough” work; the porous barrier between commercial and artistic practice; and answering a series of festive questions about redesigning the holidays!.

Charlene's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Now You See Me: 100 Years of Black Design

Worst design: A project with a beauty brand during Black History Month

(Best holiday gift: An advent calendar)

Most successful design: We Are All They

(Best holiday decoration: A wooden star, made by her son)

Most impactful feedback: Non-existent feedback, teaching her to listen to her instincts when something feels wrong

Dream design: The Golden Stool

(Dream design change for the holidays: Food design)

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spandana Gopal, founder and creative director of the Tiipoi homeware brand, visits the studio to discuss rejecting exoticised portraits of India's design and craft traditions; the need to prioritise ethical, community-focused production; and the challenges of translating global sales of local craft into a thriving domestic market.

Spandana's picks for her crit were:

Best design: General Items

Worst design: “Silly candles”

Most successful design: Tiipoi, thriving as a business and abiding by its principles

Most impactful feedback: Mentorship by Simon Alderson, cofounder of twentytwentyone

Dream design: Rice cooking equipment for Alessi

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ab Rogers, creative director of the Ab Rogers Design studio, joins the podcast for a discussion focused on the architecture of healthcare, the horrors of wackiness, the need to welcome new people into architecture and design, and the creative potential for delight in everyday spaces.

Ab's picks for his crit were:

Best design: Maggie’s at The Royal Marsden

Worst design: Waiting room at the Charing Cross Hospital breast unit

Most successful design: Tate Modern Public Concourses or Comme des Garçons Paris

Most impactful feedback: Aric Chen describing his work as “wacky”

Dream design: A culture-centred health hub

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Material researcher and designer Ori Orisun Merhav sits her crit, exploring the ethos, experimentation and commitment to bio-inclusive co-creation that underpin her creations with lac, a natural polymer produced by insects.

Ori's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Something yet to come within Made by Insects

Worst design: The daily failures of material research

Most successful design: Lac chandelier for Design Sediments

Most impactful feedback: Nacho Carbonell’s advice to “Become the insect”

Dream design: A space and mindset to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration in material research

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.