This week Michael Asire joined me on the podcast. Michael and I went to college together and so it was great to connect again over this conversation.

We dive into 2 side projects that Michael has created in the last 10 years, Typeblocks and some abstracted creatures made out of basic shapes. We also dive into quite a bit of conversation about textbook design. An area Michael has invested his career in.

Listen to the conversation not just for the design aspect but also for the ways his children have influenced his work.

Guest Randy Plemel is a Public Sector designer living in Queens NY with his wife and 2 kids.

In this episode we dig into Randy's experiential design projects, including how he encourages his kids to get involved.

We dive deep into a project called Block Builders where Randy illustrated and printed stickers for New Yorkers to build their own ideal version of a city block.

Randy promotes curiosity in his children by providing the tools and space for them to create on a whim.

He owns a design studio called Expedition Works and his work can be found at https://expedition.works/ and his podcast called Journey with Purpose can be found at https://jwp.news/pod/

Jason Frosthold joined me this week. He's a branding designer and design professor in Mobile, Alabama. He has two teenage boys and runs a design studio with his wife. In this episode we dive into teaching his boys design principles and cover a bunch of Jason’s work. Everything from his Grad thesis work to bringing humans forward in an engineering marketing campaign.

Here are some links to things we talk about:

Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd

I inaccurately called David Sedaris, “David Sudeikis”… maybe he’ll have a cameo in the next season of Ted Lasso?

You can find Jason @jfrostholm on threads and Instagram or visit his sites:

jasonfrostholm.com

ildisdesign.com

Stevie Rodgers is the guest this week. He's a UX designer living in London. And while we can't dive into the specifics of a lot of his work due to privacy issues, we talk a great deal about design and how it impacts our parenting.

Some books Stevie recommends throughout the episode are:

Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design by Kat Holmes

Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World made for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez

You can find Stevie on social media @stevierodger

On episode 3 of the Dadsigner podcast, I sit down with Joe Baron of Branded Baron. Joe is the dad of one toddler son and runs his own brand design agency. On this episode, we talk about some personal projects he's worked on for his son. Things like mascots, apparel, and coloring books.Joe talks about being a dad and balancing that with his work.

You can find Joe's work at brandedbaron.com or @brandedbaron on social.

Andrew Bly, New York-based designer and father of one, sat down and chatted about his design work, being a dad, and how the two intertwine.

We discuss how we met via @nycpalette on Instagram, and how that project became a labor of love that got a lot of attention.

We also talk through Andrew's design work with several food and beverage companies. Fresh Fizz, Fabalish, and Temple Bar.

Other companies and accounts that come up during the conversation:

- Snax Shot on instagram (@snaxshot)

- Young Jerks: youngjerks.com/

To follow along with Andrew"

- heyacb.com

- @hey_acb on Instagram and Threads

- @82acb on TikTok

Episode 1 of the Dadsigner Podcast featuring Mike Meulstee (@artisticdork). In this episode, I sit down with Mike to talk about parenting and design. We cover topics like why some super markets are terrible, collaborating with other designers for fun, and how Pentagram's Reddit Snoo was borrowed from Mike's original.

Mike also shares about his current favorite kids book illustrator: Vashti Harrison. She's created a series of Little Dreamer books and her work can be found at: https://www.vashtiharrison.com/vashti-harrison-illustration

If you want to connect with Mike online visit his on all the social channels @artisticdork or at artisticdork.com