Running a design/engineering consultancy, developing your own products and giving back to the community by teaching its kids about design are all notable achievements that Michael Prince has accomplished in his long career. In this episode we talk about the challenges of running and operating your own business, steps we can take to be more sustainable in our designs and- most importantly- how the secret to unlocking the best solution for your designs lies in the process.


Overview of Episode Content

00:02:06- The Story Behind Beyond Design
00:06:41- How you tell someone their work sucks?
00:08:53- Are we putting too much emphasis on quality sketch work?
00:16:23- Process and how it has set Beyond Design apart from competitors.
00:20:24- Improving Sustainability
00:25:50- Making an impact through education
00:40:15- The Job Gap- what to do?
00:50:48- "The Variable"



More About Michael Prince
Over the past 30 years, Michael Prince has been deeply involved in the product development industry. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Product Design at Syracuse University, he started his career working in product planning for Sony Corporation then worked as a product designer for Thomson Consumer Electronics before ultimately opening Beyond Design in 1994.

As an avid entrepreneur he’s always had side projects to keep him busy. While running Beyond Design he started Yummy Designs- a brand through which he’s been able to launch his own products like The Ultimate Hanger and the Buzz Brush. 

If that’s not enough for you, Michael also loves to teach students about product development by offering internship programs to students from universities around the world and even created two programs at a Chicago Public School centered on teaching students all about the product development process and what it takes to design and market a product. 

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Brian Nissen is an expert marketer and storyteller. Among his many great accomplishments he's most noted for writing the animated musical The Swan Princess (1994) and its ten sequels (and counting!)

In this fun-filled episode of The Variable, Brian shares his experience as an entrepreneur building his pool of clients and working as a middle man with contract creative workers. He shares suggestions on how to network with people, price out your work, and see red flags early on in a project. He gives specific advice on how to motivate and manage a team and emphasizes the true power solid story telling has to drive successful sale of your product.

Overview of episode content:

• 00:07:20    - What got you interested in your profession?
• 00:11:33    - Getting the job to write Swan Princess  
• 00:15:54    - Transitioning to freelance full time
• 00:19:00    - How did you land your first clients?
• 00:21:43    - What do you do when you first meet with a new client?
• 00:24:45    - Proving your value and avoiding red flags. 
• 00:28:04    - Pricing projects and when to say no
• 00:32:00    - When you hire designers, what are your expectations? 
• 00:34:00    - Kill the micromanagement culture.  
• 00:37:01    - What is your variable for success?

More about Brian Nissen
He received a bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University and a Master of Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts. While at CalArts he wrote a one-act play called Oscar (1989) that won the National Short Play Award for the American College Theatre Festival. He’s also written almost a hundred screenplays for an animated series about the Bible and heroes of world history.  In 2004 he created a live stage show called Citrus Valley Playhouse. Performed in the style of old-time radio, it highlighted Arizona history, politics and culture. It appeared as an occasional special on KJZZ (NPR) and in 2007 its production of The Napolinator won Best Play of 2007 from the East Valley Tribune.  Today, Brian creates political ads, web videos and spoof songs performed by his mulleted alter ego, Dwain. Make America Great Again aggregated several million views. 

Contact Brian Nissen via email at [email protected] or tune into his podcast Storybabble.

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About Ken-

Ken Mori is the Principal Designer at Belkin International. Ken has over 25 years of experience developing products from conception to mass production. Over this time, he has been granted dozens of patents and worked on over a hundred products sent to market. His work as a DIY urban designer has been included in the project Spontaneous Interventions, which was exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

In this episode of The Variable Ken shares inspiring insights about his journey in design thinking and product development. We discuss his social experiments  and passion projects centered around improving our living spaces and communities. The topics we explore include (but aren't limited to):

- Is SolidWorks the best software for Industrial Designers?
- Can designers be successful without knowing fundamentals of design for manufacturing?
- What is the future of Industrial Design?
- Pursuing our passion for design in a fulfilling way.

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Carlos Mendez is a creator.

Weather he's designing physical products for manufacturing or creating interactive 3D animations, his work tells an amazing story. He graduated with honors in Industrial Design from Art Center College of Design. He has years working as a freelancer with major companies like Samsung, Pulse  Global, and Belkin. He owned and operated his own startup called Chico&DOG before founding Mendez Creatives Where he works as an Industrial designer and 3D artist. 

During our time with Carlos we discuss versatility in design, how needs and scarcity drive innovation, and how strategically developing skills can contribute towards a fulfilling career in design. 

To view his work or contact Carlos with inquiries visit https://mendezcreative.com/ 

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Joel Cook is the lead designer at Rocket Media. He graduated from ASU in 2014 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Visual Communication Design. He has worked in numerous industries developing compelling graphics for vehicle wraps, apparel, print media as well as front end web and app development. 

In this episode Joel tells us about his experience working in various positions and shares specific advice on how to do well in the design industry. He shares his thoughts on how entrepreneurs can have the best success when working with creatives and openly shares his thoughts on how to execute the design process for the best results. We cover best practices on working with clients, tips for improving your portfolio, and which online influencers aspiring designers should follow for inspiration. 

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