Designer/author Dan Saffer & I dive deep into the theoretical UX questions and principles discussed in Dan's work. From what might make us uncomfortable about cooking a roast from across the planet, to the myth of invisible design, and how we might get a handle on the well of undiscovered functionality offered by voice interaction.

Visible Design: Design Notes #16 with Dan Saffer

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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This season begins with a special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design, which will explore the inception, evolution, and future of Google’s design approach. The first episode features the founder of Material Design and Design VP Matías Duarte, whose work on the system has pushed design forward at Google and across devices everywhere. In their conversation, Liam and Matías unpack how interfaces are made, used, and understood—and identify opportunities to move them further into the future via a highly crafted, individualized design approach. 

Facing Our Interfaces: Matías Duarte, Google

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 a design system for other developers around the world. The wide-ranging conversation turns from complex problem solving and technical logic to the concept of creativity as the question-provoking quality of a thought. 

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

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 possibilities. 

How Fonts Change the World: Dave Crossland, Google Fonts

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 platforms, and the opportunities we have as digital producers to make things that truly meet sociable ends. In the episode, Donath unpacks some of this work, exploring potential futures for life online and the joy of learning (and sharing) something new. 

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

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 fields (and countries), how to think about composition to tackle almost any creative challenge, and the courage and community it takes to start on a new venture. 

Visible Design: Design Notes #16 with Dan Saffer

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