Design Feaster: Blog of Design Feast

Design Feast’s Makers Series—125th Interview: Haley Henning & Daniel Crespo Intuitively Surround Themselves and Their Neighbors with Nature

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 16:20:00 +0000

In addition to having green thumbs, Haley Henning & Daniel Crespo seed and cultivate a green mindset through their founding of Wild Plum. Here at Design Feast, they go deep into why they’re plant parents.

When you two met, were y’all plant-forward with each other—Did y’all introduce each other with opening lines about horticulture? Seriously, how did you learn about each other’s strong interest in seedlings and gardening? Then how did you nurture this common bond?

Haley: On our first date, we were walking along Lake Michigan in early spring while Daniel told me about his love for a specific variety of oranges—Minneola Tangelo—due to their intense flavor and juiciness. When summer came around, his Miami-based parents brought us dozens of delicious mangoes—freshly grown on their two large mango trees—which Daniel looks forward to every year. At home, I’ve watched him tend to our houseplants, vegetable garden, and seedlings with care. Daniel helps me understand the joy in having an abundance of the freshest and most delicious fruits, and I admire his patience and desire to nurture the plants living all around us.

Daniel: One of my favorite memories with Haley is digging through her old elementary school assignments and finding one where she was talking about the dangers of cutting down old forests. I wasn’t surprised at all to see this—ever since I’ve known Haley, I’ve become very acquainted with her deep admiration and care for the natural world and all its inhabitants. She’s inspired me to explore the importance of all the different layers of our ecosystems.

What were the initial, critical steps in building Wild Plum from idea to an official company? When was your business launched?

Wild Plum exists, because sustainable gardening and ecological landscape design are some of the best actions people can take to add more beauty and benefit to the world around us.

Indigenous peoples have known for millennia how important it is for our landscapes to be spaces in which wildlife can thrive and people can play a positive role in. Western scientific knowledge is just starting to …

Thanks for your curiosity! Continue reading this interview at Design Feast on Patreon.

Help Design Feast to keep producing this kind of content! Lots of hours are put into making Design Feast—because it’s a labor of love to champion creative culture through hundreds of interviews, dozens of write-ups and more. Consider becoming a supporting Patron with a monthly donation of $1 or more.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 347 insightful interviews with an awesome range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—124th Interview: Anthony Roberts Writes in order to Change the World—even if by a Fraction

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 03:36:00 +0000

Reading “Fly Fishing Might Change Your Life” was (to borrow a weathered cliché) a revelation. A subject absolutely unrelatable to me, made relatable through the smooth-and-connected prose by Anthony Roberts. Inspired after reading. Here at Design Feast, he digs into sharing his call and craft of writing.

Where did your discovery of writing come from? Anything here that pointed you early in the direction of writing?

I’ve been a writer since I’ve had a memory. As a kid, I wrote poetry, raps, short stories and comic strips. But in 5th grade, my teacher assigned us to write a poem, about anything. I wrote about Chicago and I got an A. Then a few weeks later, she told me that she had submitted the poem to an anthology for publication and it was chosen to be published. It clicked in that very moment. I was always writing just as a means of expression, but that’s when I consciously became a student of the craft.

How do you affect your confidence and drive to write?

My confidence is directly affected by my willingness to surrender to what I’m attempting to bring forth through my writing. I’ve worked in various mediums/industries, from advertising and marketing to journalism and prose, with the throughline all being storytelling. If I can allow the story that wants to be told to come through, I’m confident. If for whatever reason I’m forcing it, not so confident …

Thanks for your curiosity! Continue reading this interview at Design Feast on Patreon.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 347 insightful interviews with an awesome range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Side Projects Series—117th Interview: Product Designer Ken Pan Collaborated on a UX Design Job Board to Help Applicants Save Time

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 03:20:00 +0000

What are you working on—on the side?

We, Gracia (Junzhu) Zhang—Product Designer & Visual Designer, Kyle (Chentao) Wang—Product Manager & Front-End Engineer, and myself, are Ciwei, a name that comes from the Chinese word for “hedgehog.” The hedgehog was our choice, because socialized on Chinese internet, hardworking folks are often lovingly referred to as “Kings of Rolling Up” or “卷王”—much like how hedgehogs curl up into a ball. We wanted to embody this spirit of hard work but in a cuter way, hence: Ciwei.

Our journey began with a group of UX graduates—all of us working tirelessly to land jobs in a highly competitive market. Realized we were spending a lot of time each day looking at new job postings, filtering out those that matched our qualifications and finally applying. This was a time-consuming process, and we knew there had to be a more efficient way. That’s when the idea for Ciwei was born—to help everyone find suitable job opportunities quickly—leaving more time for self-improvement and networking.

(My other side project is creating a UX New Graduate Community—consisting of 500+ members from almost every major design school in the US. That’s the “a group of UX graduates” I mentioned earlier.)

Here’s what we do at Ciwei: our community members, who are also job seekers, contribute by adding job openings they find during their search to our platform. Behind the scenes, we categorize and analyze these job listings. With the help of OpenAI’s engine, we highlight important information that our users care about. For example, if you’re a fresh graduate, you might be overwhelmed by the vast amount of unrelated job recommendations on platforms like LinkedIn. We filter through the noise for you, picking out jobs with lower experience requirements so that you can focus on opportunities that really suit you.

This is already something pretty helpful to our job-hunting journey. But we’re not stopping here. We’re currently looking into features like helping you auto track of jobs you’ve applied, and even providing insights into your interview success rate. More than just a job search tool, we want Ciwei to be a supportive community for UX graduates.

How do you manage to work on your side project(s)?

The driving force behind Ciwei, first and foremost, is my passion for community organization and helping others. The struggles of job hunting, something I’ve continuously observed in our UX new grad community over the past year, made me desire …

Thank you for your curiosity! Continue reading this interview at Design Feast on Patreon.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 347 insightful interviews with an awesome range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Side Projects Series—116th Interview: AI Product Designer Steven Phung Equips Extensively the UI & UX Design Community with UX Gears

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 04:22:00 +0000

What are you working on—on the side?

I am the humble creator behind UX Gears, a vast design repository that seeks to inspire UX, UI and product designers across the globe. Within UX Gears, you’ll discover a delightful collection of over 500 handpicked links—carefully curated with love. From an abundance of UI, UX tools to ingenious AI-powered design tools, captivating illustrations, charming typography, delightful iconography, invaluable accessibility guides, comprehensive design systems and a never-ending wellspring of inspiration, UX Gears is here to support your creative journey.

Throughout my own seven-year design expedition, I’ve witnessed firsthand the remarkable impact UX design has on organisations and their products. It is like a hidden gem, a humble gear that quietly drives startups, fuels the growth of scale-ups, and empowers enterprises to reach new heights. Its significance may not always be apparent, but make no mistake—it plays a pivotal role in maintaining order and propelling the entire engine forward.

That’s precisely why I created UX Gears, a comprehensive repository of design resources that will help not just junior designers to accelerate their career in very competitive industry but also provide meaningful aid for pro-designers to create impactful digital experiences.

With UX Gears, my aim extends far beyond a mere repository. It is a friendly haven, a space where designers of all skill levels can find solace, inspiration and the tools they need to thrive in a fiercely competitive industry.

How do you manage to work on your side project(s)?

Managing UX Gears, alongside my full-time job, goes beyond traditional time management. It’s about balancing my passion, commitment and adaptability. There are some techniques and strategies to manage my workload …

Thank you for your curiosity! Continue reading this interview at Design Feast on Patreon.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 347 insightful interviews with an awesome range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—123rd Interview: Information Designer & Consultant Sandina Miller Materializes Honest and Humble Clarity

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 14:58:00 +0000

It was the typographic nerdy of Sandina Miller’s Twitter feed that led me to her work that focused on a discipline I cherish a lot: Information Design. Here at Design Feast, she articulates her passion for making communication that’s as clear as it can be to guide effectively its recipients.

Firstly, congratulations on exceeding a decade as a Typographic Designer and Consultant! What does independence mean to you? As it relates to creativity, making, working.

Thank you! The time’s gone fairly quickly. When I initially moved from on-staff to freelancing, my focus and background were in wayfinding as well as print typography with a smattering of digital design. Now I’m increasingly focused on communications.

Being independent means I can be flexible and more in control when working on my own projects. It also means I bring a different perspective when I do projects with on-staff design teams. Creatively, it can be both freeing and taxing. I decide my own schedule which means I can take a break when I need it without worrying about contracted hours. However, the flip-side is I can get engrossed in work and forget to take a break—this is where the office tea-breaks are handy! Also, working at home alone means I don’t get to enjoy the team-vibe of being in a studio. I miss the catch-ups, chatter and impromptu feedback that improves my ideas and stimulates me to think in different ways. I also miss the mutual support of agency life: being in a studio and able to turn around and ask for or offer help.

How did you become interested in a career involving typography, information design, communication design? Who, what helped motivate you?

Good question! I’ve always had varied interests—from philosophy to maths (yes, really although my maths cells now seem to have deserted me)—but design won. Before university, I did the International Baccalaureate (IB) at an international college. IB schools emphasise extra-curricular activities and I did a few, including writing and doing layout (Anyone remember PageMaker?) for the college magazine. When it was time to apply for university, I chose the University of Reading where I got a scholarship to study typography and graphic communication. The Reading course was a great mix of hands-on vocational work with history and theory to keep me more intellectually engaged.

My university mentors (especially Gerry Leonidas, Paul Stiff, Sue Walker and Paul Luna) supported and encouraged me on several major projects: from type design to wayfinding to my dissertation on newspaper design.

After I graduated, I worked with Mark Barratt and the Text Matters team in Reading, UK. It was an intense time, and I grew a lot as a person and as a designer. I learned so much about practical adjustments, working with clients from academic, public and non-profit sectors, real-world digital design, and accessible, inclusive design.

Over time, I became a facilitator as well as creator. Whether I worked on a map, a poster or a social media marketing plan, the core was managing different elements, content and people to develop solutions. The people I met, worked with and learned from—whether at university or professional working at Text Matters—all helped me build on my formal training to become …

Thanks for your curiosity! Continue reading this interview at Design Feast on Patreon.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 347 insightful interviews with an awesome range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—122nd Interview: Ashley Lukasik Designs Immersive Experiences that Stoke Deep Collaboration and Ideation

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 15:13:00 +0000

Photographed by Miriam Doan.

The cultural trifecta of the Bauhaus (especially the legacy of László Moholy-Nagy), Design Methods and Human-Centered Design culminated in discovering Ashley Lukasik, who is one part documentarian, one part curator, one part facilitator—all parts designer. She founded and leads Murmur Ring—specializing in immersions. Here at Design Feast, she elaborates on this tactile, visceral offering and her creative process to stimulate collective curiosity as a humane, holistic asset to enhancing business strategy.

During your talk to the Chicago chapter of CreativeMornings, I wondered (verb intended, since the team of your talk was aligned to the CreativeMornings theme of “Wonder” at the time) what an accurate, even precise, job title would apply to you. Iterations included Metaphysical Yenta to Director of Narrative Vibe to Keeper of Stimuli. Yet, I kept returning to you as an Experience Designer. When you describe the kind of creative work you do to people who don’t know, what do you call yourself?

Wow, all of these titles are 1,000 times more interesting and lyrical than those I’ve mustered for myself! I tend to refer to myself primarily as a producer of experiences and stories, grounded in the ethos of human-centered design. I’m mainly driven to unearth the creative talents of others and bring them to wider audiences who can expand upon them. When done well, it is a very organic and collaborative process.

It was at IIT Institute of Design where you discovered the label, concept, discipline of human-centered design. Is this true? Can you describe this process of discovery?

Very much so. I entered the field of design when it was rapidly gaining attention and application in industry at a broad scale. In large part, corporate interest was stimulated by the rapid advancement of digital technology that was forcing organizations to think differently about how their products/services/culture could appeal to people and–more importantly–how they would contend with what was emerging, murky and not yet codified.

At ID, my role was to shepherd in new research and projects in collaboration with organizations who were interested in adopting tools from design. I also produced events and content to broadcast the incredible work of our design community but with the goal of making fairly abstract content and projects more accessible (penetrable?).

At first, arriving in the world of design was like landing in a Utopia. Really?! There are other nerds out there who are just as interested in trying to make sense of the mess of the world?! With real methodologies to go about it?!

As time went on, I became interested in how we can effectively infuse more creativity back into the discipline. I get bored easily and was starting to find the typical design project to be formulaic. The heavy focus on …

Thanks for your curiosity! Continue reading this interview at Design Feast on Patreon.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 346 insightful interviews with an awesome range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—121st Interview: From Indie to Industry, the Wild Journey of Apparel Designer Jessica Caldwell

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 15:00:00 +0000

Whether it’s Denver or Colorado Springs, the Centennial State is a core part of my U.S.-travel fandom. While recently revisiting The Mile-High City, I wanted to meet Jessica Caldwell—in person this time. Originally discovered her and her work (check out my first interview in 2014) via Twitter where I noticed a (former) feature about “Independent fashion design for modern, badass women.” She ran her apparel business Machine Apparel—where the spare and sharp aesthetic, expressed throughout its collections, appealed greatly to me.

Today, Jessica designs outerwear for The North Face.

Here at Design Feast, learn about a few main aspects about how she made such a gritty, at times harrowing, all-around exciting, transition from fashion business founder to joining one of the world’s best clothing brands.

You were an independent designer for how long? Five years? Which is a lot of time. Each of those years was definitely dense with your hustling, your grinding. Bootstrapped. You’re in it, totally. You were your own kind of war room, so to speak. You're in the trenches.

When you made that shift from independence to entering the world of a renowned, popular, formidable fashion brand, what were those independent fashion design sensibilities that stuck with you as being more true now than it was then? What were those practices as an independent, hard-working fashion designer and maker that you still carry with you—that you still tap into in your role at The North Face?

I had my own line, Machine Apparel (samples from fashion collections below), just about four years. It was a rollercoaster of creativity–lots of experimenting, trial and error, and working with very limited resources to make things happen. I still look back at that time as one of the most creative periods in my career, because it was total freedom. There were a lot of ups and downs though—as I navigated my way through building a creative business.

Working for myself really helped me develop all those key skills beyond design that I still implement daily. I had to self-manage, know how to jump back and forth between many types of tasks (marketing, accounting, operations, etc.), and still find a way to satisfy my creative side as well. Working at The North Face keeps me on my toes in the same ways. I’m working on multiple seasons at a time in all different stages of development, I’m going to fittings, talking with athletes, and still sit down and actually design product! I’ve learned to stay flexible, organized and to ride each wave as it comes.

Everyone has their own information architecture. I would be very curious to see how you not only collate but also curate your collections of stimulation. Because one of your independent practices, which you still carry through, is your persistent scouting and collecting of inspiration.

When I was a kid, I used to cut out pictures from magazines and save them in a shoebox. Then I’d craft these big collages on the walls of my bedroom. I still do that today, only now it’s all digital. I am constantly saving posts from Instagram. I’ve got my Pinterest algorithm dialed, and I always have a notebook with me to write down ideas, or quotes from books, songs, etc. I’m constantly taking photos when something catches my eye too—my camera roll is a …

Thanks for your interest!

Join Design Feast on Patreon to continue reading.

Get full access to this interview and those upcoming by contributing a monthly donation of $1 or more. Continually grateful for the generous support of Patrons who make it possible to keep Design Feast and its mission of championing creative culture going. Because “build it and they will come” is not always that easy!

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 346 insightful interviews with an awesome range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—120th Interview: Fashion Designer Lina Lavi’s Big Love for Altruism and Activewear

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Lina Lavi found and cut her path as an Apparel Designer. Here, she elaborates on turning this self-awareness into a self-fulfilling career. Giving thoughts too on mentorship and self-love.

How did you become interested in the apparel industry?

As someone who has always found joy and expression through art, I knew I wanted to go to art school after I graduated high school. I decided to take some time after high school to find a direction for myself. I had an introduction to apparel when I worked in retail. I found clothing was an exciting form of self-expression, and I loved helping people find pieces that gave them confidence and a sense of identity.

What were essential steps you took in initiating and ultimately becoming an apparel designer?

I received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts with a major in Fashion Design at CCA in San Francisco. I found a specific area of interest/passion within the industry, which for me is sweater design. I leaned into sweater design through school and my career—and to this day, my sweater design knowledge and passion have gotten me just about every job I’ve had. I also made sure to take advantage of internships while in school. I have connections and dear friendships that have stemmed from those initial years in my design education. Internships are a great way to get real-life experience in the industry, but making genuine connections with the people is what is truly going to help you succeed.

Conceptual storytelling is one of your design methods. What do you mean? Can you share an example?

Honestly, it is just a fancy way of saying mood-board development! I think it is important to start with …

Thanks for reading Design Feast. Become a Patron to continue reading.

Read this full interview and more by supporting Design Feast on Patreon. If you’re able to, please become a Patron of Design Feast today from $1 and up—it only takes a minute. Your monthly contribution will give you full access to this interview and those upcoming with extraordinary creators and their perspectives. Stay both informed and inspired.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 346 insightful interviews with an incredible range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—119th Interview: Fastening Herself to the Emotional Undercurrents of Stories, Illustrator Sara Wong Brings a Marvelous Vision to the Surface

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 14 Aug 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Through a nuanced range of colors, asymmetric compositions, among other visual qualities, how Sara Wong interprets humanity in both her editorial and personal illustrations is poetic. Here, she elaborates on both her path toward becoming a full-time illustrator and process of keeping valid her illustrative skills (on her child-sized desk).

How did you become interested in Illustration toward ultimately becoming an Illustrator?

I didn’t know what illustration was until my senior year of high school when I found Sam Weber’s work in an awards-annual under the category “illustration.” Until that point, the only words I had were “art,” “artist,” and for some reason, “graphic designer.” Even if I didn’t have the language for it, what interested me about illustration was using pictures to tell a story—having a clear narrative goal. I loved illustrated children’s books and the idea that different people drew things in different ways. I had one book of mermaid stories from around the world, all illustrated by the same person but in a different style to match the region, which kind of blew my mind. My parents were very supportive and my mom had a habit of applying my art to things, like birthday invitations. All of this sort of culminated in the idea of illustration having this diverse power of communication and application, so when I finally found the word, I just followed it and headed off to college to major in it.

What methods/activities did you initiate to help you actually start working and living your passion? Because “Just do it” is easier said than done.

I graduated college with a job at a small design studio and a typical student portfolio, just sort of all over the place and more a reflection of the classes I took. I wasn’t using my illustration skills during the day so I was coming home and putting that energy into remaking my portfolio to reflect the work I wanted people to hire me for—in my case, I wanted to be trusted to tell difficult, emotional stories. That new portfolio got me an illustration job at Meta (at the time, Facebook) where I art-direct today, as well as a foothold into the freelance editorial world.

You’re, as you put it, obsessed with excavating and elevating the pathos of subject matter you’re illustrating. How do you realize this quality in your work?

I think a lot about this in my mark-making and at the color stage, though to say “think” is probably too generous. I find that my …

Thanks for reading Design Feast.

Become a Patron to continue reading.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 346 insightful interviews with an incredible range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—118th Interview: Photo Artist Adrian Octavius Walker Practices Fully his Creativity by Thinking, Dreaming and Mightily Doing

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Mon, 04 Jul 2022 15:20:00 +0000

The photography of Adrian Octavius Walker possesses grounded qualities of confidence, elegance, grit, most of all, the beauty of Blackness. Here, he elaborates on nurturing his photographic practice and making milestones as an independent Mixed Media Artist.

Nate: Adrian, thank you so much for carving out time our of your busy schedule. Thank you for your persistence to connect. Big shout-out to our mutual connection in LaShun [Tines]—how do you know him?

Adrian: I believe we just met on social media. Our first time meeting was at the show.

Nate: What show was that?

Adrian: It was called “The Art of Blackness” at Block 37 [in Chicago]. It took place on February 12.

Nate: How did you discover this show?

Adrian: I was contacted by him via social media. I think it was LinkedIn. He reached out to me and put the bug in my ear about it. I knew a few other artists that were a part of it. Went ahead and showed two portraits from work of mine entitled “We Matter.”

Nate: “We Matter”—is this on your website? I’m professionally creeping on your website right now, as we speak. Multitasking. Just want to acknowledge that I always try to give visible traceability, you know, giving credit where credit is due, especially when it comes to discovering new, vital creative voices, which is, again, one of my primary drivers for Design Feast and the Makers series—all types of makers in all stripes. Thanks again to LaShun who steered me to your direction, and that you’re part of the Midwest, that you’re passionate about photography. I knew right away when I went to your portfolio-site that I needed to reach out to you. So thank you for the green light to join an interview. Appreciate that. Have a lot of questions to ask. Let me start with you being a proactive photographer. You’re very nerdy about the craft and the execution of photography. How did you arrive at the desire to become a photographer? How did you discover photography?

Adrian: I kind of had this sense of documentation when I was younger, not knowing what type of documentation I was going to do. There are many type of ways to do documentation, like as an interviewer or a writer. I just always had a photographic memory. So I thought about cameras and always was into art and photography, vintage photographs, sports photography, lifestyle imagery and stuff like that. I dove in. In college, I used to throw …

Thanks for reading Design Feast.

Become a Patron to continue reading.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 346 insightful interviews with an incredible range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—117th Interview: Design Leader Adam Kallish Ruminates by John Christopher Jones’ “Design Methods”—a Seminal Book that Remains Timely but Stuck in Obscurity

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Mon, 02 May 2022 01:20:00 +0000

Penned by John Christopher Jones, an Industrial Designer and Educator, “Design Methods” is a design-related book that I remain enamored of—especially curious about its never rising in awareness throughout the community of designers. Here, one of its top admirers, Adam Kallish, reasons how this proved to be the result.

When, how, where did you discover the book “Design Methods” (1970) by John Christopher Jones?

It was in 1986. I was a Bauhaus-trained designer and in graduate school at Rhode Island School of Design where my cohort was exposed to visual semiotics. This first year was disorienting, and at times, I felt punch-drunk on concepts that bordered on metacognition.

In the RISD library (back then, libraries were different than they are today), I was doing research for my thesis and came across a curious book called “Designing Designing,” written by John Chistopher Jones in 1973—three years after his book “Design Methods.” In “Designing Designing,” there were chapters called “A Thought Resolved,” “The World Without Imagination,” etc. Very esoteric, bordering on the poetic. In one of the chapters, he discussed “How my thoughts about design methods have changed over the years” and it was here I learned about his book “Design Methods.”

I learned later that the original title for the 1970 edition was “Design Methods: Seeds of Human Futures.” The methods he outlined in his book are the seeds that come together to propose better human futures.

Sounds like you don’t regret reading “Designing Designing” before “Design Methods” since the latter was published first?

No. After three years, Jones reflected on that three-year gap from when he wrote “Design Methods” until when he wrote “Designing Designing.” When I read John Christopher’s second book [“Designing Designing”], it opened up a world that was somewhat disorienting. But when I first read “Design Methods,” I was like: Okay, here's some structure I can grab on to. “Design Methods” is a cookbook, compared to “Designing Designing”—a reflection.

Do you recall your impressions after reading “Design Methods”—What were some immediate ones?

It was very difficult to read and understand, because his writing style is not easy to take in, as he was referencing many trends and movements from crafts to the age of the computer. There were diagrams and charts to show connections between frameworks and methods. After I read it once, I was terrified, because I was grappling with unfamiliar concepts. I decided to read it again, and then it started to make sense to me.

What’s memorable about this book and why?

This book started me on a journey to learn about using design as a framework for change—not just designing two and three-dimensional products which is how I and many designers were trained, but one where design could be used to facilitate observation, analysis and synthesis. Design as creating cognitive systems and processes.

Methods have techniques which Jones felt “enable people to design something, to go beyond their first ideas, to test their designs in use or simulated use, to collaborate in creative activity, to lead design groups and to teach and to learn designing.”

The book has two sections:

“The Developing Design Process” explores: what design is, traditional craft methods, the need for new methods through four key questions, the new methods reviewed, the design process disintegrated into divergence and convergence, choosing strategies and methods.

The second section consists of design methods in action through convergent methods, strategy control, divergent methods, searching for ideas, exploring problem structures and methods of evaluation.

Very logical on the face of it, but very difficult because much of what he was proposing had little precedent, and it also felt very scientific. It wasn't science he was proposing but rigor.

Table of methods from “Design Methods” (1970)—page 80 plus front and back inside covers). Adam added both the gray zones and the notations along the bottom that grouped methods according to themes.

At first, this was very scary, because how could that be considered design? Then I let go and realized that while learning the craft and practice of design that grew from a value chain of historical events—the Arts and Crafts movement, through the Bauhaus, then post-war institutions like Ulm, I recognized that design could be used to address social, political and economic issues, not just products.

Because I came from the sciences—to me, this was similar to a form of the scientific method where you have speculation which then becomes a hypothesis which then is tested by others to become a theory and then an accepted fact. Jay Doblin, the American Product Designer, was also in search of a higher meaning of design and came up with the idea of design as a state (products) and as a process (methodology).

Diagram of Design—leveraging Design Methods as a framework (Adam Kallish, Nate Burgos).

Why do you think John Christopher Jones put out this book?

“Design Methods” was the culmination of a few decades of lived experience for John Christopher Jones. He was trained as an industrial designer, but had odd ideas for practicing it. For instance, he wanted users to be involved with product development, which today sounds very common sense. But in the 1950s, this was viewed as very odd and counterculture.

Regarding the ramp-up toward John Christopher Jones conceiving, writing “Design Methods,” what external circumstances/factors do you sense motivated, even provoked, him to realize this book?

John Christopher Jones recognized the relationship between the craftsperson and the designer by commenting that much of the content in the crafts was based on the transformation of raw materials into finished form through tried and true knowledge of incremental improvements.

With the industrial age and mass production launching modern living standards, design needed to focus on increasingly complex problems before anything was created, for architecture, urban planning, engineering and product design were liable to create unimaginative and impersonal forms from unimaginative problem definitions.

Jones wondered why and probably realized that design was relegated to expression toward production and had a small zone of control to really influence and impact product-based decisions that were being made by business executives, marketing and engineering. He wanted to address this power imbalance and embrace new methods from other fields and new forms of collaboration to challenge assumptions and reframe what people thought problems were.

In the early 1960s, London, there were several individuals, including John Christopher Jones, who attended the The Conference on Systematic and Intuitive Methods in Engineering, Industrial Design, Architecture and Communication Studies (1962). This event was organized by John Christopher Jones and Peter Slann who, with conference invitees, were bound by concerns with the way their modern industrialized world was being created. Designers, engineers, academics and artists attended—even Gordon Pask, Director of System Research, who came up with cybernetics, attended this event.

At the end of the conference, J. K. Page, Professor at Sheffield University and Chairman of the conference, stated that the “only area of agreement seems to be systematic design is a three-step process—analysis, synthesis and evaluation.” He also rightly stated that “the bigger the scale (of the problem), the more difficult it becomes to make analysis cheaply.” Lastly, he speculated on the role of “design as a strategic framework (like planning) cannot control detailed design, all it can do is provide the framework for others to operate within to get to the detail.”

The participants recognized that the lone designer producing design products did not work with the complexity of a post-industrial society. Designers must work in cross-disciplinary teams where each participant brings their specific skills, language, experiences and biases to define and solve problems. In 2022, this sounds mainstream, but in 1962, this bordered on science fiction.

The proceedings were published, which I also read from a very dusty copy found in the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, library.

Similar to his contemporary, the architect Christopher Alexander who co-wrote “A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction” (1977), would you say that John Christopher Jones, in his book “Design Methods” (1970), that he was also interested in patterns?

Yes. You cannot divorce them from the larger social, political and economic contexts at the time: England was recovering from WWII, there was still rationing and the capital was being rebuilt.

The 1950s and 1960s were also the rise of science and technology, and modern government that was going to make the world better—or the hope anyway. Both Christopher Alexander and John Christopher Jones were part of that whole generation who viewed logic in science and technology as a way to counteract the effects of World War II—the destruction.

There were growing concerns at the [1962] Conference on Design Methods, that relying too much on science and technology—in logic—might also not be a good thing, and that we cannot lose our humanity because of the benefits that we gain from science and technology. From an interview with GK VanPatter, Co-Founder of Humantific and Author of “Innovation Methods Mapping” (2016), John Christopher Jones asserted, “I deplored the move (soon after the 1962 Conference on Design Methods) towards treating designing as if it were a science, putting rationality before intuition, and largely forgetting that the purpose of design methods was to change design practice and to improve life.”

What do you surmise was John Christopher Jones’ desired outcomes from getting this book published?

It is said that every person has a book in them that is waiting to be birthed. It is also said people write books first to address their own curiosities and drive to create, before specific markets are identified to purchase a book. So my speculation is that John wrote the book to aggregate all the ideas he was exposed to and to put it into a book.

It would be easy to reduce the book to a jumble of ideas and diagrams that seem to obsess over methodology. Jones viewed methodology as “mere symbolic contrivances” and “would lose its value” if it did not reflect “the personal issues which matter most to the people who will take decisions.”

So Jones felt that people had to choose methods that were most meaningful for people to gain greater agency and control over any outcome. But any outcome would benefit from using groupings of methods to align on an agreeable and humanistic outcome. He stated that “Methodology should not be a fixed track to a fixed destination, but a conversation about everything that could be made to happen.”

Unfortunately, the book was not accepted and he even recognized that “we sought to be open-minded, to make design processes that would be more sensitive to life than the professional practices of the time. But the result was rigidity, a fixing of aims and methods to product designs that everyone now feels to be insensitive to human needs. Another result was that design methods became more theoretical, turning it into academic study of methods instead of trying to design things better.”

How would you describe John Christopher Jones’ writing style?

Difficult and poetic at first. He was communicating in the way that was comfortable to him. Once your brain acclimates to his writing style, it becomes clearer.

How does “Design Methods” fare currently as part of the design-related library?

Very well. It sits on my shelf with a plethora of other books on methods.

Strategyzer is one of the most prominent current generators of thematic books and has popularized many methods that have been around for a number of years. The LUMA Institute, which came out of MAYA Design in Pittsburgh and was just bought by Mural, has their System of Innovation of Looking, Understanding and Making.

IDEO popularized design thinking and generated their method cards. All of these examples, to some extent, are emulating what the book “Design Methods” was trying to do in 1970, but there has been fifty years of iterating and a widening of design as a facilitator of change using human-centered methods.

When “Design Methods” was released in 1970, in a world where design was viewed as corporate identity and product design, it was still focused on styling and commercialization as it was defined back then. When you and I started to collaborate about design methods over a decade ago, I went back using the internet and wanted to understand who was using the book “Design Methods.” What I found out was that designers were not using it because I found little reference to “design methods.” Surprisingly, where I did find references to “Design Methods,” it was being used by computer science and schools of engineering academic programs as a way to think about systems design.

The design community ignored the book “Design Methods” because it was a book way ahead of its time. I also think John Christopher Jones was a flawed messenger and did not think about the marketing of the book.

This is no different than Chuck Owen at the Institute of Design at IIT who labored in the 1960s and 1970s to articulate structured planning which used mathematics and logic to map how design could affect how organizations approached a problem.

What’s the place of “Design Methods” as both attitude and document in the current community and practice of design?

“Design Methods” initially was focused on how design could be integrated into engineering and grew to recognize the multidisciplinary nature of solving contemporary complexity in all its forms. John Christopher Jones recognized the role of business, as one stakeholder among many, but did not view design methods as a business management tool. Design management focuses on how to define design as a business function and provides a language and method of how to effectively manage it. Does this sound familiar in 2022? Yes!

To me, “Design Methods” is a seminal book that is almost invisible but created the foundation spanning 50 years of experiments and movements that codified much of what is in the book “Design Methods.” Any first iteration of anything is flawed from the start because it is a prototype. Only through socializing ideas and having people use them and build upon them through trial-and-error can something grow and influence others.

Unfortunately, the book “Design Methods,” even today, is not known hardly at all. Yet, without the work of William Gosling, Christopher Alexander, Peter Slann, Nigel Holmes, D. G. Thornley and many others that followed, we would not view design today as a discipline and community of practice that can define business models, transform markets and affect society using the design methods that were first aggregated in 1970.

• • •

📷 Title page photographed by Nate Burgos. Bookshelf-image from Adam Kallish.

• • •

📹 Watch this video-short [2:42]—part of the Design Feast series Rare Book Feast—in homage to “Design Methods” (1970) by John Christopher Jones.

❤️ Donating = Appreciating: Help keep Design Feast going!

Lots of hours are put into making Design Feast—because it’s a labor of love to provide creative culture for everyone through hundreds of interviews, including event write-ups. Please consider becoming a supporting Patron with a recurring monthly donation.

Visit my Patreon page where you can view my goals and reward tiers—starting at $1 per month. Starting your patronage today matters—it’ll help Design Feast remain available, even grow.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—116th Interview: Louise Sandhaus founded The People’s Graphic Design Archive that Defies the Status Quo of Graphic Design History

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 24 Apr 2022 19:46:00 +0000

In the history of communication, graphic design is a cross section—a multilayered one! To help ensure that the history of graphic design is wide-ranging for the long-term, educator and author Louise Sandhaus founded The People’s Graphic Design Archive. Here, she gives context of this grassroots-project: virtual, archival and 100% crowdsourced.

How did you become interested and immersed in graphic design? Was there a particular experience that influenced you toward learning about graphic design—researching and teaching its history?

My parents were both graphic artists. It was Lorraine Wild’s “Historical Survey of Graphic Design” course at CalArts, which I took during my graduate studies, that really turned me on to design history.

When you realized after completing your book “Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design, 1936–1986” (2014) that expanding the depth and scope of graphic design history was critically necessary, what were some of the fundamental steps you took in establishing your idea?

I actually wrote the LA County Museum of Art a letter about the idea. I presented the letter at a small gathering of designers. The letter was meant as a way to capture my ideas—I never really intended to send it!

Through The People’s Graphic Design Archive, you and your team are disrupting “the graphic design canon” ← How do you define this? And how is the Archive evolving it for the better?

What is meant by the term “canon” is still not clear to me. I believe that what we mean by it, though, is the common understanding of our history. Hopefully, The People’s Graphic Design Archive (PGDA) shows that what belongs as part of that history is much more expansive than the very limited history we’ve been taught.

What were the essential forces that formed and shaped ultimately the common, mainstream, popular state of the graphic design canon?

This can be complicated to answer! To my knowledge, the first course in graphic design history was taught by Lou Danziger and Keith Godard at CalArts, starting in 1971, according to Godard. (My correspondence with him about this course can be found in the Archive!) The idea was to show students what “excellence” in graphic design looked like. Excellence that meant good ideas and beautiful, well-crafted, formal outcomes. The course was possible in the first place because books, showing the newest work going on in graphic design, were becoming more available, although still hard to get. Nevertheless, Lou Danziger had a great collection, and it was the work in these books that was photographed and then shared.

But it’s probably Philip Meggs’ “A History of Graphic Design,” published in 1983, that became a classroom bible for graphic design history’s canon.

Wondering if without the existence of information technologies, particularly self-service content management systems and sprawling social media, and their resulting, residual effects → Would the vision, revelation of The People’s Graphic Design Archive not have been feasible?

Definitely, the PGDA, as a crowd-sourced virtual archive, is only possible because of the internet!

Went to experience the exhibition by The Art Institute of Chicago of work by Artist Barbara Kruger. In her video installation “Untitled (Artforum)” (2016/2020), there was this passage: “It’s clear that identity is back, and more urgent than ever. How can we think through new paradigms? How can we reimagine old ones.” Aligns with The People’s Graphic Design Archive, to me. Thoughts?

Definitely agree that PGDA imagines a new paradigm of what constitutes graphic design history.

Are there publications from the graphic-design-canon era that you still find enduring, relevant?

There are books that I love, like my copy of Walter J. Diethelm’s “Signet Signal Symbol,” published by ABC Verlag [1962–1989], Zurich, in 1970, that I still return to!

How did you discover Notion? How did you determine it to be the proper platform for organizing, presenting and storing the first generation of The People’s Graphic Design Archive?

We were turned on to Notion by Stephen Coles and Nick Sherman who are part of the Fonts in Use team and are the developers, with Rob Meek, of the permanent site for PGDA. Notion is an excellent wiki/database software and has been invaluable for us to realize our prototype. The permanent platform should up and running by early next year.

Being a crowd-sourced effort, what have proven to be effective ways for stimulating, achieving and managing a community to help advance The People’s Graphic Design Archive?

Social media and presenting at events have been effective, particularly reaching the design-educators community. We still have work to do and we’ll be going full blast once we have the permanent site.

How has COVID-19 affected your creativity and work?

Perhaps it’s given us focus, as there’s been SO much online activities, events, conversations and meetings of which we’ve been a part of. It was probably the wake-up call for broader social equity that had the biggest effect. People saw the need for a history of graphic design in which everyone had a voice and could be represented.

In engaging and managing all of the moving parts of being a Graphic Design Educator, Author and Founder to live and keep yourself busy, especially during this pandemic, how do you take care of yourself?

TV-candy nightly. “The Great British Bake Off” is a case in point. I also love to bake myself and find cooking relieves a lot of stress.

Oprah asked First Black First Lady Michelle Obama to answer these two questions which are echoed for your opinions:

a) What’s your no-fail, go-for-it motivational song?

Right now, it’s Esperanza Spaulding’s “Formwela 10.”

b) What should be required reading for every human?

Jonathan Porritt’s “The World We Made: Alex McKay’s Story from 2050” offers vision and hope for our future. It’s a fictional story told from the future by an educator to his students of how the sustainable and equitable world was realized.

• • •

📷 All images courtesy of Louise Sandhaus, except for “Signet Signal Symbol”—photographed by design and brand studio DAMS.

❤️ Donating = Appreciating: Help keep Design Feast going!

Design Feast’s Makers Series—115th Interview: Director Alysa Nahmias’ Documentary “The New Bauhaus” Puts an Observant and Journey-Packed Spotlight on Creative Visionary László Moholy-Nagy

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 14:00:00 +0000

LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) had a public, virtual screening of “The New Bauhaus”—directed by Alysa Nahmias. Awestruck by its history, imagery, storytelling, design and direction! On repeat viewing since then. Here, Alysa dives into the creation and substance of her documentary, furthermore, makes striking connections to the present—through the life and lens of creative innovator László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946). “The New Bauhaus” is a telling sign of the times and keeps up with it in filmic rigor and splendor.

When you were envisioning this film before the pandemic and now in the pandemic, has your point of view about the film–why it’s relevant, how it’s relevant today—shifted or not and why?

That’s an interesting thing to reflect on now, several months into lockdown. Y’know, in the making of the film, and when it first premiered in fall 2019, it was really clear that there are direct lines of relevance between the contemporary world and Moholy-Nagy’s story—what he grappled with in his time on a personal level and an intellectual level. There is a relationship between his story and some of the things we’re facing culturally, intellectually and personally, even before the pandemic. For example, things like immigration. Moholy-Nagy was an immigrant in a very different time in America. He was a refugee, someone who was Jewish during the Holocaust and came to the U.S. after fleeing Germany and spending a brief time in London. When he landed in Chicago, there was an article, I think in “The New York Times,” announcing his arrival and welcoming Moholy-Nagy and other high-profile artists and intellectuals—Einstein was also mentioned—into the U.S. The article acknowledged the value of these minds—these people—for contributing to American culture and …

Thanks for reading so far this Design Feast interview.

Read this full interview and more by supporting Design Feast on Patreon. If you’re able to, please become a Patron of Design Feast today from $1 and up—it only takes a minute. Your monthly contribution will give you full access to this interview and those upcoming with extraordinary creators and their perspectives. Stay both informed and inspired.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 346 insightful interviews with an incredible range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—114th Interview: Digital Product Designer Michela Graziani Relentlessly Pursues the Iconic

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 31 Oct 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Particularly in the world of computing, icons are common elements. An on/off-screen icon blends aesthetics, symbolism, accessibility—all elegantly confined within a small-to-tiny finite piece of visible real estate. The challenges here are twofold: facilitating the ability to comprehend and enabling efficiency to accomplish this intuitive experience. Here, Product Designer Michela Graziani shares both her passion and process in making pictographic collections which are prolific, comprehensive … iconic!

1. How did you arrive at what you do as an Icon Designer?

As a product designer, I had to handle icons every day in the making of understandable and useful interfaces. Finding an appropriate icon is time-consuming, can be changed tons of times during the course of visual design. For these reasons, I turned to creating tailor-made icons purposely designed to fit a precise action for specific situations—an integral task here was gathering feedback from my teammates to help inform and refine the iconography.

2. Being the founder of Symbolikon and more symbols-based libraries, what were a few first steps/activities you took to start these projects?

The initial input/idea was determining an area of interest—unexplored in the icon-industry. This is the main road to take during the whole icon-product-development process. Once the road is in focus, I do a lot of research in order to define topics and categories. Research is crucial. It sets the stage for directing the entire collection while informing these steps: create a list of categories, understand what is to become the main category, figure out the features of each subcategory, along with determining common traits that each single icon should contain. These actions help contribute meaning and functionality throughout the whole icon-collection’s composition.

3. What icons are truly iconic to you? How do they reach the level of iconic?

An ‘iconic’ icon is a visual element that’s easy to remember. Sticks in your mind the first time you see it. There are many strong icons: shaped in relation to a specific object for describing action, imbued with meaning that’s one-way.

In one of my new Ikonthology compendiums, the “Extreme Horror” category is visibly iconic, because both objects and characters possess unmistakable graphic elements which can be readily perceived as simple and unique in their meanings.

4. Is there an icon-driven/inspired creation that you readily admire—What is it?

Regarding art, the public-facing images by …

Learn more about Ikonthology.

“With all the various genres and subgenres available, it’s hard to find any one place to gather inspiration. Taking cues from the most popular works of fiction, these icons are designed with a modern aesthetic.” The Ikonthology project was successfully funded at Kickstarter.

This interview, within the Design Feast series on Makers, was sparked into possibility-turned-reality by Cole Stevens, a brilliant Copywriter and avid Street Photographer. Wholehearted thanks to him for introducing me to Michela Graziani and her narrative-spanning iconography.

Typeface Designer Chantra Malee Pays it Forward through the Malee Scholarship for Empowering Women of Color as They Pursue a Career in Type Design

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 15 Aug 2021 05:44:00 +0000

What are you working on—on the side?

The Malee Scholarship is a not-for-profit organization that I started with Sharp Type, a boutique NYC type foundry that I co-founded with my business partner and husband, Lucas Sharp. Each year, the Malee Scholarship grants a $6,000 USD scholarship to a woman from an underrepresented ethnic group in the type industry, who is passionate about type design. Our goal is to empower these women, give them a platform to show their work, and through our mentorship program, teach them the ins-and-outs of designing type and running a foundry.

In addition to selecting and awarding an annual scholar, we also recognize 3 finalists who were top contenders for the scholarship that year and also announce a small selection of Women of Typographic Excellence who demonstrated incredible skill in type design.

How do you manage to work on your side project(s)?

It takes a village! The development of the organization was challenging and incredibly fun. Throughout the process, we made sure to work with individuals whose work we greatly admired. We first commissioned Tien-Min Liao to develop the logomark, which Sharp Type designer My-Lan Thuong later evolved into a sans and serif type system, which we use as the primary typefaces for the brand. What The Studio came in later and developed our branding, and designed our website, later developed by Default Value.

Our team at Sharp Type all contribute, and I’m so grateful for their participation and hard work. Florence Fu and My-Lan Thuong have been integral to the running of our institution, and Lucas Sharp plays a big role in the mentorship program, meeting with the recipients weekly to critique their work. Together with Connor Davenport, Calvin Kwok and Justin Sloane, we’re able to pull it off.

Why have a side project?

I am from the United States of Thai, Spanish and Native American descent. I, myself, was a recipient of the Urban League’s Student Scholarship Program, which provides financial assistance to students from minority groups who are pursuing higher education. From a financial aspect, the grant was huge for me, but even more profound was being seen, and recognized by their institution. I’ll never forget their generosity. Now that I’m in the position to do so, I am paying it forward.

What I wasn’t prepared for when starting The Malee Scholarship was how much I would learn from the experience and the applicants whom we’ve met since we began. They’ve opened my eyes to global cultures and social issues around the world that I wasn’t quite familiar with. Many of our applicants have not only a passion in type design but in social justice issues as well. It’s awe-inspiring to read their stories. They encourage me to be better and I’m very thankful for them, and can’t wait to see them reach great success in type.

• • •

Diptych courtesy of Chantra Malee.

❤️ Donating = Appreciating: Design Feast is on Patreon!
Lots of hours are put into making Design Feast—because it’s a labor of love to provide creative culture to everyone. If you find delight and motivation from the hundreds of interviews, including event write-ups, at Design Feast, please consider becoming a supporting Patron with a recurring monthly donation.

Help keep Design Feast going and growing by visiting my Patreon page where you can watch a short intro video plus view my goals and reward tiers—starting at $1 per month. Starting your patronage today matters—it’ll help Design Feast continue to be an exceptional service, integral to the creative community.

Freelance Designer Daniela Covarrubias Adores and Advocates Plants for the Home

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 08 Aug 2021 01:22:00 +0000

What are you working on—on the side?

“How Many Plants” is a plant-care resource for anyone interested in houseplants, whether you’re a seasoned enthusiast or just getting started. I found a lot of the plant-care information online to be all over the place and often contradictory, so I wanted to build a robust resource that would be fun to engage with and genuinely useful!

I mean, why waste time googling in circles and opening tab after tab only to be more confused than when you started? For this reason, I was intent on creating a “go-to” resource that would not only fully elaborate on the care of specific plants, but also dive deep into larger topics like propagation and dealing with pests. And as a bonus, I wanted to position the whole thing through the lens of design and interiors since that’s my field of expertise. For me, greenery is an essential part of any designer’s toolkit—equal to any piece of furniture or paint color. Plants have the power to transform a space from something pretty good to something downright magical. Often, they’re the missing piece that will make a space come to life … literally! I’m continuously amazed by what a versatile design element plants can be. They can play the role of sculpture, anchoring a space or filling an empty corner. They can bring in heaps of color and texture, playing off other patterns in the space or standing out against solids.

And while I clearly love how plants look in real life, I wanted to take a fresh approach for this project. I found that a lot of plant photography can make plants look somewhat unattainable in either their lushness or setting. Or they are photographed with retail/shipping in mind which usually means they are young, fresh out of the greenhouse and it can be hard to envision their growth. I believed a bit of abstraction would go a long way to inspire and get people excited to imagine plants in their own space. So I was super-lucky to connect with a wonderful illustrator, Evie May Adams, who was willing to dive into this big project with me and take on everything from the illustrations of the plants themselves, along with icons, interiors and tons of one-off vignettes and diagrams for the long-form articles. Truly, the site wouldn’t be what it is without the illustrations.

How do you manage to work on your side project(s)?

To be honest, I was quickly overwhelmed by the scope of the project. What I thought would take 5 or 6 months to get off the ground, ended up taking closer to 9 months. I just had such a specific (and ambitious) vision in my head of what I wanted “HMP” to be, and I was a bit stubborn about the need for it to be fully realized before putting it out into the world. I don’t necessarily think this is the best approach to a side project, but for me, it worked to keep the momentum going strong upfront so the project could then take a bit of a backseat going forward. Also, having something fully baked gave me a more complete picture of how my audience was experiencing the site, which helps me understand what people are liking or missing before building out any additional features.

It’s still a fairly new thing for me, so I can’t say for sure, but it’s my hope that the project will continue to take on a natural rhythm of lulls with more intense activity. Especially as a freelancer, this would nicely mirror how work tends to flow in my day-to-day!

Why have a side project?

While I’m passionate about the topic of plant care, this project was ultimately a way for me to learn a bunch of new skills. I’m trained as an architect and have been working in interiors for the past 6 years, so I had super-minimal web experience before creating this site. I had to learn everything from how to design around breakpoints to how to structure content for CMS and everything in-between.

I was originally inspired to create “How Many Plants” both by circumstance and by my husband, Moe. The circumstance was the pandemic, and Moe happens to be a skilled web developer that has been pursuing side projects since we met in grad school (his career was born out of a side project!). Moe and a bunch of his friends had recently started using a tool called Webflow to quickly build websites without code. And witnessing that work gave me the confidence that I could make something myself. It was also quite exciting to be able to take full creative control of a project—there was no design director, no client, no budget, no external deadline driving my decisions. This freedom was such a huge contrast to what I had experienced in architecture and interior projects. In some ways, it was daunting, but mostly it was just so satisfying. And it created an unexpected feedback loop to my day job that reinvigorated my design thinking and helped me reevaluate my approach to limitations.

• • •

Diptych courtesy of Daniela Covarrubias.

Data Leader Kerstin Frailey Emphasizes the Need for Quality Data

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Kerstin Frailey, who leads data science at market research company Numerator, recently participated in data analytics school Promotable’s webinar series. While presenting concepts such as Machine Learning and the overly propagandized “Big Data,” there was this sign-of-the-times statement from her:

“It’s hard not to care about data quality when you see what happens with data. Because data underlies every algorithm that is automatically approving or denying you a mortgage, that is automatically dismissing or accepting your application to go on to a recruiter to see. It underlies all of the automated admissions that next or current generations are having … That is all built on data. As soon as that data starts to get a little sticky, oh, the world we create in there.”

Data and the modern era do stir wonder. One constant is that data keeps accruing—becoming its own multiverse where the possibilities of use are grand and endless. In the startup ecosystem, “data-driven” is a popular prefix to distinctly qualify a product or service. When elegantly executed, it demonstrates how business, design and technology can be systematized. The emphasis by Kerstin on data’s “underlying” nature feeds into visualizing data as a shifting, sprawling tectonic layer (which, no doubt, it is) influencing everyone and everything. In its composition and expanse, data (for all its content, support and magical potential) is infrastructure.

The last line of Kerstin’s proclamation includes this poetic phrase: “the world we create.” In context, it sparkles with analytics aspiration, coupled with prospective capabilities—for the better. The wellspring here is data—running through several, practical, important applications she noted: mortgages, hiring submissions, school admissions, among a great many processes. The data-propelled world, shaped humanely, co-exists with a world energized by data that’s steered toward inflicting alternative effects—when viewed through a literary lens, they can be characterized precisely as Kafkaesque, even Orwellian.

Though not surprising, it is refreshing to hear Kerstin speak about the importance of critical thinking. Working with data makes it a must-do (as opposed to a no-brainer) for Data Quality to undergo rigor in how it’s managed. From Kerstin, this body of scientific disciplines consists of these principles:

Accuracy
Timeliness
Validity
Consistency
Completeness

If quality of data suggests the quality of decision-making, then critical thinking is essential. More so, when data faces duality, exacerbated by cross-generational disparity uncovered by these pandemic times, which exposed data-driven systems not behaving as data-driven solutions. From breakages in delivering public education, to filing unemployment claims, to receiving healthcare, to booking a vaccination appointment, and so on.

Kristen's focus on Data Quality hones in on making reality an honest one—these days, a collective movement reinforced. With the beauty of objectivity in mind, here’s to the people having at it to create a world—where data helps bring out the best in everyone.

Thanks again to Promotable who pair their virtual workshops with talks organized regularly online! Explore their channel on YouTube.

Support Design Feast on Patreon!
Your visiting means a lot. Lots of hours are put into making Design Feast—because it’s a labor of love to highlight creative culture and bring its diverse points of view to everyone. If you are able to contribute, please consider becoming a Patron to support this long-term passion project of mine with a recurring monthly donation—every bit of support makes a difference in allowing me to produce and publish on a regular basis. Thank you for your consideration!

Design Feast’s Makers Series—113th Interview: Mabel Ney’s Sensibilities as a Designer, Her Springboard to Further Grow as an Artist

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 01:36:00 +0000

It was on a poster for Munich’s Die Neue Sammlung (considered to be the world’s oldest design museum) that I discovered this memorable quote: “Design is art that makes itself useful.” Mabel Ney embodies the substance and spirit of this statement, for she’s both a UX Designer and Painter. The former naturally feeds the latter and vice versa. Here, Mabel tells more about her evolution—in design and art:

1. You’re a User Experience Designer turned Artist. What were top convincers here?

Drawing has been a way of processing research, user flows and requirements. I felt I was missing drawing skills—and started taking classes and going to art meetups. My husband and I had gone to art school in our college years, and felt the art meetups helped keep us motivated to draw again. We both wanted to find more time away from tech and more time with traditional art.

2. You made what’s called a “career pivot”! When did you start having this idea? And how did you commit to realizing it?

My pivot was part of my retirement plan. I wanted to paint and draw more, and take more classes to improve my skills. As my husband and I worked with our financial planner, we expressed how important it was to us to travel and take art classes.

3. What were a few critical to-dos, from the emotional to the practical, you did when embarking on your new career?

I tried to put in 6–8 hours of drawing a week. I started with Post-its in meetings, at home, or in coffee shops. I moved on to sketchbooks and a plein air setup or home studio setup for pastels on the weekends. I attended as many meetups as I could and got hooked on portrait sessions. I was fortunate that the other artists at the meetups where very supportive and willing to share their process as well as where to find shows and more meetups. I definitely had days I thought I pretty much sucked but tried to find something I learned and move on.

4. Is there an artistic encounter or creative event that you keep recalling, even inspiring you?

An instructor said not to treat every drawing as a …

Type Crit Crew Founder, Juan Villanueva, Harnesses the Appreciation, Education and Diversity of Typography

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 06 Jun 2021 13:00:00 +0000

What are you working on—on the side?

In April of last year, I founded Type Crit Crew, which is a free resource for type design students to meet 1–1 with experienced type designers for virtual critiques. Our goals are:

To make type design and type designers more accessible and approachable to students of all levels from anywhere in the world who are serious about honing their skills
To do our part in making our field more inclusive and diverse
To spread our love and passion for type

This initiative started during the pandemic at a time when education was making a huge shift online. As someone who is deeply interested in education and aware of the obstacles that exist to get into the field of typeface design, I saw an opportunity to make education more accessible, to connect people and to make a positive contribution to my field. Type Crit Crew is a very simple idea, it’s basically a spreadsheet, and its power comes from the community. Its existence is a statement that the type design community wants to be more accessible, inclusive and supportive of up-and-coming talent from all over the world. This is something I wish I had access to while I was studying type. I’ve been able to connect with so many students from all over the world through Type Crit Crew. I’m really grateful to the students that use the platform to reach out and to the instructors that continue to volunteer their time.

Another side project is the Display Type BIPOC Fund which is a fund that offers scholarships for BIPOC students to attend my Display Type Design class at Type@Cooper. I started this fund when I began teaching at Type@Cooper, where I’m an alum. I’m very grateful for the experience and the education I received there. My teachers and mentors had a huge impact on the way I teach and work as a designer.

I started teaching type design in the summer of 2020, during a global pandemic and daily protests fighting for racial justice. I did it not only because I wanted to share my knowledge in type with others but also because I saw an opportunity to do things differently. As a BIPOC type designer teaching type, I want to see more type designers of color and change the landscape of the field by giving BIPOC designers a seat in my class. But that’s only part of it. Through my syllabus, I want to reframe what an education in type design can be by bringing in the human component of the practice and showing how the skills can be useful and empower people to express themselves. Shameless plug → Check out our class website at displaytypedesign.com

The last side project I started at the end of April of 2021 was Typefaces as Cultural Objects which is a collection of typefaces by Latin American Designers that honor and preserve Latin American culture and heritage. As a person from Latin America living in NYC, there is almost no Latin American representation in design education, and even less so in type design education. Through this side project, I want to make visible the work that Latin American designers have been doing in the area of type design, so that students today have more diverse references and designers to look up to and engage in conversation with. I’m starting with 11 projects and have a few more to add to the list and the goal is to make a resource that others can contribute to and use.

All of my side projects are part of and inspired by the larger group effort from the global community. Because of this I want to highlight initiatives like BIPOC Design History, Letrástica Communidad, Times New Woman, TypasType, TypeThursday (Bogota, Barcelona, Mexico, New York and others), the Alphabettes Mentorship Program, and my friend Lynne Yun’s own Type Design School BIPOC scholarship, to name a few.

How do you manage to work on your side project(s)?

Before I launch any project, I’m very conscious of the time-commitment these things might take and, in theory, I strategically plan for them to be not so high maintenance. In practice, I put in hours mainly on the weekends but sometimes during the week in the evenings as well.

Even though the team at Monotype, where I work full-time as a type designer, is remote and the hours are somewhat flexible, I try to have a clear division between my job and my personal side projects. This is really important, since apart from my side projects, I also teach and volunteer on the board of the Society of Scribes.

Why have a side project?

For me, it’s a way to give back to the creative community that I’m a part of. Ultimately, all of my projects are the types of initiatives I would’ve liked to see when I was a student, or the types of things I want to see happening now. They’re about highlighting other creatives, uplifting designers, opening doors and hopefully creating a more inclusive, collaborative future. I’m an introvert, but I know that making oneself visible and being vocal can help others feel seen and perhaps inspire them to follow their own paths.

• • •

Diptych courtesy of Juan Villanueva.

Christina Li is Forging the Current-to-Future Advancement of Mentorship and Leadership in UX Design and Research

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 23 May 2021 18:31:00 +0000

What are you working on—on the side?

I have two side projects. They are uxmentor.me and Leading Research.

I co-founded uxmentor.me with my friend, Chris Mears, over 8 years ago in 2013. It’s a User Experience (UX) mentoring program. Our aim is to help designers and researchers to transition into the UX industry and support them in their first UX jobs.

It has evolved over the years and we now offer 1:1 mentoring services (with a monthly subscription).

Over our 8 years of experience, the biggest gap we see is the transition period to your first UX jobs. You might have taken a UX course, but the support and resources drop off when you finish. This is where uxmentor.me comes in. We developed a tailored mentoring canvas. This is unique to each of our mentee so we can chart progresses together.

My second side project is Leading Research which I started with Swetha Sethu-Jones. We started this initiative out of necessity.

In 2019, there was a get-together for the ResearchOps community in London. In the get-together, half of us were towards the top end of the career ladder in user research. And we were asking ourselves questions, like: How do we progress further? Some of us are practitioners who don’t want to be a leader, but then your practitioner role runs out at senior level. As a leader, we also asked: Why is research always under design discipline, could it be a separate branch? Can user research discipline get a seat at the table as Chief Design Officer? Or Chief Research Officer?

For this community is about providing support and networking for leaders. It’s a chance for us to forge a path for the user research discipline. What does the future of user research look like? There are still a lot of unknowns; research as a specialism is grey but we haven’t had time to define it. So, this is an exciting opportunity to answer some of those sticky questions!

Our first meetup was in January 2020, in a small group discussion format to discuss impact. We deliberately wanted an intimate setting. We wanted everyone to be comfortable in sharing their successes and lessons. Our plan for 2021 is to continue to run small events online and curate relevant content for the community.

How do you manage to work on your side project(s)?

Be super-organised, use suitable tools and delegate where needed.

My approach to time management has changed over the years. The main lesson is that if my time is a pie, how big would the ‘side projects’ wedge be? I am a lot more focused and stopped procrastinating once I know how much time I can commit to it.

We have a model that works well for us now for uxmentor.me, it is a lot easier to manage my time on that. I know what I need to commit to to provide a good mentoring experience for my mentees. With Leading Research, it’s still a young community we do have to put a lot more time into it. There are some intense periods of engagement as we plan for events or curate content for the blog, followed by quiet periods. So I guess it all balances out at the end!

Trello is a great planning tool. For example, in each of my side projects we use four columns: backlog (ideas we have and want to do), to do (the next things we have to do), doing and done.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Learning when you need help and ask for it is a healthy thing.

Why have a side project?

To me, it’s about giving back to the communities I am part of. With mentoring, it is like holding up a mirror to yourself and asking how you are performing. But it also makes you think on your feet and I quite like that.

As you accumulate knowledge and experience, you may think that some things are so obvious. But, they aren’t simple to others and that becomes useful to someone else. It's also a nice challenge to think about how you communicate complex ideas in a simple way. We want people to digest the information easily!

• • •

Diptych courtesy of Christina Li.

From her book “Chasing Portraits” to the platform ”Authors Answer,” Author and Documentary Film Producer Elizabeth Rynecki Seizes Passion in Passion Projects

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 16 May 2021 13:00:00 +0000

What are you working on—on the side?

I’m kind of a side project addict. You originally asked me about Authors Answer, so I’ll start there.

During the March 2020 pandemic shut-down in California, I realized that many authors might not be able to get out into the world to promote their books. Getting your book into the hands of just the right reader is hard enough without further obstacles like a worldwide pandemic. I’m a fan of author interviews, but had grown weary of formulaic classics like “What books are on your nightstand?” or “What book inspired you to be a writer?” and even “You’re having a dinner party … which three authors (dead or alive) do you invite?” I thought it would be fun to give authors a platform to wax eloquently about the influences on their writing lives off the written page. I wrote a list of 20 questions and decided participants should answer FIVE. The project is now a year old. Over 200 authors have participated, including: novelists, memoirists, academics, poets and picture book authors. I hope authors continue to submit answers because while they get to promote their backstories. I learn about so many new-to-me authors and their books.

For more than a decade, my bigger side project has been “Chasing Portraits.” A book and documentary film, the project is about my quest to find the art of my Polish-Jewish great-grandfather, who perished in the Holocaust. Spanning three decades of my life, and three generations, it’s a narrative about the richness of one man’s art, the devastation of war, and my family’s unexpected path to healing. The book came out from Penguin Random House in 2016. The film premiered in 2018. I continue to do virtual book club events and film Q&A events.

My personal pandemic side project is a multimedia journal. In a spiral bound, 9” x 12” sketchbook, I document life. Sometimes I write about the day’s events or make black-out poetry. Other times I draw. Occasionally I paste things onto the pages. Mostly it’s just for me, although sometimes I share pieces of it on my Instagram account. I’ve now hit the one-year anniversary mark and while I thought about stopping, my family encouraged me to keep going. It’s interesting to flip back and remember some of the crazy, scary and stressful things that happened to our family, community and the world over the last 12 months. Maybe in a few generations, someone might be interested in what I recorded.

How do you manage to work on your side project(s)?

I am fortunate enough to have a great deal of flexibility in my schedule. I’m also exceedingly grateful to have a family that supports and encourages all my part-time creative ambitions. The house is a mess, the dishes don’t always get done, and the laundry piles up, but no one seems to care too much.

Why have a side project?

They bring me joy … mostly! Creativity is HARD WORK. I stumbled a lot in my own projects. I wish I had a new Authors Answer blog post every day, my drawings aren’t great (a well-meaning friend called them childlike … which they are), writing does not come easily to me, I get frustrated and jealous of other people’s awe-inspiring work, and frequently feel like a failure. [By the way, a lot of creative people have Imposter Syndrome.] But you can’t wait to do a project until you’re an expert, because they only way you get better at the tough things is to KEEP DOING THEM. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” Plus, life without passion projects just isn’t life enough for me.

• • •

Diptych courtesy of Elizabeth Rynecki.

Product Manager Adam Attas Co-Founded an Organization Excited by Compelling Ways to Greatly Intertwingle Design and Business—Starting in Chicago, Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Mon, 10 May 2021 05:00:00 +0000

What are you working on—on the side?

I’m the co-founder of Business Designers | Chicago which is focused on the intersection of design and business—how this intersection creates meaningful, sustainable and mindful value. Our members have diverse backgrounds in design and business. They seek to create richer conversations. We foster this desire through guest and member presentations, social events, working sessions, published content and more. Our mission is to use business design methods and mindsets to influence change and drive impact through hybrid thinking, including the formation of meaningful alliances between practitioners, educators, entrepreneurs and innovators—in order to improve the world we all live in. It’s a lofty goal—but worthy cause.

We’ve been doing happy hours, speaker series, workshops and more since November 2018. I started the group with Leon Hovanesian, a Business Strategy Manager at Doblin, because we realized that there is more than one way to be successful as a “business designer.” My journey from my formal education to my career in product management may look different from Leon’s journey on paper, but what we realized through our initial conversations way back was how similar our perspectives on innovation and systems thinking were. We were also super-passionate about tracking all of the changes in the industry and how they were impacting our peers and those graduating from places like the Institute of Design, Kellogg plus other schools teaching business design.

I started this group because I hate formal networking, but I love talking about hybrid thinking. I don’t want people to come to our events because they are seeking a job or trying to level up their LinkedIn profile. I want people to form meaningful connections and I want our content to speak to people who think these things matter.

One of the first exercises we ever did as a group was to get people together to talk about whether they felt more aligned to a business discipline with design empathy or a design discipline with business empathy. We did this in a physical space where we could actually line ourselves up along that spectrum and have a conversation about why we placed ourselves where we did. These moments are really special because they showcase why we are different from your traditional meetup group. Creating the right environment to bring together people from business and design backgrounds of all types is really what this is all about.

Outside of Business Designer | Chicago, I spend a lot of time giving back to tennis. I worked with EPIC Chicago to do a brand refresh for the non-profit Tennis Opportunity Program (I’m the treasurer of the organization). I also worked with some people at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association to provide advisory support for Tennis for America, a post-graduate year of service for collegiate athletes to give back.

I have some other side projects I’ve wanted to kick off but never really had the same momentum. At some point, I want to either start a venture studio, build a tennis club or start my own company.

How do you manage to work on your side project(s)?

It’s all about having the right people around you to help manage your energy levels. It’s really easy to get super-excited about an idea and do a ton of work in a vacuum and then burn out quickly. I like to put an initial idea on paper and then socialize it a ton with friends, family members and people’s opinions who I really value. Some people may think it’s crucial to keep a novel idea a secret, but I actually think the opposite. So much of getting a good idea right is in the execution itself. I also think these conversations energize me just as much as the work itself.

COVID has made it really hard for me to keep this up. My day job has been pretty all-consuming and with such little separation between the home office and the virtual office, I often don’t want to look at a screen outside of work hours. I’m looking forward to the coffee shop conversations, drinks and whiteboard sessions in the post-COVID world.

Why have a side project?

A career is so much more than the things we do at work. Additionally, our jobs should not define us. I’ve always thought of myself as a builder and a connector, but at times during my career, I’ve felt like I couldn’t own the process of planting a seed of an idea and growing it into a living breathing organism. With a side project, you can do that at your own leisure on your own timeline. I find that type of autonomy refreshing. I also think of side projects as a way to test the waters without diving in headfirst. I can dabble in something new. I can put it down and pick it up when I want. Lastly, the people I’ve met through all of these experiences is what makes this worthwhile. Being intentional with my time and having things I’m truly passionate about are really important to me.

• • •

Diptych courtesy of Adam Attas.

LinkedIn’s Insights Manager Hallie Moldawer Reinforces Enablement When it Pertains to Launching Products and Services

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Mon, 03 May 2021 05:00:00 +0000

In her recent talk with data-skills school Promotable, Hallie Moldawer, Senior Insights Manager at LinkedIn, stated: “A big piece of it is enablement.” She referred to the practical reception of data-driven products and services. The awareness, use and ultimate success of these creations relies on enablement.

“Enable” is one of those go-to business proclamations. However regularly it comes up in project stakeholder gatherings and the media, “enable” is essentially–in the product-and-service-building sense—about helping people accomplish a task, a goal, an effort. Nudging them steadily toward gaining moments of productivity.

For example, the software industry is ripe with enablers, from tool tips to notifications to voice-commands to touchless transactions and more. All of which are debatable in their benefits and side effects (such as “notification addiction”). Yet, the drive “to enable” the user stays in line with the aggressive and aspirational plans of business, design and tech.

Paired with her acknowledging the benefits of enablement, Hallie grounded this persistent talking (and implementing) point among managers, strategists, designers, engineers, et al., with a plainspoken technique—bluntly put as: “So what?” Early on in her career as a data analyst when she was putting together and presenting data-driven models, her audience, particularly director-level types, reacted with responses such as: “So how is this relevant?” or “Why does this matter?” In essence: “So what?” A direct question, straightforward and succinct—so Hemingway.

At the same time, prudent to have a so-what attitude where “so” is the critical-thinking qualifier: so how does this analysis inform a business decision; so how does this initiative enhance company culture; so how does this research improve a product’s usability and adoption … So what? It’s a tried-and-true prompt to take thoughts to the next level.

When it comes to problem-solving, when data is involved, when expectations matter in making business, when design and tech are steered continually to work together favorably, Hallie's push of rigorous enablement is not subject to complacency—so not the time!

Thanks again to Promotable who amplify their virtual workshops with talks organized regularly online! Explore their channel on YouTube.

Support Design Feast on Patreon!
Your visiting means a lot. Lots of hours are put into making Design Feast—because it’s a labor of love to champion creative culture and help bring its diverse perspectives to everyone. If you are able to contribute, please consider becoming a Patron to support this long-term passion project of mine with a recurring monthly donation—every bit of support makes a difference in allowing me to produce and publish on a regular basis. Thank you for your consideration!

Design Feast’s Makers Series—112th Interview: Shayla Hunter Created “The 100 Black Queens Project” to Show What It Means to Be a Black Woman Now

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Sun, 25 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

This COVID-19 pandemic can be described as one, massive inflection point—especially when it concerns race and gender. Both have been sharply pronounced in their humanity—culturally, socially, economically—as factors to keep unpacking toward progress over crisis. In her proactive effort of “The 100 Black Queens Project,” Shayla Hunter takes into account race and gender through visual storytelling that is personal, grounded and absolutely timely. Here, Shayla elaborates on her uniting advocacy and creativity—applied to an effort super-focused on revealing the raw experiences of Black women in society.

An awesome moment—to have discovered you through your creation of “The 100 Black Queens Project” in 2017 when you also shared more about it in the Design Feast series focused on Side Projects. This past year in 2020, how has this creative initiative of yours evolved?

The project has continued to grow and evolve in several ways. My process of working is about the same as when it started. I find incredible queens of all ages to feature for the project from all over, either through social media, introductions and by reading about who’s doing inspiring things. Creatively, I’ve introduced watercolor to my original medium of color pencils. I’m really enjoying the added texture and depth watercolor paints brings to the portraits. This past year, I also added more to the Instagram feed with watercolor text statements focusing on themes that were and still are important to highlight and bring to the conversation. This includes the fight for racial injustice, Black Lives Matter, voting at the polls, as well as how Black women approached their self-care during those lockdown months in the beginning of the pandemic.

Which events of the past year have further motivated “The 100 Black Queens Project”? Why?

Last year, 2020, will forever be marked in our history. From the fights against racial injustice, Black women and men being shot, a virus taking the lives of hundreds of thousands, especially in Black and Brown communities, a big voting year, the list goes on. It was a huge educational year for many of us and you saw Black women still standing tall and using their voices and fighting to make a change. From our first Black and Asian-American Vice President Kamala Harris, to Stacey Abrams, to the WNBA, it’s important that we’re celebrated.

Who has participated recently in your project—contributing their voices to it?

Each woman and girl that is part of the project is inspiring in some way. Some of the voices I’ve been really excited about most recently include comedian and actor …

Thanks for your interest!

Join Design Feast on Patreon to continue reading.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 346 insightful interviews with an incredible range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.

Design Feast’s Makers Series—111th Interview: In her latest book “Trustworthy,” Margot Bloomstein Gives both Informed Motivation and Methods Against the Cheap Refuge of Cynicism

noreply@blogger.com (Nate Burgos) — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 14:00:00 +0000

More than a meme, trust is the ultimate basis in relationships. Margot Bloomstein is a Speaker and Content Strategist examines the critical importance of this all-seasons quality in her new book—“Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap.” It is, as Margot put it, “the fierce urgency of now” that reinforces sharply the challenge of expressing and executing trust in business, design and tech—most of all, throughout society. Here, Margot expands on her research of trust within the context of industry in her latest book—six years in the making.

1. In a business sense, what is trust?

Trust is the currency of connection. In business, trust is the way we invest our attention, decide to broker partnerships, and choose to open our wallets—and minds. The opposite of trust is cynicism. When we’re cynical, we turn away from opportunities to connect and learn.

2. How did you arrive at writing your book “Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap”?

In the 2016 election cycle, I noticed that public response to bald-faced deceit in politics was shifting. A tide of cynicism and blind faith seems to overtake accountability. We didn’t see politicians face the same kind of repercussions that previously accompanied bad behavior. If cynicism was undermining trust, I wanted to know why—and if it would be a problem outside of politics. Years of gaslighting from politicians and media outlets lured people into complacent information consumption. We’ve turned away from experts, retreated into filter bubbles, and fallen prey to disinformation about election security, vaccines, and climate change. This trend started in politics, but now affects business, education, and public health. When cynicism undermines trust, it becomes everyone's problem—certainly, if you’re a brand trying to sell something or engage in marketing. So what can we do about it?

That’s the question I wanted to answer for my clients and colleagues. I wrote “Trustworthy” to figure out new tactics for designers, content creators, and marketers to respond to the challenge of trust in an increasingly cynical society.

3. Regarding the quality of trustworthy, what company/brand first comes to mind? What are top ways they’re engaging to earn and re-earn their reputation of trust?

One of the first brands I researched was …

Thanks for reading so far this Design Feast interview.

Read this full interview and more by supporting Design Feast on Patreon. If you’re able to, please become a Patron of Design Feast today from $1 and up—it only takes a minute. Your monthly contribution will give you full access to this interview and those upcoming with extraordinary creators and their perspectives. Stay both informed and inspired.

What will stay free to completely explore at Design Feast are the 345 insightful interviews with an incredible range of Designers, Bloggers, Makers and realizers of Side Projects.