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Explore every episode of the podcast Designer & Designer

Dive into the complete episode list for Designer & Designer. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.

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1–50 of 51

TitlePub. DateDuration
Growth25 avr. 202500:44:51

Mentioned

Topics Discussed

  •  Growth ladders: how to define and measure designer growth
  •  Craft vs. Influence vs. Ownership vs. Communication vs. Engagement
  •  Developing fair, non-linear growth frameworks (including a Medium-inspired "Snowflake Tool")
  •  Challenges of upper-level design leadership (craft ≠ promotion criteria)
  •  Managing biases and subjectivity in design career advancement
  •  Importance of presence and communication (even on Slack!)
  •  Transitioning from craft-focused design to diplomacy, storytelling, and team leadership
  •  Reflection on the potential "end of an era" for traditional product design careers
  •  Life reflections: parenting, aging, mortality, and evolving beyond professional identity
  • 🎬 Sneak peek: Next season’s theme — Top 10 Design Films exploration!

Pull Quotes

  • "At the upper levels, it's not about pixels anymore — it's about affecting change within other human beings." — Joe
  • "Presence matters. Even in Slack. It’s visibility, engagement, and political capital." — Brian
  • "We’ve reached the end of something... but the beginning of something else." — Brian
  • "Growth isn’t just learning new tools — it’s learning how to move people and systems." — Joe

📣 Shout-outs

To everyone who has listened across these 50 episodes — thank you for helping us grow. To our future selves: onward to new creative adventures (and maybe even bagel making).

Connect with Joe & Brian

Outro music: Bridge to Hawaii by Tacocat
 

 

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Prompts vs Pixels19 avr. 202500:46:40

Mentioned

Topics Discussed

  • Large Language Models (LLMs) vs other AI technologies
  • The rapid standardization of AI interface patterns
  • AI tools in designers' current workflows
  • Multi-shot prompts and agentic systems
  • The tension between "prompts vs pixels" in product development
  • How AI is changing the designer's role
  • The new "industrial revolution" we're experiencing with AI

Pull Quotes

  • "Most AI researchers believe that the AI models have already reached 100% scouring of the web, right? So anything that's public is probably in those foundational models, which means they're not really going to grow much in the next five years." –Brian
  • "It will make the most basic patterns. It will pull the most basic stuff... But what it won't do is it won't make it interesting." –Joe
  • "I was a little bit stunned by how quickly that locked into amber... that they're all chat-based interfaces. They all use magic wands or sparkles or something." –Joe
  • "A society that prioritizes productivity is a society without imagination... if the goal is to just get the data as fast as possible to do things better and faster, you are saving time for what?" –Joe
  • "This is a new enlightenment. This is a new industrial revolution... Everything is changing." –Joe

Other Resources on AI & Design

Connect with Joe & Brian

Outro music: In the Year 2525 by Zager & Evans

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Mini Episode: Zuckerberg, AI, and the Long Game11 avr. 202500:13:59

Mentioned

Topics Discussed

  • Big tech's rightward shift
  • Corporate motives behind progressive policies
  • Tech's abandoned idealism
  • Reclaiming technology for social good
  • Finding hope in alternative platforms

Pull Quotes

  • "There was all this optimism about changing the world, making the world a better place."
  • "The masks are off and you understand that a lot of the family friendly policies and the pride banners and all that stuff, it is strictly employee morale capture."
  • "The bloom is off the rose."
  • "We've got to figure out a way to take it back. Social media and the web, those are ours. That belongs to us, the people."
  • "Long game, long game. Let's collect our shit together, support each other. We can do this."

Connect with Joe & Brian

Outro music: Hard Times by Baby Huey

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Big Rooms, Small Rooms04 avr. 202500:45:34

Mentioned

Topics Discussed

  • How did we get to this place of totally siloed communal activity?
  • Big Rooms and Small Rooms
  • Where the Weird Still Is
  • Making the web civic-minded again

Ethan Link's

Connect with Joe & Brian

Outro music: Delirium Tremens by Protector

✌️When in doubt, PLUR.✌️

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Presenting Design28 mars 202500:35:11

Mentioned

Topics Discussed

  • Why don't designers learn how to present design?
  • Do's and Don't for design presentations
  • To Neg or Not to Neg? That is the question.
  • The exhausting reality of "performing"

Pull Quotes

  • "Amateur hour is when someone spends all their bullets in the first minute... You got to keep some in reserve." –Joe
  • "If you act like you've done this so many times that you know what the problem is and you are bored by the details, you have convinced someone already that you can solve it." –Joe
  • "People gather artifacts and data when they don't trust themselves to actually have the answer." –Joe
  • "I continue to believe that we have the hardest job out of anyone in technology because we have to balance so many different things." –Brian
  • "It's the job." –Brian

Connect with Joe & Brian

Outro music: How To Get Your Ass Kicked by Sparks

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

The Burn Book21 mars 202500:29:55

Burn Victims

• FAANG as a validator
• FAANG's lack of innovation
• Armchair Logo Art Direction
• Amateur hour in the design space
• MAU/DAU is a broken concept
• Uber is the ultimate example of enshittification
• An attempt to not look at my phone
•"Chimping"
• Text messaging needs a reinvent
• What's App is terrible
• "Founder Mode"
• Alegria Art is an abomination
 

Pull Quotes

"I've seen incredibly talented people passed on because they don't have a FAANG background."
"If tomorrow they found out burning kittens in a barrel would make their stock price go up four points, they would do it so fucking fast."
"I think you can make something extremely valuable, that you don't touch a lot."
"Uber has made the world worse in every conceivable way"
"Can you stand still and look around for 10 minutes? I bet you can't."
"Founder Mode is just a new term for micromanagement"
"Teaching is thing the that taught me how to be a better leader."


Connect with Joe & Brian

Website: designer.fm

Email: designer@designer.fm

Don't forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to us!

Outro music: Rumors by Lizzo (ft. Cardi B)

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Risk14 mars 202500:43:32

Mentioned

Topics Discussed

  • The delicate balance between following established patterns and advocating for innovative design solutions
  • How life circumstances (family obligations, debt, financial security) fundamentally change our relationship with risk
  • The consulting advantage: why outside perspectives have more freedom to propose radical ideas
  • The shifting landscape of design opportunities from the mobile revolution to today's uncertain AI frontier
  • Why designers often self-censor their most authentic work out of fear or practicality

Pull Quotes

  • "Every big moment in my career was when I took one of those big swings."
  • "My job is to represent the user...even if it puts me at odds with my team."
  • "Every single good piece of work comes from a genesis of a personal experience."
  • "Risk is a clarification of one's priority list."
  • "I would never do anything to risk my family or my children...nothing would be worth it."

Connect with Joe & Brian

Outro music: Play At Your Own Risk (12" Version) by Planet Patrol

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

The Future of Design with Dave Miller08 mars 202500:50:33

In this episode, Brian and Joe welcome back Dave Miller from Design Citizen to discuss the evolving landscape of design as a profession and what the future designer might look like. Dave shares insights from his recent LinkedIn article exploring design from 2025 through 2040, discussing how AI and accessible tools are transforming creative capabilities and what skills tomorrow's designers will need to thrive in an increasingly competitive market.

Mentioned

Topics Discussed

  • Dave's recent LinkedIn article about the future of design that "blew up"
  • The shift from specialist designers to "Omni designers" who can do a bit of everything
  • How AI and accessible tools are breaking down barriers to creativity
  • The changing economic landscape for designers and the job market
  • The value of design education in today's world
  • The challenges of cross-disciplinary collaboration between design, engineering, and product
  • How design can become a key differentiator in a world of sameness
  • The future of design leadership and who will be in charge of creative vision

Pull Quotes

  • "Everything's changed. I think everything's gonna change every year apparently." - Dave Miller
  • "I found myself all of a sudden seeing that I was exploring adjacent areas of what I'm technically qualified to do and not doing a bad job at it." - Dave Miller
  • "The hottest thing in the market right now is essentially the player coach. It's the adult in the room that could manage... but they are particularly skilled in the craft." - Dave Miller

About Dave

Dave Miller is the founder of Design Citizen, a recruiting and coaching firm dedicated to helping designers thrive. With over 20 years of experience in the creative industry, he draws on the insights and trends he uncovers through conversations with the remarkable people and companies he collaborates with. For more of Dave’s perspectives on the ever-evolving world of design, follow him here on LinkedIn.

Connect with Joe & Brian

Outro music: Pressure Washer vs Techno by @Klangphonics 

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

The Dunning-Kruger Effect28 févr. 202500:42:07

The Dunning-Kruger Effect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

The Continuity Girl
https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/continuity-girl/

Joe's Latest Web Comic, The Custodian
https://goodwork.is/TheCustodian/

Design is Storytelling, by Ellen Lupton
https://www.cooperhewitt.org/publications/design-is-storytelling/

"Everyone thinks they have a sense of humor and good taste, but we can't all have good taste"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW8zvaTRuGo

Medieval Guilds
https://www.thoughtco.com/medieval-guilds-4147821

Outro Song
Et moi et moi et moi - Jacques Dutronc 

 

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

What Will Product Design Look Like In A Year?21 févr. 202500:34:40

"Meta’s Terrible AI Profiles Are Going Viral":
https://lifehacker.com/tech/instagram-has-official-ai-accounts-and-they-are-weird

AI2:
https://allenai.org/

The Singularity Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/

Charles Baudelaire on Photography:
https://www.csus.edu/indiv/o/obriene/art109/readings/11%20baudelaire%20photography.htm

Klout:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klout

A Gentleman in Moscow:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Gentleman_in_Moscow

Sam Altman's Popped Collars
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/sam-altman-sama

Outro Song
Time Hard - The Pioneers
 

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

AI-ay-ay14 févr. 202500:40:38

"Generative AI fuels creative physical product design but is no magic wand"
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/generative-ai-fuels-creative-physical-product-design-but-is-no-magic-wand

"Graphic design among most at-risk jobs from AI – report"
"https://www.designweek.co.uk/graphic-design-among-most-at-risk-jobs-from-ai-report/"

"Dieter - Your Virtual Head of Design"
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-LQEv5avuV-dieter-your-virtual-head-of-design



 

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

The New Design Enlightenment22 févr. 202400:50:13

Ep 40 Show Notes 

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

The Dark Age of UX20 oct. 202300:42:04

LinkedIn People who talk about this topic:

Hang Xu
https://www.linkedin.com/in/haxuco/

Peter Merholz
https://www.linkedin.com/in/petermerholz/

Manuel Lima
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mslima/

Erika Hall
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikahall/

-

Indeed UX Job Report
https://indeed.design/article/ux-job-listings-plunged-in-2023

Joe’s Small Jobs, Small Dreams
https://uxdesign.cc/small-jobs-small-dreams-7ed46faf46b0

Facebook is Chairs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSzoDPptYNA

Runway AI Motion Genertationhttps://runwayml.com

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Visual Thinking04 mai 202300:51:11

Temple Grandin: Society Is Failing Visual Thinkers, and That Hurts Us All
American schools are screening out too many of our visual and spatial thinkers.

A Comparative Study of Colour Effects on Cognitive Performance in Real-World and VR Environments
This research explores the influence of colour on cognitive performance and intellectual abilities (i.e., logical and lateral thinking abilities and people’s attention to detail) in a conventional laboratory setting and an approximately identical ...

Visual Thinkers Online Test

Buy Temple's book here!

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Layoffs!27 mars 202300:39:19

Show Notes

Workism Is Making Americans Miserable 
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/

Some decent Job Boards
https://www.ixda.org/jobs/
https://www.uxjobsboard.com/
https://dribbble.com/
https://www.earlystagedesignjobs.com/
https://www.krop.com/creative-jobs/ux-ui-designer/
https://jobs.smashingmagazine.com/jobs/

If you ever want a portfolio review, email us! designer@designer.fm

Stay strong out there ❤️

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Weirdos31 déc. 202200:38:24

Mentioned in this episode:

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

A View from the C-Suite with Gina Trapani13 déc. 202200:48:04
Brian and Joe talk to Gina Trapani, CEO of the digital product shop Postlight. Postlight has been unlocking solutions for clients for the past 10 years, and we ask Gina to let us in on the insights of a running a successful design and engineering business. We talk about moving from a Doer to a Leader, the importance of Discovery, and why it’s important to do the work special to you on the weekend.Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm
Are The Tools Driving Us?15 nov. 202200:53:21
Joe and Brian discuss the dispiriting trend of the current tech stack driving how products are built. What does it mean when a product is designed not for the user, customer, or output, but for ease of technical deployment? What will the future hold if that trend continues? Should try and stop it?Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm
Quick Hits02 nov. 202200:51:45


 

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Is IA Eating The World?29 janv. 202200:44:53

Kelli Goto's Web ReDesign:
https://www.powells.com/book/web-redesign-20-workflow-that-works-9780735714335

Gen Z Searches For Online Content Differently
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-gen-z-searches-for-content

Eli Parser's Filter Bubbles TED Talk:
https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles?language=en

James Burke's The K-Web
http://k-web.org/

O'Reilly's Information Architecture (The Polar Bear Book)
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/information-architecture-4th/9781491913529/

Ask A Librarian:
https://ask.loc.gov/

Stuart Brand's How Buildings Learn
https://www.powells.com/book/-9780140139969/17-4

Jessie James Garret's The Elements of UX
http://www.jjg.net/elements/#:~:text=Jesse%20James%20Garrett%20gives%20readers,create%20a%20successful%20user%20experience.

Edward Tufte:
https://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Why Do You Do What You Do?09 nov. 202100:38:03
Brian and Joe break down whether creative work is calling, or just a job? Can a creative person be just as happy keeping their creative work to their hobbies? Is making money as a creative part of what being a professional creative is? And where do blenders come in to all of this?Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm
'How are we doing out there?' with Dave Miller15 avr. 202100:48:28

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Ego & Empathy25 mars 202100:31:48

Mentioned in this episode:

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

The Craft of Design with Aaron Draplin16 févr. 202100:42:21

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

What is the Role of the Designer?28 janv. 202100:34:38

Mentioned in this episode:

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

The Check-In14 janv. 202100:33:41
Brian and Joe check-in with some designer friends and see how they’re holding up in this never-ending zoom call.Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm
Semiotics with Josh Glenn24 nov. 202000:48:25

Find more information about Josh Glenn and his work in semiotics at http://semiovox.com

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Design Tools22 oct. 202000:38:25
It's a Design Tools “Ball of Death” Match! Brian & Joe compare the pros and cons of common design tools like Sketch, Figma and Photoshop. They share their experiences of finding the right tool for the job and their preferred tools for getting sh*t done.Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm
Iterations with Jacob Covey07 oct. 202000:36:57

You can find more about Jacob Covey and his work at https://www.unflown.com

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Black Lives Matter10 juin 202000:34:26

Mentioned in this episode:

- Black Designers of Seattle

- Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus

- Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Ezra Klein Show

- So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo

- White Fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism by Robin Diangelo

Additional resources:

- Black Lives Matter &  Black Lives Matter Seattle

- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

- Anti-racist reading list for designers

- Resources In Defense of Black Lives

- What Not To Say To Your Black Colleagues Right Now

- Blacks Who Design

- Support Black Owned Businesses

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Observation in Design17 mars 202000:41:53

Mentioned in this episode:

- Joe's Original Post, Observation As A Prerequisite For Design (https://formidable.com/blog/2019/design-observation/)

- Ira Glass on the Taste Gap (https://vimeo.com/85040589)

- History of the Ampelmann (https://www.ampelmann.de/en/a-brand-with-a-history/)

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle (www.cloudstudiosseattle.com).

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

What does it take to create a design-led company?10 mars 202000:38:53

Mentioned in this episode:

- Are you asking enough from your design leaders?

- Design Maturity Model by InVision

- Future of Design in Start-Ups

- There's no guarantee your product strategy will work. Here's how to de-risk it

Special thanks to Catleah Cunanan for producing this episode. Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Can We Design A Better Future03 mars 202000:29:23

Special thanks to Catleah Cunanan for producing this episode. Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

How to Talk About Race & Design with Bekah Marcum24 févr. 202000:27:19

Connect with Bekah Marcum on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekahmarc/

And if you are a black designer in Seattle, be sure connect with Bekah's group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13668366/

Special thanks to Catleah Cunanan for producing this episode. Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Burnout13 févr. 202000:32:00

Mentioned in this episode:

- Frank Chimero's Burnout List is a great primer for this discussion

- The iPad Awkwardly Turns 10 by John Gruber

- Second Wave Gentrification by Charles Mudede

- Designers’ job satisfaction is plummeting. But why?

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Design For Good06 févr. 202000:37:26

Mentioned in the episode:

- Design Gigs for Good

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

How Do You Get Started?21 janv. 202000:31:21

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Can Anyone Be A Designer?15 janv. 202000:35:37

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Data vs. Intuition09 janv. 202000:28:57

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Everything is on Fire: A Guide to Product Management18 déc. 201900:35:04

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Defending Your Design10 déc. 201900:30:36

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Mistakes03 déc. 201900:32:32

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

A Designer&Designer Thanksgiving25 nov. 201900:19:04

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

How Deep Does Design Go?19 nov. 201900:37:51

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

What is Good Design?12 nov. 201900:29:03

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Imposter Syndrome02 nov. 201900:35:15

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

What is IA, UX, and UI?11 oct. 201900:27:49

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

The Design Interview27 sept. 201900:37:37

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Make the Web Weird Again13 sept. 201900:24:31

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

Failure31 août 201900:35:34

Recorded at Cloud Studios in Seattle.

Got something to say to us, good, bad or ugly? You can always email us at designer@designer.fm

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