Explore every episode of the podcast Designing in the Wild: The Industrial Design Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Design, Biomimicry & More: Designing in the Wild Season 3 (Trailer) | 25 Sep 2026 | 00:03:16 | |
Designing in the Wild is back for Season 3 — and this time, we're going video. This season, I'm sitting down with designers, researchers, biomimicry experts, sustainability consultants, software modelers, design directors, manufacturing professionals, and other people doing genuinely interesting work across the design world. We'll get into everything from industrial design and manufacturing to Rhino and Grasshopper, biomimicry, sustainability, emerging tools, design leadership, and the realities of building things in the real world. I've spent more than 20 years working as an end-to-end industrial designer, on projects ranging from Amazon's smart shopping carts to net-zero tiny homes and consumer products. Designing in the Wild is my opportunity to step outside my own practice and learn from people with different perspectives, disciplines, and experiences — and bring those conversations back to the wider design community. The goal is simple: useful conversations with interesting people that leave you with new ideas, skills, perspectives, or inspiration you can take back into your own work. Season 3 will feature 10 episodes, released weekly. And for the first time, you'll be able to watch the conversations as well as listen. Subscribe and follow Designing in the Wild so you don't miss the new season. Let's get after it. | |||
| #012 Season 2: Robert Irwin - Senior Industrial Designer, Founder of LearnIndustrialDesign.com, Principal Sustainability Consultant at irwindesigned | 01 May 2024 | 00:26:04 | |
Senior Industrial Designer Rob Irwin charts two decades of sustainable practice, from biomimetic lawn-dart redesigns to net-zero houses with $12 power bills. Along the way he demystifies lifecycle thinking: extraction, processing, manufacturing, distribution, use, upgrades, end-of-life, and transport. Rob critiques the limits of current LCA tools—“CO₂ is not the whole story”—and spotlights hidden health impacts like polyester microfibers. He closes with a challenge to designers: treat environmental criteria as a primary design requirement, right alongside cost, form, and function. | |||
| #011 Season 2: Jason Belaire - IDSA Chair(2021-2022) | Belworld Creative, INC. Talks of living abroad, childhood abuse, empathy, social projects around the world, and sustainability | 28 Sep 2023 | 01:13:20 | |
In this episode we speak to Jason Belaire about being different, cultural shock, designing amidst new cultures, sustainability, and the need for more to be educated on the direct impact the industrial design profession has on our environment, communities, and thought process. | |||
| #010: Andre Brown - Principal Engineer on Amazon's Transportation Sustainability Team - Digital vs. Physical Prototyping, Creating Flat Hierarchies within Teams, Innovating Faster, Designing in Virtual Reality, Eggs and Vacuum Cleaners, Procedural Design. | 01 Mar 2022 | 01:22:03 | |
Digital vs. Physical: When to Prototype—and When to Simulate | |||
| #009 - Unleashing Creativity Through User-Driven Storytelling - Sam Feller - Human-Centered Engineering, Team Management, Tracking Deliverables, Tactics for Problem Solving | 21 Feb 2022 | 01:01:47 | |
| #008: Blood In The Water: Americas Assault on Innovation - Kip Doyle - Patent Process, Product Innovation, Defending Patents, Napkin Sketch to Manufacturing | 14 Feb 2022 | 00:58:45 | |
We sit down and speak with the amazing, Kip Doyle - Author, Inventor, Patent Defender. We talk about her painful story of inventing a product and then going up against Big Tech to defend her patents. She offers up invaluable insights on how to go about protecting your IP, which lawyers to hire, and her new book release, Blood In The Water: America's Assault on Innovation. | |||
| #007: It's Time We Start Thinking Beyond the User - Dan Griner - Director of Design, Innovation, and Strategy at University of Colorado Denver | 07 Feb 2022 | 01:01:01 | |
Dan comes to the interview with a level of humility for design that we all should aspire. In this episode we walk the path of Dan's story from accident to excellence. We talk about the responsibility that designers have to go beyond just making the pretty object and expand into realms of meta-design to go beyond just the end user and truly think in terms of a products life cycle, cradle to cradle. | |||
| #006: The Creators Revolution + Mid-Week Update - February 2, 2022 | 02 Feb 2022 | 00:05:14 | |
Creative disciplines have been undervalued since the industrial revolution began. I drop a quick anecdote to the misunderstood values industrial design offers...and catch you up on what's next! | |||
| #005: Industrial Designer Turned Concept Artist, Todd Hebenstreit - Facebook Oculus Designer, VR aficionado, UI/UX Savant, Analog to Digital, Game Design, Era Specific Influence, and Process | 31 Jan 2022 | 01:37:56 | |
Buckle up! This ones a longer format interview, but much warranted. | |||
| Mid-Week Update - January 27, 2022 | 27 Jan 2022 | 00:02:17 | |
Quick drop on what I've been up to behind the scenes at, Designing In The Wild, and what to expect in the coming weeks. You won't want to miss out! | |||
| #004: Why We Need to Be Tinkering More: Industrial Designer Jorge Paricio - Open-Ended Exploration, Sketching and Ideation, Material Knowledge, Confirmation Bias, and Getting Out To Talk With End Users. | 24 Jan 2022 | 01:18:40 | |
Jorge Paricio - We talk, self-discovery through exploring, failing, and experimenting more! Being a mentor, and being mentored. How to start your own tinker shop, Human factors, Why 200 sketches are better than 2 polished renderings, Speaking with end-users in order to make a better product, Confirmation Bias, The evolution of Industrial Design, and Tools for the trade. | |||
| #003: Getting A Design Job Out Of College | 21 Jan 2022 | 00:09:26 | |
Your host, Rob Irwin gives you pointers taken from his experience navigating his first design job straight out of college. He offers practical knowledge and tips for nailing your first job as a designer. | |||
| #002: Rob Irwin Takes Us On His Journey To Becoming An Industrial Designer | 17 Jan 2022 | 00:19:00 | |
Your host, Rob Irwin introduces himself and his story. He takes us on a journey to becoming an Industrial Designer, the mentors he had along the way, and the epiphany that shook him back to the calling of Design. | |||
| #001: Do you really want to listen to this Podcast? | 14 Jan 2022 | 00:01:31 | |
A quick heads up on what this podcast is all about, so you can decide if it's the right time for you to...level up! | |||