The Dadsigner Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Chris is a designer living in Saratoga Springs, NY. After years of working at agencies big and small, he moved his wife and two boys from Tennessee back to upstate NY.

Chris has a breadth of work from his time at both Vayner Media (Gary V’s agency) to Wendy’s commercials while at a video agency. His focus now is balancing freelance brand development work with his family responsibilities.

In this episode, family focus and client relationships come to the forefront. Chris was a delight to speak with.

You can find him on social media @iam_lgd or see his incredible work at logsdon.design

The guest this week is Dan Cash.

Dan is a dad and branding designer in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.

In this episode, we talk about being a self-taught designer and turning that into a career. Dan shares tips on sketching, talks about being active on social media, and how each child poses their own learnings and challenges.

Dan’s work can be found at dancashdesign.com and he’s on social media @dancashdesign.

Andrew Bly, New York-based designer and father of one, sat down and chatted about his design work, being a dad, and how the two intertwine.

We discuss how we met via @nycpalette on Instagram, and how that project became a labor of love that got a lot of attention.

We also talk through Andrew's design work with several food and beverage companies. Fresh Fizz, Fabalish, and Temple Bar.

Other companies and accounts that come up during the conversation:

- Snax Shot on instagram (@snaxshot)

- Young Jerks: youngjerks.com/

To follow along with Andrew"

- heyacb.com

- @hey_acb on Instagram and Threads

- @82acb on TikTok

Episode 1 of the Dadsigner Podcast featuring Mike Meulstee (@artisticdork). In this episode, I sit down with Mike to talk about parenting and design. We cover topics like why some super markets are terrible, collaborating with other designers for fun, and how Pentagram's Reddit Snoo was borrowed from Mike's original.

Mike also shares about his current favorite kids book illustrator: Vashti Harrison. She's created a series of Little Dreamer books and her work can be found at: https://www.vashtiharrison.com/vashti-harrison-illustration

If you want to connect with Mike online visit his on all the social channels @artisticdork or at artisticdork.com

The guest this week is Peter Deltondo.

Peter is a dad, product designer, and people leader. He co-runs the annual design conference, Creative South, and is also a partner in the agency, Heyo.

In this episode, we talk about raising kids you like to spend time with, how Creative South is like a giant family reunion, and dive a bit into some of the work that Heyo does.

It’s evident if you spend any time talking with Peter that he’s genuine and truly cares.

And there’s some talk about Sophie Mills, the creator of Grumpy Frog in the episode, you can get her merch here: https://www.gcgrumpyfrog.com/shop

Iquan is a father of 3 boys and a partner in the agency Artoiholiks.

In our conversation, we discuss raising creative kids and leaning into their interests and skills. Two of his boys are interning or helping out with creative pursuits. Everything from photography to logo design.

Iquan talks about some of his familial influences on his art and dives into a couple of his favorite projects.

You can find Iquan at either @iquanw or the Artoholoiks at @theartoholiks.

Jason is a father of 2 boys and runs 2 creative agencies. One with his wife called Caldeira Co. and a second with a more robust team called Nerve Collective.

In this episode we talk a good amount about Jason’s small Chicago home and how intentional they are with design and order.

We also dive into Jason’s design work and balancing that with being a dad. It’s a great conversation and Jason’s intentionality is infectious!

Follow Jason on social @caldeira.co

This week Michael Asire joined me on the podcast. Michael and I went to college together and so it was great to connect again over this conversation.

We dive into 2 side projects that Michael has created in the last 10 years, Typeblocks and some abstracted creatures made out of basic shapes. We also dive into quite a bit of conversation about textbook design. An area Michael has invested his career in.

Listen to the conversation not just for the design aspect but also for the ways his children have influenced his work.

Guest Randy Plemel is a Public Sector designer living in Queens NY with his wife and 2 kids.

In this episode we dig into Randy's experiential design projects, including how he encourages his kids to get involved.

We dive deep into a project called Block Builders where Randy illustrated and printed stickers for New Yorkers to build their own ideal version of a city block.

Randy promotes curiosity in his children by providing the tools and space for them to create on a whim.

He owns a design studio called Expedition Works and his work can be found at https://expedition.works/ and his podcast called Journey with Purpose can be found at https://jwp.news/pod/

Jason Frosthold joined me this week. He's a branding designer and design professor in Mobile, Alabama. He has two teenage boys and runs a design studio with his wife. In this episode we dive into teaching his boys design principles and cover a bunch of Jason’s work. Everything from his Grad thesis work to bringing humans forward in an engineering marketing campaign.

Here are some links to things we talk about:

Go: A Kidd’s Guide to Graphic Design by Chip Kidd

I inaccurately called David Sedaris, “David Sudeikis”… maybe he’ll have a cameo in the next season of Ted Lasso?

You can find Jason @jfrostholm on threads and Instagram or visit his sites:

jasonfrostholm.com

ildisdesign.com