There Is No Neutral Design: Megan Kasselberg, Senior UX Writer and Content Designer, Material Design
The storytelling and strategy that goes into a design system as vast as Material Design.
Design Notes
Design Notes is a show about creative work and what it teaches us. Each episode, I speak with people from unique creative fields to discover what inspires and unites us in our practice.
Beyond the Text Field: Louise Macfadyen, Author of Designing AI Interfaces
Managing the conceptual distance between what AI actually does and what people imagine it can do, with Designing AI Interfaces author Louise Macfadyen
The Era of the Generalist: Rachel Been, SVP of Design for Expedia Group
How AI is breaking linear design paradigms and why, in an age of potential "design slop," deep curiosity and human-centered craft are more important than ever.
Other Than Expected: Fabian Bircher on Combining Art, Architecture, and Code
Fabian discusses his unique creative process, where inspiration flows from both artistic concepts and the discovery of new technological possibilities.
Design Can’t Rely on Logic: Troy Leinster on Type Design and Human Perception
Why learning to make letters makes you a better designer.
The User Brings the Confetti: Rob Giampietro on Scaling a Human-Centered Brand
Rob details Notion Faces' journey from an internal tradition to a major public launch, including the pivotal decision to scale with human illustrators instead of AI.
True is Better Than New: David Reinfurt, A *Co–* Program for Graphic Design
How individual perspective is the real driver of design as a practice.
Material Design Gets Expressive: Aneesha Kommineni, Andy Stewart, and Michael Gilbert
The latest evolution of Google’s design system: Material 3 Expressive.
Beauty Across the Board: Rich Fulcher, UX Director
Rich Fulcher on game design, UX systems, and beautifying Google products
Breaking Silos (and Metaphors): Adrian Secord, ‘Roving Engineer,’ Google
The complexities of large-scale design systems and how designers and engineers can find common ground.
Code, Creativity, Performance: Will Larche, Engineering Manager, Google
Engineering as the "study of making choices."
Fab Components: Bethany Fong, Design Director
How the heady early days of Material unfolded.
Facing Our Interfaces: Matías Duarte, Google
Matías Duarte on why the interface's only limitation is imagination... and battery life.
Designing Better Code: Connie Shi and Matvei Malkov, Google Material Design
On what makes software engineering a true creative practice.
How Fonts Change the World: Dave Crossland, Google Fonts
Exploring the impact of digital type on our lives, on software production, and on the future of design.
Coding (and Decoding) Social Spaces: Judith Donath, Founder, MIT Sociable Media Group
Exploring potential futures for life online and the joy of learning (and sharing) something new.
Fearless Design: Aline Borges, The Florist
The power of composition, and the importance of community.
The Impact of Shared Space: Ignacio Ciocchini, Public Furniture Designer
How the built environment expands, constrains, and informs our experiences of life in a city.
Digital Anthropology: Tom Boellstorff, “Coming of Age in Second Life”
Anthropologist Tom Boellstorff on life—and the future—in virtual space.
Fashion From Another Planet: Julian Zigerli, Zürich Fashion Designer [SF Design Week]
Fashion designer Julian Zigerli on un-gendering clothes, cultural influence, and adaptation.
The Surprising Poetry of AI: BJ Best, ArtyBots
Poet BJ Best on teaching computers to do what humans can’t.
The Magic Question for Creativity: Laurie Rosenwald, Illustrator and Author
Illustrator and author Laurie Rosenwald on how to make mistakes on purpose and avoiding being alone with a blank page.
Learning From Your Virtual Twin: Kerry Murphy, Co-founder, The Fabricant
Kerry Murphy on how his virtual fashion house, The Fabricant, explores ideas of embodiment through clothing that can only exist in virtual space.
A Prompt for Creative Renewal: David Reinfurt, “A *New* Program for Graphic Design”
ORG Founder David Reinfurt on how identity intersects design, and what art and design have in common.
Material Design Awards, 2019
How four teams harnessed Material’s components and code to craft award-winning experiences.
The Psychedelic Spark: GMUNK
GMUNK on the psychedelic origins of his aesthetic and the importance of discomfort.
Vulnerability, Technology, and Art: Qianqian Ye, Artist & Creative Coder
Exploring our shared vulnerabilities—and shared futures—in ink and code.
How Machines Help Us See Ourselves: Harvey Moon, New Media Artist
On getting to know your tools and the art only technology can create.
Art as Survival: Conor Grebel, Bedtimes
Artist Conor Grebel unpacks the relationship between his personal experiences and creative work.
I Hate Music Videos (But I Love Making Music): Katie Garcia & Dustin Payseur, Bayonet Records
Bayonet Records founders Katie Garcia and Dustin Payseur on collaborating with musicians.
What We Can Learn From Our Work: Liam Spradlin, Host of Design Notes
Host Liam Spradlin reflects on the first 25 episodes of the podcast.
The Most Transformative Job in the World: Rob Giampietro, Design Director, MoMA
MoMA’s Rob Giampietro on how design shapes our understanding of the world around us.
What Do You See; How Do You Feel? Clinton Cargill, Visual Director, Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair’s visual director Clinton Cargill on looking at photography with intent.
Owning Your Values: Ksenya Samarskaya
Connecting type design to history and cultural identity with Ksenya Samarskaya.
You Cannot Be What You Cannot See: Bee Grandinetti & Hedvig Ahlberg, Panimation
Exploring the music and movement of motion design with Bee Grandinetti and Hedvig Ahlberg.
Material Design Awards 2018
How four teams harnessed Material’s components and code to craft award-winning experiences.
“We Should Do Something Together.” Tuuli & Kivi Sotamaa, Ateljé Sotamaa
Tuuli and Kivi Sotamaa discuss their very first collaboration and an interest in experiences that aren’t stripped of friction.
The Music of Design: Marko Ahtisaari
Taking a holistic perspective on Finnish design tradition, Marko Ahtisaari unpacks how the country’s societal values shaped its technologies.
AI, Identity, and Storytelling: Stephanie Dinkins
Stephanie Dinkins unpacks why we should engage with AI, and her experience befriending the AI robot Bina48.
What It's Like to Really Know: James Bridle, “New Dark Age”
James Bridle explores the importance of having agency in the complex systems in which we live.
Asking, “How Does It Make You Feel?” Isabelle Olsson, VP of Design, Google Home
Isabelle Olsson explores the approach that lead to the unique aesthetic of Google hardware.
Absolutely Everything Is a Lesson: Jesse Reed, Standards Manual
Identity designer Jesse Reed on the lasting power of brand standards.
The Aesthetics of Overload: Ryan Snelson
Designer Ryan Snelson on inventing your own aesthetic and challenging industry norms.
Hidden Design: Sang Mun, YAW Studio
Interdisciplinary designer Sang Mun on how privacy-focused design can empower users.
Design, Humor, and Social Change: Libby VanderPloeg, Illustrator
Illustrator Libby VanderPloeg explores the relationship between art and artist.
Can Robots Be Curious? Madeline Gannon, Design Researcher and Robot Tamer
Design researcher Madeline Gannon on taming robots and reinventing the ways humans and machines interact.
Cardboard Carpentry: Alexandra Lange, “The Design of Childhood”
Architecture critic Alexandra Lange explores the design of childhood — from the sandbox to the street.
Designing the Identity of Design Notes
How the Design Notes visual identity took shape.
Designing Tools is Awesome: Cameron Koczon, Partner at Fictive Kin
Fictive Kin’s Cameron Koczon on understanding the foundational impact of design.
Failure as an Art Form: Nathan Martin, CEO, Deeplocal
Deeplocal CEO Nathan Martin on punk rock and authenticity.
Throw Away the Settings Menu: Bennett Foddy, Game Designer, “Getting Over It”
Game designer Bennett Foddy on “Getting Over It” and the expressive power of frustration.
When Buildings Get Bored: Molly Wright Steenson, “Architectural Intelligence”
Designer and professor Molly Wright Steenson on lessons from the early foundations of AI.
How to Design Like a Jazz Musician: Mitch Paone, Principle, Dia Studio
DIA Principle and Creative Director Mitch Paone on the parallels between jazz and design practice.
How Games Taught Us to Teach: Luis von Ahn, Founder, Duolingo
Talking Turing Tests and gamifying education with Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of DuoLingo.
Wearable Art: William Okpo, Fashion Designers Lizzy & Darlene Okpo
Exploring the intersection of expression and utility in fashion design.
Material Design Awards 2017
Talking design systems and user-first experiences with the winners of the 2017 Material Design Awards
From War Room to Playroom: Talbot & Yoon, Furniture and Object Designers
Talbot & Yoon discuss designing objects that encourage play.
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