As we continue our interviews with Offsite students, we are excited to interview the next batch of Offsite alumni. The students include Morgan Wolfe, Maria Mu, Joshua Hoffeld, and Chris Ference - all student designers who tuned in from different parts of the world to be part of this design experience. Given the nature of the pandemic, classes took place online. The central hub of our school is our Slack, which features all of our discussion boards and auxiliary content. Courses take place over Z...
Dec 24, 2020•52 min•Season 3Ep. 64
As we continue our interviews with Offsite students, we are excited to interview the next batch of Offsite alumni. Our first cohort was a careful selection of 52 skilled students representing over 10 different countries on every continent, except for Antarctica. This is by no mistake. There are not many design institutions in the world where upon waking up in the U.S. you are chatting with another student in Singapore who is finishing their day. Design often finds itself siloed by borders, and s...
Dec 24, 2020•56 min•Season 3Ep. 65
Our next guests are a group of design students who attended Offsite’s first cohort. The students include German Monetti, Henry Ripley, Taylor Mau, and Olive Kennington - all student designers who tuned in from different parts of the world to be part of this design experience. For this episode, the students talk about taking a risk and signing up for this program as a way to elevate their skills, they discuss how their skills evolved, how they made friends, and build an amazing community together...
Dec 24, 2020•55 min•Season 3Ep. 63
The conversation continues! We are interviewing Betsy Barnhart, the Program Director of Industrial Design at the University of Kansas. Betsy is focused on providing a connection between academic institutions and private practice to tackle large-scale, complex design problems. Prior to joining KU, Betsy was an Assistant Professor at Iowa State University where she led multi-disciplinary sponsored studios with a focus on market disruption and innovation. During our conversation with Betsy, we will...
Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 62
Our next guest is Matt Marchand, currently developing outdoor gear as an Industrial Designer with Dick's Sporting Goods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is passionate about an innovative incorporation of physics and philosophy into products. There is a lot to do, and he is thankful to be a part of the process. He loves to sketch and is always looking forward to a future of collaborations and learning. Thank you @matt.marchand for sharing your story and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be ...
Dec 10, 2020•47 min•Season 3Ep. 61
Our next guest is Hannah Fink, a San Francisco-based designer with a background in metal and woodworking. Her process is rooted in exploring form through physical model making and prototyping. A recent graduate of Pratt Institute’s MID program, she draws her inspiration from her former scuba diving and marine research career and hobbies like surfing, welding and weightlifting. Fink has her B.A. from Vassar College and her Masters of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. Thank you @therealhanna...
Dec 10, 2020•58 min•Season 3Ep. 60
Our next guest is Bengt Brummer, a Senior Industrial Designer at Google. He was born in Germany and spent his childhood in both Sweden and Germany in a bilingual family. After training and working as a chef in various countries in Europe and the US and earning a BFA in the Culinary Arts from Örebro University in Sweden, he attended Parsons School of Design in NYC. In 2011, he graduated with an MFA in Industrial Design from Konstfack. Bengt likes projects that cross disciplines - consumer electro...
Nov 30, 2020•54 min•Season 3Ep. 58
Our next guest is Danielle Chen, a Senior UX Designer at EY Design Studio where she creates user-centered, intuitive and delightful experiences across different industries including insurance, finance, and government services, etc. She considers play as an essential part of learning and creating deeper connections in our work and life, and is invigorated by expanding people's ways of thinking by exposing them to new and unique perspectives through the lens of play. She actively speaks about impo...
Nov 30, 2020•33 min•Season 3Ep. 59
Our next guests are Jeremiah Robison, Founder and CEO at CIONIC and Daniel Zarem, a Senior Industrial Designer at Fuseproject - who both worked on the VOX Ventilator. Fuseproject, in partnership with CIONIC, a medical device and technology start-up, and several independent mechanical engineering (ME) consultants, banded together to respond to the open innovation challenge. More than 200 teams from 43 different countries submitted their concepts, and our submission was selected as one of seven to...
Nov 22, 2020•39 min•Season 3Ep. 57
Our next guest Liana Thomson, an Accessories Product Developer at EQ3 where she leads design for the brand’s tabletop, decorative, and other accessories. In addition to her role in developing accessories for EQ3, Liana leads the packaging task force, working to ensure EQ3’s packaging standards are eco-friendly ensuring products offerings are sustainably enhanced and consciously created. Liana holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Manitoba with a focus in architecture. W...
Nov 16, 2020•27 min•Season 3Ep. 55
Our next guest Jeff Smith, an industrial designer and Cloud Adoption Specialist at Autodesk. Jeff has a rich product design and development history, and prior to joining Autodesk, he worked for more than 20 years as design director of Reflex Design, Inc. - a Florida based consulting group serving a range of domestic and international clients. The diversity of products included fitness equipment, medical, industrial, consumer and kitchen products. Jeff also spent eight years as adjunct faculty at...
Nov 16, 2020•52 min•Season 3Ep. 56
Once in a while, someone tells us to shut up about politics. If you want to avoid trouble, stay away from politics. Politics is a hot potato. You can’t sell things to people that are disagree with you. But then again, what is wrong with an industrial designer going out and taking a stand for sustainable products or methods? Or other things like education, healthcare, etc. If you can not agree, you can not work with them. Design is change. Change needs courage. All design is political. Today’s po...
Nov 09, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 3Ep. 54
Our next guest is Dave Joseph, an Industrial Designer who is a material fanatic, design thinker and all-around wonderful human being. Dave comes from a long line of product designers and entrepreneurs. It really is in his blood. Making significant contributions to product design across many brands including Milwaukee Tool, McDonalds, and Contigo, Dave has continued his family’s heritage of excellent design and innovation. After working on the Lunatik brand at MNML in Chicago, Dave launched his o...
May 10, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Season 2Ep. 52
Our next guest is Matt Carr, VP of Design at Umbra. Matt is an integral part of the Umbra design team since 2001, Matt has contributed countless designs to their product line. His work has been featured multiple times in The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph, Surface Magazine, I.D Magazine, Met Home, Monocle, and Living Etc. Matt is compelled to create products that balances business and imagination. Subtle details, an appreciation for imperfection, and the reinvention of traditional objects a...
May 10, 2020•36 min•Season 2Ep. 53
Our next guest is Brittany Pierone, the designer behind DI PIERONI, a luxury goods brand grounded in high taste. With a focus on utility and minimalism, these fashion necessities are premium and functional for life and travel. The brand seeks to speak to culture and timeless aesthetics and be useful to a range of lifestyles. Her team is focused on designing modern products, by honing the relationship between timeless materials and modern design lines. The brand’s mission is to partner with non-p...
May 03, 2020•43 min•Season 2Ep. 50
Our next guest is design educator Josh Owen, a Distinguished Professor and Director of Industrial Design at The Rochester Institute of Technology. Josh is also an award winning, internationally renowned industrial designer and author. His studio’s work is produced by significant manufacturers in the US and Europe, and the projects are featured in many permanent museum collections around the globe. Because Owen’s varied roles are in high demand, he is selective about the commissions from industry...
May 03, 2020•51 min•Season 2Ep. 51
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Howard Nuk, a Canadian industrial designer, entrepreneur , inventor , speaker, and co-founder of Palm Ventures Group, Inc. Born in Toronto , Canada, he lived there until his family moved to Ottawa at the age of 11. Nuk studied Industrial Design at Carleton University , School of Industrial Design, Faculty of Engineering. After graduation, Nuk was hired by the global design and innovation firm frog , based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he began working u...
Apr 26, 2020•1 hr 53 min•Season 2Ep. 49
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Sean Miller, a Design Team Leader in Industrial Design and Soft Goods at COSMO. Sean is looking to collaborate with other inspiring and talented people to share experiences with while building something great. As a designer he believes design is a necessity in order to create meaningful products to properly shape the world. These experiences influence how we function, feel and think about ourselves and our surroundings. Everything around us can be special whil...
Apr 19, 2020•42 min•Season 2Ep. 48
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Sean Missal, a Lead Designer at Astro Studios. Sean comes from Western Washington University where he earned his Bachelor Degree in Industrial Design. Born in the 90s, Sean is truly a child of the tech age. Sean interned at Astro before he was snatched up full-time, Astro is quite proud of how the young man has turned out. Although relatively new to the commercial design game, Sean is laying down heavy design and knowledge for some of Astro’s top clients. Befo...
Apr 19, 2020•27 min•Season 2Ep. 47
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Kristine Arth, the founder and principal designer behind Lobster Phone. She is known for building brands that carefully balance timelessness with distinct visual expression. Arth has designed identities for global brands such as PayPal, Nivea, Western Digital, and SodaStream, in addition to start-ups such as Love Wellness, Cresco, Loliware, Ori Systems, and Eva Tech. Her work has earned awards from Red Dot, IDA, iF Design, IDSA, SPARK!, GDUSA, IDEA and The Die...
Apr 12, 2020•52 min•Season 2Ep. 46
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Antonio Borja, the Associate Director of the School of Industrial Design at the Academy of Art University (AAU). Antonio received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from AAU in 2004. After launching his professional career as a freelancer, he joined General Motors as a creative designer, returning to his alma mater as an instructor in 2009, to teach Design Drawing, Transportation Design, and Digital 3D modeling courses. Since then, he has led a collaborative cla...
Apr 12, 2020•47 min•Season 2Ep. 45
This Context episode is a special edition collaboration with Advanced Design and Sebastian Gier of DesignDrives. During our conversation, we talked about how Hector Silva launched Advanced Design to bring value to the design community; from a summer workshop to now a nonprofit and design community with a large following on social media, but also a team that drives initiatives like conferences, events, podcast and more. We discussed the future of industrial design education and the disruption of ...
Apr 12, 2020•47 min
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Mardis Bagley, a Creative Director and Industrial Designer based in San Francisco. He creates products that connect user experiences with brand stories. He believes in a design process that creates sustainability through desire. By creating experiences that surprise and delight, he connects with users on a visceral level. During our conversation, we talked about how he got his start in design, and went from the Midwest to the Bay Area, having worked at Ammunit...
Apr 05, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 43
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next guest is Sam Carr, an Industrial Designer from Raleigh, NC living in San Francisco, CA. Most of his creative energy comes from an internal gnawing for learning and discovery, and usually manifests itself in the form of obsessive internet searches, sketching, 3D modeling, and weekend trips into the mountains and along the coast. When he’s not working on design projects or doing any of the above, you can typically find Sam putting up shots at the nearest basketball court...
Apr 05, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 44
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: We had the pleasure of hosting our SQ1 speaker Fed Rios. Our conversation begins with Fed’s upbringing, and how art and design had a huge impact during his assimilation to the US. His exposure and early exploration of the arts got him into a good art high school, which eventually led him to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. After graduation, he got a job in Chicago at Radio Flyer. After a couple of years designing toys, he moved on to SRAM, and six years after that, he ...
Mar 29, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 41
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: Our next SQ1 speaker is Mauricio Romano, an Industrial Designer at Facebook. Born in Mexico City, Mauricio is a multicultural industrial designer currently headquartered out of Seattle, Washington. He graduated from Western Washington University’s design program, where he was recognized as IDSA's 2015 Student Merit award for the Western Conference. While still in school, he ventured into entrepreneurship and launched a cannabis hardware company, formerly known as Aura, alongsid...
Mar 29, 2020•50 min•Season 2Ep. 42
We sat down with Derek Cascio, an Industrial Designer and Professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT). Prior to doing that, Derek worked for a wide range of companies as a designer: Philips, Staples, and Hasbro as a design manager on the Marvel product line. He also started an organization called Design Museum Boston with Sam Aquillano in 2008 which just celebrated its 10 year anniversary. During our interview we discussed our shared love for Transformers, how toys shaped our childhood,...
Mar 22, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 39
SQ1 2019 SPECIAL: We had the pleasure of speaking with Tati Ferrucio, a Graduate Student at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and Industrial Design intern at General Electric (GE). Prior to studying at RIT, Tati had professional experience working in Brazil, designing products for Indio Da Costa A.U.D.T. During our conversation, Tati talks about her experience at SQ1, the diverse lineup of speakers, the design culture in San Francisco, and how design organizations need to re-invent des...
Mar 22, 2020•37 min•Season 2Ep. 40
For today’s podcast, we feature Industrial Designer Leon Fitzpatrick, who we call the designer of the future, a globetrotter, and a gifted visionary. Originally from Australia, he made his way to the States to study at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit, Michigan, where his father was the Chair of Transportation Design department. Born to the distinguished designer and educator Bryon Fitzpatrick, Leon carved his own path in the years that followed, working for brands such as Motor...
Mar 15, 2020•55 min•Season 2Ep. 38
IDSA IDC SPECIAL: We had the pleasure of speaking with Silvana Zaldivar, an Industrial Designer at Shopify in Toronto, Canada. Her story begins in El Salvador, where she was born and raised, and received a scholarship to study at the University of Louisiana in LaFayette. She attended many conferences and events that gave her the opportunity to network, which led her to an internship at Fossil. Upon graduating, she headed west to the bay area with no plan, just her skills and optimistic attitude....
Mar 15, 2020•20 min•Season 2Ep. 37
