The Crit

Deborah Cooke, Head of Costume at celebrated animation studio Laika, joins the podcast to discuss how her background in sculpture informs her designs, the challenges of designing for non-human anatomies, and the importance of creating dark and eerie stories for children.

Deb's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Costumes for Kubo and the Two Strings

Worst design: When she comes up with a range of options and her least favourite costume gets picked

Most successful design: Coraline's costume

Most impactful feedback: A standing ovation at the Wildwood premiere

Dream design: Making her own sculptures for the art world

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at the Design Museum in London.

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Burks and Malika Leiper, the partners behind nomadic studio Stephen Burks Man Made, join the podcast for a discussion about questioning what radical design means today and challenging the industry’s focus on the global North.

Stephen and Malika's picks for their crit were:

Best design: Shelter in Place

Worst design: Not being able to find the right partners to create mass-produced products

Most successful design: The design of their nomadic studio

Most impactful feedback: To always be of service

Dream design: A glasshouse and a TV

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alexandra Gerber, a London-based industrial designer whose work explores cross-pollination between industries, joins the podcast for a discussion about design as a form of cultural expression, the gendering of objects, and the allure and complexities of working with biomaterials.

Alexandra’s picks for her crit were:

Best design: Up shelving

Worst design: Installation of A Meaningful Order

Most successful design: A Meaningful Order

Most impactful feedback: When people say her work is not feminine

Dream design: Tableware and cutlery

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam Nathaniel Furman, an artist and designer, joins the show to discuss the history of colour in architecture, the challenges of viral design and his dream of designing a skyscraper facade.

Adam’s picks for his crit were:

Best design: Croydon Colonnade

Worst design: Glowbules

Most successful design: Gateways

Most impactful feedback: Architect Terry Farrell telling him to listen more

Dream design: A skyscraper facade, a train station or a religious space

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Ardern, cofounder of design and experiential futures company Superflux, joins the podcast to reflect on the importance of emotion and sensory feedback, the difficulties of engaging gallery visitors, and his dream of designing a living experiment.

Jon’s picks for his crit were:

Best design: Mitigation of Shock

Worst design: Dynamic Genetics vs Man

Most successful design: Uninvited Guests

Most impactful feedback: A person who said their exhibition had prepared them for living through the pandemic and inspired them to grow vegetables on their balcony

Dream design: A living experiment

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hugh Miller, a partner at Pentagram, joins the podcast to reflect on the challenges of integrating different design media into a single practice, as well as drawing narrative and tempo into graphic design.

Hugh's picks for his crit were:

Best design: At the End of the World, Plant a Tree by SO/LO

Worst design: All work is flawed when viewed by its creator

Most successful design: TDC65 Competition Campaign

Most impactful feedback: A teacher who taught him to listen to and analyse music

Dream design: The British Airways brand identity

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leyu Li, a London-based food designer, joins the podcast to discuss using social media in her work, the challenges and opportunities involved in food design, and the pleasures of doing commercial work.

Leyu's picks for her crit were:

Best design: cM Donald's

Worst design: F.A.M Supper Club

Most successful design: Broccopork, Mushchicken and Peaf

Most impactful feedback: Someone commenting on her TikTok saying her work is “So Goldsmiths”

Dream design: Hana no Hana bakery

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

London-based industrial designer John Tree visits the studio to talk about the challenges of mobile phone design, his belief in the social potential of industrial design, the opportunity to completely reconceive electric vehicles, and the importance of not obsessing over your business card.

John's picks for his crit were:

Best design: Billet chair

Worst design: A mobile phone for Samsung

Most successful design: Apex lamp

Most impactful feedback: His friend Chopper from Rosie Lee saying that it’s not enough to be a good designer, you have to get your work out there

Dream design: Electric vehicles

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

London-based designer Tessa Silva joins the podcast to discuss making objects out of milk protein, understanding the possibilities and limitations of materials, and her dream of redesigning pubs.

Tessa's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Feminised Protein

Worst design: Martini glasses made from milk

Most successful design: Smock

Most impactful feedback: Comments from fellow designers during an informal crit group she started to get feedback on her work in progress

Dream design: Pubs

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tetsuo Mukai, co-founder of London-based design studio Study O Portable, joins the podcast to discuss creating objects that interrogate our relationship with design, his background in fashion, and his perspective on debates around how critical design practice is framed and presented to a broad public.

Tetsuo's picks for his crit were:

Best design: Quartz Mirror

Worst design: Crystal room dividers

Most successful design: Fuzz

Most impactful feedback: People asking whether his work is art or design

Dream design: A free art school

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simone Brewster, a designer, artist and educator, as well as the subject of the second Platform exhibition at London's Design Museum, joins The Crit to discuss finding a wider purpose behind her varied work, her attraction to answering the same questions in different ways, and the importance of language and representation in design.

Simone's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Negress & Mammy

Worst design: Decorative plates for William Morris Gallery’s Althea McNish exhibition

Most successful design: Temple of Relics pavilion

Most impactful feedback: One of her architecture tutors saying that she needed to take herself seriously

Dream design: Serpentine Gallery pavilion

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil Garnham, executive creative director of Monotype Studio, joins the podcast to discuss the changing landscape of type design, the joys of creating typography for broadcasting companies, and the difficulties of releasing typefaces into the world to have a life of their own.

Phil's picks for his crit were:

Best design: FS Emeric

Worst design: FS Lola, a typeface used for Sainsbury’s and Greggs

Most successful design: Designing logos for broadcast companies such as ITV and Channel 4

Most impactful feedback: Look at a typeface or logo with fresh eyes by flipping it on its side or upside down

Dream design: Rebranding TG Jones (formerly known as WHSmith’s)

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Johanna Gibbons, founder of landscape architecture practice J&L Gibbons and the current keeper of the Faculty of Royal Designers, joins the podcast to discuss the pluriverse, the entanglements of community and landscape, and the potential for education through ecology.

Johanna's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Dalston Eastern Curve Garden as part of Making Space in Dalston or Urban Nature Project, Natural History Museum

Worst design: Edward Square

Most successful design: Urban Nature Project, Natural History Museum

Most impactful feedback: A difficult community meeting as part of Making Space in Dalston

Dream design: An extentsion of her Schiehallion Seed to Tree Project

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Melia, founder and creative director of London-based design agency Blond, joins the podcast for a conversation about packaging, brand names, and greater attention towards design in medical tech.

James's picks for his crit were:

Best design: Fussy refillable deodorant

Worst design: A desk he designed for his final project at university

Most successful design: An upcoming packaging design for a US brand

Most impactful feedback: His colleague Dana Salmanzadeh asking why James is the only person in the studio who pitches and presents projects to clients

Dream design: A catheter

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Designer and researcher Liliana Ovalle visits the studio to discuss exploring different making cultures, learning the limitations of working with craft processes, and her dream of making altars for the home.

Liliana’s picks for her crit were:

Best design: Sinkhole Vessels

Worst design: Encuentros bar set

Most successful design: Fragment of a Staircase

Most impactful feedback: Curator Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher saying she creates designs that look playful but are actually quite serious, similar to the work of designer Shiro Kuramata

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Marshall, industrial designer and partner at Pentagram, visits the studio to discuss the importance of trusting the process, the experience of moving from a designer to a creative director role, and the pleasures of seemingly intractable design problems.

Jon's picks for his crit were:

Best design: Honda. A Great Journey

Worst design: Exhibition design for UNIQLO

Most successful design: Yoto

Most impactful feedback: Daniel Weil telling him to trust the process (and all feedback from his wife)

Dream design: A range of cookware inspired by Richard Sapper’s La Cintura di Orione for Alessi

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charlene Prempeh, founder of A Vibe Called Tech, joins The Crit for our 2025 holiday episode, examining the pleasures and importance of “good enough” work; the porous barrier between commercial and artistic practice; and answering a series of festive questions about redesigning the holidays!.

Charlene's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Now You See Me: 100 Years of Black Design

Worst design: A project with a beauty brand during Black History Month

(Best holiday gift: An advent calendar)

Most successful design: We Are All They

(Best holiday decoration: A wooden star, made by her son)

Most impactful feedback: Non-existent feedback, teaching her to listen to her instincts when something feels wrong

Dream design: The Golden Stool

(Dream design change for the holidays: Food design)

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spandana Gopal, founder and creative director of the Tiipoi homeware brand, visits the studio to discuss rejecting exoticised portraits of India's design and craft traditions; the need to prioritise ethical, community-focused production; and the challenges of translating global sales of local craft into a thriving domestic market.

Spandana's picks for her crit were:

Best design: General Items

Worst design: “Silly candles”

Most successful design: Tiipoi, thriving as a business and abiding by its principles

Most impactful feedback: Mentorship by Simon Alderson, cofounder of twentytwentyone

Dream design: Rice cooking equipment for Alessi

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ab Rogers, creative director of the Ab Rogers Design studio, joins the podcast for a discussion focused on the architecture of healthcare, the horrors of wackiness, the need to welcome new people into architecture and design, and the creative potential for delight in everyday spaces.

Ab's picks for his crit were:

Best design: Maggie’s at The Royal Marsden

Worst design: Waiting room at the Charing Cross Hospital breast unit

Most successful design: Tate Modern Public Concourses or Comme des Garçons Paris

Most impactful feedback: Aric Chen describing his work as “wacky”

Dream design: A culture-centred health hub

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Material researcher and designer Ori Orisun Merhav sits her crit, exploring the ethos, experimentation and commitment to bio-inclusive co-creation that underpin her creations with lac, a natural polymer produced by insects.

Ori's picks for her crit were:

Best design: Something yet to come within Made by Insects

Worst design: The daily failures of material research

Most successful design: Lac chandelier for Design Sediments

Most impactful feedback: Nacho Carbonell’s advice to “Become the insect”

Dream design: A space and mindset to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration in material research

The Crit

Graphics: Leonhard Rothmoser

Music: Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki

This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery, London

Hosted on Acast. See https://acast.com/privacy for more information.