The Designerly Podcast

Summary

In this episode, we explore how a multidisciplinary approach—pairing design with other mediums—can expand a designer's creative range and lead to more innovative, human-centered solutions for complex problems. We discuss how personal interests and practices act as essential sources of inspiration and creative fulfillment.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

11:24 How have other forms of making been part of graphic design history?

14:20 How does working with LEGO impact your design practice?

24:44 How to ask “what if?”

Links

Decolonizing Design Innovation: Design Anthropology, Critical Anthropology, and Indigenous Knowledge By Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003085195-17/decolonizing-design-innovation-design-anthropology-critical-anthropology-indigenous-knowledge-elizabeth-dori-tunstall

Lucian Bernhard

http://www.designishistory.com/1920/lucian-bernhard/

Ann Hamilton

https://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/

The Art of Play by Miguel Sicart

https://www.artofplay.com/products/play-matters?srsltid=AfmBOorm-ns76o0OQKTOUiVuRwYb5whPJ3t1mpKtClsxIIBGW1MYlOnX

Summary

In this episode, we explore how the acts of collecting, documenting, and archiving are essential components of a designer's creative practice. We discuss the "intermingling" of design and documentation, the importance of physical objects in a digital world, and how curiosity leads us to find "beautiful things by amazing people" in the most unexpected places.

Episode Outline

00:00 Intro

10:06 What is the role of archiving in graphic design?

18:15 How has collecting impacted teaching design?

27:15 What will future historians be writing about right now?

34:15 What advice do you have for someone just starting out their collection?

37:44 What is the value in experiencing artifacts firsthand?

Links

Parallel Narratives - Natalia Ilyin

https://books.google.com/books/about/Parallel_Narratives.html?id=s1QpyAEACAAJ&source=kp_book_description

The People’s GraphicDesign Archive (PGDA)

https://peoplesgdarchive.org/

The Commercial Article

https://www.commercialarticle.com/

The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH

https://www.americansignmuseum.org/

Southeastern College Art Association Conference(SECAC)

https://secacart.org/

Zaha Hadid

https://www.zha.com/

Anni Albers

https://www.albersfoundation.org/

Josef Albers

https://www.albersfoundation.org/

Good Printed Things

https://goodprintedthings.com

Indie Craft Parade

https://www.indiecraftparade.com/

AU Type Foundry

https://autypefoundry.com/

Lance Wyman – Olympic Design

https://lancewyman.com/brand-project/mexico-68-olympic-games/

Gangs of New York by Martin Scorsese

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217505/

Summary

Designers today are not just makers – we are communicators, problem solvers, strategists, listeners, and collaborators. In this episode we uncover the role of design education in developing soft skills to amplify curiosity, empathy, inquiry, communication, and resilience necessary to be a successful designer.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:07 What are soft skills and why are they important?

06:24 What are the necessary soft skills for the design industry specifically?

19:03 Why are adaptability and resilience so important?

Links

The Designer 2025 by Meredith Davis

https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/mc00541/summary

Clifton Strengths Finder

https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/252137/home.aspx

Parker Palmer – The Courage To Teach

https://couragerenewal.org/library/the-courage-to-teach-exploring-the-inner-landscape-of-a-teachers-life/

Summary

Students often enter the study of graphic design with a narrow view of what a career in graphic design could be – in this episode we unpack how a graphic design degree actually acts as a keyhole to a broad landscape of possibilities. A degree in graphic design can act as a springboard to jobs in physical, digital, environmental, topical, (human) social impact, industrial, typography, spatial, experiential, leadership, education, and entrepreneurial areas.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

01:40 What can’t you do with a graphic design degree?

07:50 What’s the difference between an Art Director and a Creative Director?

11:20 What are the opportunities for typography design?

13:35 From Disney and Meta to Penguin Random House and BMW: where are our alumni working?

16:14 How does design apply to entrepreneurship?

21:50 What is a “T-shaped” person?

Links

Walt Disney Imagineering

https://sites.disney.com/waltdisneyimagineering/

Walt Disney Company

https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/

Meta

https://www.meta.com/about

Penguin Random House

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/

Macmillan Publishers

https://us.macmillan.com/

BMW

https://www.bmwusa.com/

Son & Sons

https://sonandsons.com/

Matchstic

https://matchstic.com/

Astronaut Monastery

https://www.astronautmonastery.com/

Yelp

https://www.yelp.com/

Prisma Health

https://prismahealth.org/

Walmart

https://careers.walmart.com/us/en/home

Denny’s

https://dennys.com/company

Belk

https://www.belk.com/

Ryobi Tools

https://www.ryobitools.com/

Collier Simon

https://colliersimon.com/

Subsplash

https://www.subsplash.com/

Leo Burnett

https://leoburnett.com/

Cargo

https://www.thecargoagency.com/en

Brand Fiercely

https://brandfiercely.com/

Steadfast Design Co

https://www.steadfastdesignco.com/

EP+Co.

https://www.epandco.com/

Atlas Branding

https://www.atlasbranding.com/

Coleto Brands

https://www.coletobrands.com/

The Food Group

https://thefoodgroup.com/

Todem

https://www.todembrands.com/

High Five Design

https://highfive.us/

Ferebee-Lane

https://www.ferebeelane.com/

Pace Gallery

https://www.pacegallery.com/

Cleveland Museum of Art

https://www.clevelandart.org/

Summary

In a time where perceptions of “graphic design” are becoming less aligned with reality, we discuss the possibilities that exist under the title “graphic design”. This episode explores design not as a collection of objects (logos and books), but as a conscientious, informed, and generative decision-making process grounded in the value of the human experience.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

02:21 What is graphic design and should we study it? Learning to “See the unseen”.

04:47 What was graphic design when you started teaching? How has design changed from a narrow view (logos, book designs) derived from “commercial art” and advertising to systems, strategy, etc?

13:48 How has design evolved from a focus on making objects, to a field of human operation in the non-object space concerned with processes, postures, strategic thinking, problem solving, and imagination?

21:00 Using the triadic model synthesizing art and science into a new “third space,” how do we use design as a means of studying the human condition?

Links

Béla Bánáthy – Designing Social Systems In A Changing World

The Coen Brothers – O Brother Where Art Thou?

Malcolm Gladwell TED Talk, “On Spaghetti Sauce”

Summary

In this inaugural episode, the Profs discuss the collaborative effects of teaching in close proximity to one another at the South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University located in Downtown Anderson, South Carolina.

Chapters

00:00 Intro

04:46 Why are we recording this?

07:09 How does a sense of place bring energy and a dynamic overlap?

08:00 What is the shared culture at Chiquola Studios in Downtown Anderson, SC?

11:18 What does “Iron Sharpens Iron” mean?

11:56 What do you believe the role of academia is in the process of generating new ideas?

19:00 Why prepare students to be “opportunity finders” and “agents of curiosity” as they enter the unknown?

Links

Plutarch “education is not the filling of a vessel, but thekindling of a flame”

Proverbs 27:17 “iron sharpens iron”