Through Process

Mitch and Joshua are joined by Sean Blanda for a conversation about truth, bullshit, and posturing. Sean is the Director and Editor-in-Chief of 99u, an organization that publishes books, magazines, online content, and also holds an annual conference for creative professionals and students. We discuss Sean’s ideas about self-proclaimed experts, knowing the actual value of listening to other people, and developing your own voice as a creative practitioner. We also debate the value of self-awareness, and try to understand what to look for in a conference.

Joshua and Mitch talk about design competitions with guest Brian Edlefson, who is a designer and educator from Michigan. Mitch was just a judge at AIGA Minnesota’s Design Show 2016, and Brian was a judge of the same Design Show in 2014. We try to understand the value of design competitions, and explore issues that comes from judging work that exists within a competition instead of inside a real context. We also consider what is missing from these competitions, and wether they are worth entering or not.

Mitch and Joshua are joined by designer and educator Tim Belonax for a wide-ranging chat about process. We consider how to teach process as both an approach and as a methodology, without merely asking students to imitate their teachers. Tim also talks about his time at Facebook’s Analog Research Laboratory, and his book “The Reward is in the Process”. We also debate the value and distraction of social media, and discuss why podcasting is becoming such a popular way to discuss design.

Mitch speaks with designers and twin sisters Amy and Jennifer Hood from Hoodzpah Design Co. in Southern California. Amy and Jen explain how they became successful designers without the benefit of a traditional college education, and what they wish students were learning in college. They also consider the importance of self-initiated projects, and what it is like being women in today’s design culture.

Since graduation is coming up, Mitch talks with his former students Carra Sykes and Marleigh Culver about how school prepared (and did not prepare) them for life as working designers. We also find out how they got their current jobs, what inspires them, and what being a young female designer is like in today’s world. Carra and Marleigh also offer advice for soon-to-graduate students about what’s next.

Joshua and Mitch welcome designer and educator Mig Reyes to the podcast to chat about teaching at The Starter League. We also discuss his time at Basecamp and Threadless, the sameness of design on the web, and why taking more time might make your work better. Mig also explains why Lorem Ipsum is bad, and why Chicago is a great design city.

Mitch and Joshua are joined by NY Times Product Design Director Renda Morton to talk about working with teams instead of clients, being anonymous, and how to integrate user feedback on a huge property like the NY Times website. We also talk about the worst things we ever made, the trouble with Lorem Ipsum, and educating product designers.

Keetra Dean Dixon maintains a hybrid practice creating art, design, illustration, and experiences. Mitch is joined by his wife and design partner Anne Jordan, and returning guest Nancy Bernardo to speak with Keetra about moving to rural Alaska from New York City, what her routines and studio space are like, and how she keeps developing her curiosity. Keetra also lets us in on her favorite podcasts, and why humor is the ultimate form of genius.

In this episode Joshua and Mitch talk to architect, graphic designer, author, and TED Conference founder Richard Saul Wurman. Wurman touches on why he’s written books ranging from the collected writing of Louis Kahn to understanding health care, his approach to teaching, and working with fear.

Joshua and Mitch welcome Kerry William Purcell, who is a British author writing about design, photography, and visual cultural theory. Starting with his book about Alexy Brodovitch, we talk about the relationship between history and contemporary practice, and discuss how designers should look outside the established canon of design history. We also try to understand the American Presidential election, and examine how we make connections with design artifacts before we know what design artifacts are.

Mitch and Josuha look at the year ahead by talking about how design education and design practice live in different contexts, and how each should be approached differently. We also discuss the role of time in the design process, and how the painter Gerhard Richter approaches his work.

Mitch and Josuha welcome back Jarrett Fuller to the podcast to talk about his decision to leave a job at Facebook and attend graduate school at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. We talk about what went into choosing MICA, what the program is like, the difference between a BFA and an MFA, and how it feels to be a teacher instead of a student.

Mitch and Josuha chat with Ian Lynam about his hybrid practice of teaching, writing, and designing. After considering the anti-intellectual trend that seems to be growing in graphic design culture, they discuss what needs to change in design criticism, education, and practice. They also discuss process-oriented teaching pedagogy, and Ian asks everyone to reveal their design heroes.

Mitch travels to Providence, Rhode Island and visits his alma matter: the Graphic Design department at the Rhode Island School of Design. There he speaks with longtime faculty member Lucinda Hitchcock and department head John Caserta about the radical changes the BFA program has gone through over the past couple of years. They talk about inquiry-based and on-demand learning, flexible outcomes, and transparency and knowledge sharing among faculty and students.

In a special episode of Through Process, Mitch and returning guest Nancy Bernardo are joined by designer and educator Martin Venezky. We recorded this conversation with a live studio audience of RIT Graphic Design students. We spoke with Martin about his studio practice, teaching form, using photography, attending Cranbrook, and his influences.

In the second of a two-part conversation, Joshua and Mitch continue their talk with Dan Ibarra about Schoolhaus, which is a new model of non-traditional design education that Dan co-founded in Minneapolis.

In the first of a two-part conversation, Joshua and Mitch talk with Dan Ibarra from Aesthetic Apparatus about Schoolhaus, which is a new model of non-traditional design education that Dan co-founded in Minneapolis.

Mitch is joined by returning guest Nancy Bernardo to talk with designer and educator Elliott Earls. Elliott is the head of the 2D MFA program at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. In addition to an examination of why the Cranbrook experience is unique among graduate programs, we talk about critique methods, graduate versus undergraduate education, the problem with computers, and why making good work is so damn hard.

Mitch and Joshua are joined by designer and educator Nancy Bernardo for a talk about bullshit. We discuss the value (or not) of bullshit, post-facto rationalization, and consider what would happen if designers were not allowed to bullshit about their work.

Mitch and Joshua welcome back design critic Chappell Ellison for a talk about feedback, groupthink, and why designers need to learn to accept criticism. We also have a group therapy session about the pitfalls of Twitter, social media, and opinions.