Design Better
Design Better co-hosts Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter explore the intersection of design, technology, and the creative process through conversations with guests across many creative fields, helping you hone your craft, unlock your creativity, and learn the art of collaboration.Whether you’re design curious or a design pro, Design Better is guaranteed to inspire and inform. Vanity Fair calls Design Better, “sharp, to the point, and full of incredibly valuable information for anyone looking to better understand how to build a more innovative world.”
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Cecilia Brenner: Moving beyond design theater to measurable impact
<p>We’ve talked to many design leaders who have burned out after a decade or more of corporate work. But after 17 years at Philips designing health innovations, Cecilia Brenner wasn’t burnt out…she loved it. And she wanted to find a way to scale her sense of purpose, so she joined Design for Good as Managing Director, and found a way to work with hundreds of designers who want meaningful impact without leaving their day jobs.</p> <p>This is a preview of a premium episode, find the full episode on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/cecilia-brenner</p> <p>...
Video Rewind: Jordan Mechner: Pioneering game designer on creating Prince of Persia, Karateka, and a new graphic novel memoir
<p>This is a preview of a premium episode. You can find a video version of the full episode on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dvoGPZEY1g</p> <p>We’ve been on the road this week, recording some in-person episodes in Portland Oregon, with Ryan Coulter—co-founder of The James Brand, and the wonderfully hilarious graphic designer Aaron Draplin.</p> <p>We’re excited to bring you this episodes soon, and in the meantime we’re rewinding to one of our favorite episodes this year with Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner. You may have heard that we’...
Ben Swire: Author of "Safe Danger" on the hidden reason team building efforts fail
<p>As educators, we’ve grown wary of the term “safe spaces,” especially when what many students really need is a space to engage with “dangerous” ideas. But true dialogue doesn’t begin with risk—it starts with trust. Our guest today, Ben Swire, wrote the book Safe Danger, which offers a thoughtful, practical approach to building the psychological safety that allows curiosity, connection, and even productive disagreement to flourish.</p> <p>Find bonus content and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/ben-swire-former-ideo-design-lead</p> <p>Ben’s career took him from the buttoned-up world of financial marketing to IDEO—a shift he de...
Jeremy Faludi: Sustainability professor on why most sustainable design fails before it starts
<p>Design is a problem solving discipline. We research user needs, explore solutions, make things, and ship them. But one important stakeholder is often missing from the conversation: the world we live in. What toll do the products we design impose upon the environment? Sustainability is an essential part of the discipline of design, but not understood by designers. If only we had a manual to get us up to speed.</p> <p>This is a preview of a paid episode. Access the full episode on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/jeremy-faludi</p> <p>Our guest today, Jeremy Faludi...
Alison Rand: Leading with radical humanity instead of radical candor
<p>We’ve worked alongside people for years, only to realize that we know nothing about their personal life. And it probably affected our working relationship. Knowing your colleagues as humans reframes inevitable challenges at work. Had we known our colleagues better, would we have worked through disagreements better or found new ways to collaborate? Yeah, we sure would have.</p> <p>Alison Rand, who helped establish the discipline of design operations through roles at Hot Studio, Frog, Automattic, and SAP, explores building relationships at work in her new book Sentido—a term that encompasses both making sense of things and...
The Brief: How our recent past should prepare us for the age of AI
<p>In this issue of The Brief, we’re reflecting on what we learned about the past and future of design from our conversation with Paola Antonelli (The Museum of Modern Art), Mark Wilson (Fast Company), Kate Aronowitz (GV), Mike Davidson (Microsoft), and Meaghan Choi (Anthropic).</p> <p>Looking back at 30 years of design</p> <p>by Eli Woolery</p> <p>Roughly thirty years ago, I was an undergrad, sitting in our dorm’s computer cluster —this was before the days when most students had laptops. I ran into something I hadn’t seen before. It was called Netscape Navigator, and it was one of t...
Fitz and the Tantrums: Finding your creative voice in your 40's and why success feels different than you think
<p>This is a preview of a premium Design Better episode. Visit our Substack to hear the whole interview, for bonus content, and more: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/fitz-and-the-tantrums</p> <p>With the 150th official episode of Design Better, we’ve got something special for you.</p> <p>For many of us, if we haven’t had creative success by our 40’s, we feel like we may have missed the boat. But Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick of Fitz and the Tantrums didn’t achieve pop star status until he was well into his 40’s, and now that he’s in his 50’s he feels like he’s...
Bonus Episode: 30 years of design with Wert&Co, live in NYC featuring Paola Antonelli, Mark Wilson,Kate Aronowitz, Mike Davidson, and Meaghan Choi
<p>Visit our Substack for bonus content and more:https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/bonus-episode-30-years-of-design</p> <p>Today we celebrate 30 years of Wert&Co.—the quiet champions of design who have shaped our field by placing the brightest designers in roles of influence at brands that impact culture, commerce, and community.</p> <p>Design Better is brought to you by Wix Studio, the most powerful web design platform for entrepreneurs, agencies, and creative thinkers. Learn more →</p> <p>To mark the occasion, Design Better is live in New York City with an inspiring panel. We’ll look back at how design...
Rewind: Paola Antonelli: How design shapes culture
<p>Visit our Substack for bonus content and more: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/rewind-paola-antonelli</p> <p>Design Better has been on the road recently, recording a live episode in Manhattan for design search firm Wert & Co’s 30th anniversary. Guests for the episode included Paola Antonelli (senior curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at MoMA) Mike Davidson (VP of Design and User Research at Microsoft AI), Kate Aronowitz (Design Partner at Google Ventures), Meaghan Choi (Product Designer at Anthropic), & Mark Wilson (Global Design Editor at Fast Company).</p> <p>While Aarron and I are catching up from travel, an...
Keith Sawyer: Become more creative by learning to see
<p>This is a preview of a premium episode on Design Better. To listen to the whole episode, head to our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/keith-sawyer</p> <p>The key to creativity isn’t about having brilliant ideas in isolation, but about cultivating our ability to observe the world around us, and make the intuitive leaps that connect disparate ideas. Keith Sawyer, a creativity researcher who spent over a decade interviewing hundreds of art and design professors and students to understand how creative professionals learn to see—and think—differently, writes about this in his new book, Learning to See.</p...
