The Start

Duane King is an Interactive Creative Director and Designer, in Portland. Duane's one of the most knowledgeable and resourceful designers I’ve met. Today we sit down to talk about the longevity and sustainability of design, starting two businesses and working with companies like Nike and Herman Miller. Duane grew up in Texas, started a luxury branding company and then moved to Portland to pursue design. Since then, he's made huge contributions to design, including designing one of my favorite websites (with Nike!). He shares his past 20 years of struggles, successes and experiences with us. He also has a cat who goes on walks and plays fetch! Show Links: Duane King Follow Duane on Twitter Ian Coyle King Coyle wk12 Dana Tanamachi The Gap Ayse Birsal Push Pen Group Brutal Juice Quake III Swiss Grids Jennifer Daniel Eva Zeisel Alfred Stieglitz Daniel Norris

Kerem Suer is a Product Designer at Operator, in San Francisco. Before that Kerem worked with FitBit and Omada Health. We talk about being motivated at work through seeing improvements in your own offline life through the products. Kerem grew up in Istanbul and came to Sulphur, Oklahoma as a highschool exchange student. Since then, he's made a huge impact on the Design world and contributed to a lot of my favourite reading on Medium. He shares his journey with us and talks about the importance of disseminating information without being preachy. He's also a former National Sailor! Show Links: Kerem Suer Follow Kerem on Twitter FitBit Omada Health Kerem on Dribble Kerem on Medium Zaha Hadid Lovely Type 2 Diabetes Operator Señor Sesig

Jed Schmidt is a JavaScript Developer at Uniqlo in NY. Before that Jed lived in Tokyo and worked as a Japanese Translator. We talk about the huge shift in jobs, and how it feels to be working in a field that was once his hobby! Jed also was a founder of BrooklynJS. He tells us what sparked the inspiration for the meetup, what it means for the NY community and why he's decided to step down. We have a bunch of debates about minimalist coding, staying up to date on trends in Programming and people degrading each other's coding style. Jed also shares a link to him singing A Capella on Good Morning America. Show Links: brooklyn js Follow Jed on Twitter Dave Rupert Hitachi Good Morning America A Cappella Eric Feng If Hemingway Wrote Javascript Isaac Schlueter Ryan Dahl 61 Local Jed's Github Article script-ed Willman Duffy Mariko Jasmine Greenway brianloveswords First Field Ketchup slack.borojs.com waffleJS

Yaron Schoen is a Human Interface Designer and Product Designer in NY. Currently Yaron is working at Compass Inc., building a more sophisticated and tech-first real-estate company. Before that Yaron had a plentitude of work experiences - from a tiny design company in Jerusalem, founding Made For Humans, freelancing and starting Julpan (which was then acquired by Twitter!). Yaron sits down (in my apartment this time) to talk about his experience as a designer, founder, freelancer and employee. He shares how he's evolved through pivoting between these roles and how the industry and community has evolved between the 90's and today. We talk about appreciating art, coding as a form of rebellion and David Bowie. Show Links: Yaron Schoen Follow Yaron on Twitter David Bowie Quote Jonnie Hallman Karl Stanton Sarah Parmenter Julpan Acquisition Float Made For Humans Compass

Yoko Sakao Ohama is a Designer who lives in Brooklyn, NY and works at Squarespace. Aside from being an awesome designer, Yoko is also a dancer. In her spare time, she writes Why Aren't We Dancing - a curated newsletter about interesting dance videos she finds online. We sit down and talk about the path from school to working in the "real world" - the different perceptions and experiences of college, quitting a job at a start-up and when it's okay to burn bridges. We talk about our community of designers and developers, and handing off work to the right people within it. All in all, we evaluate the importance of self-confidence as we navigate through the tech-industry and life. Show Links: Yoko Sakao Ohama Follow Yoko on Twitter Squarespace Tattly Swiss Miss Why Aren't We Dancing Kevin's Dance Videos Creative Mornings Chandler McWilliams Rusty Meadows Oak Studios Kate Matsumoto Jesse Hertzberg Larry Legend's Talk Tools Day Podcast

Today we sat down with Liang, the Creative Director at Soma Water in New York. We talk about full-time vs freelance work, ego in design and the importance of showing your results rather than showing your work. Liang is hilarious and has sort of done EVERYTHING! No really, she has experience working in a ton of different spaces - ads, social media, photography, design, product design and coding. She shares how she ended up where she is now, and how she defines her title as Creative Director. We talk about a lot of the ego and insecurities that come with working in design or art, and how to not take people's opinions so seriously. Liang was super open to talking about her own experience navigating through different jobs and feeling as though something was missing. Liang had a bunch of success while working freelance. We talk about the results that can come from good design and the importance of showing these on a resume, rather than stating the work you did. Since she's a big advocate for "doing what makes you happy", we talk about creating Fun Fun Dinners and Field Trips. We also get a preview into her new venture - and incredibly well-designed, well-thought-out café that she's hoping to create in the city! Liang also tells us about her first website she created to idolize, but also mock, her preteen idols online. Show Links: Liang Soma Water Mind Body Green Fun Fun Dinners Field Trips DocNews previous DocWise Sarah Parmenter Lion hugging human

Andy Mangold is a designer and co-founder of Friends of the Web in Baltimore, MD. On today's episode, we talk about defining what kind of designer your are, what it's like to work with your friends, and how he started his first company at the age of 16! Andy tells us about his path to his current career. He went from making rubberband guns, to falling in love with art, to finding the nexus of "making" and "art" in design. We talk about what it means to build a business in the city you live in, and how to contribute to your community in a meaningful way. Andy also discusses his privilege and how it's presented him with opportunities and the support to take risks. We also talk about cookies. Shownotes: Andy Mangold Friends of the Web Armored Core On the Grid - No Longer Recording Mica Shaw Jelveh Design Kinder Hook Snacks Designer Debate Club Episode Good Bad Show Working File

Scott Riley is a Product Designer and an Emergency Front-End Developer who worked at Pact Coffee and joined the podcast from England at 6am. We talk about gaming, curiosity, and privilege. Scott joined the podcast all the way in from England (at 6am). He tells us about city vs. country living and how he got his start in the tech industry through a love of gaming. Scott is endlessly curious and loves to create things that impact peoples lives. We talk about inequality, inaccessibility and our privilege as white men in the tech-industry. We're both hopeful and recognize some positive changes brewing about. If that's all too heavy for you, we also talk briefly about poop! Show Links: The Townhouse / Studiomates Pact Coffee Scott Riley Follow Scott on Twitter Why is NYC Called Gotham Final Fantasy RPG Maker XP Rework Medium Article on Airbnb Death

Pavan is a full-time software consultant at GrayBike, in San Francisco. He explains exactly what that title means, and how he uses technology, design and code to solve other people’s business problems. He explains the transition from the corporate world to starting his own thing. We talk about developing skills (regardless of your age), the importance of curiosity and amazing coaches we’ve had in the tech industry. Pavan also shows us his amazing photography, and shares what his rapper name would be. Show Links: Pavan Trikatum Photography Follow Pavan on Twitter GrayBike Louis CK WTF Part 1 Louis CK WTF Part 2 Adult Rappers Documentary Struggle for Smarts Article Brennan Dunn Nick Disabato

On this week’s episode we sit down with Jenn Schiffer to talk about her journey into the tech industry and its future. Our interview was a perfect mix between serious and hilarious — sort of what Jenn’s all about. On paper, she’s an open web engineer, but online she’s so much more. Jenn can find humor in almost every situation, and she talks to us about how she uses her humor to deal with the shitty internet. You can read her Twitter or any of her satirical writing on Medium to get a sense of what I mean. Jenn was super open about the hardships she faced growing up, and some of the harassment she continues to face on a regular basis for being a woman online. We talk about how online harassment stems from a lack of empathy, and how people love to yell at each other instead of creating discourse. This obviously has had a negative impact on the future of the tech industry, and we banter about what we think that will look like. Outside of online-life, Jenn has two cats and prefers New Jersey to NYC. She’s a huge advocate for real-life hangs, and started Jersey Script at Barcade Jersey City. Show Links: Jenn Schiffer Follow Jenn on Twitter Bocoup Jenn’s Tech Satire Jersey Script Barcade

On this week’s episode we sit down with Corey Grusden to talk about online vs offline communities, learning processes and a bunch of old computer games from the 80's. Corey works for So Fetch, but he started programming when computers tied up phone lines and he was 8 years old. His introduction to tech started with a golfing game on his family's 80286 computer. He was installing sound cards, memory and drives before he was in middle school. Corey found his first tech-community locally - with a bunch of friends and neighbors. They'd pretend to be gaming, when really they were programming to enable their characters to play without them. Corey was basically automating and contributing to opensource before he realized what that meant. Because of that he's proficient in coding that was barely around by the time I got a computer - Q Basic, Perl, TinTin and the BBS. We chat about these, and the importance of having social-interactions offline, especi ally when you're in the tech-industry. It wasn't all fun-times for Corey, and he was super open to talking about the downward spirals that some of his friends in the tech-community went through and how he lived off of basically nothing for awhile - without realizing it at the time. Corey landed his first job by lying. He had no work-experience, but was the only candidate to answer all 4 of the interview questions on programming correctly. So he was hired! It sounds like a movie script, but it was his reality. He explains the path to getting there, and the benefits he had from being able to apply what he was learning immediately. There wasn’t a class, professor or studying. Of course this comes with pros and cons, and so we talk about them, and the difference in his learning process compared to more traditional ones. Corey still believes that Legend of the Red Dragon is super fun and that the telephone is the lost art of communication. Corey Grusden Corey on GitHub So Fetch Q Basic Perl TinTin The BBS Major Mud Halt & Catch Fire Legend of the Red Dragon

In this week’s episode we sit down with Una Kravets to talk about emigrating from the Ukraine, falling in love with tech, and being the youngest person in the room. Una works for IBM's Design Lab, as a front-end developer on the cloud platform team in Austin, TX. We talk about how she became interested in tech, and the influence that her father and family's culture had on her future. Una fell in love with tech at a pretty young age. She joined her first online community at the age of 9 through The Palace - a chatroom for dolls, and then learned ActionScript as a teenager from a teacher. We talk about what it's like to be young in the tech-industry and the challenges and benefits that come with that. Una has an infectious attitude towards learning and teaching. She's given a bunch of amazing talks at conferences, and has a podcast. We talk about how everyone's qualified to give a talk, because their perspective is unique and can teach others. In the same vain, Una founded the DC Sass Meetup, where she encourages people of all skill levels to meetup and participate in a presentation, Q&A and some hacking. Having a background in both design and developing, Una and I discuss the relationship between the two. She encourages designers to get involved in developing, and talks about the benefits this has on both sides of the tech industry. Una believes that "everything is a teachable moment", even mistakes. Una Kravets Follow Una on Twitter IBM Design IBM BlueMix Una’s Blog Tools Day Podcast Sass Una’s Talks Video on Guitar Oscillations Thread on Guitar Oscillations

With Season 3 in the books I wanted to recap the episodes and some things that stood out to me. Themes, if you will. This season we spoke about commitment, saying yes before you can say no, life outside of the industry, digital overdosing, being humans again and a bunch of other things. Thanks again for listening. shownotes Aaron Dowd - The Podcast Dude The Gap The McDonalds Theory Junior Designers VS Senior Designers

For the final guest of the season we brought Dan Mall on the show to talk about his life, professionally and personally. Dan has done a lot in his life and he was incredibly open in sharing it with us. In a nut shell, we talked about his “failed” attempt as a 3D animator, producing work that isn’t good enough, working with greats like Jeffrey Zeldman, the illusions of job security and handling the stress of freelancing while supporting a family. Outside of his professional life we talked about why Dan works (hint, his kids), how he breaks up his day and the loving story of how he met his wife. This episode will go down for us as one of our favorites so we hope you enjoy it too! Dan Mall Follow Dan on Twitter Superfriend.ly Creativity Inc Mark Huot Jervis Thompson TMX Interactive Jason Santa Maria Chris Cashdollar Andy Schulman April Donovan Kevin Cornell Electronic Ink Greg Hoyt Jeffrey Zeldman Big Spaceship

Randy’s life is a mix of thought-out steps and going where life takes him. In his professional career he’s managed to try various hats at a small shop in Orlando, get his masters from SVA, start Citizen Scholar, Inc, create The Supermarket and lead design at Etsy. He’s had a wild ride but it’s all apart of Randy’s plan in one way or another. As you'll see in this episode, Randy is led by two personal (and professional) principles: human-interaction is key to our success and our internal compass is the best sense of direction we have. Follow Randy on Twitter Randy's Website Etsy Juicy Temples Ira Glass - The Gap Citizen Scholar, Inc. Supermarket Frank

This is by far one of our favorite episodes. I’ve known Andrew for a while and he’s definitely the developer I hope I become one day. His determination, his patience, his bad ass tattoos all make up the man that Andrew Norcross is. But lets make one thing clear - it wasn’t the easiest road to get to where he is now. Andrew once worked in Finance, leading some really big portfolios for some really important clients and decided to leave that life and start a new one in development. During that time Norcross became a new dad and learned to code clocking in 12-16 hours a day. If you learn one thing from this episode it’s that hard-work trumps all. There is no fast lane, there is no over-night success, its a long-game that we must commit to. And while I said you’ll learn one thing, I was lying. You’ll also learn how to cut the perfect sleeveless shirt. Andrew Norcross Follow Andrew on Twitter Reaktiv Studios Apple 2 C IBM 386 Raymond James Financial Drew Wilson Squares Conf Mark Jaquith How to Properly Make a Sleeveless Shirt Loop Conf The Obstacle is the Way Airstream Trailer

In this episode we chat with Keenan Cummings about risks. Those we take on purpose and those that just happen. In Keenan’s case, those risks defined his career as a designer. When asked what Keenan wanted to do as a teenager he responded very simple, “study design.” Too bad he didn’t know what design was. Luckily for Keenan he did know one thing - he was drawn toward strong branding and visual identities from his punk/skater lifestyle growing up. After graduated Keenan took a big risk. He left a job some would kill for at VSA Partners, where he helped redesign the Chicago Cubs logo, and started out on his own. It was so quick he totally overlooked his lack of computer when taking on his first client. His career is defined by moments like these. Everything from taking a few more freelance gigs, starting his own company with his first product Wander, to selling Days to Yahoo. Keenan is a guy (and designer) who makes moves with his heart and gut, only taking the work and opportunities his excited by and slightly scared of. shownotes Keenan Cummings Keenan's Blog Geoff Mcfetridge The Beautiful Losers Ben Pieratt VSA Partners Jeremy Fisher Wander Days Airbnb

Yesenia Perez Cruz is known by most as a designer but after this week we like to say she’s a designer and student. She’s had the privilege to work at great companies like Happy Cog and Intuitive Company designing websites, apps and interfaces for clients like Zappos, MTV and Chef Garces. In this week’s episode we spoke about learning on the job, working with talented colleagues and getting better every day. Yesenia has worked with some of the Internet’s most influential developers and designers while at Happy Cog and needless to say she learned a lot. Things like the Gap concept or the Gray Box exercise. Big or small, Yesenia used all tools to grow her skills to become one of the leading designers in the industry. Yesenia's Website Follow Yesenia on Twitter A List Apart on air Richmond Garrick Happy Cog Ira Glass - The Gap Junior vs Senior Designers Grey Box Method McDonalds Theory

On a very philosophical level, this episode explores a lot of interesting facts about life when you listen “between the lines.” To start, a loving mother with a strong background in education raised Claudina. So when she decided to leave college after her freshman year, it was no surprise there was some concern for her wellbeing when she moved to Portland. But after a job or two in Portland and New York her mother, like most, realized she’d do well on her own being that she prepared Claudina for moments just like these. Claudina’s experiences vary from a French translator/design, to start-up founder, to her current role as a Front-End Architect with OddBird. And in each experience she’s managed to find an adventure and a new reason for curiosity. If we had to sum up Claudina’s life into one word, it’d easily be “bold”.

Ben is a self-taught developer, and designer, who specializes in JavaScript. He got his start the same way a lot of us did - by “googling it.” Even years into the game he still googles stuff, too. Ben grew as a developer by necessities as his projects and work required. Over time Ben built his skills and got his first job, and when he landed that job he still felt like an “imposter” - as most of us do. Similar to other guests, Ben says yes before he can even think about saying no, trusting he’ll figure it out and get the job done. Ben’s perseverance in his work is probably the main reason’s he’s successful today. Ben Howdle Follow Ben on Twitter Tizag CSS Tricks Net Tuts Remy Sharp Ben Howdle Workshop Arduino Delphi The Definitive Guide to Javascript Ethan Marcotte - Responsive Web Design Treehouse Code School React Flux Backbone.js