Episoder
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Season one of Design Downtime is ending on a high (musical) note, as Brad Frost joins us to talk about how much he loves making music. Brad recounts the early days of his musical journey, playing bass guitar in a family band, and his taste evolving from classic rock to punk and ska, and eventually embracing a wide musical spectrum. He talks about shedding the pressure to commercialize his music and how it allowed him to enjoy it purely for fun. This culminated in organizing "Frostapalooza," a one-night-only concert involving 40 musicians from his network, and Brad shares the massive planning effort to curate and coordinate such an event.
Guest Bio
Brad Frost (he/him) is a design system consultant, front-end developer, speaker, writer, musician, and artist located in beautiful Pittsburgh, PA. As a principal and design system consultant at Big Medium, he helps teams establish and evolve design systems, establish more collaborative workflows, and create better software together. He is the author of the book Atomic Design, which introduces a methodology to create and maintain effective design systems. He co-hosted the Style Guides Podcast and has helped create several tools and resources for web designers, including Pattern Lab, Styleguides.io, Style Guide Guide, This Is Responsive, Death to Bullshit, and more.
Links
Brad’s website: https://bradfrost.com/
Frostapalooza: https://frostapalooza.bradfrost.com/
Frost Frost on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/frostfrost-1
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Angelina Severino joins us to talk about her love of poster art. She discusses the evolution of the poster from a practical advertising tool to a recognized art form, and her personal project to celebrate poster graphic design, detached from its commercial use. The conversation gets quite philosophical as Angelina explores the intersection of design and art, and questions the traditional view that design lacks personal expression.
Guest Bio
Angelina Severino (she/her) is an inspirational design leader with more than 15 years of combined Branding and Product experience in renowned advertising agencies and various tech companies. As a Design Lead at Gamgee, Angelina has brought this innovative startup from 0 to 1, from the very first product MVP to a full, complex product with an advanced multi-brand design system. Angelina is a Top Design Mentor at ADPList, and a Mentor and Advisory Board member at Women in Tech.
Aside from her design work, Angelina creates art posters inspired by graphic design and typography. She and her husband are raising three lovely daughters who undoubtedly keep them busy and inspired.
Links
Angelina’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelina-severino/
Angelina’s website: https://www.angelinaseverino.com/
Angelina’s Postress project: https://posteress.com/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Manglende episoder?
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Grab your clay and join us as Amelia Marschall-Miller shares her journey with pottery, rekindled after a long hiatus since her childhood fascination with ceramics. She is self-taught and enjoys the creative and experimental process of wheel-throwing, where getting comfortable with unpredictability is the key to having fun. Amelia describes her artistic style and influences, and looks to deepen her expertise while keeping pottery an enjoyable and fulfilling activity, rather than a stressful obligation.
Guest Bio
Amelia Marschall-Miller (she/her) is a Senior Director of Experience Design at EPAM Systems. She has spent her career in digital design consulting, having previously worked for Deloitte Digital and TCS. She also co-founded a web and mobile development company in Michigan called Gravity Works - which she led for four years and grew from 2 to 13 people, and is still operating today. After earning a degree in Graphic Communications from Northern Michigan University, her roles have included work in UX and UI design, user research & discovery, front-end development, project management, and operations. After spending 8 years in Colorado and Utah, she now lives in the woods near Traverse City, Michigan. When she's not making pottery in her home studio she enjoys hiking, mountain biking, boating, swimming, and cross country skiing with her husband, John, and blue heeler, Bitsy.
Links
Amelia’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleepingsandspottery/
Amelia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliamarschall/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Put on your bicycle helmet and join us in the bike lane, as Justin Godard talks about his lifelong passion of cycling. Justin reflects on the changing role the bike has played in his life, from childhood, through teenage years, to adulthood. He shares how the bike offers a balance of exploration and physical challenge, and how it fosters a bond with his daughter.
Guest Bio
Justin Godard (he/him) is a design leader with extensive experience in cultivating collaborative, innovative, and user-centered design cultures within major tech organizations. Currently leading a team at Cisco, he is deeply committed to enhancing the workplace experience, ensuring that all employees have the opportunity to perform at their best by minimizing unnecessary complexities in their tasks. His team of product designers, visual designers, and UX engineers creates an ecosystem where Cisco employees can excel while supporting the company's vision for pioneering hybrid workplace solutions.
Before his current role, Justin’s journey through the tech industry was marked by positions at Varicent, IBM, and Firmex, in addition to design positions in the cosmetics and automotive industries.
Links
Justin’s LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/justingodard
Justin’s Instagram: http://instagram.com/justingodard
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Start your engines, as Julie Tait joins Design Downtime to share her passion for car racing. Julie tells us how she fell in love with the sport of autocross, and her journey from an enthusiastic fan to a seasoned driver. She highlights the lessons she learned along the way, being part of a community of racers, and her efforts to promote the sport, especially among women.
Guest Bio
Julie Tait (she/her) is a passionate, award-winning creative person and Design System lead with 15 years in design. She lives her life with an attitude of, "I can do it". Rooted in a broad educational upbringing and talented role models in the arts, design, and craft disciplines, she's able to leverage divergent thinking and creative problem-solving to break through challenges in all aspects of life. Being engaged and open-minded to finding resources as a maker allows her to drive her passion for design systems.
In addition to her professional life, Julie is an illustrator, wood-worker, potter, teacher, coach, and mother of 2. She competes in car racing events and gives back to the sport by being a volunteer coach, and advocates for women to get involved with grassroots local racing events.
Julie likes to leave you with the question - "What is your 'and'? Designer and...?"
Links
Julie’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayday_jt/
Julie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliejancen/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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It’s story time on Design Downtime, as Laura Costantino joins us to talk about their lifelong love of stories. They take us all the way back to their childhood in southern Italy, to their father's folk tales, their grandmother's wartime stories, and their aunt's classical literature narratives. Laura tells us how that interest led them to study film and eventually curate film festivals, drawing parallels between the communal experience of oral storytelling and the shared experience of watching films in theatres. Laura also explores their preference for certain genres and touches on the impact of artificial intelligence on storytelling.
Guest Bio
Laura Costantino (they/them) is a senior content designer and strategist working on AI and large language models (LLMs) at Google. For the past ten years, they have worked at the intersection of UX, content, and marketing for some of the world's largest tech companies. Laura developed a passion for storytelling early on and received a MA in Cinema Studies in San Francisco, where they worked as a curator for a range of film festivals and cultural institutions around the Bay Area. Outside of work, Laura is committed to mentoring people transitioning into UX and tech, advocating for content, and sharing advice on LinkedIn. They currently live in NYC, were born in Southern Italy, and speak both English and Italian fluently.
Links
Laura’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauracostantino/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Podcasting all-star Davy Fung joins us to talk about… podcasting?! He tells us how he went from being a listener to trying to create a podcast himself, and how it evolved into an ongoing creative outlet. Davy shares insights into the technical aspects of podcast creation, from equipment to editing, and reflects on how important authenticity is in building a successful podcast.
Guest Bio
Davy Fung (he/him) is a Product Design Lead, supporting the Meta Business Design System. Previously he’s been the Design Manager for Design Systems for Disney+ and Hulu. In his spare time, Davy co-hosts the Design Systems Office Hours podcast, talking about all things design systems, and LOVES COFFEE.
Links
Design System Office Hours podcast: https://officehours.systems/
Davy’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/DavyF
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Noelle Lansford enters stage right to tell us about her love of local theatre. She takes us through her journey, starting from her high school days up to her recent involvement in community theatre, and touching along the way on her love for musicals, memorable productions, and the challenges of balancing theatre with other commitments. Noelle shares her transition from acting to backstage roles, and reflects on facing her the fear of imperfection.
Guest Bio
Noelle Lansford (she/her) is a digital product designer and design systems enthusiast. She is passionate about bridging gaps on multi-disciplinary teams from ideation to build processes. She works on AI design standards and patterns at Nationwide Insurance. In previous roles, Noelle has led design systems everywhere from a Fortune 500 SaaS company to a Series A startup. Noelle is passionate about learning and coaching others on their own journey into tech. After teaching and writing web design courses for her alma mater, Noelle has become a presenter and thought leader in the design systems community.
Noelle lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and bearded dragon, where she enjoys exploring the city and the outdoors. Outside of work, Noelle has rekindled her high-school passion for theatre in the Columbus scene, meeting new people both on stage and behind the curtain.
Links
Noelle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noellelansford/
Noelle’s site: https://www.noellelansford.com/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Joining us on the field is Taylor Cashdan, who’s here to tell us about his love for sandlot baseball. Taylor talks about the approachability of the sport, how inclusive it is, and how he was drawn to the community aspect of it. He touches on the challenges of maintaining a casual and fun atmosphere while accommodating players of varying skill levels, and the rituals and preparations involved on game days. Taylor highlights how he’s grown through sandlot baseball, which he sees as an opportunity for making connections beyond the realm of work.
Guest Bio
Taylor Cashdan (he/him) is a North Carolina-based multidisciplinary creative and community builder that’s passionate about people, design, and all the intersections in between. He has a burning desire to collaborate with others to create exceptional work for people who give a shit.
With nearly a decade’s worth of experience, Taylor currently spends his workdays leading the next evolution of the Mayo Clinic’s design system program. Previous roles include a variety of in-house positions within the management consulting realm, ad-tech, and HBO all focusing on brand and marketing maturation, as well as leading fintech UX projects, contributing to and consulting for established design systems, and leading design standardization and operations efforts.
Links
Carolina Sandlot Collective: https://www.carolinasandlotcollective.com/
Neuse River Nine: https://neuse-river-nine.square.site/
Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-cashdan-7720b442
Taylor on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/taylorcashdan
Taylor on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorcashdan/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Mordechai Hammer joins us to talk about the world of improv comedy. He talks about his journey into learning and practicing improv, joining a local troupe, taking classes, and performing on stage. Mordechai explores the building blocks of improv, such as the importance of making bold choices or building trust with fellow performers, and reflects on how far he’s come, as well as what skills he’s still working on.
Guest Bio
Originally from Los Angeles, Mordechai Hammer (he/him) graduated from Santa Monica College with a Bachelor’s in Interaction Design. After a stint as a Motion Graphics designer in the entertainment industry, he discovered his true passion — design systems. As a child of deaf adults and a former sighted guide, his work is rooted in a drive for inclusive, accessible design that works for all. In his current role as a Product Designer on the Design Systems team at Lyft, he’s grateful to be surrounded by people who share those values.
He is also an avid teacher, running Figma workshops at California State University Long Beach, as well as internally at Lyft. There’s nothing that brings him more joy than sharing knowledge with his peers. In his spare time, Mordechai just finished taking a woodworking class, which was decidedly not his thing. You’re equally likely to find him hosting his weekly trivia game or on a hike with his wife and pup.
Links
The Idiot Box Comedy Club: https://www.idiotboxers.com/
Mordechai on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/_mordechai
Mordechai’s site: https://www.mordechai.design/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Ben Callahan shares his journey and passion for coffee, a fascination that began in childhood. This curiosity led him to explore the science behind coffee preparation, and his quest for the perfect cup of coffee led him to experiment with various brewing methods, equipment, and even water quality. Throughout the conversation, Ben emphasizes his love for sharing coffee with others and his enjoyment of both the ritualistic and authentic aspects of coffee culture, highlighting his deep passion, continuous learning, and exploration within that world.
Guest Bio
Ben Callahan (he/him) founded Sparkbox in 2009 with a mission to build a better web. He has helped lead and grow the organization while they work alongside clients like Gap, The Oklahoma City Thunder, and Stanford University. He’s focused his energy most recently on developing a maturity model for design systems, articulating the anatomy of design systems, and chronicling his findings about workplace culture in the tech space. When not knee-deep in these explorations with others, Ben is a father, partner, poet, and home barista. His personal motto is, “Stay in learning mode” and this helps him to remember that every interaction is an opportunity to grow.
Links
Espresso Vivace: https://espressovivace.com/
Bialette Moka Express: https://www.bialetti.com/it_en/moka-express.html
Hario v60: https://www.hario-usa.com/products/v60-coffee-dripper-02-ceramic
Kalita Wave flat bottom brewer: https://kalitausa.com/collections/waves-series
Flair Lever Espresso Maker: https://flairespresso.com/
Bellman Stovetop Steamer: https://bellmanespresso.com/products/bellman-stovetop-steamer-50ss
Comandante hand grinders: https://www.comandantegrinder.com/
Niche coffee grinder: https://www.nichecoffee.co.uk/
Fellow Opus grinder: https://fellowproducts.com/products/opus-coffee-grinder?variant=41510665715812
Acaia coffee scales: https://acaia.co/collections/coffee-scales
PRESS Coffee in Dayton Ohio: https://www.pressdayton.com/
Wood Burl Coffee Roasters in Dayton Ohio: https://www.woodburlcoffee.com/
Ben’s site: bencallahan.com
Ben’s company: sparkbox.com
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Holly Camponez shares with us her lifelong passion for cooking which began in a tiny kitchen at the age of six, how it’s been a way for her to contribute to her community, and the shift in her cooking approach that led her to view food as medicine. Throughout the conversation, Holly emphasizes the joy, creativity, and sense of service that cooking has brought to her life, and reveals the one dish she still struggles with.
Guest Bio
Holly Camponez (she/her) is VP of Design & Head of Adobe Practice at Avenue Code. During her time in this role she's had the pleasure of collaborating with clients from the Fortune 100 to create functional, beautiful, and innovative products and services globally and observe design trends in action. She is passionate about the potential of design thinking to create a positive impact both socially and economically. Holly lives in Northern California with her husband, son, daughter, and three cats.
Links
Holly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollyvw
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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PJ Onori joins us to talk about his lifelong love of photography. He discusses his introduction to a manual camera in art school, finding deeper meaning through street photography, sharing his art (or not) with others, and the essential role the camera plays in documenting his family throughout the years.
Guest Bio
PJ Onori (he/him) has been working on software for close to 20 years and has been most focused on design systems for the past decade. He's worked for companies like Adaptive Path, Disney and Pinterest.
Links
PJ’s website: https://pjonori.com/
Matt Black: https://www.mattblack.com/
Darcy Padilla: https://www.darcypadilla.com/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Ermi Isais joins us to share her fitness journey; from viewing it as a mere obligation to discovering its transformative power. Through the unexpected challenges of obstacle course races, Ermi found joy and fulfillment in pushing her limits. Now, she reflects on the importance of embracing new experiences and viewing failures as valuable lessons. Throughout her journey, Ermi learned to overcome inhibitions and fear of failure, finding strength in vulnerability.
Guest Bio
Ermi Mendoza-Isais (she/her) is a design leader with over 20 years of experience, (15 years in visual design, branding, studio management and 7+ years in UX/UI design), working with agencies, corporates, fintech and small startups and has managed a freelance business. She's built design teams from the ground up and established cross-team collaboration processes to help companies with low UX maturity digitally transform and elevate their products and services.
Ermi's an active mentor of the global design community, ADPList, where she shares career advice and EQ skills not taught in UX boot camps. She is a keynote speaker and is regularly invited to speak on design panels and podcasts to share valuable insights through her diverse journey to help inspire designers to thrive in their careers. When Ermi’s not designing, she challenges herself in her fitness journey, an experience that has been life-changing and helped her develop a “fit for life" mindset.
Links
Ermi’s fitness Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ermi_fitness
Ermi’s design Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ermi_isais
Ermi’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ermiisais
Ermi on ADPList: https://adplist.org/mentors/ermi-isais
City2Surt: https://city2surf.com.au/
Spartan race: https://au.spartan.com/en
True Grit: https://truegrit.com.au/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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We talk with Raquel Breternitz about her love for comics. Raquel has a particular interest in indie comics and autobiographical work, appreciating how they can tell unique and often painful stories. She recounts her personal history with comics, starting with reading them as a child, and rediscovering her passion for them during college through works that profoundly impacted her life. She reflects on how comics blend the literary and visual arts, creating a unique medium that matches the complexity of human communication. The conversation touches on the comics community's openness and supportiveness, Raquel's evolving taste in comics, and her current reading list.
Guest Bio
Raquel Rubio Breternitz (she/they) is an award-winning designer with a unique bent for research-driven work built with craft and polish. She is dedicated to inclusion, accessibility, and keeping tech human (and human-focused).
With a diverse background in purpose-driven work across product design and brand, Raquel has served as Design Director for Senator Elizabeth Warren and has contributed to organizations including the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Shopify, the New York Times, Pivotal Labs, and IBM. Currently, they are a founding lead designer at GoodDay software.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Raquel is a writer, public speaker, panel moderator, and sketchnoter. In their free time, they draw comics, tear through fiction novels, play rhythm guitar, and take waaay too many photos of their cat.
Links
Raquel on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/RaquelDesigns/
Raquel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raquelbreternitz/
Alison Bechdel and Fun Home: https://dykestowatchoutfor.com/fun-home-2/
Black Hole: https://50wattsbooks.com/products/black-hole-pantheon-graphic-library
Ghost World: https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/ghost-world-softback
Adrian Tomine: http://adrian-tomine.com/Booksandcomics.html
Lenore Yerkes: https://lenorayerkes.com/about
Jillian Tamaki: https://www.jilliantamaki.com/books;
Mariko Tamaki: http://marikotamaki.blogspot.com
Squire: https://sara-alfa.com/books/squire/
- and writer Nadia Shammas: https://www.nadiashammas.com/comics
Eden ii, K. Wroten: https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/eden-ii
Tillie Walden: https://www.tilliewalden.com/books
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz herself!
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In our first episode, we talk with Emilie Mazurek about her passion for travel. Emilie discusses her first time traveling solo, and how that adventure has shaped her approach to life. She highlights the importance of adaptability in addition to planning, the joys and challenges of traveling with others, and her preference for quality experiences over quantity in her travels. Emilie also shares surprising destinations she's visited and her future travel aspirations.
Guest Bio
Emilie Mazurek (she/her) grew up thinking she wanted to be a doctor. She received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from University of Calgary, worked in a microbiology lab, wrote the MCAT, volunteered in Guatemala and even won two World Champion marching band titles. However, when the application cycle rolled around, she had more anxiety that she would be accepted rather than rejected–that’s when she knew something wasn’t right.
When she discovered UX Design it was like a lightbulb went on. After graduating bootcamp she landed a full-time, remote role in less than 3 months and was promoted to senior designer in just over a year. Now she’s helping others do the same.
When she’s not working you can find her arguing with her parrot Cheeto, giving unsolicited hot chocolate reviews, or finding any excuse possible to book another vacation.
Links
Emilie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilie-mazurek
Emilie’s website: https://www.dandydesign.ca/
Credits
Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Have you ever felt the pressure to constantly hustle, grind, and push yourself to the limits in your design career? I know I have. In a world where hustle culture reigns supreme, it's easy to get caught up in the frenzy of productivity, always striving for that next big breakthrough.
But here's the thing – it's okay to hit the pause button. It's okay to slow down, take a breath, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life beyond the confines of our screens and workstations. That's why I created "Design Downtime".
This podcast is a sanctuary for anyone in the realm of product design who believes that life is about more than just work. It's about rediscovering the joy of hobbies, passions, and interests that light up our souls and feed our creativity in unexpected ways.
Credits
Cover art by Raquel Breternitz.
