Darshan Gajara on side projects, remote work, and consistency

Hear from Philip VanDusen about the importance of a personal brand, a deep dive into his process for producing great videos on YouTube, and a philosophical take on the design industry today. Notes: Benjamin Zander - https://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_the_transformative_power_of_classical_music?language=en Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No.1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xm7s9eGxU Philip's brand muse https://philipvandusen.com/blog-gallery

In our first episode of season 2, we discuss: Ethical design and the responsibility this places on designers when working at big tech The positives and negatives of working in multiple countries. What's her advice? The importance of building a personal brand and how important an extensive online portfolio is. Is it needed at all?

The year we'd all rather forget, but what actually happened?

What happened in 2019? – Twitter beef is officially a thing now – A boom in design celebrities – The design tool wars – A stripped back approach to branding – Return of the serif – Collaboration for the win Don't forget to subscribe, and we'll see you all in 2020.

Mitch Myers is an Emmy award winning art director, motion designer and entrepreneur. He's the person behind reels for some of the world's biggest brands and bands, including GoPro, The Glitch Mob, and EA Sports. Aside from this, Mitch is a tutorial and live drawing whizz, consistently offering his insights to a loyal user base through his various channels. We loved his transparent attitude towards work and wanted to understand what it takes to such high quality work whilst juggling so many projects. We also learned that he was in a screamo band. Show notes Greyscalegorilla

Darshan Gajara is the face behind Product Disrupt, a side project he started to field his own needs which turned into a mini viral hit. Working remotely from his home in Mumbai, Darshan consults with top brands to develop user friendly products that also meet business needs. In this episode, we dove into the importance of side projects, and what his motivations are for pursuing these non-paid pieces of work.

Martha Peck is a Seattle based UI/UX designer who started out by designing CD covers for her favourite bands - we're still waiting to see these gems. Having studied design academically, she rode the path of internships before finding her feet at CBRE. We took a deep dive into the world of colour with Martha, with its limitations, impact on accessibility and why every app looks the same.

What does it take to be a creative director? Lukasz worked as creative director at the world's leading smartwatch face company, Facer, and takes us on a journey through the trials and tribulations of this role.  We take a deep dive into leadership, owning a brand, and the skills required to be successful in this design position. Show notes Tesla vs Edison

David Klein is a product designer for Salesforce, a writer, excellent photographer and coffee afficionado - we're not kidding. His precise methods have carved out a career as a designer with a very strong influence on product processes and workflows. He shared some immense insights with us on how to push your effectiveness as a designer, and also why we all need our own coffee kit. Show notes Misto box Hario - For the v60 coffee drip and temperature controlled kettle Mark Hemeon, designer and artist Unsplash photo walks Good To Great by Jim Collins Michael Beirut Pomodoro technique

Frank Bach is lead product designer at the world's biggest meditation and mindfulness app, Headspace. Having established a successful studio of his own in his hometown of Sudbury, Canada, Frank moved to California and set his sights on Headspace.  As well as producing world class designs, Frank is a regular speaker at conferences and was a mighty fine skateboarder back in the day.