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PODCAST

Design Downtime

"Design Downtime" celebrates the joys of living a balanced creative life outside the pixels and wireframes. Join your host, Guy Segal, a design director, on this journey to redefine what it means to be a successful design professional, as each episode features a conversation with a talented design expert, delving into the world beyond their design screens and uncovering the passions that fuel their imagination. We invite you to break free from the shackles of hustle culture and embrace the full

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All Episodes

31:15

Araxie Miller Loves JRPGs

Design Downtime ·

2026/10/01

Get ready to be swept away to a world of magic and giant swords, when Araxie Miller joins us to talk about her love of Japanese role-playing games. She explains what sets them apart from Western RPGs: rather than asking who you want to be, they invite you into a world of existing characters, deep story arcs, and themes of friendship, sacrifice, and hope. From discovering Chrono Trigger in 1995 to playing Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with her husband, Araxie traces how JRPGs have been a constant

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25:51

Stephanie Tuerk Loves Learning Languages

Design Downtime ·

2026/09/24

No need to break your Duolingo streak, when Stephanie Tuerk joins us to make a case for learning languages. She traces her journey from high school French to PhD-era German to humbling Russian, arguing that language learning is less about fluency and more about a gateway into culture, history, and a completely different relationship with your own mind. Stephanie also reflects on the rare pleasure of being a deliberate beginner, and why a language class might be one of the last great third spaces

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29:12

Andy Bell Loves The Legend of Zelda

Design Downtime ·

2026/09/10

It's dangerous to go alone! Take this episode where Andy Bell joins us to talk about his lifelong obsession with the Legend of Zelda. He explores what makes the franchise compelling: its creativity, humour, weird NPCs, and remarkable ability to stay consistent in spirit while reinventing itself across 20 games spanning 40 years. Andy also shares his self-imposed challenge of playing the entire series in timeline order, and the magical experience of introducing his daughter to the franchise and

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23:56

Lisa Carey Loves Brian Eno

Design Downtime ·

2026/09/03

In this episode, Lisa Carey joins us to share her decades-long appreciation for Brian Eno. She introduces us to Eno the musician, producer, visual artist, and one of the originators of systems thinking in creative work, and traces a through-line from Roxy Music to Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, and from Oblique Strategies to a generative documentary that shows differently every screening - all united by a philosophy of embracing randomness and the unexpected over rigid planning.Guest BioLisa Carey

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31:56

Erin Casali Loves Illustrating

Design Downtime ·

2026/08/27

A picture is worth a thousand words when Erin Casali joins us to share about her illustration practice. She reflects on not being able to visualize images in her mind, which makes her process generative and exploratory; drawing to discover, not to transcribe. Erin describes switching from pencil to ink as a forcing function to break perfectionist habits and train herself to think in whole compositions rather than obsessing over details. Finally, she explores the blurry line between design and art,

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27:43

Jenny Dee Brecheisen Loves Barrel Racing

Design Downtime ·

2026/08/20

Saddle up and start your stopwatch, when Jenny Dee Brecheisen joins us to talk about her passion for barrel racing. She shares how it completely transformed her life, from city dweller to 10-acre landowner with four horses. Jenny explores the deep bonds formed with her horses through daily care and patience, the 14-17 seconds of pure adrenaline that make all the preparation worthwhile, and the steep learning curve and real physical dangers that come with the sport.Guest BioJenny Dee Brecheisen

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33:31

Luke Murphy Loves Being in a Band

Design Downtime ·

2026/08/13

It's not all mosh pits and crowdsurfing when Luke Murphy joins us to talk about nearly 20 years of band life. They talk about the sharp contrast between recording an album and the rush of performing it, and how the Brutalligators' chemistry works through defined roles, mutual respect, and just enough creative tension to push each other forward. Luke also punctures the myth of touring glamour, but explains that the friendships, the crowd energy, and the moment a new song lands on stage make it

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26:52

Odette Jansen Loves City-Building Games

Design Downtime ·

2026/08/06

We built this city, or rather Odette Jansen did, as she joins us to explore her deep love of city-building games. She talks about being drawn to games with genuine depth and resource management challenges, and a blank canvas that gives her full control without consequences. Games like Cities Skylines or Planet Zoo, where she's logged over 400 hours recreating Disneyland leaf by leaf. Odette also reflects honestly on how being late-diagnosed autistic and ADHD shapes her play style. From the

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24:12

Jarvis Moore Loves Sneakers

Design Downtime ·

2026/07/23

It's time to lace up when Jarvis Moore joins us to talk about his love for collecting sneakers. He shares how it grew from a childhood longing into a curated collection that serves as his primary form of personal expression, the systematic approach behind his collecting, and how he navigates the hype-driven world of limited collaborations and grail sneakers. Beyond the collecting itself, he reflects on how sneakers function as cultural shorthand, community building, and self-expression, including

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30:51

Sam Gordashko Loves to DJ

Design Downtime ·

2026/07/16

Get ready for the beat to drop, when Sam Gordashko joins us to talk about her love of DJing. She traces her journey from recording mixtapes off the radio as a kid to spinning sets at Burning Man. She shares how she learned to embrace imperfection as a recovering perfectionist, breaks down her systematic approach to navigating 50,000 tracks, and explains how DJing puts her into a flow state of constant, calculated risk-taking. Sam also offers practical advice for anyone curious about trying DJing

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42:01

Helen Gaskell Loves Writing Romantic Fiction

Design Downtime ·

2026/07/09

Love is in the air, when Helen Gaskell joins us to talk about writing rom com novels. She shares the story of her accidental path to publishing — from writing a fan letter to a mobile game, to landing a deal with just 10,000 words written. Helen reveals the surprising structural discipline behind the genre, and passionately defends romantic fiction as a misunderstood feminist art form, arguing it offers sophisticated social commentary and genuine emotional comfort. Her debut, The Regency Switch, is

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38:54

Mike Perrotti Loves Plants

Design Downtime ·

2026/07/02

Get your fill of chlorophyll, when Mike Perrotti joins us to talk about his passion for plants. He shares how a therapist's recommendation to add greenery to combat seasonal depression unexpectedly spiraled into a tropical obsession. Mike describes how he catches himself coveting rare expensive plants and consciously redirects back to the meditative joy of caregiving and cultivation. He also reveals how managing a diverse collection in a low-light apartment requires the same constraint-driven

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27:07

Daniel Sanchez Griborio Loves Karate

Design Downtime ·

2026/06/25

It’s time to wax on, wax off as Daniel Sanchez Griborio joins us to talk about his lifelong love of karate. He describes how his parents enrolled him at age five, and how the structure and rigor created a sense of belonging. Daniel explains karate's core philosophy of seeking perfection while understanding it's unattainable, and how focusing on incremental progress sustained him through five consecutive years of losing in the first round of nationals before finally winning at age 17. He talks about

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36:56

Mike Monteiro Loves Listening to Records

Design Downtime ·

2026/06/18

In the first episode of season 5, Mike Monteiro is "still listening to wax, he's not using the CD" when he joins us to share about his lifelong love of vinyl records. From his parents' 70s console record player to a 4,000-record music room, he traces how music became a path of self-discovery. Mike explains how he keeps track of his incredible collection, talks about the Platonic idea of the prefect record store, and makes a passionate case against audiophile gatekeeping: however you listen to music,

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75:44

Design Overtime: The Design Process Is Not Dead — It...

Design Downtime ·

2026/06/02

In this conversation, host Guy Segal and returning guest Pavel Samsonov challenge the recurring claim that the design process is dead — arguing that for many, it was never really alive in the first place. Pavel makes the case that process isn't a rigid framework imposed from above, but a set of self-imposed, iterative constraints that help designers make better decisions. The conversation explores how factory-era management thinking and agency-world deliverable culture have distorted our

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90:45

Design Overtime: Agile, Design, and the Gap Between...

Design Downtime ·

2026/03/24

In this inaugural episode, Pavel and I dig into the history and dysfunction of Agile, not to relitigate waterfall vs. Agile, but to examine why modern Agile practice has drifted so far from its original intent. We explore how the Agile manifesto was written entirely without designers in mind, how the "Scrum industrial complex" turned a flexible philosophy into a rigid checklist, and why two-week sprints often amount to waterfall in disguise. We cover the critical role of feedback loops, the danger

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33:05

Vitaly Friedman Loves Techno

Design Downtime ·

2026/02/12

It’s the season 4 finale and we’re celebrating at 150 bpm, when Vitaly Friedman joins us to talk about his lifelong journey through techno music. It all began in Belarus when, as a child, he discovered The Prodigy on cassette, continuing into his teens, that were spent obsessively exploring every possible musical avenue. Vitaly explains his preference for minimal, melodic, and "honest" techno over mainstream EDM, emphasizing his deep appreciation for the craft, passion, and commitment artists put

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33:24

Sera Tajima Loves Movement

Design Downtime ·

2026/02/05

We’re getting in motion with Sera Tajima, as she joins us to talk about her lifelong relationship with movement. She explains how ballet taught her precision, control, and the ability to withstand "good pain”, creating a meditative practice of syncing mind and body, that continued to martial arts. Sera’s athletic journey took a turn three years ago when she developed long COVID, forcing her to completely reassess her relationship with movement. Through her recovery process, she learned to listen to

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45:28

Erika Flowers Loves to Write Novels

Design Downtime ·

2026/01/29

Get ready to be swept away into a sprawling space opera, when Erika Flowers joins us to talk about her passion for writing fiction novels. She approaches writing fiction as entertainment rather than high literature, comparing her creative goals to producing Marvel-style blockbuster experiences. Erika traces her journey from discovering fantasy worlds through the Dragonlance series in middle school to spending 16 years learning the craft before finally writing her first complete manuscript. She

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30:05

Priyanca D'Souza Loves Outdoor Swimming

Design Downtime ·

2026/01/22

It’s time to be one with nature, as Priyanca D'Souza talks to us about her passion for outdoor swimming. She shares how immersing in cold water offers a transcendent experience that pulls her into the present moment, from still lakes where she floats under the sky to challenging rivers that demand complete mental focus. Priyanca explains how outdoor swimming differs fundamentally from pool swimming, and emphasizes the minimalist nature of the activity. She also discusses how she actively seeks

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81 results

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