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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

arts design

All Episodes

29:41

Shell Little Loves Minecraft

Design Downtime ·

2025/10/23

Watch out for creepers, as Shell Little takes us on a journey to the blocky world of Minecraft. They progressed from vanilla gameplay to modded Minecraft, drawn to the game's complete transparency—where the mechanics are fully documented—which satisfies their need for efficiency and deep knowledge. The game serves multiple roles in Shell’s life: a source of min-maxing satisfaction, a social connector for building relationships with geographically dispersed friends, a therapeutic outlet for burnout,

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31:54

Chela Giraldo Loves Downhill Longboarding

Design Downtime ·

2025/10/16

This episode is going downhill fast, as Chela Giraldo joins us to talk about her love of extreme longboarding. She describes her journey from discovering longboarding while working at a skate shop in Bogota, to becoming a competitive downhill racer who reached the top eight women internationally. Chela talks about the unique feeling of downhill longboarding as "flying just inches off the ground" - a moving meditation that combines pure adrenaline with total calm, and requires complete presence. She

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40:27

Dan Brown Loves Board Games

Design Downtime ·

2025/10/09

In the first episode of season 4, Dan Brown joins us to share about his love of hobby board games. He talks about transitioning from games like Monopoly to discovering the more advanced Carcassonne, which became his gateway into modern board gaming. Dan explores the relationship between game themes and mechanisms, saying he’s drawn to games where these elements work together cohesively. He discusses his collection's evolution from simple games he could play with his family to more complex strategy

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29:59

Erika Hall Loves Painting Portraits of Chickens

Design Downtime ·

2025/07/03

It’s the season 3 finale, and to celebrate, Erika Hall joins us to talk about her unique artistic journey of painting chicken portraits. What began as a creative sabbatical evolved into an unexpected obsession, when she recognized that most of us take chickens for granted despite their dinosaur-like nature, and committed to painting individual chicken portraits that treat them as more than mere objects. Erika has grown the project beyond personal art therapy into a digital presence with a website

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31:33

Dominika Noworolska Loves Tea

Design Downtime ·

2025/06/26

Put the kettle on and get ready to hear Dominika Noworolska talk to us about her love of tea. She describes her journey from discovering tea culture as a teenager in Krakow's atmospheric tea houses to becoming a dedicated tea enthusiast in the UK, and how those early experiences in dimly lit basement tea houses created lasting associations between tea and meaningful dialogue. She explains the difference between Western and Eastern brewing methods, discusses how different teas create distinct moods

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31:12

Ryan Rumsey Loves The '80s

Design Downtime ·

2025/06/19

This episode is bursting with neon colours, coming-of-age movies, and acid-washed jeans, as Ryan Rumsey joins us to talk about his deep connection to the 1980s. He shares about moving across the country as a child, growing up as a "latchkey kid”, and how MTV, movies, and music became transformative influences during his youth. Ryan explores how the ‘80s represented a unique cultural moment with the advent of cable television, 24-hour news channels, and the transition of movies from art to commercial

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33:51

Anthony Hobday Loves Solo Tabletop RPGs

Design Downtime ·

2025/06/12

Grab a pen, paper, and maybe some dice, as Anthony Hobday joins us to discuss his journey into solo tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). He talks about discovering pen-and-paper solo TTRPGs while exploring dungeon crawling games, and finding the format appealing because it allowed him to create complete games as simple documents. Anthony describes his design philosophy, talks about creating games around a gimmick, like fitting all rules into 36 words, and touches on the crucial role of online

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38:09

Homer Gaines Loves Producing Music

Design Downtime ·

2025/06/05

All quiet in the studio, as Homer Gaines joins us to share his lifelong journey with music production. He recounts developing his skills creating music with fellow students in high school, composing an original score for the school's production of “Fame”, and his evolution through college, where he worked in studios and performed with hip-hop groups. A devastating theft in 2003 caused him to abandon music entirely until his wife gifted him a Roland keyboard in 2016, prompting his return as an

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28:34

Stéphanie Walter Loves Paper Crafting

Design Downtime ·

2025/05/29

It’s sticker time, as Stéphanie Walter joins us to talk about her love for paper crafting. After starting with stickers, she “branched” to colorful (and deliberately unrealistic) paper plants, focusing on fun rather than natural accuracy. Since then, Stéphanie expanded into creating 3D projects including earrings and lampshades, working with vinyl, thin leather, and shrink plastic. She talks about her design style and inspirations, how she prefers to gift her creations rather than selling them, and

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27:17

Bill Kurland Loves Punk Rock

Design Downtime ·

2025/05/22

Dye your hair blue and rip your jeans, because Bill Kurland is joining us to talk about his love for punk rock. He talks about getting exposed to punk at a young age and embracing the do-it-yourself ethos. Bill criticizes the policing of authenticity within punk communities, and describes having a "meta-punk" approach where he sometimes deliberately went against punk norms. He rejects the nihilistic "destroy everything" attitude associated with some in punk, and instead talks about his appreciation

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27:04

Kasey Labelle Loves Puppies

Design Downtime ·

2025/05/15

They’re good dogs, especially when Kasey Labelle joins us to share her lifelong connection with puppies. She recounts her childhood with two family dogs before introducing Rhino, her beloved blue nose pitbull who chose her when he was just three weeks old and remained her companion for nearly 15 years. Kasey discusses how she's coped with Rhino's passing by becoming a dog walker, speaks passionately about the misconceptions surrounding pitbulls, and shares how Rhino's loving personality challenged

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31:31

Cheryl Platz Loves Live Streaming

Design Downtime ·

2025/05/08

It’s time for puppets and Shakespeare (?!) as Cheryl Platz joins us to talk about her journey into live streaming. She shares how her background as a professional actor and improviser led her to stream with her puppet Sprinkles, initially performing Shakespeare as part of a Twitch creative competition. While she didn't win the contest, she developed a loyal community that encouraged her to continue, adding video gaming to the mix. Cheryl reveals her background working at a Sesame Street theme park

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30:13

Amy Ogg Loves Latte Art

Design Downtime ·

2025/05/01

Enjoy a foamy cup of coffee decorated with a heart, as Amy Ogg joins us to talk about her adventures in the world of competitive latte art. She provides an insider’s view of coffee competitions, describing the various events from latte art contests to espresso tastings and "best coffeehouse", and shares how she navigated the male-dominated competitive coffee scene. Amy tells us about her training approach that was focused on consistency and repetition, pouring hundreds of drinks to perfect specific

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29:35

Steve Portigal Loves Creative Writing

Design Downtime ·

2025/04/24

Here comes the literary trope of the “interview podcast”, when Steve Portigal joins us to talk about his journey into creative writing. Known for his non-fiction books on user research, he shares how he discovered a passion for writing fiction during the pandemic when he hit a personal wall, and enrolled in a creative writing course. Steve talks about balancing clarity with ambiguity, learning that not every reader needs to understand every reference, and his exploration of different writing styles

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30:15

Shelby Corbella Loves Escape Rooms

Design Downtime ·

2025/04/17

You have 30 minutes to find the code to the exit, as Shelby Corbella joins us to talk about her love of escape rooms. Shelby, who has completed over 220 escape rooms worldwide, tells us how her first immersive experience of a well-designed escape room helped her "escape" everyday life. She explains that escape rooms fulfill a unique need for her, as they engage multiple aspects of her brain simultaneously, and outlines the key elements that make an escape room memorable. As an experienced escape

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28:05

Katie Langerman Loves Rock Climbing

Design Downtime ·

2025/04/10

We’re reaching new heights, as Katie Langerman joins us to talk about her adventures in indoor rock climbing. She introduces the different types of climbing (bouldering, top rope, and lead climbing), and talks about how climbing has become a way for her to confront her fear of heights. Katie discusses a serious ankle injury she sustained in 2023 while bouldering, and explains how returning to climbing after the injury was challenging yet therapeutic. She explores the problem-solving nature of

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25:40

Amy Hupe Loves Watercolour Painting

Design Downtime ·

2025/04/03

Get your brush and easel ready as Amy Hupe joins us to share her newfound passion for watercolour painting. She talks about reconnecting with the hobby as an adult when a friend suggested painting together as a distraction, and how she discovered watercolour painting uniquely silenced her normally busy mind. Despite not considering herself naturally artistic or visually creative, Amy appreciates watercolour's forgiving nature - it allows for mistakes and corrections in a way that complements her

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28:26

Asia Hoe Loves Video Games

Design Downtime ·

2025/03/27

Grab your controller and get ready to double jump, as Asia Hoe joins us to talk about her love of video games, starting with memories of playing Mario and Donkey Kong between her parents as a child. She discusses how her relationship with gaming evolved from pure childhood immersion to a more analytical adult perspective, and explains how her love for collection-based games matches her perfectionism. Asia highlights her appreciation for indie games, explores her experience developing games at game

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26:09

Karen VanHouten Loves '80s New Wave

Design Downtime ·

2025/03/20

In the first episode of season 3, Karen VanHouten joins us to share her love of ’80s new wave music, a love that began in high school in the mid-1980s. She talks about discovering the music through friends, noting how it was "accessible enough, but different enough to make you feel a little special”. That juxtaposition of the dark and the beautiful in new wave music resonated with her, and made her a fan for life. Karen talks about music sharing in a pre-internet era, her time as a college radio DJ,

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31:08

Joe Natoli Loves Heavy Metal

Design Downtime ·

2025/01/30

It’s the season two finale and this week’s episode goes to eleven, as Joe Natoli joins us to talk about his lifelong passion for heavy metal music. From his earliest exposure to Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality at age ten, Joe reflects on the profound emotional connection and sense of identity metal gave him. He shares stories of scouring record stores, trading mixtapes with friends, and devouring music magazines to explore the growing metal scene in the pre-internet era. Joe also discusses the

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52 results

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