When it comes to product categories, sometimes two is better than one. Just ask my guest Amy Frazer of Keller Design Co. She is something of a renaissance woman: While embroidery seems her primary passion, as evidenced by the release of her gorgeous Birth Flower Embroidery book published by Quarto Group last year, stationery is not far behind! These days, Amy smartly transfers any design onto several categories of SKUs. In the grips of this analog moment we find ourselves in, Amy has an inherent

Your team is your biggest competitive advantage. Brian sits down with leading industry expert Seth Ewing, PHTA Senior Director, Member Programs and Services, to discuss practical, field-tested strategies for overcoming labor shortages. Discover how to create clear career pathways, modernize your hiring process, retain top talent through shoulder seasons, and build a positive culture that drives long-term success.

Lance Winters has one of the stranger paths to becoming a master distiller: nuclear engineering, the Navy, brewing, and eventually showing up at St. George Spirits with a bottle of homemade whiskey.Three decades later, Lance has helped shape St. George into one of America’s most influential craft distilleries. In this episode, Lance and Eli discuss St. George’s early days as one of the first American craft distilleries; what it means to create something new in established spirits categories; and

In a live edition of the show—recorded at the Four Hands flagship in Austin, Texas—designers Evan Millard, Melissa Oholendt and Audrey Scheck share advice on attracting more qualified leads, investing in photography, understanding profit margins and more. At the end, they fielded live questions from the audience on topics ranging from color trends to tech stacks.This episode was sponsored by Four Hands.LINKSEvan MillardMelissa OholendtAudrey ScheckKaitlin PetersenBusiness of Home

We’re continuing our run of bonus episodes ahead of Season 6 with the return of designer Elizabeth Lawrence, partner at Williams Lawrence and longtime collaborator of the legendary Bunny Williams.Since Elizabeth last joined Ariel on Talk Shop, she and Bunny have reached a major new milestone together: the release of their new book, Decoration, out now from Rizzoli. Bringing together nearly a decade of work, the book goes beyond a traditional project-by-project design monograph to explore how we

This week Dan and Nik sit down with Steve Rathje, a new HCII colleague who runs CMU's Psychology of Technology Lab, to talk about what sycophantic AI does to the people using it. Steve's team randomly assigned people to chat with bots that were flattering, disagreeable, or neutral. People liked the flatterers, shrugged at the neutral ones, and hated the bots that pushed back. For designers, the news is mixed. Validation drives enjoyment, but cherry-picked facts do the persuading, so pairing a little

Corey Squire and Amy Donohue join Evan Troxel and Candace Kitchen to talk about how Bora Architecture & Interiors turned sustainability from a rotating champion's cause into a named, firm-wide default: climate, health, and equity. They dig into the "Bora Perfect Project," why window wall ratio and orientation matter more than any energy model, why mass timber is the firm's starting assumption rather than an exception, and the moment a young intern spoke up in a leadership meeting to stop a

What separates useful design research from simply asking people what they want? In this episode of Designing in the Wild, Rob sits down with longtime friend and colleague Jill Bohaboy, owner of Trek Solutions, to explore the craft of consumer and design research, and how better observation, better questions, and a willingness to explore can uncover needs people may not be able to articulate themselves. Jill brings years of experience conducting research across an enormous range of industries ...

Matthew Boone joins Dan Ryan to break down what it actually takes to turn a hospitality project from blueprint to guest ready. They dig into the tension between design vision and hard budget numbers, why cost estimating works so differently around the world, and the on the job lessons that shaped how he leads projects today.Matthew Boone is head of hospitality at Rider Levett Bucknall  (RLB), bringing 20+ years of architecture, construction and project management experience to some of the

Denz Ibrahim, Head of Futuring & Placemaking at L&G, London. Through New Acres in Wandsworth, London, we explore how placemaking can move beyond traditional real estate models and “cookie-cutter” development. Denz shares how New Acres combines homes, independent businesses, coworking, wellness, makers, public spaces and community activities to create a distinctive neighborhood with a strong sense of belonging.We also discuss the relationship between placemaking and economic value, community

For this eleventh episode Pete and Ricky break down Ricky's love of all things vintage, how he decided to transition from finish carpenter to creative maverick, getting out of instagram prison, his disdain for all things business, his love of music and skate videos, and so much more.Check out Ricky's IG, Pete's IG, and With the Grain's IGMaker's CampRicky's Skate Video PlaylistEmail your thoughts and/or guest requests to withthegrainpod@gmail.comIntro music: Broken Peace

Happy National Podcast Day! To celebrate, we're opening the Human Scale vault and sharing some of our favorite never-before-heard moments from the cutting room floor. While the final episodes are carefully edited, these clips are delightfully unpolished: missed cues, verbal gymnastics, surprise interruptions, and the kind of laughter that makes it impossible to keep recording. It's our second bloopers episode, and a reminder that the best part of podcasting isn't perfection. It's the

Erika Barbieri is the co-founder and creative director of OlssønBarbieri, a design studio in Oslo. The studio's ethos is built almost entirely around one idea: that packaging can be a portal into much bigger conversations about food. She and her partner Henrik met in design school in Florence, moved to Oslo in 2005, and spent years finding their footing before officially committing to the studio in 2012. In this episode, Erika talks about how for her, good packaging design lives at the inters...

MONIOMI Design founders Monica Santayana and Ronald Alvarez join LUXE Interiors + Design Homes Editor Jennifer Pfaff Smith to explore a vibrant 1930s Miami Beach residence created for longtime client and author Asha Elias. Given a clear directive—make it pink, feminine and entirely her own—the designers layered shades from blush to deep mauve with geometric patterns, sculptural furnishings and art, balancing exuberance with what Alvarez calls “organized chaos.” They discuss their color-first

Jo Overend is in da house (ship?) But first, Illustration Business Club is finally OPEN! It's been over a year since we last flung the doors open and we'd love to have you sailing with us! https://www.thegoodshipillustration.com/business Jo is an author-illustrator, an OG Good Shipper, and the author and illustrator of Megaduck (her debut picture book with Walker Books) 🐥 When Jo started out, she hadn't drawn for 21 years. She posted her drawings anyway, eeeeven the ones she didn't like, and

This compilation pulls together four Season 4 guests, a CEO, two design and innovation leaders, and a design consultancy owner, on where AI genuinely helps a hardware or design business: faster prototyping, a levelled playing field for smaller teams, a design process that runs like a loop. Every one of them also draws a line around what they're not ready to hand over: sketching, hiring judgement, the discipline to not chase every shiny new tool.This is a short cut, roughly three and a half minutes,

S8 E20: This week’s guest is Alexis Villanueva – longtime affordable housing advocate, President & CEO of City Heights Community Development Corporation- a California public benefit nonprofit corporation, and recent TEDx San Diego speaker alongside XYZ’s host, Lisa Gralnek. In this parallel release episode, Alexis shares her perspective on the ‘Future of Community Development’ from best practices and capital considerations, to policy linkages, youth engagement tactics, and much more. As

📝 The Green Impact Report Quick take: The future of high-performance buildings isn't necessarily about adding more technology — it's about making smarter decisions. Mechanical engineering leader Dale Garfield breaks down why fundamentals, heat pumps, renewable-ready infrastructure, and owner-focused design matter as buildings move toward a lower-energy future. 🤝 Meet Your Fellow Sustainability Champion Dale Garfield's path to building engineering started somewhere unexpected: the United States

If you struggle to make changes in your life and hate trying to create new positive habits, this episode is for you!ADHD Neuroscientist Anne-Laure LeCunff has a totally different approach that is fun and friendly to creative neurodivergent brains! We also talk about why following your curiosity is so key to charting your path. This is life changing stuff! Tune in! SHOW NOTES:Anne-Laure LeCunffhttps://anne-laure.net Tiny Experiments Bookhttps://nesslabs.com/retailers Producer / Editor: Sophie

An architect designs. A builder builds. But what happens when one firm handles both? And who do you need for YOUR project? In this episode, Paul breaks down the three approaches to custom home construction: hiring a licensed architect and separate builder, working with a design-build firm like LR3, or choosing to navigate the process without an architect. Each model has different timelines, costs, and communication dynamics. We'll walk you through how design-buil...