Welcome to the first season of The Make it in Design FREE podcast! Here the team have curated a stellar line up of guests and we can’t wait for you all to hear the first series of 10 amazing episodes!
Make it in Design is home to one of the longest running online design schools in the world. We help creatives from across the globe thrive in the design industry.
We love nothing more than to inspire creative people to follow their dreams, grow sustainable design businesses, and do what they love.
We have created the Make it in Design podcast to bring our audience interviews with creatives, designers and business owners who have made bold moves and followed their hearts in order to thrive as creative professionals.
The Make it in Design podcast is a place of curiosity and discovery, and we look forward to sharing this conversation with you!
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and directly here on our website (scroll down).
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01 Staying motivated and creatively inspired with Rachael Taylor
Released Tuesday 28th September 2021
Rachael Taylor is a Global Art Director, Creative Writer, Mentor & Print & Pattern Designer who is most known for her quirky style, daring use of colour and unique innovation.
Besides being a prolific designer for almost every market you can imagine, Rachael has her own label and is a much-loved creative mentor and has been fortunate enough to coach a number of inspiring designers from all around the globe.
As Co-Founder (and lead course instructor) of Make it in Design, Rachael has developed an educational online platform, delivered many comprehensive online design courses along with a members’ club and taught over 20,000 individual students across 100 countries.
Rachael has a real passion for travel and most recently a love for Cuba with it’s breath-taking colour, culture and people.
In this very first Make it in Design podcast, Beth puts Rachael in the hot seat to discuss how it all started, how to stay motivated and creatively inspired.
Episode 1 includes:
- Recognising when it’s time for a change
- Dealing with imposter syndrome
- Staying open and receptive to new opportunities
- Having dream projects and making them happen
- How to make money as a freelance designer
- How to stay focused and prioritise work
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02 Finding your creative place with Elizabeth Olwen
Released Monday 4th October 2021
Elizabeth Olwen is a renowned Canadian Print and Pattern Designer who lives in beautiful Lisbon. Inspired by the world around her—from dense Canadian forests, to the colours and tiles of Lisbon, and her abundant spiritual and travel adventures in the life in between—Elizabeth’s meaningfully-made artwork is driven by the desire to leave something beautiful behind with every step she takes, while being gentle on this beautiful planet that nurtures and inspires her so much.
Elizabeth’s work oozes style, joy and colour confidence. She collaborates with companies from all around the globe, on feel-good, intentional products from home decor to stationery, from fabric to bedding, from swimwear to jewellery, and so much more.
Not only is she an in-demand designer, she’s a brilliant online teacher and is also Founder and Director of Field Trip, a curated annual Art & Licensing Show in New York formed and completely run by established artists offering clients a fresh, fun, and lively space to interact and connect.
Episode 2 includes:
- Not being afraid to slow things down
- Using travel to refresh your creativity
- Identifying what makes you happy and implementing this into your design work flow
- Tools to ensure you are always creating the designs and products you love
- Dealing and moving on from rejection
- Embracing the present and recognising when it’s time to recharge
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03 The art of channelling your creativity with Janine Vangool of Uppercase magazine
Released Tuesday 12th October 2021
Janine Vangool is the publisher, editor and designer of UPPERCASE, the quarterly magazine for the creative and curious and celebrates the process of making the commitment to craft and the art of living creatively.
Published since 2009, UPPERCASE has an enthusiastic and loyal readership of designers, illustrators, craftspeople, creative entrepreneurs and paper lovers around the world.
A creative explorer, Janine has worked as a freelance graphic designer in arts, culture and publishing and has also taught typography and publication design at the college level.
Janine has a particular fondness for playing the piano and typewriters, a passion that has inspired a book about their graphic history. She lives in Calgary, Canada with her novelist husband and curious 5-year-old son.
Episode 3 includes:
- Janine’s love of “gathering and curating” – an attribute intrinsic to her creativity and how this is channelled both professionally and personally
- How to be in charge of your own creative endeavours
- The mundane vs the glamorous – The importance of the mundane
- Transitioning from the printed page to textile design
- Passion projects – Having a “what’s next?
- Social media – Is it right for your personal brand?
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04 Getting to know the real creative you with Art Director Dan Silby of Oliver Bonas
Released Monday 18th October 2021
Oliver Bonas is a British High Street and online lifestyle store. The company values are work hard, play hard, be kind which are at the core of all they do. They believe in the magic of great design, innovative thinking and that design has the power to positively affect how we feel, allowing self-expression and to encourage creativity.
Dan Silby, Art Director is a creative at heart, a visionary and spontaneous art director with almost 20 years’ experience directing and styling photoshoots and producing all the imagery you might see on the Oliver Bonas website and social platforms.
With extensive experience working across the company, Dan also supports all of the in-house visual merchandising team, store design and graphics team to bring to life this aspirational brand.
In his free time, Dan is a vintage fabric obsessive and a furniture restorer and finds joy in collecting vintage children’s books and wooden building bricks.
Episode 04 includes:
- Embracing creativity from an early age
- Being creative for the sheer love of it
- Having the confidence to be bold in your actions and career moves
- Learning and growing by experience
- Trusting your creative instincts
- Being truthful to yourself and your creative output
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05 Understanding the problem before finding the solution with Mike Scrutton, Director of Print Technology and Strategy at Adobe
Released Monday 25th October 2021
For over 30 years Adobe has been changing the world through digital experiences and has been transforming industries, starting with the print industry. Mike Scrutton, Print Director at Adobe is leading a team focused on developments in the textile printing space. With 25+ years working with print, his knowledge and understanding of creative production workflows is extensive. Mike has been with Adobe since 1997 and has been responsible for many new and advanced technologies in the field.
At Make it in Design we’ve been fortunate to have Mike and his team providing some amazing insights and opportunities for our community of designers in The Live Hub. Including winning gold standard awards, exhibiting their work around the world and getting to test brand-new Adobe software.
Episode 05 includes:
- Being empathetic and learning from the user experience
- Learning by doing
- The future of digital print technology
- The Adobe culture and maintaining their integrity
- Encouraging community and creative opportunities
- Overcoming procrastination
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Adobe Max runs October 26-28th, 2021
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06 Finding your authentic creative voice with Winnie Danenbarger, Publishing Director for Quarto
Released Monday 1st November 2021
The Quarto Publishing Group creates a wide variety of books and intellectual property products, with a mission to inspire life’s experiences. Produced in many formats for adults, children and the whole family, the products are visually appealing, information rich and stimulating.
Winnie, the SVP and Publishing Director for Quarto, has been working there since 1993 and has had various roles starting as the North American Marketing and Sales Manager for Rockport Publishers a global design book imprint based in Rockport Massachusetts. As Quarto Publishing Group USA grew, she more recently took the role of Group Publisher for a diverse list of imprint published out of the Beverly, Massachusetts office including Rockport Publishers, Quarry Books, Fair Winds Press, Cool Springs Press, and Harvard Common Press. With a focus on category driven, illustrated non-fiction including Art, Craft, Cookery, Gardening, Mind/Body/Spirit, Self Help and Hobbies. Winnie is also responsible for a list of 175 new illustrated titles a year!
Episode 6 includes:
- Building experience across an industry
- How to break into the book publishing industry
- The benefits of doing internships
- The importance of a physical book in an ever-growing digital world
- An overview of trends in the book publishing industry
- Insights into what Quarto look for in a potential author
Quarto’s submission guidelines for book proposals
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07 Listening to your instincts and grasping opportunities with Kate Butler, Head of Home and Gift at Oliver Bonas
Released Monday 8th November 2021
Oliver Bonas is a British High Street and online lifestyle store. The company vision is to create inspiring Home and Gift collections, allowing self-expression and to encourage creativity. They believe that their designs go beyond the products to represent a lifestyle and offering Oliver Bonas as an experience.
Kate Butler is the Head of Home and Gift at Oliver Bonas – alongside a team of designers with an exploratory spirit who successfully channel it into their fashion and homeware collections. With creative roots stemming back to childhood, Kate always knew that she wanted to do something creative as a career, but her route into the design industry was not a standard one as she isn’t a trained designer. However, creativity is intrinsic to Kate. She has a natural affinity to make all things creative part of both her professional and personal life. She has 15 years’ experience working with aspirational high street lifestyle brands starting with Conran in 2006, and then moving to Anthropologie and then Habitat before Oliver Bonas. Her other passions in life are travelling and creating crowd pleasing recipes!
Episode 7 includes:
- Early creative roots and exploring these in education
- Following your own path, accepting challenges and learning and growing along the way
- Listening to your instincts and knowing what opportunities to grasp
- Insights into how a commercial design team works – from drawing to the final product
- Trying something new, pushing innovation in design, products and the materials we use
- The benefits of slowing down, giving yourself permission to rest and breathe and recharge
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08 Learned experience and sharing knowledge with Katy Cowan, Founding Editor of Creative Boom
Released Monday 15th November 2021
Creative powerhouse Katy Cowan is a renowned journalist, writer, podcast host and founder of the phenomenal platform Creative Boom.
Launched in 2009, Creative Boom supports the creative community, particularly those who are underrepresented. Today, the site has six million readers and over 320,000 followers on social media.
From artists, graphic designers and illustrators to photographers, filmmakers, and animators her platform supports creatives at every stage of their careers, from leaving education to employment, freelancing, or leading a team. Katy especially loves to champion emerging talent and give a voice to the underrepresented.
Her wonderful platform has been a great source of inspiration, comfort, and support to many.
Episode 8 includes:
- Doing something you WANT to do rather than something you think you SHOULD
- Finding joy in giving back and supporting others
- Becoming successful without a 10 year plan
- Establishing a healthy relationship with social media
- Embracing opportunity and not being intimidated by “what could be”
- What’s your USP? – having confidence in your values and identity
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09 Be Bold! Be Expressive! – The Colour Conversation with PANTONE (Product Managers Louis Prestia and Tannese Williams)
Released Monday 22nd November 2021
More than 10 million designers and producers around the world rely on Pantone products and services to help define, communicate, and control colour from inspiration to realisation and to achieve colour consistency across various materials and finishes for graphics, fashion and product design.
Vice President of The Pantone Colour Institute, Laurie Pressman believes that The Colour Conversation is one that touches nearly every industry. From the clothes we wear to the way colour makes us feel, the language of colour is one that is universally shared.
Episode 9 includes:
- Using colour – Expressing yourself creatively and emotionally
- The importance of how colour works technically for designers
- Digital vs physical
- 3D, VR and Avatars! – How PANTONE is innovating
- Pivoting into the digital world – What’s next for PANTONE?
- Just for fun! Do you have to wear colour if you work for PANTONE?
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10 Having time and space to explore your creative DNA with Amy Wilson from BBC Interior Design Masters
Released Monday 29th November 2021
For our final episode of the very first Make it in Design podcast Charlotte discusses creative DNA with Amy Wilson, from the BBCs Interior Design Masters.
For as long as she can remember, Amy has felt the positive effects of good design and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the place she calls home has always been her sanctuary. From styling her childhood bedrooms, transforming student digs to bargain hunting for her first home, she’s always pushed the boundaries of the space she’s occupied. For Amy, schemes have changed and developed but the feeling has always been the same for her she believes good design should make you feel joyful, inspired and safe.
Episode 10 includes:
- The importance of exploring your creative self and the spaces around you from an earlier age
- How to engage with a client to get the best out of project
- The role of a design facilitator
- Taking part in the BBC’s Interior Design Masters
- Tips on creating a productive and nurturing home workspace, no matter what the budget
- Dealing with adversity, taking time out to process it and figuring out how to move on from it
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