Design Darlings

Design Darlings
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We are two dorks with degrees in design and we wax poetic about everyday objects, fashion, interactions, and all things designed in the world. Our conversations run the gamut from examining that pen in your pocket to questioning whether pressing or percolating coffee produces a better brew. Part persnickety and part pop culture, our hosts keep things keen. So join us as we incite deep dives and invite expert perspectives about all things design, darling. 

Puntate

  1. 1 g fa

    Mirrors on the Dance Floor: How the Disco Ball Illuminated a Revolution

    In this episode, we trace the disco ball from 1920s jazz clubs where it scattered light equally across every dancing body, through fifty years of obscurity, to its resurrection in the 1970s alongside a revolution in music technology—the synthesizer, the drum machine, the extended 12-inch remix—tools that were never designed for disco but got seized and celebrated by producers and DJs who understood something crucial: dance could be a powerful form of community and purpose. Disco didn’t die in 1979. It was murdered. And we’re here to tell you exactly how a singular cultural object was at the center of major movements and social change. The light didn’t totally die out on disco… it just shifted across time and space, always spinning same the narrative of joy and resilience. I Will Survive was more than an anthem, it was a timeless mantra beating at the heart of all great designs. About Your Hosts:  Allie Miller is a designer, researcher, and strategist who believes in the power of design to foster understanding and facilitate meaningful change. She holds a Master’s of Industrial Design from Georgia Tech, bringing human-centered thinking and a system lens to every conversation—and your podcast feed. Robyn Richardson is an experience design strategist, tech consultant, TEDx speaker, and Graduate Professor at Georgetown University. She holds an MFA in Design Management from SCAD and has spent her career making design thinking accessible, opinionated, and a little bit fun.

    59 min

  2. 10 giu

    Analog Nostalgia and a Liminal Longing for 90s Design

    We’re living in a moment where recent history feels lost but still recoverable. The 90s are close enough to feel familiar, and distant enough to feel like a mirage in the desert of all things digital. Turning away from the endless algorithmic feeds, we long for that era of the last genuine analog culture. That final decade of the 20th century has become like the secret garden… a walled off sanctuary where things were built by hand, patina’d by imperfection, and steeped over time. While waiting for the photos to develop and the movie to hit VHS, we were using technology without being possessed by it. Can we recover the liminal spaces and a design sense that existed before doom scrolling?  Topics Referenced:  Liminal Spaces  The Lisa Frank Mystery  Malls coming back Memphis Design Group Apple Clamshell Computers Jonny Ives Allie Miller is a designer, researcher, and strategist who believes in the power of design to foster understanding and facilitate meaningful change. She holds a Master’s of Industrial Design from Georgia Tech, bringing human-centered thinking and a system lens to every conversation—and your podcast feed. Robyn Richardson is an experience design strategist, tech consultant, TEDx speaker, and Graduate Professor at Georgetown University. She holds an MFA in Design Management from SCAD and has spent her career making design thinking accessible, opinionated, and a little bit fun.

    56 min

  3. 29 mag

    Wine About Design

    Wine has always been two things at once: what's in the bottle and everything around it. In this episode of Design Darlings, we uncork the full design story of wine. Our guest Matthew Stebenne is a product-developer-slash-sommelier who brings rare fluency in both design craft and what's actually in your glass. He helps us decant each topic, even touching on the graphic design of labels—a surprisingly contested space where tradition, typography, and pure panache collide in a 4 inch square. We dig into ways that regional identity shapes great grapes and discuss why a Burgundy bowl looks nothing like a Champagne flute. Robyn makes a case for postmodernism as a quiet but undeniable force reshaping winemaking. Pour your favorite vino, then press play. About the Hosts Robyn Richardson is an experience design strategist, AI product developer, TEDx speaker, and Graduate Professor at Georgetown University. She holds an MFA in Design Management from SCAD and has spent her career making design thinking accessible, opinionated, and a little bit fun. Allie Miller is a designer, researcher, and strategist who believes in the transformative power of design to solve complex problems. She holds a Master's in Design from Georgia Tech and brings human-centered thinking, a sharp eye for systems, and a commitment to meaningful change to every conversation—and your podcast feed. About the Guest Matthew Stebenne is a product manager and design strategist with a Master's in Design Management & Communications from Georgetown University and WSET wine certifications—both earned with Distinction. He sits at a rare intersection of design craft and sensory expertise, which means he can critique your wine label and what's inside the bottle.

    1 h

  4. 15 mag

    Fashion is Art, Design, and Media Machine

    Fashion is a cultural phenomenon. A mix of design, photography, style, and setting, a garment isn't just an isolated confabulation of fabric — it's an experience, an aspiration, a mini movie in a single snap. This episode uses the Met Gala and the long-awaited Devil Wears Prada 2 to interrogate what happens when fashion stops being worn and starts being performed... for the camera, for the meme, for the morning-after discourse. Who is at the helm of the design dialogue? Are the editors and critics steeped in true design knowledge of craft and material science being replaced by an algorithm competing for clicks? In this episode we ask the question: is fashion art, is it content, or have we made it impossible to tell the difference?

    56 min

  5. 1 mag

    The Cult of Big Water Bottle and the Design of Hydration

    Over the millennia, our humble water bottle had a serious glow-up. The modern metal tumbler is an innovation in thermodynamics that you tote from the farmers market to your freeway commute. But somewhere between the Stanley craze and the Hydro Flask wars, this utilitarian object became a full-on totem: color-dropped like a sneaker, curated like a handbag, plastered with stickers that scream I have opinions about oat milk. This episode, designer Vidya Mantrala joins us to unpack how a heat-transfer workaround became the bumper sticker of the body — a walking mood board that also hydrates you.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Show Note Links:  The Surprisingly Long History of Bottled Water Why Did Stanley Water Bottles Suddenly Become a Cultural Phenomenon?  The Buy Guide - The Story of The Cup GSD&M Marketing Case Study

    1 h

  6. 9 apr

    Maker and Machine: The History Behind Design's Most Dramatic Relationship

    From the steam-powered chaos of the 18th century to the silicon-fueled frenzy of the digital age, humans have always met technological upheaval with the same cocktail of terror, wonder, and remarkable adaptation. Each industrial revolution didn’t just rewire economies — it rewired identities, aesthetics, social structures, and what it means to be human. Luddites smashed looms and Cubists fragmented reality in response to mechanized warfare. Now, as AI reshapes the landscape yet again, history whispers its familiar truth: the most interesting story was always about us.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Links and References: Sewing Machine History Hudson River School Gujarati Mochi embroideryRay and Charles Eames Leg SplintsHistory of Tomorrowland Yayoi Kusama’s reflective Narcissus Garden 1984 Apple Super Bowl Ad World Economic Forum on the 4th Industrial Revolution  The story of Steve Jobs and Issey Miyake

    1h 13m
  7. Design Grind: The Aesthetics of Coffee House Culture

    27 mar

    Design Grind: The Aesthetics of Coffee House Culture

    This week our hosts discuss a caffeinated story arc covering early 2000s coffee houses to the design-ification of coffee hustle vibes. Did the social media girl boss grind aesthetic hijack the formerly cozy couch setting of your favorite spot? Are we coming full circle with a return to the book store hangout that defined the late 90s? Grab your favorite brew and sit for this open mic coffee house revival.  At the news desk, we cover the fashion and production design of the 98th Academy Awards, and how a partnership announcement between NVIDIA and Adobe could change our design workflows. Links:  NVIDIA and Adobe Partnership Announcement  Oscars 2026 First Look: This Year, the Stage Is a “Sanctuary of Celebration”

    1h 5m

  8. 20 mar

    Light My Fire: How Objects of Function become Markers of Identity

    Can something as functional as fire have design? This episode asks how the invention of matches and lighters sparked from a basic necessity–like lighting candles, lamps, and tobacco– into statements of self expression. Join the discussion as we examine how lighters and candles expanded beyond functional objects from the 1800s into modern designs of personal vibes and aesthetics. A Brief History of Flame Brief History of Matches and Lighters BIC Timeline AD Set Tour- Wuthering Heights

    48 min

  9. 20 mar

    It’s Design, Darling

    This first episode introduces our podcast premise, our hosts, and posits the big question- what IS design?  We consider the 4 orders of design and their place in brand development, while also considering how human cultures developed the original modes of design. Listen for fun and insights from this friendly duo and look to their show notes for inspiration and links to extra content.  LINKS:  Wicked Problems in Design Thinking (4 orders of design)  Dieter Rams 10 Principles of Good Design Victor Papanek- Design for the Real World

    26 min
  • 9 puntate

Descrizione

We are two dorks with degrees in design and we wax poetic about everyday objects, fashion, interactions, and all things designed in the world. Our conversations run the gamut from examining that pen in your pocket to questioning whether pressing or percolating coffee produces a better brew. Part persnickety and part pop culture, our hosts keep things keen. So join us as we incite deep dives and invite expert perspectives about all things design, darling. 

Informazioni

  • Creatore
    Design Darlings
  • Anni di attività
    2K
  • Puntate
    9
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti espliciti
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Design Darlings
  • Sito web del podcast
    Design Darlings
  • Fornitore