Design Darlings

Design Darlings

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. 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

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.