This Is A Prototype Doug Powell

One of the best design books of 2023 was Centered: People and Ideas Diversifying Design, a remarkable collection of essays, interviews, and stories compiled and edited by my guest for this episode Professor Kaleena Sales. This amazing book spans geographical regions and cultures from Alabama to India, and from Kurdistan to Zimbabwe, illuminating designers, techniques, ideas, and artifacts that have previously gotten little or no attention by the established western design community. The book provides important context for all leaders building inclusive, human-centered design teams and programs. 


Kaleena Sales is Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Chair of the Art & Design Department at Tennessee State University, a historically black university in Nashville. Her research and writing are rooted in racial justice and equity, with a specific focus on the ways culture informs aesthetics.

Kaleena and host Doug Powell are joined in the second half of the episode by one of the contributors to Centered, Sadie Red Wing, a Lakota/Dakota graphic designer and advocate from the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation. Sadie teaches at OCAD University in the Graphic Design and Indigenous Visual Culture programs.

Episode 2 of the new season is a continuation of our discussion with Kate Aronowitz of Google Ventures and Robert Fabricant of Dalberg.

In part two, we dig deeply into a pair of articles written by Robert for Fast Company about the state of design leadership by examining the wave of contraction that has happened across the tech industry, and the emergence of grass-roots communities of designers seeking connection and guidance. 

Season 2 of This Is A Prototype: The Design Leadership Podcast is underway! This opening episode is a special two-part discussion featuring design leaders Kate Aronowitz of GV (Google Ventures) and Robert Fabricant of Dalberg. 

In part 1, we dig into Kate’s and Robert’s design backstories, and discuss the growth and expansion of design as a practice and a profession in the last two decades, including the important issue of leadership succession. We also begin to explore Robert’s recent Fast Company articles about the state of design leadership. Part 2 of the episode will post in your podcast feed early next week.

Season 2 of This is a Prototype: The Design Leadership Podcast is coming soon! 

The practice and profession of design in scaled companies continues to evolve in unexpected ways, and the role of the design leader in that evolution is more important than ever to the success of our teams and organizations. 

In Season 2 of This is a prototype, host Doug Powell continues to speak to the top design leaders in the industry about their life and career journeys into design. And he broadens the scope to explore cultural intersections in design; how design leaders are driving change in their communities; and how emerging technologies are changing our practices and our teams.

Doug's guests in season 2 will include:
Kaleena Sales
Sadie Red Wing
Kate Aronowitz
Robert Fabricant
Rich Hollant
Bill Grant
Jonathan Hanahan 
...and many more!

My guests for this Season 1 finale episode are Doreen Lorenzo and Mbiyimoh Ghogomu.

Doreen Lorenzo is a pioneering design leader who is the Assistant Dean of the School of Design and Creative Technology at University of Texas, a role she started in 2016. Prior to joining UT, Doreen was the longtime President of Frog Design, one of the largest and most established global design consultancies in the world. Doreen is a columnist for Fast Company where she writes the Designing Women column profiling brilliant women in the design industry.

Mbiyimoh Ghogomu is the co-founder and CEO of Tradeblock, the marketplace for collectible sneakers. Founded in 2019 the company has amassed more than 250,000 users and over a million sneakers available for trade on its digital platform. Tradeblock has raised more than 10 million dollars in VC funding. Mbiyimoh founded the company with childhood friends Tony Malveaux and Darren Smith after starting his career as a content design intern at IBM Design.

This episode was recorded live at the offices of argodesign in Austin, Texas.

Supporting partner for the live event was Pearl, the digital platform for proactive, effective, and inclusive hiring.

My guests in this episode are two legendary design leaders, Ann Willoughby and Mauro Porcini.

Ann Willoughby is an AIGA Medalist who has been a leading voice in design for over five decades. In 1978 she founded Willoughby Design, one of the first woman-owned design firms in the US. In addition to her leadership of this award-winning firm, Ann has been an advocate for countless community organizations and academic programs throughout her career.

Mauro Porcini is the first-ever Chief Design Officer of PepsiCo where he is infusing design thinking into the company’s culture and leading a new approach to innovation by design that is impacting it’s vast portfolio of products and brands. Mauro is also the author of the book The Human Side of Innovation: The Power of People in Love with People.

We cover a remarkably wide breadth of topics from the important role leaders play in the building of company culture, to how designers respond to emerging technologies. Ann and Mauro share some delightful and inspiring stories about the people who have shaped their journeys as leaders.

I open the episode with a special bonus segment: A short clip of a conversation I had recently with Professor Omari Souza, founder of the State of Black Design conference, which is happening for the first time ever as a live, in-person event March 15-16 in Nashville, Tennessee.