Innovators - The Digital Innovation Podcast

Sebastian Gier
  • 4.9 (7)
  • MANAGEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
Innovators - The Digital Innovation Podcast

The podcast on the future of design and digital innovation. Interviewing global digital innovators that make a positive impact with their work and learning from their journey, experiences and projects. Formerly known as the Designdrives Podcast

  1. 09/07/2024

    Empowering the next generation of creative leaders

    In our new episode, Felix Lee, the Co-founder & CEO of ADPList, provides valuable insights into the empowering impact of ADPList on the next generation of creative leaders. Felix shares his perspectives on the positive influence and significance of design in driving innovation, as well as effective strategies for communicating design concepts to business stakeholders. Founded in 2021, ADPList has rapidly emerged as a global platform for expert knowledge, boasting over 20,000 mentors from leading companies such as Netflix, Airbnb, and Google. Felix discusses how ADPList aims to democratize access to mentorship, facilitating over 100 million minutes of sessions in 140+ countries, covering topics ranging from product design to coding. Felix's creative vision is evident in ADPList's culture, product, and community. His leadership has earned global recognition, including spots on Forbes 30 under 30 Asia List and Tatler's Generation T Future Leader List in 2023. Additionally, ADPList secured $1.3 million in funding from Sequoia Capital India and Goodwater Capital in 2021. Throughout the episode, Felix provides insights into how ADPList is transforming the mentorship landscape and equipping aspiring designers with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive in the industry. Thank you very much for your time and knowledge, Felix!

  2. 09/01/2024

    James Martin | Designing outstanding brands.

    In EP75, we had the pleasure of speaking with James Martin, co-founder of BabyGiant Design Co. and the founder of Made By James, a brand-focused and design-led creative agency in the UK, also the author of the book "Made by James: The Honest Guide to Creativity and Logo Design" which was released this year. His clients include The Chainsmokers, Michael Ray, and Carter McLean, as well as brands like Bishop Slayer Oyster Stout and Plastic Freedom. James believes that there is no shortcut to creative freedom and a life of self-employment. Being good at what you do isn't enough. His words of wisdom? Work with a team first to gain experience, then go out on your own once you've mastered prospecting, pricing, and presenting. In this episode, James discusses how to systemize your creative design process and how designers can do so to scale their services and make them more efficient. We also talk about what makes a great logo and how effective brand designs can help brands advance. In this episode, we look at: The commercial significance of a new logo design. What is the most underrated aspect of a great brand and communication design? How do you develop your design's narrative and strategy? When it comes to new clients, how important is your "design style," or are you completely adaptable? What is the most difficult aspect of selling brand design? How do you explain the positive impact of a brand design project? And plenty more! Thank you very much for your time and knowledge, James!

  3. 06/14/2022

    Teslim Alabi - The power of thinking differently

    Buckle up for a fresh episode of Designdrives. In EP71, as inspirational as it was, we had a great time hosting Teslim Alabi, who serves as a Product Design Lead at Netflix, the leading streaming entertainment service in the world with 200+ million paid memberships. During Teslim’s decorated career before Netflix, he worked at one of the “Big Five” in Silicon Valley, Microsoft for almost 5 years, and co-founded and led the design team for Project Moca a.k.a. Outlook Spaces. We talk about his life experiences, challenges that he faced and also the story behind starting the social enterprise called Leads By Design, to actualize the mission of inspiring people from underrepresented backgrounds and underserved communities. In 2017 Teslim co-founded Seattle-based watch company, James & Muriel and led end-to-end for both industrial and product design teams on some high-end timekeeping instrument projects. During the episode, we chat about how he used a “yes mindset” to gain opportunities and get ahead in his career and also how his background as a designer coming from Nigeria make an impact to make organizations more customer-centric. We also chat about designing at Netflix, what makes their design culture more special and share some thoughts and predictions on what lies ahead for designers working in the media and entertainment industry. In the episode, we jump into: The power of creative ignorance in innovation. What are the opportunities and challenges in the entertainment content space and where can designers have the biggest impact? New content models with growth in contexts of digital products and innovation? What are the key challenges for people to communicate the “value of design” with business stakeholders? Role of the designer working in the entertainment industry in the future. and many more! Thanks a lot for your time and your learning Teslim!

  4. 06/08/2022

    Dogan Sekercioglu - Accelerate innovation by materializing ideas

    In this episode, we chat with Dogan Sekercioglu, who is a former Industrial Design Lead from IDEO and currently works on future robotic and medical designs at Intuitive in California. With Dogan we chat about the interplay between abstract and concrete and how it’s actually a superpower of the designer. Throughout the episode, he shares his learnings from projects where he had worked, which made a positive impact on the world. We also talk about his experiences working on sustainability design projects and how changing the question from solving to reducing can actually open up new opportunities for innovation that might be just an iteration but also a step forward because moving is better than not moving. In the episode, we jump into: The role of advanced design when it comes to designing complex systems. How can constraints and requirements and fighting them, and questioning them could lead to product innovation? What are the key challenges in designing in the medical space? Why is “creative” not a department but a culture? and many more! Thanks a lot for your time and for your learning Dogan!

  5. 05/19/2022

    Hussain Almossawi - How CGI is changing design

    In this episode, we learn from Hussain Almossawi on how advanced CGI is changing design forever, and blurs the digital and physical world. Hailing from Bahrain, 3D motion designer Hussain Almsosawi has since moved to Brooklyn, New York, and started his own studio – Mossawi Studios. Across his exciting career, which is equally striking as it is satisfying, Hussain has worked for huge brands, including Adidas Football, Adidas Basketball and EA. The strength of Hussain’s work lies in its confident simplicity, flourishing in intelligently reserved aesthetics and concept. Aside from some of these projects with the big brands in the industry, a massive part of his self-initiated projects has led him to gain a large following on social media, with followers captivated by his gratifying and eye-catching outcomes.In the episode, we jump into: What are common challenges in CGI projects? At what part of the process to bring in advanced visualization? (Early-phase vs final renderings) How will “designing in real-time rendering” change the design process? How will digital and physical be coming together in the world of design? What will the metaverse and "instant real-time visualization" mean for the future of design? and many more! Thanks a lot for your time and for your learning Hussain!

  6. 05/09/2022

    Samuel Northway - Empowering and managing design teams

    In this episode, we had the pleasure to chat with Samuel Northway, Head of Product Design at Mason. In the past, he worked as VP of Brand Product Design at Goldman Sachs, worked as a lead designer on Deloitte and as Design Director at AT&T, among many other experiences. We talk about his mindset and motivation for working in the creative industry during the episode. And uncover many insights on approaching innovation projects or innovation in general without getting burned out and creating shared ownership, which is critical for innovation to move forward. We also talk about how he has grown in design maturity at Goldman Sachs and his learnings as a designer and leader. And what opportunities designers have when changing industries, and how to overcome the fear of leaving your company. Further, we also explore the intersection of physical and digital design and how new business models actually bring both aspects closer together. In the episode, we jump into: How to empower and manage design teams? What are the advantages and disadvantages of designers switching between industries? What impact can designers create in the future? What are the key challenges for designers to communicate the “value of design” to business stakeholders? and many more! Thanks a lot for your time and for your learning Samuel!

  7. 04/19/2022

    Scott Robinson - The Future of Human-Centred Design

    In this episode, we had the pleasure to chat with Scott Robinson, Founder and CEO of FreshForm. A customer and UX agency based in San Diego. When it comes to design, Scott Robinson thinks Frank Lloyd Wright said it best: “Form follows function—that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.” Robinson takes that advice to heart, leveraging human-centred design principles to grow and differentiate brands in today's ever-changing digital landscape, including Acura, Honda, Ballast Point, Facebook, Intel, ExxonMobil, Qualcomm and the University of San Diego. Robinson has been in the field of design and marketing for nearly 20 years and at the helm of FreshForm since 2001 and remains intensely passionate about the intersection of marketing, design, technology, innovation and consumer behaviour in the digital age. We've got a chat about how human-centred design is changing as humans evolve but also the environment of humans becomes increasingly technological. We also dive into the difference and intersection of CX design and EX design, further Scott does play a key role in the context of design capital 2024, which will be a collaboration between San Diego and Tijuana in Mexico, in the episode we learn about what makes the region special and uniqueIn the episode, we jump into: Designing for humans and technology in harmony. Why Co-Creation is critical for innovations to survive? Why great CX Design requires great EX (Employee Experience) Design? How technology is becoming an extension of the human body, and how to design for it? The mission and journey behind the Design Capital 2024 (San Diego and Tijuana) and many more! Thanks a lot for your time and for your learning Scott!

  8. 04/11/2022

    Karel J. Golta - Designing for a circular future

    Circular design: the next step of design thinking? Circular design, by bringing the subject of resources to the forefront, also creates an opportunity to integrate increasingly more important strategic dimensions in an ever-changing world. Shifting to a circular mindset when it comes to design can prove to be delicate. Thrilled to launch our EP66 which is all about circular design thinking. In this episode, we had the pleasure to chat with Karel J. Golta, Founder and CEO of INDEED Innovation, about circular design, strategic innovation, and speculative design. His team had the chance to bring a strong perspective of circular design into recent projects and he shares the learnings on scaling from user-centric design to circular design. Where not just incorporate more data and more stakeholders into the project but also approach your design with a new mindset. Further, we also discussed the overlap between speculative design and circular design. We also talk about AI and how the tools and the processes actually going to change and influence the future job of the designer. In the episode, we jump into: How to design for circularity? The role of ESGs for designers. User-centred design vs circular design. Why sustainability requires system thinking? Creating frameworks for circularity. Importance of Co-Creation on designing a circular product. Why designers should be more focused on the circular design? Thanks a lot for your time and for your learning Karel!

See All (27)

Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

The podcast on the future of design and digital innovation. Interviewing global digital innovators that make a positive impact with their work and learning from their journey, experiences and projects. Formerly known as the Designdrives Podcast

Information

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada