Groundbreakin

Dipaq
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The Groundbreakin is a cutting-edge podcast that explores the journeys of top designers, creative entrepreneurs, and thought leaders in the design industry. Hosted by Dipaq aka Q, a Creative Director and Founder of Syqi , this podcast is your go-to source for insider insights and actionable advice from the world's top design experts. With a focus on fresh topics and engaging discussions, each episode is designed to help you stay ahead of the curve and build a successful career in the ever-evolving design landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, The Groundbreakin is your essential resource for all things design. Join us on a journey to the forefront of creativity and innovation. We are on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all the podcast listening platforms.

  1. 6 days ago

    #65 - The Design Job Nobody's Hiring For Yet : Aparna Vinod

    What happens when most design advice assumes an English-speaking, phone-fluent, low-stakes user and your actual users are none of those things? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Aparna Vinod, a transformation strategy and organizational design practitioner currently pursuing a PhD on the changing nature of leadership. Aparna has spent her career unlearning the idea that design means designing for people like yourself  working instead across factory floors, classrooms, and boardrooms where the “user” looks nothing like a typical UX persona. From why she refuses to use the word “empathy,” to the story of her beautician who built an entire identity and income on TikTok, to why she believes one person should hold strategy, culture, and design instead of three separate roles  this is a conversation about taking design out of the artifact and putting it back into people, process, and power. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER: How Aparna became a “very accidental designer” working across strategy, learning, and culture (0:47) The real unlearning: why designing for people unlike you can just be preference in disguise (5:19) Aparna’s Venn diagram framework for design  need, strategy, and aesthetic (8:09) Why she refuses to use the word “empathy” in her practice (13:50) The TikTok beautician story that reframes who design is really for (19:37) How redesigning classroom seating became an act of design (24:40) Why one person should hold strategy, culture, and UX instead of three separate roles (27:25) The ROI question: when should a fast-moving startup actually invest in culture (36:39) Why Anthropic’s “People Scientist” job listing signals where design careers are headed (55:06) THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF: You’re a designer or product leader designing for users unlike yourself You want to understand what “design beyond the artifact” actually looks like in practice You’re curious how culture, learning, and UX are converging into one discipline CONNECT: Check out our Substack: dipaq.substack.com Supported by Syqi: https://syqi.design/ Email us at [q@groundbreak.in]

    #65 - The Design Job Nobody's Hiring For Yet : Aparna Vinod

  2. 2 Jul

    #64 - 65,000 pairs, Zero shortcuts - Designing a slow footwear-first brand in India : Ajaaz Rasheed

    What does it take to build a footwear brand in India that competes globally, without taking the easy route through China? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Ajaaz, Principal Designer and Co-Founder at Ludic, a footwear-first lifestyle brand built from scratch in India. From his early years designing for Fila to working on KL Rahul’s Puma collab, to investing 50-60 lakhs in proprietary tooling instead of an open mold, Ajaaz breaks down what it actually takes to design, manufacture and sell a footwear product in one of the toughest production landscapes in the world. From a college kid sketching shoes in Kerala to co-founding a brand selling 65,000 pairs a year, this is a conversation about craft, conviction, and saying no more often than you say yes. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER: How a Kerala kid obsessed with cars ended up in footwear design instead (1:53)The DM that landed him India’s first dedicated footwear design role at Fila (4:35)Getting shortlisted top 8 in the world at the Spensole Sneaker Championship (7:02)How a chance meeting led to Fila’s first-ever India collab with Veg Nonveg (8:06)Why he tells most prospective clients not to start a footwear brand at all (19:39)What working on KL Rahul’s Puma collab taught him about brand pricing (3:26)Why Ludic spent 50-60 lakhs on its own molds instead of buying off-the-shelf from China (14:04)The real story behind why Nike pulled all manufacturing out of India (5:40)Building Future Works  Ludic’s experimental product world with filmmaker Don (18:56)What “winning” actually means to a designer who doesn’t think in revenue numbers (14:48) CONNECT: Check out our Substack: dipaq.substack.com Supported by Syqi: https://syqi.design/ Email us at [q@groundbreak.in]

    #64 - 65,000 pairs, Zero shortcuts - Designing a slow footwear-first brand in India : Ajaaz Rasheed

  3. 23 Jun

    #63 - ADHD, India 2.0, and ADHD, India 2.0, and Building Timeless Consumer Brands : Abhishek Durani

    What does it take to build a branding studio that gets dream clients without ever doing cold outreach? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Abhishek Durani, founder of Studio Sorted, a Bangalore-based branding and strategy agency behind some of India’s most talked-about consumer brands. From Theka Coffee on Shark Tank to a participatory brand built with a food community, Durani’s approach to branding is bold, strategic and anything but boring. From a Kashmiri migrant kid from Chandigarh to running a multi-vertical creative studio, this is a conversation about building with intention, leading with culture, and why every brand  B2B or B2C  deserves to be exciting. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER: Why architecture training gives designers a 360 vision (03:42)How Theka Coffee became a cult brand and put Studio Sorted on the map (04:25)The participatory design process behind Only What’s Needed (15:44)Why ADHD is Durani’s creative superpower (08:48)How Studio Sorted gets featured on ChatGPT and Gemini (08:42)Why he checks every candidate’s Instagram first (14:03)Panic Press and Type Foundry  building verticals from within the team (02:57)What it’s really like running a studio with your life partner (08:08)THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF: You’re a designer or creative thinking about starting your own studioYou want to understand how brand strategy and culture work togetherYou’re building a consumer brand and want it to actually stand for somethingYou believe good design should never be boring  no matter the industryCONNECT: Check out our Substack: dipaq.substack.com Supported by Syqi: https://syqi.design/ Email us at [q@groundbreak.in]

    #63 - ADHD, India 2.0, and ADHD, India 2.0, and Building Timeless Consumer Brands : Abhishek Durani

  4. 14 Jun

    #62 - Sustainable Software Is Not a Utopian Dream. It’s a Design Problem : Pradeep Joseph

    What does it take to stay curious across 27 years and 7 completely different industries? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Pradeep, a mechanical engineer turned design leader who has worked across consumer durables, consulting, aerospace, and cloud  most recently leading design for Google Cloud. From a defibrillator still in market 25 years later to a PhD on sustainable software using UX as a change agent, this is a conversation about learning by doing, bridging business and design, and staying relevant when nothing stays predictable. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER: 1.Why ignorance + confidence is the formula Pradeep swears by (03:58) 2.Designing across 7 industries what actually changes and what doesn’t (04:33) 3.What sustainable software development means and why designers should lead it (06:26) 4.The Jevons Paradox why efficiency doesn’t mean less consumption (08:40) 5.Why the business–design bridge is more broken than ever (01:41) 6.How Google’s hiring process is more democratic than you think (12:40) 7.Why reversible decisions are the only safe ones right now (06:37) 8.What external design agencies should actually be offering enterprises today (09:01) CONNECT: Check out our Substack: dipaq.substack.com Supported by Syqi: https://syqi.design/ Email us at [q@groundbreak.in]

    #62 - Sustainable Software Is Not a Utopian Dream. It’s a Design Problem : Pradeep Joseph

  5. 5 Jun

    #61 - Physical Design Is Back: Lessons for Global Consumer Brands : Mohan Vijay

    What does it take to design products that go into millions of Indian homes  and actually solve real problems? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Mohan Vijay, Head of Design & User Experience at B/S/H India  the company behind Bosch, Siemens, and Gaggenau appliances. From painting temple sculptures as a child in Tamil Nadu to designing Xerox printers from India for the world, and now leading design for one of the most recognized appliance brands globally, Mohan’s journey is a masterclass in designing with purpose. This is a conversation about what design really means inside a global enterprise and why it goes far beyond making things look good. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER: 1.Why he did engineering first  and how it actually made him a better designer (04:45) 2.,What UX really means when there are no screens involved (05:24) 3.Why they ride along with repair technicians before designing anything (12:55) 4.How BSH cut product development from 21 months to 6–7 months (05:37) 5.The AI tools a global enterprise actually uses  and why it’s not ChatGPT (10:05) 6.What Indian home appliance brands are getting right (and what’s still missing) (13:18) 7.Why physical design is making a comeback after a decade of screens (10:32) 8.The two traits Mohan always looks for when hiring a designer (07:21) THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF: 1.You are a designer curious about what enterprise design actually looks like from the inside 2.You want to understand how consumer research drives real product decisions 3.You’re thinking about the future of physical and industrial design in India 4.You believe design’s job is to solve problems  not just make things beautiful CONNECT: Check out our Substack: dipaq.substack.com Supported by Syqi: https://syqi.design/ Email us at [q@groundbreak.in]

    #61 - Physical Design Is Back: Lessons for Global Consumer Brands : Mohan Vijay

  6. 28 May

    #60 - The Cultural Gap in How India Designs Public Transport : Snehal Pawar

    What does it take to design something that millions of people will use  for the next 40 years? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Snehal, Head of Design at Alstom one of the world’s leading rail and mass transit companies. From designing ceiling fans at Bajaj to trucks at Tata Motors, cars at Hyundai, and now entire train systems, Snehal’s journey is a masterclass in designing with intent. This is not a conversation about styling. This is a conversation about design that moves cities, cultures, and communities. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER 1.Why he left car design for mass mobility and never looked back 2.How rail design must stay relevant for 30–40 years, not just 7 3.Why aesthetics are a dialogue, not decoration 4.Designing for culture Tokyo vs Mumbai vs Paris 5.The big integration problem facing Indian urban mobility 6.His mango farm near Nashik and the dream of self-sustenance 7.What India needs to fix in design education urgently 8.The one mindset shift that changed everything: Intent CONNECT: Check out our Substack: dipaq.substack.com Supported by Syqi: https://syqi.design/ Email us at [q@groundbreak.in]

    #60 - The Cultural Gap in How India Designs Public Transport : Snehal Pawar

  7. 21 May

    #59 - Design for Cybersecurity is The Skill of Our Time : Meenakshi Thaploo

    What does it take to design products that don’t just meant to look good but keep the world safe? In this episode of The Groundbreakin, we sit down with Meenakshi Thaploo a designer with 20+ years of experience across architecture, retail, fintech, and now cybersecurity at Cisco. From studying architecture to falling in love with visual design, to landing in one of the most complex and high-stakes design domains in the world  her journey is anything but conventional. This is not a conversation about aesthetics but a conversation about designing where failure has real consequences. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER: 1.Why cybersecurity design is fundamentally different from consumer product design 2.What “zero trust” really means and how it shapes every single design decision 3.The personas nobody talks about network admins, security analysts, and threat engineers 4.Why making things simple is not the goal  and what the real goal actually is 5.How AI is reshaping both the threat landscape and the design process simultaneously 6.Why the best products are always built by design, product, and engineering as one unified team 7.The three things every designer must know before entering the cybersecurity space 8.How working in security changes the way you think about your own personal data and privacy CONNECT: Check out our Substack: dipaq.substack.com Supported by Syqi: https://syqi.design/ Email us at [q@groundbreak.in]

    #59 - Design for Cybersecurity is The Skill of Our Time : Meenakshi Thaploo

  8. 15 May

    #58 - Dunzo Is Gone But the Brand Lives On Here’s Why : Munz

    What does it take to build a brand so powerful that it becomes part of everyday language? In this episode of The Groundbreaking, we sit down with Munz  freelance designer, metal band vocalist, photographer, and the creative mind behind some of India's most recognizable brand moments at Dunzo, Flipkart, Gojek, and now First Club. With over a decade of experience building brands from zero to one, Munz gives us an unfiltered look at what real brand building actually looks like  no big budgets, no shortcuts, just honest, intentional creative work. This is not a conversation about trends. This is a conversation about what actually works. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER:  How Dunzo became a verb with zero marketing budget (07:00) Why every brand is trying to be funny and why that's killing creativity (18:00)The real reason most brand campaigns are forgettable (22:00) How music and design share the exact same creative process (34:00)Why your product is your best marketing tool (30:00) What three things made Dunzo's brand truly iconic (14:00) How to separate your personal values from your brand objectives (38:00)Why bold, honest brands always win in the long run (26:00)The one thing creative people need more than talent signals (34:00) What brand building really means beyond social media and IPL campaigns (26:00)CONNECT: Check out our Substack: dipaq.substack.com Supported by Syqi: https://syqi.design/ Email us at [q@groundbreak.in]

    #58 - Dunzo Is Gone But the Brand Lives On Here’s Why : Munz
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About

The Groundbreakin is a cutting-edge podcast that explores the journeys of top designers, creative entrepreneurs, and thought leaders in the design industry. Hosted by Dipaq aka Q, a Creative Director and Founder of Syqi , this podcast is your go-to source for insider insights and actionable advice from the world's top design experts. With a focus on fresh topics and engaging discussions, each episode is designed to help you stay ahead of the curve and build a successful career in the ever-evolving design landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, The Groundbreakin is your essential resource for all things design. Join us on a journey to the forefront of creativity and innovation. We are on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all the podcast listening platforms.

Information

  • Creator
    Dipaq
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    65
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Groundbreakin
  • Show Website
    Groundbreakin