Design Matters

Debbie talks to Massimo about his favorite typeface, his fight against vulgarity and meaningless design, and what he means by forceful design.

Debbie talks to Billions show runner Brian Koppelman about why he became a writer after years as a record promoter and producer.

Debbie talks to poet Eileen Myles about poetry, fame, and politics.

Debbie Millman talks to Cindy Gallop about her career in advertising and about the trouble people have communicating about sex.

Debbie Millman talks to Adam J. Kurtz about designing for psychological health.

Debbie Millman talks to Gail Bichler about magazine design and the role of the magazine cover in the digital age.

Debbie talks to Alison Bechdel about how identifying herself as a lesbian when she was young led her into a career as a cartoonist.

Debbie talks with artist and writer Lisa Congdon about how she sometimes felt like an imposter.

Debbie talks to Anil Dash about politics, technology, and culture. "The single industry that is more responsible for creating culture today than any other, even entertainment or media, is tech. And part of it is we're the mediators for the media world."

Debbie talks to lynda.com’s Lynda Weinman about how the internet is challenging the traditional classroom model.

Debbie talks to Joe Hollier about an invention of his that is designed to bring back boredom in the era of the smartphone.

Debbie talks to writer Caroline Paul about her death-defying adventures, and how girls must learn the difference between fear and exhilaration. "When you face a situation you can choose, do you want to listen overwhelmingly to your fear, or do you want to try to access your bravery?"

Debbie Millman talks to Chris Anderson about how the TED conference has helped changed the way we learn. "For the first time we can see examples of the best educators, speakers, idea sharers out there. See what they do, and be inspired by them."

Debbie Millman talks to Alain de Botton about love and sex. "My view of human nature is that all of us are only just holding it together in various ways. And that's ok. We just need to go easy with one another, knowing that we are all these incredibly fragile beings."

Debbie talks to designer Bonnie Siegler about her career and about the conflict between designers and their clients. "The clients aren't the problem, the clients aren't jerks, they're not assholes, it's not that they have bad taste, or anything like that. Sometimes they just have no idea how to interact with professional creative people."

On this podcast Debbie talks to Nico Muhly about his music and about the musicians who interpret it. "I always feel like they appreciate something that's detailed on the page to indicate that I know what I'm talking about, but with room for them to continue the conversation when I'm dead."

On this podcast Debbie talks to Krista about her religious orientation, her struggle with depression, and about why it's so hard to understand our historical moment. "The things we're shining a light on, the things that are getting all the attention, the people that are getting all the attention, are probably not the ones who are changing the world."

On this podcast Debbie talks to Amanda about her wild and wandering path to the rock stage, and about how behind her artistic ambition is the drive to feel real. “What I really wanted was to feel like I was doing something that contributed and mattered and that I was in a true conversation with the world and with other people.”

Debbie talks to Steven Heller about his attitude when he was a young designer. "I was short sighted. I was arrogant. I had a sense of myself that was disproportionate to all reality."

On this podcast Debbie talks to Brian Collins about why designers shouldn’t think of themselves as mere problem solvers.

Debbie talks to DJ Stout about his long career in design. DJ is a partner at Pentagram and lives in Texas. "My whole philosophy is that nothing has meaning unless it comes from a smaller place. Anything that's known globally, came from somewhere. So I really love being called a regionalist."

Debbie talks to playwright Sarah Jones about her relationship with her characters. "I'm not them. And they are not me. I know I'm tired if a little bit of me leaks into a character."

Debbie talks to poet Elizabeth Alexander about the journey of her extraordinary life and how death makes us think about what we truly value.

On this episode Debbie Millman talks to Jonathan Adler about how his pottery defined his aesthetic. “It’s about craft and luxury mixed with a sense of optimism and cheekyness.”

Debbie talks to Connie Birdsall about designing some of the most successful brands of our time and what to do when a meeting with clients is not going well.

On this podcast Debbie Millman talks to Rochelle Udell about her very creative professional life. "The strength of creative people is to be the outside observer of ordinary things. That's the strength of the creative person, so you've gotta stay outside a little bit."

On this podcast Debbie talks to Mike Rigby about his international career in design and branding and how to stay creatively engaged. “Every event you go to, every person you meet, everything you do is fuel for your next idea.”

Debbie talks to Sam Winston about words as "the shoreline between the conscious and the unconscious," his lifelong fascination with type, and his bibliophilic collaboration with Oliver Jeffers.

Debbie talks to Nicholas Blechman about growing up with a famous illustrator father, the importance of political satire, and his illustrious career as an illustrator, designer, zine publisher, <em>New York Times</em> art director, and <em>New Yorker</em> creative director. “For satire to be effective it has to be dangerous. So the more it appears as a threat from those in power, then it’s doing its job.”

Debbie talks to Seth Godin about how to live in our difficult political moment. “What we have to figure out is how to disconnect ourselves from the circle of fear and from the circle of contempt and even panic and make something that matters instead.”

Debbie talks to Anil Dash about politics, technology and culture. "The single industry that is more responsible for creating culture today than any other, even entertainment or media, is tech. And part of it is we're the mediators for the media world."

Debbie talks to Brian Koppelman about why he became a writer after years as a record promoter and producer. "I realized I would become toxic, and that something would die in me. And that if I allowed that to happen, that toxicity would spread to those that I loved."

Debbie highlights some of her favorite conversations of 2016, including Alison Bechdel, Alain de Botton, Lisa Congdon, Chris Anderson, Krista Tippet, Eileen Myles, and Amanda Palmer.

Debbie talks to Adam J. Kurtz about designing for psychological health. “I’m not going to change your life, I’m just going to share with you the tools that are helping me.”

Debbie talks to New York Times Magazine design director Gail Bichler about magazine design and the role of the magazine cover in the digital age.

Debbie talks to Cindy Gallop about her career in advertising, and about the trouble people have communicating about sex.

Debbie talks to writer Tim Ferriss about the strategies he has used to change his life.

Debbie talks to poet Eileen Myles about poetry, fame, and politics.

Debbie talks to Design*Sponge founder Grace Bonney about her new book on women entrepreneurs and makers, and about the necessity and difficulty of mid-career change.

Debbie talks to designer Keira Alexandra about what to do when you need extras for a video shoot.

Debbie talks to architect Pierluigi Serraino about some of the things creative people have in common.

Debbie talks to Stack founder Steven Watson about the passion behind the independent magazines that he loves.

Debbie talks to designer Bonnie Siegler about her career and about the conflict between designers and their clients.

Debbie talks to designer, writer, and researcher Lana Z. Porter about branding for millennials + more.

Debbie talks to information designer Giorgia Lupi about data visualization and the data of our personal lives.

Debbie talks to Joe Hollier about an invention of his that is designed to bring back boredom in the era of the smartphone.

To open the new season, Debbie talks to artist and designer Kelli Anderson about her new pop-up book and about her collaboration with They Might Be Giants.

Debbie talks to type designer Tobias Frere-Jones about his career and why typefaces are like the air we breathe.

Debbie talks to writer and illustrator Maira Kalman about how ordinary objects inspire her art, and about her collaborations with the likes of Mark Morris and Issac Mizrahi.

Su Mathews Hale is the president of AIGA, and a senior partner in design in Lippincott’s New York office. You want to hear what she has to say.