

Clever with Amy Devers
Amy Devers
Clever is an award-winning, independent podcast that offers a window into the humanity behind the design of the world around us.In each episode, designer Amy Devers has candid and revealing conversations with the visionaries, culture-makers, and creative forces who shape our world and inform our society. Through a disarming mix of raw candor and honest shop-talk, Clever peels back the layers to unearth the gritty, authentic and sometimes surprising details of their creative paths.Clever Confidential is Clever’s offshoot series where we dig into the lesser told stories of the darker side of design; the shadowy, sometimes sordid, tales hiding under a glossy top coat of respectable legacy.Visit our website:cleverpodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 21, 2021 • 1h 3min
Ep. 137 Biden/Harris Campaign Creative Director Robyn Kanner [Rebroadcast]
Robyn Kanner’s personal story is twisty and beautifully American. Largely self-taught, she fought hard to find her voice, and has battled bullies, addiction and self-doubt on her path to purpose. She, alongside Carahna Magwood, led a design team that effectively imbued the Biden Harris ticket with an uplifting, hopefulness that stressed reliability, inclusive values and unification. From the hot pink Biden & Lady Gaga promos, to unifying red-blue gradients. Robyn’s is a story of acceptance, healing, hard work, creativity and community - and feels as bright and hopeful as a victory gradient.Images, links and more from Robyn Kanner!If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Laura Jaramillo and music by El Ten Eleven. Clever's promotional partner is Design Milk.SUBSCRIBE - listen to Clever on any podcast app!SIGN UP - for our Substack for news, bonus content, new episode alertsVISIT - cleverpodcast.com for transcripts, images, and 200+ more episodesSAY HI! - on Instagram & LinkedIn @cleverpodcast @amydeversSpecial thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dec 14, 2021 • 1h 10min
Ep. 148: Entrepreneurial Raconteur John Edelman [Rebroadcast]
Former CEO of Design Within Reach and business consultant, John Edelman grew up on a horse farm in Connecticut. The youngest of 6, his childhood was filled with love, surrounded by his parents’ big dreams, in a home filled with visitors, from Andy Warhol to fashion executives. A hustler and daredevil from an early age, he excelled at flipping cars and riding dirt bikes but struggled in school. After college, John joined the family leather business, sorting buffalo skins in Thailand, worked for his brother at Esprit, and lived in Brazil to work in the shoe business. From 2010 - 2019 John served as CEO of Design Within Reach, during his tenure he pulled the company out of a downward spiral, transformed it into the world leader in authentic design, and led a highly publicized sale to Herman Miller. Now, Co-Founder of Fourth & Pride vodka, John’s life has been one great story after another - from adventure to romance, hardships to triumph, and a future that looks just as thrilling. Images, links and more from John Edelman!Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven. Clever's promotional partner is Design Milk.If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!SUBSCRIBE - listen to Clever on any podcast app!SIGN UP - for our Substack for news, bonus content, new episode alertsVISIT - cleverpodcast.com for transcripts, images, and 200+ more episodesSAY HI! - on Instagram & LinkedIn @cleverpodcast @amydeversSpecial thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dec 7, 2021 • 57min
Ep. 138: Creative Strategist Natalie Nixon [Rebroadcast]
Dr. Natalie Nixon grew up in Philadelphia playing double dutch and hopscotch on the street. Listening to jazz with her dad and exploring art with her mother taught her the value of improvisation and emotional resonance. Flexing her academic excellence while also being subjected to racial bigotry and red lining helped to hone her ability to see systems and span boundaries. Her experiences are vast and varied, from running a hat business in New York city to earning her PhD in Design Management in London. Today she's the president of Figure 8 Thinking, a Creative Strategy & Design Research consultancy that helps leaders apply creativity & foresight to achieve transformative business results, and the author of The Creativity Leap: Unleash Curiosity, Improvisation, and Intuition at Work. Images and more from Natalie Nixon on our website!Clever is created, hosted and produced by Amy Devers and with music from El Ten Eleven and editing by Rich Stroffolino.If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!SUBSCRIBE - listen to Clever on any podcast app!SIGN UP - for our Substack for news, bonus content, new episode alertsVISIT - cleverpodcast.com for transcripts, images, and 200+ more episodesSAY HI! - on Instagram & LinkedIn @cleverpodcast @amydeversSpecial thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 30, 2021 • 46min
Ep. 161: Designing Ideas with Visionary Design Entrepreneur Yves Béhar
Industrial designer & entrepreneur, Yves Béhar, grew up in Switzerland on a steady diet of punk and windsurfing. After graduating from ArtCenter in California he moved to the Bay Area and got his professional start designing for The Burdick Group, LUNAR and frog. He founded fuseproject, his industrial design and branding firm, in 1999 and since then has been responsible for groundbreaking contributions to the design landscape across the fields of product design, brand development, business strategy, environments, and social impact. A pioneer of the “design venture” business model, he has also had a hand in redefining the way designers do business, enabling early-stage creative investment in startup projects. His new book, Yves Béhar: Designing Ideas is a comprehensive retrospective of his 20+ year career. Images, links and more from Yves Béhar!Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven.If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Special thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 16, 2021 • 60min
Ep. 160: Peeking into the Creative World of Pop-Polymath Willo Perron
Live experience & interior designer Willo Perron grew up in Montreal surrounded by creativity. An industrious kid, he dropped out of high school at 14 to follow his own entrepreneurial and creative path. He got his start around the nightclub scene in Montreal doing everything from designing flyers, to lighting, to scouting DJs, and designing streetwear. Since then he’s gone on to design the now-famous aesthetic for American Apparel retail stores, as well as collaborate with many of pop music’s biggest stars, including Kanye, Drake, Lady Gaga, and St. Vincent. With partner Brian Roettinger, he’s built a multidisciplinary design firm, Perron-Roettinger, that works across Interior design, live experience, print, and identity. A firm believer in life having a way of working out, Willo continues to embrace entrepreneurship, creativity, and collaboration in an intuitive and exhilarating way. Images, links and more from Willo Perron!Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven.If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Special thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nov 2, 2021 • 35min
Ep. 159: Clever Extra - Innovating for the Future of Furniture Design
For this Clever Extra, Amy Devers sat down with Kent Parker and Paul Wilkinson of the design studio Formway in New Zealand and Giulio Bonazzi, who leads Italian synthetic materials producer Aquafil, to discuss their design collaboration. Together, they unpack the story behind a truly remarkable chair, the noho move chair. The noho move chair is revolutionizing residential seating design by addressing issues of health, movement, multifunction, and sustainability in monumental ways, while also pushing the boundaries and performance capabilities of the material it’s made from. Get a behind the scenes look at the innovation, collaboration, and experimentation that goes into creating the future of furniture design. Images, links and more from Econyl and Aquafil!Many thanks to this episode’s sponsors:This episode of Clever is brought to you by Aquafil, makers of ECONYL, a regenerated nylon derived from 100% recycled waste. Learn more here. Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven.If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Special thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 26, 2021 • 46min
Ep. 158: Bringing Data to Life with Information Designer Giorgia Lupi
Information designer and advocate for data humanism, Giorgia Lupi, spent her childhood in Italy organizing buttons in her grandmother’s tailor shop, a data collector already in the making. The teenage years had her expressing herself through the punk rock and heavy metal scene in her town. After receiving her master’s degree in Architecture, she began her PhD in Design at Politecnico di Milano while founding Accurat, an internationally acclaimed data-driven design firm. Now a partner at Pentagram, and author of personal projects such as Dear Data, she continues to push for a humanistic approach to data as a path to understanding our complex realities. Images, links and more from Giorgia!Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven. Clever's promotional partner is Design Milk.If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!SUBSCRIBE - listen to Clever on any podcast app!SIGN UP - for our Substack for news, bonus content, new episode alertsVISIT - cleverpodcast.com for transcripts, images, and 200+ more episodesSAY HI! - on Instagram & LinkedIn @cleverpodcast @amydeversSpecial thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 19, 2021 • 29min
Clever Confidential Ep. 3: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Murders at Taliesin
On the afternoon of August 14th, 1915, fire ripped through Taliesin, the Spring Green, Wisconsin home of the world’s most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. When the smoke cleared seven people would be dead, murdered with an axe at the hands of Julian Carlton, a servant of Wright’s. But why? The motive remains a mystery to this day. But there are so many other questions. Why does seemingly everyone know Frank Lloyd Wright but strangely, very few seem to know this much darker side of his story? In this episode we’ll investigate all of that as well as the great state of Wisconsin, Wright’s never-ending battle with societal norms, and the interplay between critics and creative professionals. Happy Halloween! Images, links and more about Frank Lloyd Wright and the Murders at Taliesin!If you like Clever Confidential and want to hear more, please support us by telling your friends and letting us know what you think! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydeversIf you enjoy Clever Confidential we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! Thank you to Brad Lynch of Brininstool & Lynch Architects for lending his expertise, insight and colorful commentary and to "The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas for audio clips from the historic Frank Lloyd Wright interview.Clever Confidential is created and produced by Amy Devers, hosted by Amy Devers and Andrew Wagner, with editing and sound design by Camille Stennis, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan. Our theme music is “Astronomy" by Thin White Rope.Special thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 12, 2021 • 54min
Ep. 157: Designing for Dramatic Effect with Yasmine Ghoniem
Interior designer and self-described “cocktail,” Yasmine Ghoniem has lived a whirlwind life across continents, cultures, and careers. Born in Kuwait to Australian and Egyptian parents, she lived throughout the Middle East before moving to the United States to attend Savannah College of Art and Design. She always had a deep love for music, feeling destined to be a performer, she formed indie rock bands with family and friends throughout the years. Yasmine eventually put down roots in Sydney, Australia where she founded and leads YSG Studio, an interior design studio focusing on residential and hospitality. She brings her eclectic influences and flair for the theatrical drama of staging and storytelling to all of her spaces. Intoxicating indeed! Images, links and more from Yasmine!Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven. Clever's promotional partner is Design Milk.If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Special thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oct 5, 2021 • 52min
Ep. 156: Clever Extra - Creating Happier Places with Biophilic Design
On this Clever Extra, Amy Devers sits down with Kari Pei, Interface VP of Global Product Design; David Oakey, founder of David Oakey Designs; and Bill Browning, founding partner of Terrapin Bright Green and co-author of Nature Inside: A Biophilic Design Guide. Together, they unpack the science, practical applications, and ROI of creating happier places with biophilic design. They dive into how diversity can inspire fabric patterns, how “evidence-based design” can improve cardiac patients' health, and the ‘psychoacoustics’ of moving water. Kari, David, and Bill discuss their favorite patterns, the power of biophilic design to create a better world, and how design and technology can continue to draw from the world around us to create happier places. Images, links and more!Many thanks to this episode’s sponsors:Interface, Inc. is a global flooring company specializing in carbon-neutral carpet tile and resilient flooring, including luxury vinyl tile (LVT), vinyl sheet, and nora® rubber flooring. Our products are designed with purpose, and we are committed to producing floors that inspire our customers to create spaces that enhance productivity, well-being, and the health of the planet. Through our mission, Climate Take Back™, we are working to reverse global warming and to encourage others to approach business in a way that is restorative for the planet and people. Learn more about Interface at interface.com.Clever is hosted and produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Rich Stroffolino, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven.If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you!Special thanks to our sponsors!Wix Studio is a platform built for all web creators to design, develop, and manage exceptional web projects at scale.Saily: get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Use code “clever” at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/cleverCozy Earth: head to cozyearth.com/pages/clever to get 40% off!Incogni: Clever listeners can claim a special offer of 60% off at incogni.com/clever Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.