Design Life
Charli Prangley, Femke Van Schoonhoven
Design Life is a podcast about design and side projects for motivated creators. It was born after your hosts, two serial side project addicts, saw a gap in the podcast market for a conversational show about design and the issues young creatives face, that was hosted by two females.
This show aims to tackle the big issues designers face like getting paid, overcoming a creative block or managing time, to name a few. We want to open up discussion about things we wish we heard people talk about when we were studying, and we want to chat to you about the joys and the frustrations of working in the tech industry by day, and on our passion projects in the rest of our waking hours. We hope that by doing so, Design Life will give you a dose of motivation or inspiration when you need it.
This show aims to tackle the big issues designers face like getting paid, overcoming a creative block or managing time, to name a few. We want to open up discussion about things we wish we heard people talk about when we were studying, and we want to chat to you about the joys and the frustrations of working in the tech industry by day, and on our passion projects in the rest of our waking hours. We hope that by doing so, Design Life will give you a dose of motivation or inspiration when you need it.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 13, 2020 • 38min
174: How to start and grow a design Youtube Channel
Have you ever thought about starting your own YouTube channel? In this week’s episode of Design Life we speak about our channel’s journeys, what has worked consistently and what we have done differently over time. We speak honestly about growing our channels, dealing with controversy, balancing content, monetisation and sponsorship. This episode is a must-listen for any designer who wants to start or grow a design YouTube channel.01.39 – Catch up04.15 – Gaps in the Youtube design community10.18 – Striking a content balance12.13 – Our favourite videos to make16.44 – Dealing with controversy19.06 – Growing your channel24.50 – Evergreen vs tentpole content 27.05 – Monetisation and sponsored content Femke's latest videoCharli's latest videoJoin our Patreon!
Jan 6, 2020 • 36min
173: Setting Goals and Intentions in 2020
This is a very exciting time of year, a great time to evaluate 2019 and look ahead to what you want to achieve in 2020. In this episode, the first episode of the new decade, we talk about our goals and intentions for the year ahead. This has become a tradition for us on the podcast, at the start of every year we reflect on our goals and look forward to what we want to achieve next. Plan your year workbookThe Design Life Community on Patreon
Dec 11, 2019 • 30min
172: Fulfilling your potential
Is the weight of your potential weighing you down? Potential can be both a blessing and a curse. When you feel fulfilled, you are able to focus on the task at hand and complete your best work. If you possess a greater potential than the task at hand requires, over time, completing this task will leave you feeling unfulfilled. In this week’s episode, inspired by Charli’s blog post, we go deep and talk about how fulfilled we feel right now, the weight of potential and getting unstuck.
Dec 3, 2019 • 43min
171: Learnings from Adobe Max
In this episode of Design Life we have a special guest joining us, Zach Grosser. Zach joins Charli on the podcast this week as they both attended Adobe MAX 2019, Charli was an Adobe Insider this year and Zach was invited to attend by Adobe as a UX leader. Charli and Zach discuss their key takeaways from this year’s flagship creativity conference.Bézier podcast with Zach GrosserTalk to Me by Dean NelsonFull Time You by Meg Lewis
Oct 28, 2019 • 29min
170: Jumping from junior to senior designer
Are you hoping to make the jump from a junior to senior role in 2020? On this episode of Design Life we discuss a query about senior and junior roles from a listener hoping to change levels. How do you know when you’re ready, how can you figure out and prove that you have the skills you need to do the job at hand? We discuss how the jump is managed at our respective companies and the idea that there is always something you can do, even if it’s not being asked of you, to demonstrate why you you’re up to the challenge. Han Bang – Toronto design YoutuberGet your design life pin!Join the community
Oct 22, 2019 • 32min
169: Within Design Retreat
In a change to our usual format, this week on Design Life we discuss Femke’s experience of the Within leadership retreat. The three day, design leadership retreat provided plenty for us to discuss, including leading authentically, listening to your inner critic and coaching colleagues to come up with their own solutions.Leadership CirclesWithin Retreat
Oct 8, 2019 • 30min
168: When your ideas aren't considered
How do you deal with the frustration of people not accepting your ideas? When you share an idea and people brush it off or they don’t agree that it is a good idea, how do you deal with that in such a way that your team understand your disappointment but don’t mark you as a sore loser. In this episode we talk about how we communicate our disappointment and frustrations with our teams, and how sometimes listening can reveal an unexpected solution. 01.10 – Check in04.40 – Listener’s letter11.55 – What to do if this happens to you17.34 – Accept your idea didn’t make the cut22.50 – Listen & Learn25.55 – What to do if your ideas are being shot down more often than not
Sep 24, 2019 • 28min
167: Career progression
This week on Design Life we’re talking about a topic that has been on our minds lately - career progression. We have been thinking about the next stage in our careers, and thought you might be interested to hear what steps we have taken to secure the next phase and how we know it is time to have that all important conversation.
Sep 17, 2019 • 36min
166: Having difficult conversations
Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
Kim Scott, Radical Candour
Liz + Mollie, No Hard Feelings
Sep 9, 2019 • 30min
165: Staying creative during life changes
After a short hiatus the Design Life podcast is back! Staying creative and motivated during big life changes can be a real challenge, one we have recently faced. We have jumped at the chance for our next adventure and moved to new countries. Femke has joined the Uber design team in Toronto, working with a new team on Uber Eats. Charli continues to work remotely for Convertkit but has swapped the hustle and bustle of London for sunny Valencia!
Trying to stay inspired while also managing the logistics of a big move to another country is a challenge, in this episode we share what worked for us during this busy time.
Ladies Wine Design
Bumble BFF
Ladders Conference
Design Life Enamel Pin
