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
Jul 18, 2016 • 42min
035: Defining a niche for your work
Defining a niche means targeting a specific audience with your work and content. In this episode we discuss the benefits of this focussed approach and discuss the niche(s) we’re aiming our content at. You’ll hear advice for choosing a niche, and we’ll quell any fears that you’ll find it harder to build an audience or find clients if you don’t appeal to everyone. Trust us; you will! More at www.designlife.fm
Jul 11, 2016 • 39min
034: Which Design Tools should I use?
Design tools are all the things we use to bring our ideas to life.
In this episode we discuss the software we design in, the resources we use, the analogue items we take our workflow offline with, and our top little workflow hacks. While learning design tools doesn’t automatically make you a good designer, it is good to know what tools professional designers use day-to-day to see which ones you should focus your attention on.
We use different tools for different tasks and we share them all along with some background on how we learned to use them. More at www.designlife.fm
Jul 4, 2016 • 35min
033: The importance of role models
No one is born knowing how to lead a successful life. That’s something we learn along the way from role models. In this episode we discuss the value and importance we place on role models and share our attitude towards taking inspiration from them while still following our own path. More at www.designlife.fm
Jun 27, 2016 • 37min
032: Living in the Present
Things get philosophical in this episode as we talk about the importance of living in the ‘now’. It’s so easy to look at successful people and feel pressured to hustle more so that you can achieve what they have, but if you don’t enjoy the journey towards your goals and find fulfilment in the process, will you ever feel content? We want you to know it’s okay to have down time! In this episode we share tips for remembering to enjoy your present, and how this works in with your future goals. More at www.designlife.fm
Jun 20, 2016 • 36min
031: Fighting procrastination
Procrastination is the enemy of productivity. The most important thing to do when you’re procrastinating is to take note of the reasons why you’re doing it and try to learn from them for next time. In this episode we talk about what we do when we procrastinate (and what tasks we procrastinate from) and give you advice for breaking through those low-productivity moments. More at www.designlife.fm
Jun 13, 2016 • 36min
030: Getting useful feedback on your work
Feedback is essential to your work whether it comes from fellow designers, your audience, your clients, or your own gut! In this episode we talk about different types of feedback and when and how to ask for it. We also give advice on ways to improve the quality of the feedback you get so that it will be more useful to your work. More at www.designlife.fm
Jun 6, 2016 • 41min
029: Should you follow design trends?
Design trends are visual elements or design systems that sweep over the web and start appearing on many different websites. As with most things, there is a time and a place to follow trends and when you’re just starting out in the industry you can feel pressure to make your designs look like the ‘professionals’. In this episode we discuss the impact trends have on our design styles and the level of attention we give to them. More at www.designlife.fm
May 30, 2016 • 45min
028: Our Design Process
The process you follow for design projects will vary depending on the type of work and the client, but in this episode we discuss the basic process we follow for designing websites. We give advice for wireframing, dealing with client feedback and revisions. Your design process is something that will evolve over time and it’s a good idea to always be open to learning new techniques and improving on your process. More at www.designlife.fm
May 23, 2016 • 38min
027: What if nobody notices?
Things get deep this week as we discuss a fear that many creatives have: what if nobody notices my work? When you work hard on something, and especially if the result is something that could help people, there’s no shame in wanting that work to be seen and appreciated.
A lack of recognition or attention can be hard to deal with, especially if you’re not seeing growth in something you’ve been working on for a while. In this episode we chat about situations where we’ve felt this fear, and give solutions for how to deal with it. More at www.designlife.fm
May 16, 2016 • 40min
026: Participating in Design Communities
Being a part of the design community is an important part of being a designer. When designers come together to share ideas and discuss their work it benefits the whole industry because we can stand together against things like working for free.
Participating in design communities both online and offline has helped increase our passion for what we do, and has been so valuable. In this episode you’ll hear us discuss the communities we’re a part of and hear advice for joining communities when you’re just starting out in the industry. More at www.designlife.fm
