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
Feb 29, 2016 • 40min
015: Facing Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome, that feeling that you’re not good enough for what you’re doing, affects many creatives and it can be hard to overcome. In this episode we chat about how it affects us, and when and where it strikes most often. We also talk about social media’s role in this, and how we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others. We’ll give you some strategies for coping if this is something you’re struggling with too, and hopefully this episode will help you feel like you’re not alone in feeling a bit of self doubt every now and then. More at www.designlife.fm
Feb 22, 2016 • 37min
014: How to get up early
On week days, we get up early to fit in a couple of hours work on side projects before we begin our day jobs. In this episode we chat about how we shifted our schedules to make this hustle happen, and if you’re a night owl who thinks you could never be a morning person, we’ve got advice to help you out. Waking up early is all about forming habits and shifting your body clock incrementally. It’s about setting little goals and choosing what you work on wisely. Set your alarm clock for half an hour earlier tomorrow! More at www.designlife.fm
Feb 15, 2016 • 39min
013: Attracting Clients
This week we’re talking about why it’s better to attract clients than go out and approach them yourself. We think it’s the best way to get a professional working relationship off on the right foot and we’ll explain why. Attracting clients is a ‘long play’ involving positioning yourself as an expert in your niche by doing content marketing and being picky about what work you take on. It takes time to build your reputation in this way, but we think it’s worth it. We’re both in different stages with our client work, so listen in to hear about our experience with client work, and what we’re doing to attract the type of projects we really want to work on. More at www.designlife.fm
Feb 8, 2016 • 38min
012: Work/Life Balance
For those of us with many things on the go, the traditional work/life balance is more of a work/life/side project balance. Dividing our time between these important things can be tricky and in this episode we discuss how we approach it. We talk about stress and prioritising, and how changing your attitude towards those annoying must-dos like cleaning and cooking could be the key staying happy and living a balanced life. More at www.designlife.fm
Feb 1, 2016 • 34min
011: Positioning yourself as a designer
There comes a point in every designer’s life where they decide what kind of designer they’re going to be. In this episode we chat about the different types of design we’ve done on our design journey and discuss the moment we started identifying ourselves as designers. We also hear from our listeners about their defining ‘I’m a designer’ moment. As we discussed in episode 4, branding yourself online is important especially if you want to do freelance work and attract clients, so we also dive into how we position ourselves as designers online within our niche. More at www.designlife.fm
Jan 25, 2016 • 38min
010: Working with people who aren't designers
As designers we work with a wide range of people on projects: copywriters, clients, developers, project managers and more. The diversity is awesome and keeps our jobs interesting, but it does bring it’s own set of challenges. In this episode we talk about how we deal with working alongside people who think differently to us and share some tips for making the process smoother, and for helping others see the value of design. More at www.designlife.fm
Jan 18, 2016 • 46min
009: Making and Managing Time
You only get 24 hours in a day. How you use it is up to you. In this episode we talk in depth about how we structure our days and manage our time (and geek out a little over to do lists). Things also get a bit deep as we talk about our attitude towards time and how getting in the mindset of making time rather than complaining that we don’t have enough has had a positive effect on our lives and general happiness. More at www.designlife.fm
Jan 11, 2016 • 36min
008: Setting goals for side projects
In this episode we’re talking about side project goals and their value. You’ll hear what our own goals are for our projects and how they’ve changed over time. We really want to encourage you to set goals for your side projects, but we don’t want not having a clear idea of what you hope to achieve to hold you back from starting! To help you out, we give some advice on how how to set goals and make a plan to reach them. Things also get a bit deep as we talk about how our side projects are actually helping us achieve our overall life goals too. We hope this episode will inspire you! More at www.designlife.fm
Jan 4, 2016 • 38min
007: Finding motivation and staying focussed
We all struggle with motivation and focus at times; whether it’s for a design school project you’re just not connecting to or perhaps a side project that you’re feeling burned out on. In this episode we chat about the motivations behind our various side projects and warn you against letting numbers be what drives you to create. We also talk about the things that discourage us and distract us every now and then, and share tips for finding your focus zone from both us and our listeners. We hope this episode might give you an extra burst of motivation if you’re needing it right now! More at www.designlife.fm
Dec 28, 2015 • 36min
006: Taking action on your ideas
As creatives we find that coming up with ideas is easy, but acting on them to make them a reality is the hard part. It’s awesome but overwhelming, having so many ideas, and in this episode we talk through what we do after we’ve come up with an idea for a new project or design direction. We touch on how we decide if an idea is even worth acting on, and the steps we go through to bring it to life if it is. You’ll also get to hear about some new project ideas we have and the next steps we’re taking on them. More at www.designlife.fm
