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
Apr 18, 2022 • 29min
251: Why getting better at writing can help your design career
Improving your writing skills can help your career in lots of different ways, from increasing your confidence to helping you to create memorable presentations. In this episode of Design Life we chat about creating writing procedures and using inspiration when it strikes to help your writing stand out.
Apr 11, 2022 • 29min
250: When starting a new job feels like you're starting from scratch
In this episode we’re tackling a listener question, from a designer starting a new job and feeling like they’re starting from scratch again! We share what we've learned from starting new jobs, settling into a new team and how to have a productive first few weeks in your new role while finding your feet.
Apr 4, 2022 • 30min
249: What the heck are MVPs (and how to do them well)
This week on Design Life we answer a listener question, what the heck are MVPs (and how to do them well). We chat about the benefits, the disadvantages and the questions to ask your team so you can make the best product possible without creating design or technical debt.
Mar 28, 2022 • 38min
248: Monetising side projects with Sara Brunettini
Today we’re chatting about monetising side projects with our guest, Sara Brunettini. Sara is a Youtuber, product designer and all round wonderful person. We share our experience of monetising our side projects, what's worked for us, what hasn’t and what we’ve learned along the way.
Mar 21, 2022 • 26min
247: Are you falling behind if you don't understand Web3?
Keeping up with trends while maintaining a full time job is a challenge all designers face, but what should you do if you’re worried that the latest trend will quickly become essential to your role? There is a lot of talk within the design community about Web3, listen to find out how NFTs and Web3 are being viewed by two people outside the community.
Mar 14, 2022 • 35min
246: The design interview process needs to change
The design interview process needs to change. Time consuming take home assignments and whiteboard challenges are the norm, can the interview process be simplified to benefit both designers and employers?
Feb 28, 2022 • 32min
245: We just don't get along! (Dealing with workplace conflict)
Need advice about dealing with conflict at work? Today we’re answering a listener question about a sticky work place situation, an experience we are all likely to have during our career.
Feb 21, 2022 • 27min
244: How to choose (or advocate for!) the design projects you want to work on
You might not always be able to choose your projects but there are ways to advocate for the types of projects you would like best. In this episode we share how we choose which projects we take on at work.
Feb 14, 2022 • 29min
243: Tips for organizing design files
Organizing design files and workspaces for efficient collaboration, using projects and pages within Figma, maintaining a 'source of truth' file, tools for project tracking, and tips for organizing design files using Slack, Notion, and Eflin.
Feb 7, 2022 • 32min
242: Why designers should care about business metrics
Understanding business metrics and how your work helps achieve company goals can be a very useful skill to have as a designer. Not sure where to start? This episode of Design Life is a good place as we share how being curious about our companies helped us to progress in our careers.
