A76 | a design pod

This is an A76 Patreon preview Icebreak episode coming off my interview with Tracy Kramer, President of BuzzCo. If you haven't listened to that interview you can find it here.If you're new to A76's Patreon, Icebreak episodes are exclusive for members, where I talk about my production of the podcast, break down some of the discussions coming out of my free interviews. I bring new ideas here, things I’m kicking around and I share additional interview content.You can sign up for the A76 Design Pod Patreon here.Today's full Icebreak episode, is part 3 of a theoretical series—what if there was an AI Assistant trained on all my personal data and was so well crafted that it essentially was a digital version of me—a NoelAI. And with a rough voice from a tough week I ideate around counter points to parts 1 and 2. Because we love dualistic thinking here at A76. And it makes for a stronger and deeper exploration. Plus Tracy and I play the ThinkFast game.Keep designing. Keep Growing. And keep making a positive impact.~NoelA76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram

In today’s episode I chat with Tracy Kramer. Tracy is the president of Buzz Company, a talent and recruitment agency based out of Chicago. I originally met Tracy while at design school, and she’s lead BuzzCo from a place of empathy and empowerment for decades. With roots in design, she just gets designers. And she loves not only helping designers find jobs but taking care of her people.We touch upon the state of the industry, the necessary changes BuzzCo has made over the years, a bit around AI and promoting yourself in a genuine way. Plus Tracy talks about how she went from designer to business owner.I’ve partnered with her in the past and would recommend BuzzCo to anyone and everyone. Woman owned and family operated, BuzzCo truly are the guardians of creativity and Chicago pride, as they say on their website. You can also hear the ThinkFast game I do with Tracy as part of a new A76 Patreon episode dropping next week. If you’re interested in supporting A76, check out patreon.com/A76designpod. You'll get exclusive episodes, all the ThinkFast games from my interviews this season and you can hear my series NoelAI—where I conceptualize what it would be like to have a hyper personalized AI assistant trained on my data.Hope you enjoy my chat with Tracy Kramer.A76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram

Welcome to a new Icebreak episode coming off my conversation with friend of the pod Mick Champayne about design and play. If you haven't listened to that interview, hit pause on this one, and go check it out here first. It was a lot of fun.If you're new to A76's Patreon or are listening to a preview for the first time, Icebreaks are where I talk about my production of the podcast, break down some of the discussions coming out of my free interviews. I bring new ideas here, including things I’m kicking around; plus I share additional interview content.For today's Icebreak, I’ve got part 2 of my theoretical series, NoelAI. What if there was an AI Assistant trained on all my personal data (and I mean all) and was so well crafted that it essentially was a digital version of me? How useful and how bonkers would that experience be? If you’re a patreon subscriber, you'll hear this episode in its entirety and you’ll hear Mick and I playing the ThinkFast game at the end. You can sign up for the A76 Design Pod Patreon here.Keep designing. Keep Growing. And keep making a positive impact.~NoelA76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram

I’ve often found, that the best designers have a lightness about how they go about their craft. They regularly joke, don’t take themselves too seriously, and connect with others through humor. One minute they’re clowning, dropping memes and the next delivering a mind-blowing design perspective —and that’s definitely true of Mick. She’s a talented designer at Google working in the Doodles & Delight Team, a beloved Illustrator recently being named one of the Noun Project and Dribble’s top illustrators of 2024 and a sought-after global speaker, most recently taking the stage at awwwards.conf in NYC; all the while being a self-described class clown. Please enjoy my interview with friend of the pod, Mick Champayne.A76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram

This is an A76 Patreon preview of an Icebreak episode coming off my interview with Matt Saip; he's the SVP Tech Lead in the Digitas Chicago office. If you haven't listened to that interview you should listen to it first here.If you're new to A76's Patreon, Icebreak episodes are exclusive for members, where I talk about my production of the podcast, break down some of the discussions coming out of my free interviews. I bring new ideas here, things I’m kicking around and I share additional interview content.You can sign up for the A76 Design Pod Patreon hereFor today's full Icebreak episode, I question how useful digital technology is in its current state and who it's serving. And I introduce part 1 of a theoretical series—what if there was an AI Assistant trained on all your personal data (and I mean all) and was so well crafted that it essentially was a digital version of you—in my case a NoelAI. Would it be helpful, would it lead to deeper insights, would it help you with more then just booking your travel? And if it completed all of your tasks, what then?I also call for a revolutionary rethink on how we leverage technology and Matt and I play the ThinkFast game.Keep designing. Keep Growing. And keep making a positive impact.~NoelA76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram

In this A76 episode, I talk with Matt Saip the SVP Technology Lead at Digitas' Chicago office. Matt spends his days translating complex topics, rejecting technical language others use as a crutch, and seamlessy delivers innovative platforms and projects at a global scale. He scales by keeping it simple. He's a hard working tech leader, there’s no one better at it and I appreciate his partnership on my experience design projects. A76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram

Introducing Season 3 of A76How do we design for the future, for new users, for niche cultures and our greater global society? How do we take amazing ideas and make them real and when is scale a negative? Growing teams. Enterprise design systems. Personalization. From macro ecosystems to micro interactions, the Art and Science of Scale.A76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram

In this bonus episode of the A76 design pod, I talk with the creator of our intro theme music, the talented artist and musician, Stella Solveig. She illuminates her writing and recording process, discusses what informed her decisions, including defining what design sounds like, and shares insights into her own personal music and career.Check out more of Stella’s music at  Her website stellasolveig.comIG stella_solveigTikTok stella_solveigYoutube stella_solveigSpotify Stella SolveigSoundcloud Stella SolveigComing soon—season 2's wrap episode and the announcement of season 3's theme—dropped first on A76's PatreonA76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram

Bringing you part 2 of my conversation with mentor and creative juggernaut, Frank Grubich. If you haven't listened to Part 1, definitely go check that out first. In this lively conversation, we chat about how walking your dog leads to deeper insights, the challenges designers face in being valued and how we all need to continue to push boundaries by taking risks and continuously asking questions.We get into managing change throughout the conversation, including showing clients options and we discuss Frank's approach to nurturing the design team that I worked on years ago. I'm grateful for the time Frank has given to the podcast and I hope you find our conversation both entertaining and meaningful.If you'd like to join A76's Patreon, check out the two levels of support. I appreciate you taking the time to consider it. A76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram

For today’s pod - I’m thrilled to bring you part 1 of my interview with Frank Grubich. He’s had a 35 year career that’s still going. He’s a creative juggernaut who owned a successful design agency for years called Laughing Dog—years before I designed with him. And he's worked on everything you can think of in the creative and design industry. Yet, the qualities I appreciate most about Frank are his insane curiosity and his passion to differentiate, all balanced with a surprising humor and down to earth ease. Plus he’s got this intense focus on striving for the why of everything, while exploring the future always asking "What if..." which we discuss in detail.I’ve never met another person like Frank. He’s one of a kind. I cherish the years designing on his team—they were like taking multiple design master classes. I learned so much from him both as a designer and a person and I’m grateful that he is a mentor of mine. ~ NoelFrom FrankI BelieveEverybody wants change, but nobody wants to change.Without trust, nothing is possible.All jokes lead to the truth.Parameters make creative better.If we aren’t making our clients nervous, we aren’t doing our job.Clients succeed when we connect people to people — not to stuff.Design is a process, not a thing.The problem with customer experience is never with the customer.An agency should be more passionate about the client’s business than the client.You can’t truly think outside the box until you respect the box.Successful brands are not born in boardrooms (or in Zoom meetings).If you’re billing creativity by the hour, you’re doing it wrong. (a.k.a. the path to efficiency leads to obsolescence.)Ideas are a dime a dozen. Real value is in the artful execution and implementation of ideas.True innovation is a messy, ugly, exhausting process. If someone is telling you it's easy— they're lying.It’s more important to have a sense of purpose than it is to have a sense of place.Creativity is an agency's leading point of difference. Treat is like your business depends on it (because it does).My team should be better than me.There are no boring clients, only lazy agencies.Nobody—and I mean NOBODY—wakes up and thinks, “oh goodie, more data!”I believe there is nothing more wasteful than doing nothing.If a client thinks their nephew can do that, don't waste another minute on that client.I believe I have the second coolest job in the world.House was right — everybody lies.A76 and its episodes are created by Noel ChildsSeason 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 3 on Scale is produced by Noel ChildsSeason 2 on Change was produced by Noel ChildsSeason 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel ChildsOur theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton The outro was read by Trudie and Storey Childs If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpodHave a question or comment, email noel@A76pod.comAnd follow us on Instagram