‘My Life in Design’ Podcast Episodes
By Red Setter and Design Business Association
How did some of the world’s best designers, strategists, and agency leads, get into design? How did they know it was even a thing they could form a career around?
The ‘My Life in Design’ Podcast answers these questions and more. Whether you’re looking for your first break in the design industry, or for your latest inspiration, browse the latest episodes and listen in below.
My Life in Design
The podcast series is a collaboration between Red Setter and the Design Business Association, with the aim of showing young people the different ways you can get into the industry through the guests shared experience of education, their first jobs, and how they got to where they are today.
The guests also share their top tips on how to get and make the most of internships, how to standout, build your career and overcome obstacles to be more resilient.
Host Claire Blyth, DBA Expert and founder and managing partner of brand design PR agency Red Setter, said: “I’ve been working in the industry for nearly 25 years and design continues to be an exciting place to live, work and breathe. However, we know that there are still challenges to getting into the design industry and through the podcast we aim to break down some of those barriers by speaking to key people at the forefront of design.”
‘My Life in Design’ podcast was named one of the top 5 UK design podcasts to follow in 2023 by Feedspot.
Series Five, Episode Seven: Alex Center, Founder, CENTER
This week on ‘My Life in Design’ Claire sits down with Alex Center, founder of design agency CENTER. Alex shares his life in design, from a dream internship working on the New York Knicks, to his time at the Coca-Cola Company building iconic drinks brands like vitaminwater and POWERAID, to the founding of CENTER in 2017.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Five, Episode Six: Joshua Breidenbach, Founder & ECD, Rice
This week on ‘My Life in Design’ Claire chats with Joshua Breidenbach, from Vietnam’s Rice. Joshua shares his life in design, from early family influences, to the messages of punk music, to a pivotal project with Coca-Cola that marked the official founding of Rice.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Five, Episode Five: Joy Nazzari, Founder, DNCO
This week on ‘My Life in Design’ Claire catches up with Joy Nazzari, founder of DNCO, to discuss her life in design; and that she considers herself a bit of an oddity, given her unusual route into the industry from a start in tech investment banking.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Five, Episode Four: Hamish Campbell, VP ECD, Pearlfisher
On the latest episode of ‘My Life in Design’, Claire chats with Hamish Campbell, VP executive creative director of Pearlfisher NYC. Hamish recounts his life in design and how a love for art evolved into a career in graphic design, blending the precision of engineering with the creativity of visual art.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Five, Episode Three: Kerry Bolt & Shaun Bowen, Co-founders, B&B studio
On the latest episode of ‘My Life in Design’, Claire chats with Kerry and Shaun, the co-founders of B&B studio, about their journeys into design and the founding of their award-winning studio. They share insights into their first client, Bear, which went on to win the DBA Grand Prix at the Design Effectiveness Awards.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Five, Episode Two: Emily Rickard, CEO, BUCK
On the latest episode of ‘My Life in Design’, Claire chats with Emily Rickard, CEO of BUCK. Her journey is a masterclass in career evolution – from filmmaking aspirations to fashion journalism and TV production in Australia, to leading a global creative powerhouse that is BUCK.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Five, Episode One: Mary Lewis, Creative Director, Lewis Moberly
This is a special edition with Mary, in her first ever podcast, generously sharing her life in design, including insights into the impact that Lewis Moberly has had on a whole generation of amazing brand and packaging designers.
On the podcast Mary recounts stories from her childhood on a farm in Shropshire, to art school and a career in teaching – with a shift into the world of advertising and ultimately design.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode Ten: Dines, Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer, Studio Blup
Claire met up with Dines, co-founder and chief creative officer of Studio Blup, who shares his discovery of design, his business ambition and his successful long-standing partnership with Alex Evans.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode Nine: Marina Willer, Partner, Pentagram
Claire met up with Marina over at Pentagram’s London office, to explore her journey in the world of design from Brazil to London, her time at Wolff Olins, then joining Pentagram.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode Eight: Cat How, Founder & ECD, How&How
Claire met up with Cat How founder and ECD of How&How, who shares her unconventional design journey and career pivots, to founding the agency during the pandemic.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode Seven: Rejane Dal Bello, Creative Director, Studio Rejane Dal Bello
Claire met up with Rejane Dal Bello, founder of Studio Rejane Dal Bello, who shares her journey, from aspiring dentist to renowned designer.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode Six: Stefan Sagmeister, Sagmeister inc
Stefan met up with Claire at the PENTAWARDS to talk about his life in design so far, from Austria to New York, and the opportunities he’s made for himself through perseverance and practice
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode Five: Alan Dye and Nick Finney, Founders, NB Studio
Alan and Nick join Claire in a chat about their lives in design so far, including the founding of NB Studio, following what they refer to as their ‘apprenticeship’ at Pentagram.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode Four: Sean Thomas, Executive Creative Director, JKR
Sean, met up with Claire to talk about his life in design so far from Norwich University of the Arts and finding graphic design, to his love of big bold brands and his journey to JKR.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode Three: Robert Brunner, Founder & Partner, Ammunition
Robert sat down with Claire to talk about his life so far and the huge contribution he’s made to the world as a product and brand designer.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode Two: Margaret Nolan & Rowena Curlewis, Founders, Denomination
Ro and Margaret, sat down with Claire to talk about their lives in design so far and talk about building on their partnership to found one of the most successful drinks branding agencies in the world.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Four, Episode One: Jim Sutherland, Founder, Studio Sutherl&
Jim sat down with Claire to chat about his life in design so far. Jim opened up about the challenges of overcoming shyness, steering away from a career in mathematical statistics (!) and finding his first job at The Partners.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Three, Episode Nine: Brian Collins, co-founder of COLLINS
Brian is a designer, creative director and educator. His firm COLLINS was named by Forbes as one of the companies transforming the future of brand building and he was the first graphic designer to be invited to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Three, Episode Eight: Caspar Lam and YuJune Park, founders of Synoptic Office
Caspar and YuJune share their design journeys, from meeting at Yale, a shared love of visualising ideas, first careers, and setting up Synoptic Office, an award-winning design consultancy working globally with leading cultural, civic, and business organisations, to communicate ideas, build experiences, and cultivate new audiences.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Three, Episode Seven: David Johnston, Founder, Accept & Proceed
David shares his journey from his discovery of graphic design, to entering the industry at a time in the nineties when it “felt punk, exciting and everything is possible.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Three, Episode Six: Paula Scher, Partner, Pentagram
Paula shares her design journey, from discovering graphic design, her art school experience, and landing her first jobs, and beginning her career as art director in the 1970s and early 80s, working for CBS records.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Three, Episode Five: Craig Black, Visual Artist
Craig shares his rise from footballer to typographer to visual artist and performing his ‘Acrylic Fusion’ technique in front of some of the world’s greatest footballers at the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Three, Episode Four: John Glasgow, Co-founder, Vault49
John shares his design story from the college printing press and the streets of London, to New York and co-founding Vault49 with fellow student Jonathan Kenyon. Launched 21 year ago Vault49 now employs 55 people working across both their NYC and London studios.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Three, Episode Three: Sarah Boris, Artist and Designer
After working for over ten years for world renown arts and publishing institutions such as Phaidon, ICA and the Barbican, Sarah set up her art and design studio in 2015, with a focus on public art commissions and creating new artworks in the form of screenprinted editions, sculpture, paintings, letterpress, books and more.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Three, Episode Two: Dave Palmer, ECD and owner, LOVE
Dave talks about his discovery of graphic design through his love of music and record covers. Then the challenges he faced building a portfolio and trying to secure his first job in the wake of the 1990s dot com crash, to co-founding LOVE in 2001, and building an agency that now has 85 people working in Manchester with brands globally.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Three, Episode One: Harry Pearce, Partner, Pentagram
We kick off the first episode in series 3 with the Harry Pearce of Pentagram. Harry talks about how his passion for animal rights helped him complete his degree in graphic design so he could help communicate what was going on. How he uses his skills to support human rights at WITNESS; his first roles in design; setting up his own design practice with Dominic Lippa & Giles Calver; and what it means to be part of Pentagram.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode Ten: Jack Renwick, Founder and Creative Director of Jack Renwick Studio & upcoming D&AD President
Jack shares her journey so far. How she left school and worked in a sports shop until she met someone who told her what graphic design was. Her time at art school in Dundee and moving to London, and the importance of diversity in design.
Listen to the episode on iTunes or Spotify or other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode Nine: Marie-Therese Cassidy, VP Design, Europe at Pepsico
MT shares her career journey so far, with her love of drawing leading to graphic design and discovering how the latter could allow her to make connections with different audiences in a more commercial way. She discusses starting her career at Jones Knowles Ritchie, through to her current role at PepsiCo.
Listen to the episode on iTunes or Spotify or other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode Eight: Astrid Stavro, VP and Creative Director of Collins
Astrid shares her life in design starting as a child watching how children’s books were created through her father’s publishing and printing press firm. Her journey to COLLINS via her love of Interview magazine where she discovered what design can do. She talks about Central St Martins and the RCA, founding and co-founding studios, and her time as partner at her design mecca Pentagram.
Listen to the episode on iTunes or Spotify or other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode Seven: Craig Oldham, Founder and Creative Director at Office of Craig
Craig is open and honest about his design journey so far and shares with Claire his struggles to fit into art college; what led him to setting up on his own and why the design industry needs to be more proactive in sorting out its diversity problems.
Listen to the episode on iTunes or Spotify or other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode Six: Tony Brook, Founding Partner and Creative Director at Spin
This week Claire speaks to Tony about his design journey from album covers, to Nike, to Levi and more. And how a chance encounter with Iggy Pop inspired a turning point in his career
Listen to the episode on iTunes or Spotify or other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode Five: Vince Frost, Founder, CEO & Creative Director, Frost*Collective
Claire is joined by Vince Frost in this episode. Vince discusses how you never know where a chance meeting will lead you, and his time at Pentagram where he became the youngest ever partner. He also explores both the importance of the financial side of your design agency, and how design can make the world a better place.
Listen to the episode on iTunes or Spotify or other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode Four: Jeremy Lindley, Global Design Director, Diageo
This week Claire gets some amazing insights into the design world at Diageo – especially how the design leadership team work with agencies.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode Three: Liza Enebis, Creative Director and Partner, Studio Dumbar/DEPT
This week Claire chats to Liza about her design story, from art student to Pentagram, and to her current role as partner and Creative Director back at the first studio she interned at, Studio Dumbar in the Netherlands, where she has been involved in the projects such as the brand refresh of the Van Gogh Museum and is co-initiator of DEMO – Design in Motion Festival.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode Two: Aporva Baxi, Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director, DixonBaxi
This week Claire talks to Aporva Baxi about his journey to set up DixonBaxi and to get it to where it is now. He talks about how the movie TRON drew him into visual culture as a child, how he hand delivered his CV in a package to his favourite 20 design agencies to get his first internship, and he has some great tips for junior designers starting out today.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Series Two, Episode One: Matt Baxter & Dom Bailey, Founders, Baxter & Bailey
In the first podcast of the new series, Claire speaks to Matt and Dom the founders of Baxter & Bailey. They talk about how their love of comics and Bauhaus shaped their love of design, how Paul Hardcastle’s single 19 combined a powerful message with image and type, and the need for the industry to embrace people of all backgrounds.
Listen to the episode on iTunes. You can also tune in on Spotify and other leading podcast platforms.
Browse all available ‘My Life in Design’ Podcast Episodes here.
Read more about Red Setter and the DBA collaborating on the ‘My Life in Design’ Podcast.
“The DBA is delighted to be partnering Red Setter on the ‘My Life in Design’ Podcast. Featuring industry role models, the series will explore their fascinating, wide-ranging journeys into a life in design.” Deborah Dawton, CEO, DBA
