Design Observer
@designobserver.com
The best conversations in design — expert-led, multidisciplinary, and for the curious mind. Essays, podcasts, and events that inspire and connect. https://designobserver.com/
WNBA players have made their message clear using protest tees to spotlight pay inequity and demand a fair share of the game they’ve built. Read more on how players have turned warmups into protest, and made labor rights the heart of the game. designobserver.com/say-it-with-...
September 5, 2025 at 2:16 PM
WNBA players have made their message clear using protest tees to spotlight pay inequity and demand a fair share of the game they’ve built. Read more on how players have turned warmups into protest, and made labor rights the heart of the game. designobserver.com/say-it-with-...
Design As returns September 9th. Hosted by Lee Moreau, Season 3 features global voices from design, tech, and business exploring how AI intersects with design. New episodes every Tuesday. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
September 4, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Design As returns September 9th. Hosted by Lee Moreau, Season 3 features global voices from design, tech, and business exploring how AI intersects with design. New episodes every Tuesday. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
We're looking for Radical collaborators! Have you submitted yet? 👀 wkf.ms/45zZQaz
August 28, 2025 at 2:47 PM
We're looking for Radical collaborators! Have you submitted yet? 👀 wkf.ms/45zZQaz
Be kind, rewind: Design Twitter has turned into a slugfest of logo takes, AI hot-takes, and harsh “critiques.” Some designers are calling for kindness, worried about the message this culture sends to young creatives. #Observed
August 26, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Be kind, rewind: Design Twitter has turned into a slugfest of logo takes, AI hot-takes, and harsh “critiques.” Some designers are calling for kindness, worried about the message this culture sends to young creatives. #Observed
At this year’s Aspen Institute Summit, one theme rose above all: trust. How do leaders balance risk + innovation while leading in an era of growing distrust in corporations + capitalism? Part 1 of our special DB|BD Aspen series is out now: Listen at the link 🎧 designobserver.com/on-location-...
August 19, 2025 at 9:12 PM
At this year’s Aspen Institute Summit, one theme rose above all: trust. How do leaders balance risk + innovation while leading in an era of growing distrust in corporations + capitalism? Part 1 of our special DB|BD Aspen series is out now: Listen at the link 🎧 designobserver.com/on-location-...
What is a Radical Collaborator? At Design Observer, it’s someone breaking silos and building solutions that reflect many voices. That’s the spirit of this year’s DO20. Learn more and nominate by Sept 5: wkf.ms/45zZQaz
August 15, 2025 at 3:57 PM
What is a Radical Collaborator? At Design Observer, it’s someone breaking silos and building solutions that reflect many voices. That’s the spirit of this year’s DO20. Learn more and nominate by Sept 5: wkf.ms/45zZQaz
Nominations are open for The Design Observer 20! This year we're looking for Radical Collaborators - people, projects, and ideas using design to solve urgent challenges through cross-disciplinary collaboration. Deadline Sept 5, 2025. Nominate here: wkf.ms/45zZQaz
August 11, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Nominations are open for The Design Observer 20! This year we're looking for Radical Collaborators - people, projects, and ideas using design to solve urgent challenges through cross-disciplinary collaboration. Deadline Sept 5, 2025. Nominate here: wkf.ms/45zZQaz
“Machines seem to speak our language but they don’t yet speak human.” In the new preface to How to Speak Machine, technologist & designer @johnmaeda.bsky.social explores how we got here and why teaching AI to reflect our values is the real work ahead. 🔗 designobserver.com/should-we-te...
July 8, 2025 at 3:52 PM
“Machines seem to speak our language but they don’t yet speak human.” In the new preface to How to Speak Machine, technologist & designer @johnmaeda.bsky.social explores how we got here and why teaching AI to reflect our values is the real work ahead. 🔗 designobserver.com/should-we-te...
New episode of The Design of Business | The Business of Design is now LIVE. Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work, on how linking purpose to pride builds trust, and why great leadership starts with listening and hope. Streaming on all platforms. 🎧 designobserver.com/candace-park...
July 3, 2025 at 1:29 PM
New episode of The Design of Business | The Business of Design is now LIVE. Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work, on how linking purpose to pride builds trust, and why great leadership starts with listening and hope. Streaming on all platforms. 🎧 designobserver.com/candace-park...
NEW on DBBD: a double double with Michael C. Bush on workplace culture and WNBA legend Candace Parker on leadership, perception, and the power of sports. Are we finally seeing women’s sports more clearly? Listen now designobserver.com/candace-park... #GPTW
July 1, 2025 at 3:29 PM
NEW on DBBD: a double double with Michael C. Bush on workplace culture and WNBA legend Candace Parker on leadership, perception, and the power of sports. Are we finally seeing women’s sports more clearly? Listen now designobserver.com/candace-park... #GPTW
Design has the power to reflect, reframe, and reclaim. In a new essay for Design Observer, Seher Anand explores how diasporic designers are using visual language to tell stories that resist erasure. From chai to feni, these identities aren’t for export. 🔗 designobserver.com/food-brandin...
June 25, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Design has the power to reflect, reframe, and reclaim. In a new essay for Design Observer, Seher Anand explores how diasporic designers are using visual language to tell stories that resist erasure. From chai to feni, these identities aren’t for export. 🔗 designobserver.com/food-brandin...
Are we training the systems that will replace us? In this DBBD clip, @ethanmarcotte.com explains how automation doesn't replace jobs overnight, it reshapes them. First you supervise the AI. Then your role is devalued. designobserver.com/compassionat...
June 12, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Are we training the systems that will replace us? In this DBBD clip, @ethanmarcotte.com explains how automation doesn't replace jobs overnight, it reshapes them. First you supervise the AI. Then your role is devalued. designobserver.com/compassionat...
@debbiemillman.bsky.social never imagined she'd say this out loud. In this clip, she reflects on how her partner, @roxanegay.bsky.social, helped her embrace a new creative chapter, and what it taught her about the rest of her life. Listen to the full episode 🔗 designobserver.com/love-letter-...
June 5, 2025 at 9:32 PM
@debbiemillman.bsky.social never imagined she'd say this out loud. In this clip, she reflects on how her partner, @roxanegay.bsky.social, helped her embrace a new creative chapter, and what it taught her about the rest of her life. Listen to the full episode 🔗 designobserver.com/love-letter-...
Debbie Millman reflects on what Pride means to her as a queer woman. Not pride in herself, but in shared experience, and in the justice of being who you are. From the latest episode of The Design of Business | The Business of Design podcast 🎙️ designobserver.com/love-letter-...
June 3, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Debbie Millman reflects on what Pride means to her as a queer woman. Not pride in herself, but in shared experience, and in the justice of being who you are. From the latest episode of The Design of Business | The Business of Design podcast 🎙️ designobserver.com/love-letter-...
Debbie Millman doesn’t hold back: “We’re not just facing a constitutional crisis, we’re in a capitalist one, too.” In this clip, she calls out the branding world’s failure to stand up to racism and power. Listen to the full exchange on the latest #DBBD designobserver.com/love-letter-...
May 29, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Debbie Millman doesn’t hold back: “We’re not just facing a constitutional crisis, we’re in a capitalist one, too.” In this clip, she calls out the branding world’s failure to stand up to racism and power. Listen to the full exchange on the latest #DBBD designobserver.com/love-letter-...
This isn’t just about design. It’s about legacy, loss, and the quiet strength passed down from mother to daughter. 🔗 Read the full story here: designobserver.com/dear-mother-...
May 11, 2025 at 1:22 PM
This isn’t just about design. It’s about legacy, loss, and the quiet strength passed down from mother to daughter. 🔗 Read the full story here: designobserver.com/dear-mother-...
“The yellow brick road was never meant for you. But there is another road… and you get to do what you want to do in that.”
Filmmaker Jon M. Chu reflects on legacy, parenthood, and creating space for new stories. Read more 🔗 designobserver.com/making-space...
Filmmaker Jon M. Chu reflects on legacy, parenthood, and creating space for new stories. Read more 🔗 designobserver.com/making-space...
May 9, 2025 at 5:27 PM
“The yellow brick road was never meant for you. But there is another road… and you get to do what you want to do in that.”
Filmmaker Jon M. Chu reflects on legacy, parenthood, and creating space for new stories. Read more 🔗 designobserver.com/making-space...
Filmmaker Jon M. Chu reflects on legacy, parenthood, and creating space for new stories. Read more 🔗 designobserver.com/making-space...
Jon M. Chu shares how his mom gave him a reality check when he turned down a direct-to-DVD Step UP sequal. “If you’re a storyteller, you should be able to tell it anywhere.” Hear the full story on the latest episode of #DBBD. designobserver.com/making-space... #GPTW
May 8, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Jon M. Chu shares how his mom gave him a reality check when he turned down a direct-to-DVD Step UP sequal. “If you’re a storyteller, you should be able to tell it anywhere.” Hear the full story on the latest episode of #DBBD. designobserver.com/making-space... #GPTW
Jon M. Chu on collaboration: “Every time you do a movie, you’re basically creating a new company with new people and reestablishing culture.” Hear more on The Design of Business | The Business of Design: designobserver.com/making-space...
May 6, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Jon M. Chu on collaboration: “Every time you do a movie, you’re basically creating a new company with new people and reestablishing culture.” Hear more on The Design of Business | The Business of Design: designobserver.com/making-space...
Barcode beeps. Hospital alarms. Crackling intercoms.
The modern soundscape is hurting us more than we realize.
Sound designer Eddie Gandelman is reimagining the noise, and crafting a quieter, kinder future. Full interview on Design Observer:
🔗 designobserver.com/a-quieter-pl...
The modern soundscape is hurting us more than we realize.
Sound designer Eddie Gandelman is reimagining the noise, and crafting a quieter, kinder future. Full interview on Design Observer:
🔗 designobserver.com/a-quieter-pl...
April 30, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Barcode beeps. Hospital alarms. Crackling intercoms.
The modern soundscape is hurting us more than we realize.
Sound designer Eddie Gandelman is reimagining the noise, and crafting a quieter, kinder future. Full interview on Design Observer:
🔗 designobserver.com/a-quieter-pl...
The modern soundscape is hurting us more than we realize.
Sound designer Eddie Gandelman is reimagining the noise, and crafting a quieter, kinder future. Full interview on Design Observer:
🔗 designobserver.com/a-quieter-pl...
Director Jon M. Chu shares how becoming a parent shifted his perspective on storytelling, identity, and legacy. He joins @emcg.bsky.social for a special live episode of DBBD, now streaming wherever you get your podcasts! designobserver.com/making-space...
April 23, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Director Jon M. Chu shares how becoming a parent shifted his perspective on storytelling, identity, and legacy. He joins @emcg.bsky.social for a special live episode of DBBD, now streaming wherever you get your podcasts! designobserver.com/making-space...
We’re looking for opinion pieces on the rise of AI image-making.
What does it mean when a machine can replicate Studio Ghibli’s iconic hand-drawn style in seconds? Art, ethics, aesthetics and everything in between. Pitch us at designobserver.com/pitch
What does it mean when a machine can replicate Studio Ghibli’s iconic hand-drawn style in seconds? Art, ethics, aesthetics and everything in between. Pitch us at designobserver.com/pitch
April 10, 2025 at 9:17 PM
We’re looking for opinion pieces on the rise of AI image-making.
What does it mean when a machine can replicate Studio Ghibli’s iconic hand-drawn style in seconds? Art, ethics, aesthetics and everything in between. Pitch us at designobserver.com/pitch
What does it mean when a machine can replicate Studio Ghibli’s iconic hand-drawn style in seconds? Art, ethics, aesthetics and everything in between. Pitch us at designobserver.com/pitch
Change doesn’t stick without systems. Tony Bynum says transformation takes more than a mission statement, you need permission, tools, and buy-in from the top and bottom. Hear more on the latest DBBD episode: The New Era of Design Leadership. designobserver.com/the-new-era-...
April 5, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Change doesn’t stick without systems. Tony Bynum says transformation takes more than a mission statement, you need permission, tools, and buy-in from the top and bottom. Hear more on the latest DBBD episode: The New Era of Design Leadership. designobserver.com/the-new-era-...
Design is evolving. Tony Bynum challenges us to move from designing for to designing with. What does that shift mean for leadership, culture, and outcomes? Hear more on the latest DBBD episode: The New Era of Design Leadership—now streaming everywhere. designobserver.com/the-new-era-...
April 4, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Design is evolving. Tony Bynum challenges us to move from designing for to designing with. What does that shift mean for leadership, culture, and outcomes? Hear more on the latest DBBD episode: The New Era of Design Leadership—now streaming everywhere. designobserver.com/the-new-era-...
Are you selling yourself short at work? Tony Bynum believes authenticity is your greatest asset. In our latest episode of DBBD, he shares how seeing yourself as the product can help you bring your full value to the table and make a real impact. Listen now designobserver.com/the-new-era-...
April 3, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Are you selling yourself short at work? Tony Bynum believes authenticity is your greatest asset. In our latest episode of DBBD, he shares how seeing yourself as the product can help you bring your full value to the table and make a real impact. Listen now designobserver.com/the-new-era-...