Grace Hwang leads Design at Carrot, a technology company that helps people quit smoking. For 12 years, she lead healthcare focused projects around the world in her role at IDEO, a global innovation consultancy. IDEO is most famous for popularizing the term design thinking. Design thinking recognizes that design school teaches how to put people at the centre of what you do. Design lead companies are the ones that put people first with the understanding that what’s good for people is good for...

Jessica Hische describes herself as a "Lettering artist, author, illustrator, letterpress printer, and type designer" but also a "Mother, procrastiworker, and a million other things". She has worked with many well recognized brands, authors, and other designers on a multitude of different kinds of projects. In this episode, we talk about her new book, “Tomorrow I’ll be Brave” and the downside of labels.   First Things First is produced as part of Frontier Media. Learn more at...

This episode of First Things First was recorded live on stage at Design Thinkers in Toronto with Bonnie Sielger about her book, Dear Client. Siegler was voted one of the 50 most influential designers working today by GDUSA. Her career spans a wide range of influential clients and projects like the Trump parody autobiography You Can’t Spell America Without Me. Other recent clients of her design studio, Eight and a Half, include The New Yorker, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Frank Lloyd...

Forest Young is a designer and educator whose ranging knowledge stretches to all points of the map, challenging the listener in unexpected ways. At Wolff Olins, he leads design initiatives for the world’s most influential companies recently competing a brand refresh for Uber. His work has been exhibited at MoMA, he is the recipient of many awards and is a graduate of the graphic design program at Yale University. In this episode, we talk about, well, just about everything.   First Things...

Michael Bierut is a proper gentleman. With his sharp dress punctuated by an iconic hat and scarf, he moves through a room with the gravity of one of the world’s best known designers. But his iconic status is paired with an arresting attentiveness. He’ll write you a surprising and unexpected personal note thanking you for something you should probably be thanking him for. That personable attitude comes through in conversation. In this episode of First Things First we’ll discuss how your own...

Ellen Lupton believes that design tells stories that touch peoples’ minds and bodies. She asks how a song tastes and how designers engage the senses to create richer and more inclusive experiences. In this episode, Ellen talks about the tyranny of visual perception, the ultimate self serve convenience store, and why designers should be thinking about ethics in everything they do.   First Things First is produced as part of Frontier Media. Learn more at www.frontier.is Host: Paddy...

Paul Sahre is a New York based designer who has worked with everyone from Marvel, to Google, to the New York times. He’s an expert cover designer. He’s designed album covers for bands like They Might be Giants, covers for magazines like New York Magazine, and book covers for authors like Chuck Klosterman. In this episode Paul talks about his new book, Two Dimensional Man, his love of making stuff, and the importance of once having had his design office, Office of Paul Sahre (OOPS), above a...

Krys Blackwood fights for the user. That means she designs the way that human beings interact with software and hardware so that they have a good experience rather than the frustration many of us face with technology that doesn’t want to cooperate. She has been designing interfaces of many kinds for over 20 years working with startups and Fortune 500 companies in Silicon Valley.

Jan Chipchase is a Tokyo based researcher, designer, and strategist. He is also an author of a new book, The Field Study Handbook, considered an essential reference to running international field research as well as a guide for those who want to understand how to travel better. In this episode he discusses his current work with his Studio D Radiodurans and how a camera can be used to get out of many different tricky situations.

Timothy Goodman is a New York based designer and illustrator. He is also an author and activist concerned with social issues and an unending quest for authentic experiences and human interaction. In this episode he discusses his transition from home renovations in Cleveland, Ohio to his make or break start in New York City and the power of design to connect.

Astrid Stavro designs magazines and brands from an office on a warm island in the Mediterranean. How does a person who once studied journalism get into design? And how can design help us better understand content?

Jeff Greenspan is a designer and a stand-up comic based in New York City. He once quit a job after 15 minutes. This episode is about how design can be used to powerfully and emotionally convey an idea.

Emily Oberman is a partner at international powerhouse design firm, Pentagram in New York City. She has worked with everyone from Jimmy Fallon to Lorne Michaels and believes design can change the world.