Hustle

The intersection of passions is at the center of this talk with designer Greyson. She discusses her journey to learn skills enough to shift from graphic design to product design. After finding employment and working in that field in the bay area for a while she's now pushing herself again. Striking out on her own, she’s established a freelance collective full of designers with varied skill sets called Wild and Grey. Greyson’s work in photography, and specifically portraiture, is a reflection of her passion for people-centered design. Considering her audience as individuals, rather than as generic users, enables Greyson to have deeper connection to the things she’s making. One of the keys to this is cognitive empathy, which relies on understanding, rather than absorbing, someone else’s experience. Greyson discusses her journey and the importance, and challenges, of both finding and facilitating mentorship. Whether looking to gain a new skill, navigating freelance life, or feeling comfortable speaking at confer

Many people lavish in immersive experiences when they hear VR, but companies like Facebook strive to push the boundaries of how people can and will interact with their social network, businesses around them and places around the globe. Gabriel Valdivia talks about his work exploring the possibilities of VR technology for Facebook and the importance of the tools to work in and on VR will be. Coming from a background of product design and visual storytelling, Gabe discusses making the leap to VR, a field that is still being defined. “I am wired this way. I’m excited by new problems that haven't been figured out yet and that’s kind of where I thrive. There’s a lot of people like that in VR today.” In the episode of Hustle, Gabriel Valdivia and Anthony Armendariz talk about his work exploring the possibilities of VR technology for Facebook and how they are seeing an opportunity to introduce the technology in media already familiar to their users. On this episode we discuss: The intersection of design and VR Sp

We don't usually talk about business on the show, but the head of BASIC was willing to talk about how he runs his and we were happy to listen (and take notes). Matt Faulk is BASIC's CEO and executive creative director. He always knew he wanted to do something big and is not surprised he ended up leading a company that does award-winning work brands like Apple / Beats by Dre, Nixon Watches, and BB Dakota. "I had this idea of never settling... I just wanted to do good work — but I don’t mean good work as in creative work, I mean really solving client’s business issues, aligning ourselves as partners..." His career has taken him all over the place, from basketball and professional BMX riding to bartending and graphic design. He says his goal with BASIC was to build a company where everyone involved had a stake in it, a say in it, and helped decide its direction moving forward. Today, BASIC leads creative efforts across traditional and digital initiatives for some of the world's biggest lifestyle bran

If you've ever used the hashtag, you've used a Chris Messina creation. For over a decade, Chris Messina has worked to transform and reimagine the way we look at the world and the way we interact with technology. A self-proclaimed “master of none,” Chris focuses on improving behavioral technology and the social web. Chris has worked in large and small operations, from owning Citizen Agency to being a part of large-scale enterprise companies like Google and Uber where he's worked to expand, cultivate, and advocate for the developer community. Chris just parted ways with Uber, where he was the developer experience lead. He is currently focusing on conversational products and, specifically, how the use of artificial intelligence (IA) and bots can profoundly affect self-driving and automated vehicles. He believes that conversational technology is the new wave of contextual design and that speech-based user interface can provide a shift into simpler technologies. "Imagine an army of bots that are your friends

For over 20 years, Marc has been a designer. From working at startups like Designed by Humans, TeeFury to Co-Founding Flick where he worked to redesign Youtube in 2011 after being acquired by Google. When Marc was at Google, he was a very valuable asset and collaborator with teams across Google to design the Google X self-driving car project and Chromecast. After spending 4 years with Google Marc left and started North, then went on to become the CEO and Founder of Design, Inc. "We should all be finding out what is going to make you happy and how are you going to figure out what's going to make you happy. How are you going to figure out how to truly be happy? and be self-aware enough to change things in your life to be grateful and have gratitude.." A designer's work is a direct representation of how they think the world should look and feel and their work is a story of how they were raised, where they grew up, the music they listen to and every piece of who they are. Designers are passionate and

Dan Mall lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the CEO of Superfriendly, a design collaborative that seeks to connect talented and passionate people with design and development projects all around the globe. Since 2012, he and his company have worked with companies like: Google, Apple New York Times, Carnegie Mellon, About.com, Oreilly, TechCrunch, Entertainment Weekly and many more to produce delightful products and user experiences. Before Superfriendly, Dan was at Big Spaceship, Happy Cog and a Technical Editor at A List Apart. Dan is dedicated to elevating our industry and training designers. Right now, Dan is pushing the needle in the way large organizations connect with their users and their devices. From Insurance transparency to understandable and usable weather data to diminishing the barrier to a new career, Superfriendly and Dan Mall are working to widen the perspective of what design means to real people and how real people can impact the future of design. "I think that my mission, at

Mike Buzzard is a Design Manager on the UX Community and Culture team at Google where he works on shaping, resourcing, supporting, and guiding a range of programs and projects that are designed to ensure the health and success of UX at Google. He also recently helped design the first of its kind undergraduate degree in User Experience Design at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He’s currently working with other design leaders to elevate the craft of design in emerging design cities and is an investor and advisor to many awesome companies. Previously, Mike co-founded the design agency Cuban Council with his friends and collaborators, Toke Nygaard and Michael Schmidt. They created a company that could focus on making great things the way they thought it should be made. In their 10 year run, they were able to design cutting edge digital product design solutions for companies like Facebook, Google, Zendesk, Rdio, Quora, Evernote, and Epitaph Records. "It's hugely important to understand what you're

Mae Reed is an interaction designer at Rackspace, part-time development instructor with Girl Code It and a pillar in the Austin design community. She has a talent for understanding the value of designing through open lines of communication due to her first-hand experiences with designing and developing and feels that both designers and developers should be working together from the onset of the project to consider affordances and constraints. Mae is also an active and organizational member of an Austin meetup group, Fresh2Design, where she seeks to make connections with new designers and help them find their place in the Austin design community. In this episode, Anthony sits down with Mae Reed to talk about how the way communication can not only be the champion of success in a smaller agency but also create a pathway for designers, developers, and clients to accomplish enterprise goals, together. Follow Mae here: Twitter: @maebees web: maekr.co maereed@me.com Rackspace: Twitter: @rackspace web: rackspace.

As Interaction Design Lead for 3M's Health Care Business Group, Andy Vitale is excited about making an impact in the healthcare space and designing meaningful healthcare solutions at the enterprise level. Andy believes that being proactive in the enterprise environment is the best way to get the conversation started about designing successful solutions for enterprise problems. He also knows that it's important to always inform and educate people on what exactly it is that you do because it's more valuable when other people buy into and support what you do than simply speaking for yourself, especially on the enterprise level. In this episode, Andy sits down with Anthony to discuss his perspective on ways to measure the impact of user experience, UX processes with his team and 3M, and how to grow user experience competency within a large organization like 3M. Follow Andy here: Twitter: @andyvitale 3M: Twitter: @3mdesign Web: 3M Design & Careers Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Ch

Being able to juggle an overwhelming amount of tasks, responsibilities and day to day activities comes down to how well you're able to carve out enough time to do the things that matter most to you each and every day. Charlie Waite started his career with Focus Labs in Savannah, Georgia and learned the value of the hustle and how to make an impact in fast paced high demand, agile environment. After living and breathing the agency world Charlie sought to find a company, role, and environment that he identified with and work with disciplines that he hadn't had a lot of interaction with. Charlie found that opportunity with GoPro as their UX/UI Design Manger for their software team and was able to dig in and work with teams to design consumer facing products and be a part of creating a universal design language that spans the entire company In this episode, Charlie sits down with Anthony to discuss what it meant for Charlie to make the transition from client services to more product focused design, what it means

From designing things to designing educational training, Travis has a passion for project management and digital solutions. Partnering with his wife Rachel to create louderthanten to instruct a project management curriculum to help improve the way teams work together, streamline their creative design processes and allow insight into how project managers solidify the client relationship; Travis is passionate about creating a culture of education on the web. In this episode, Anthony and Travis get down to the details of dynamic thinking and what it means to Travis to find better ways for teams to work together and pull from different design methodologies to design better solutions to create lasting client relationships. Follow Travis here: @travisgertz @louderthanten travisgertz.com Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

If you've ever shopped online with Nike or booked a cruise with Norweigan Cruise lines you might have used a product that Ben Peck was part of Designing. Ben is a busy guy and he spends a lot of time working with Needle.com to design e-commerce chat interfaces and paradigms that help people feel confident in purchases they make. In addition to his full-time, job Ben has been pivotal in the creation and growth of Frontutah.com and a creator of The Product Design Association. Ben has a passion for elevating his local design ecosystem by providing networking opportunities, educational events and enabling ways for people to share what they're doing, how they're doing it and how they've become better doing what they do. In this, episode Ben and Anthony sit down to discuss a wide variety of topics ranging from the Utah design community to his role in the organization of the Front design conference to what Needle does and how they are designing better ways for conversations between humans and computers. Ben Peck @be

From starting a company with his wife in the basement of his home to presenting his start-up company to a daunting crowd of Canadian angel investors, Mikael Cho of Crew and Unsplash, has been able to consciously push himself and the people around him to new levels of success. In this episode, Mikael and Anthony discuss the journey that Mikael's taken to find his professional path and how that path created his perspectives on growth, success and life as a whole. Mikael believes building trust into new business relationships and knowing that growth is organic and in his eyes, is the most successful way to be true to yourself, your client and your craft. Originating in design and development, Crew seeks to help freelancers and studios establish consistency and Companies in need of Creative talent find the best available to them . Holistically, Crew supports freelancers and studios in removing the troublesome aspects of business in order to focus on letting those people do what they do best, create. Be sure to c

Claudio Vallejo is a passionate Freelance Web-Designer and Front End Developer by way of Monterrey, Mexico. Beginning in the Baylor business school and through the Baylor Accelerated Ventures Project, there he discovered design and development and was given his first experience in product design. In this episode, Claudio and Anthony sit down to discuss everything from how a failed college project would ignite his creative passion to his perspective on turning ideas into reality to the challenges faced as a non-us citizen looking to land a design job. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

If you know anything about Funsize, you know we love to collaborate and Johnnie Hamn is no different. Through his 16 years of hands-on design experience and believing strongly in cooperative and collaborative design; Johnnie comes to the table with his perspective on what it means to be a design leader and client advocate at Funsize. In this episode, Anthony and Johnnie sit down and talk about his role at Funsize and the idea of selfless leadership, going the extra mile to build trust with the client, what it means to transition a client into a design partner. Anthony and Johnnie have been friends for a very long time so they discuss a wide range of topics in this episode but one topic they focus on is how investing in relationships can elevate client services, and more often than not, make them profitable. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

If you've played Monument Valley then you've seen a slice of the ustwo pie. Three years ago, ustwo explored the state and future of the digital consultancy industry, posing the question “How, When, and Where Will The First Truly Great Digital Design Studio Emerge?“. Now, three years later, Jules followed up with his essay "The State of the Digital Nation 2016" where he provided an in-depth, four-pronged approach to building the digital studio of the future. "The industry has experienced seismic shifts and a sweeping wave of consolidation. So let’s take another look at the state of the digital nation and why, for the bold, great opportunity lies ahead." On this episode, I get an opportunity to talk to Jules about this important piece of writing and what the future of agencies look like in order to remain relevant, build trust, and create meaningful impact. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Dann​ is a full-time freelancer and is known around the world for his skill and encouraging personality. If you've seen HBO's Silicon Valley, Google, Airbnb, Uber, Medium, Boosted Boards and Luxe Valet; then there's a chance you've seen his work. He's also the Founder and organizer of the Epicurrence and Montues events, which are life experience inspirational and adventure oriented events for designers. They're EPIC. Dann has been traveling around the United States interviewing designers for a movie he's making about freelance designers. Over the last couple of months, he's gained some new personal perspectives on work, life, balance, and the meaning of success. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Tony Sanchez, Product Designer at Funsize discusses the journey of his career path from textile design, to print, to screen printing, to digital product designer. Anthony and Tony talk about Funsize's Design Apprentice Program, and Tony sheds light on his experience at Funsize and shares a few tips for new designers. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

A few months ago, Andre, one of Funsize's product designers decided he wanted to move on to greener pastures in Bend, Oregon. But he still wanted to work with Funsize and we didn't want to lose him either. As he's gone out to live in a tiny house on some beautiful mountain land in Oregon, he's learned a whole new curve to working entirely remote. Rick and Anthony chat with him about how the adjustment has been going. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Victor is a user experience (UX) researcher with a passion for representing the voice of the end user in product design decisions. He writes and speaks on the application of psychology to design. He's written for A List Apart, Smashing Magazine, UX Booth, User Experience Magazine, and more. He's the author Design for the Mind, a book from Manning Publications on the application of principles of psychology to design. about the book: Design for the Mind: includes 7 Psychological Principles of Persuasive Design teaches you to recognize how websites and applications can benefit from an awareness of our innate, natural responses as humans, and how to apply the principles to your own designs. listener discount: bit.ly/yocco1 https://www.manning.com Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram