Works But Makes Noises

With Nick Pattison: Pentagram Boot Camp, Productizing Design, the Birth of Brand Sprints, and What AI Still Can’t Replace

This week, Jacob’s somewhere in rural Singapore (I think?), so David sits down with Nick Pattison, founder of Primary Studio, to trace his path from Pentagram and Milton

Sell-Out Culture, the Other 95% of Building Products, to Monetize or Not, and Where the Online Design Community Went

This week, we talk about the lost art of *not* selling out, whether or not to turn an idea into a business (plus David's released the beta of his app Archiv), and th

Design Portfolios: Thinking Like a Business, Why Good Work Isn’t Enough, and the Crystal Goblet Mindset

Recording from an NYC visit (David) and peak California beach season (Jacob), this week we dig into the design portfolio and how to present yourself effectively – whether

Job Hunting, Career Philosophy, and Fit vs. Salary in a Midlife Design Career

After a little summer break we've got Jacob's trip report from a van adventure in Spain and work retreat in Amsterdam, and David reflects on the ins-and-outs of

World Cup Kits, Mamdani’s Grocery Store RFP, Siri AI, and a Tribute to David Hockney

We're going full World Cup fan-mode this week. We make some personal picks for the tournament and talk best and worst of the national team kits. Also in the world of

Digital Collecting, a Bauhaus Awakening, and the Ethics of Copying, Crediting and Remixing in Design

This week we're getting moooooody – moodboards, that is! First we talk David's new iOS app Archiv, which lets you photograph and catalogue what's around y

Designing With Emotion, Elastic Branding, and Band Dynamics with guest Estee Kim, VP of Design at Soft Services

This week we're joined by Estee Kim, VP of Design at Soft Services, the cult-favorite body care brand known for its meticulous design and packaging. We talk on mult

Getting Good Design Feedback, Figma Comments, and Electric Car Shopping

electric car shopping and EV tradeoffs, figma comments and modern design feedback, fragmented feedback across tools, structuring better client critique, feedback psycholo

Surf Apps & 70’s Surf Racks, Figma Config, Homebrew Study Aides, Hand-Finished Design, Reverse Airbnb, and Design Team Retreats

surf forecasting tools and building personal software, jacob’s 70’s surf rack archive and design lineage, figma config branding and pushing beyond the parent brand, using

Special Guest Allan Yu on Going From Designer to Founder, Pivoting Your Startup, and Why AI Should Be Invisible

This week we’re joined by Allan Yu, designer and co-founder of community messaging app, Output. He previously worked as an early designer at Svpply, a cult favorite among

The End of Wireframes, a Robot Vacuum Army, and Why Designing Backwards is the Way Forward

Robot vacuum fleets, Claude code experiments, Personal SaaSpocalypse, closed loop design workflows, building before designing, design is the bottleneck, pushing to prod,

Jony Ive’s Ferrari, AI Copycats, Human-Washed Brands, and Faux Scribbles

Ive's Ferrari collab, tactile design, electric performance, AI copycats, creative IP, opt-in consent, database tools vs model training, human-washed tech, the Granol

Special Guest Elizabeth Goodspeed on Design Education, Experimental Branding, Weird References, and Archiving Everything

How to pay off sleep debt, ancient internships, should designers c*de? design engineers, teaching at RISD and Parsons, experimental branding briefs and constraint-led pro

The Rise of Home-Cooked Software, Authenticity & Imperfection, and When to Start a Design Studio

The 52" monitor, home-cooked software, claude code, vibe coding, personal tools, craft, authenticity and imperfection, authorship and taste, designing without scale, havi

Robot Lamps, Apple’s New Design Era, Utah 2034, Iconic Olympic Brands

Snowstorms in the Catskills, Jacob’s month on the North Shore, selling the Audi and becoming a full-time Subaru guy, mechanics doing power slides in your car, talking lam

Zohran’s Campaign Design, Geriatric Millennials, and Ten Foot Skeletons

Ten foot skeletons, Gen Z nonchalance vs. Millennial effortfulness,  Zohran's campaign design, Al Gore was the worst client. Links mentioned in the show Zohran Mam

Personal uniforms, electric bikes, and 90's ad agencies.

Surfing in Mexico, Gap is back, having a personal ‘uniform’, Electric Bikes, NYC Subway design, AI slop (oh no), edible rocks, 90’s ad agency offices, naming things. Dav

Two weddings, one Subaru, and an AI that designs your company

New Grillitype launches, social battery collapse, Palermo wedding gossip, buying a 2008 Subaru on Facebook Marketplace, DMV purgatory, LL Bean collab trim, new iPhone and

Art, Aging, and AirPods That Randomly Beep

Catskills nervous system reset, tiny New York party memories, birthday art pilgrimages, Mass MoCA, basic-taste art confessions, work-life blur, Apple event ambivalence, l