Deb Levison

In episode 10, the last episode of season four, I talk with Jonny Ouellette, the co-founder and creative director of the motion design firm, Kill 2 Birds and 2002 graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art & Design. We talk about our interactions in the graphic design program at MassArt and our passion for making type move on screen. Jonny shares stories of his client work that involve some of the most watched series and movies in recent years and I dig into our design collaboration on some DVD intros for Aspect Magazine. He also discusses taking that entrepreneurial leap of faith with a friend to start Kill 2 Birds. Additionally, Jonny educates me on some of the industry-specific terminology, like key art, upfonts, MOGRTs, and lower thirds. This episode is full of amazing motion graphics, so be sure to check out the video on Youtube. Let’s do this one more time. Enjoy the show.

Show Links

• Jonny’s Portfolio
• LinkedIn Profile
• Instagram Profile
• Responsible Business Initiative for Justice
• After Effects
• Boston
• Massachusetts College of Art & Design

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In episode nine of season four I interview Ringling College of Art & Design graduate and Director of Product Design at BILL, Greg Tariff. We discuss his appreciation for design’s role in the business world and how to navigate a career in Silicon Valley. Greg talks about how his interest in cars led to an internship at General Motors, how networking in New York City led to an agency job in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and how a side project with some agency friends led to a career in product design. Greg also shares insights about working on start-up projects, advising start-up companies, and mentoring young designers. We also discuss collecting 1990s pop culture (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Shepard Fairey art. And of course we talk about the dogs — Shelby, Sookie, and Salem. If you are at all interested in design, business, networking, and dogs you’ll want to have a listen. Time to download episode nine and get to work.

Show Links

• Greg’s Portfolio
• LinkedIn Profile
• Instagram Profile
• Bill
• Toyota Supra
• Shepard Fairey
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Ringling College of Art & Design

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In episode eight I interview 2015 graduate of Russell Sage College and Director of User Experience at Upside Collective, Krystal Hinckley. In our discussion Krystal shares details of working on large-scale websites for the state of New York, including the attorney general’s website that she spent two years working on. She also talks about scrolling through the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society photos for project research that ended with her adopting her third cat. We also discuss our time together at Sage which included a trip to Boston to visit design firms and the Boston Aquarium because that’s what you do when you go to school in Albany. Krystal shares her love of paragraph styles that she gained in high school that led to her interest in the organizing aspects of UX design. And of course we talk about home projects including stripping paint from stairs, putting up wallpaper, as well as getting excited about a new roof and gutters. Now that’s adulthood! Oh yea, cats are mentioned multiple times in this episode. So sit down with your favorite pet friend and have a listen.

Show Links

• Krystal’s Portfolio
• LinkedIn Profile
• Instagram Profile
• Upside Collective
• This Old House
• Mohawk Hudson Humane Society
• Drupal
• Russell Sage College

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In this episode I talk with 2016 graduate of the College of Saint Rose, Rachel Suflita McKee, about her path from intern to art director at the Boston-based design studio, Pinkergreen. She talks about how the diversity of projects (Boston University Global Music Festival, Flex Rx, Flyte 70, The Bug Club, etc.) at a small studio is special and keeps her engaged with graphic design and the people she collaborates with on those projects. We also discuss a challenging design school assignment, about graphic design style, that had both of us considering some of the ethical questions involved in the creative process. We talk about the wonderful aspects of life outside of work like baking (so much butter), cooking (Bolognese), vacationing (in Maine), and of course yoga where goats climb on you as you try to stretch — it’s mostly about playing with goats. And finally, Rachel shares the wonderful news that she will be a new mom in March. Time to rest up people, episode seven is here now.

Show Links

• Rachel’s Portfolio
• LinkedIn Profile
• Instagram Profile
• Pinkergreen
• Bolognese recipe
• NY Goat Yoga
• Boston’s South End
• The College of Saint Rose

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

Five, four, three, two, one… Happy New Year. In this first episode of 2024 Saint Rose alumni and technical UI designer, Nael Uppal, talks to me about starting a degree in his home country of Pakistan, continuing his education in Albany, NY, and completing his degree back home — it’s called a sandwich degree. Apparently that’s a term. Somewhere in the middle of this culinary delight is some work experience as well. Nael tells us about growing up in a creative family, including hanging out in museums with the older kids in his mom’s art classes. He explains in great detail and clarity the complexity of the development of web and mobile games and his current role at Revolving Games where he works on the user interface side of the process. Nael also talks about the very different experiences of going to school in two different parts of the world. And we learn a little bit of the history and culture of Pakistan. Winter break is over. Time to get listening to episode six of Design Futures.

Show Links

• Nael’s Portfolio
• LinkedIn Profile
• Instagram Profile
• Revolving Games
• Sandwich Degree
• Partition of India
• Lahore, Pakistan
• National College of Arts
• College of Saint Rose

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

As 2023 comes to a close, I interview Lindsay Agnew, 2010 graduate of the Ringling College of Art & Design and creative director at Panama Jack (She has since moved on to Entertainment Retail Enterprises). In this episode we discuss the trajectory of her career that started at Disney Imagineering working as an environmental graphics designer, where she focused on designing signage and way-finding systems for the Mouse. This in turn led her to working on similar projects for The Villages, a massive planned retirement community, sometimes referred to as the Disney for adults. And we talk about her role at Panama Jack designing packaging and apparel for the sun-care lifestyle brand. If you’re not already there, this episode will make you wish you were at the beach. Grab a cold one and the sunscreen, it’s time for episode five.

Show Links

• Lindsay’s Portfolio
• LinkedIn Profile
• Instagram Profile
• Disney Imagineering
• Test Track
• The Villages
• Panama Jack
• Orlando, Fl
• WGSN
• Ringling College of Art & Design

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In this episode, Stephanie Pepaj, 2019 graduate of the College of Saint Rose discusses her spontaneous decision, based on an over-heard conversation at a coffee shop, to go back to school to get her master’s degree in marketing from Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland. Why not? It was the pandemic and she always wanted to live outside the U.S. While living in Belfast she worked for a digital agency, spent time traveling in Europe, and went swimming in ice-cold water. Apparently, that’s a thing. Currently, Stephanie is putting her education into practice with developing social media marketing campaigns for her food and beverage clients. We also talk about avoiding bears on hikes, her family restaurant in Cooperstown, NY, and her commitment to yoga. It’s time to set an intension to listen to episode four of Design Futures. Namaste.

Show Links

• Stephanie’s Portfolio
• LinkedIn Profile
• Instagram Profile
• Queen’s University Belfast
• Yoga Benefits (Johns Hopkins)
• Toscana
• Cold Plunge Science (NPR)
• Best Lunch Recipes (Food Network)
• Later.com
• Belfast, NI
• The College of Saint Rose

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In this episode I chat with Lead Product Designer, Alex Gennette, at Netflix Games. We not only discuss his role in designing for the Netflix Games platform, but we also talk about board games and those tiny figurines that come with many multi-player adventure games. We nerd-out about non-linear content and a project in Alex’s portfolio that required him to design a system for livestream motion graphics. Alex also shares insights about being humble when designing for users. Of course we touch on his time at Ringling College of Art & Design, where he learned to write code for Flash animations just as Apple announced they would not support it on the iPhone and spending time at the beach, but only during the evening because he was too busy working on class assignments during the day. Game on people!

Show Links

• Alex’s Portfolio
• Twitter Profile
• LinkedIn Profile
• Sony Playstation
• Netflix
• Polaroid
• Figma
• Gloomhaven
• San Francisco
• Ringling College of Art & Design

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

Heather Argus, a senior brand designer at the tech company Platform.sh, is a founding member for the Asheville chapter of AIGA. In this episode I talk to Heather about her journey from upstate New York to North Carolina and from being a not-so-confident design student to a role as a design mentor. She  talks about the people, her family included, that have influenced her and continue to build her confidence as a designer. Heather also shares some design-adjacent stories about being a booth model and an actor while living in Southern California and some details about creating a home and family (dogs and chickens included) in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Show Links

• Heather’s Portfolio
• LinkedIn Profile
• Instagram Profile
• AIGA Asheville
• Asheville Humane Society
• Figma
• Blue Ridge Mountains
• The College of Saint Rose

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)

In this first episode of season four of Design Futures I talk with London-based designer Kristie Malivindi of Jones Knowles Ritchie. We discuss her journey from making amazing work and mistakes at the two-person design firm, 2communiqué, to mentoring young designers in her recent role as creative director at JKR, where she works on global brands such as Burger King and M & M’s. We also talk about the in-between years of “being a brat” in Chicago as well as losing her dream design job and the hustle of New York City that led to burnout. We get nostalgic for our time (way back in the 20th century) at Massachusetts College of Art & Design in the graphic design department where I was a grad student and Kristie was an undergrad. And we talk about all the good things in life, like naps, cats, travel, and New York bagels.

• Jones Knowles Ritchie
• LinkedIn Profile
• Alexey Brodovitch
• Harper’s Bazaar
• Napping: The Do’s and Don’ts for Healthy Adults
• Claire Saffitz Makes Homemade Bagels
• Visit London
• Massachusetts College of Art & Design
• Dinosaur Jr.

The Intro Music

• Synergistic Effect by morgantj (copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.)