Interview
July 6, 2021
From Black Mainers to landscapes, Mabel Ney channels her career as a UX Designer into that of a Pain
“When the pandemic shut down live model sessions, I started drawing and painting portraits from photos.” Read more.
Side Projects
June 6, 2021
Juan Villanueva Fosters the Humanity and Cultural Depth of Typography
“To make type design and type designers more accessible and approachable to students of all levels from anywhere in the world who are serious about honing their skills.” Read more.
Side Projects
May 23, 2021
Christina Li is Forging the Current-to-Future Advancement of UX Mentorship and Research Leadership
“To me, it’s about giving back to the communities I am part of.” Read more.
Side Projects
May 16, 2021
Elizabeth Rynecki Wrote and Filmed “Chasing Portraits” and Founded the “Author Answer” Platform
“Side projects bring me joy.” Read more.
Side Projects
May 9, 2021
Product Manager Adam Attas Co-Founded the Hybrid-Thinking Group “Business Designers | Chicago”
“Our mission is to use business design methods and mindsets to influence formation of meaningful alliances between practitioners, educators, entrepreneurs and innovators.” Read more.
Interview
April 25, 2021
“The 100 Black Queens Project” created by Shayla Hunter
“From our first Black and Asian-American Vice President Kamala Harris to Stacey Abrams to the WNBA, it’s important that we’re celebrated.” Read more.
Interview
March 15, 2021
Margot Bloomstein Gives both Tactics & Inspiration Against Cynicism in her latest book “Trustworthy”
“I wrote ‘Trustworthy’ to figure out new tactics for designers, content creators, and marketers to respond to the challenge of trust in an increasingly cynical society.” Read more.
Side Projects
February 28, 2021
Through her Creation of Literation, Michelle Ruiz Explores Books that Inspire Designers
“I’m always interested in what people are generally reading.” Read more.
Interview
February 22, 2021
Founder Sawako Furuno Puts Confidence Back on the Road with her Beautifully Protective Helmets
“I wanted to remove the stigma of women feeling out of place in the cycling world.” Read more.
Interview
January 17, 2021
Appetite For Change Leads Their Local Community in a Fresh and Sustainable Way
“As a community-led organization, we design programs that address the needs of our community. We all deserve good food, good water, good soil, good times to spend with others.” Read more.
Interview
January 10, 2021
Miri Buckland and Ellie Buckingham, Co-Founders of The Landing, Design Heartfelt Spaces
“We were just convinced that the furnishing experience was still a nightmare for our generation and there had to be a better way.” Read more.
Interview
August 24, 2020
Web/Product Designer & Developer Andrew Couldwell Shows How and Why Design Systems are Valuable
“Design systems make the process of designing, building, iterating on, and maintaining a digital product quick, easy, consistent and efficient.” Read more.
Side Projects
April 19, 2020
Travel Writer Tim Brookes Discovers and Perseveres the Vital Beauty of Endangered Alphabets
“I discovered that most of the world’s writing systems—perhaps 90%—are in danger of extinction.” Read more.
Side Projects
April 3, 2020
Copywriter Brooke Randel Co-Writes a Memoir with Her Grandma Golda Indig—a Holocaust Survivor
“The horrors she faced, the depth of her courage and pain, how raw it all still was—it stunned me.” Read more.
Interview
March 7, 2020
UX Designer Author Kat Vellos Advocates Lasting Friendships
“Friendship is as relevant and critical as ever, perhaps even more so considering the loneliness epidemic that plagues our country and our world.” Read more.
Side Projects
January 27, 2020
Dale Watson Creates Whisky Maps
“I wanted a nice-looking reference map to sit alongside my whisky collection but just couldn’t find one anywhere which fit my brief.” Read more.
Side Projects
October 29, 2019
Designer Joni Trythall’s Quality Time with Her Son, Ben
“We will sit down together whenever Ben has the urge to do some drawing.” Read more.
Side Projects
October 14, 2019
Designers Miho Aishima and Kat Garner Founded a Better Creative Space in Rye Here Rye Now
“A lot of the design talks and events we were going to were quite formal and could be intimidating to people just starting out.” Read more.
Side Projects
October 7, 2019
Emily Smith’s Writing Led to the Founding of Her Tech Startup Chorus
“Side projects can lead to real projects.” Read more.
Side Projects
June 6, 2019
Designer Sarah Jackson’s Pursues Things to Stimulate Her Creative Heart
“Everything I do feels like a side project!” Read more.
Interview
May 29, 2019
Cornelia Li is Intrigued by Ideas and Emotions Through Her Illustrations
“I like the idea of having a real-world application for my art.” Read more.
Interview
February 2, 2019
Community-Engaged Designer Christine Gaspar of the Center for Urban Pedagogy
“Good design brings people into the understanding of problems and into the shaping of solutions.” Read more.
Interview
November 16, 2018
The Best is Yet to Come: Maria Montes Grows as a Freelance Designer and Calligraphy Teacher
“Good shit takes time. Work very hard, trust in your potential and find the people who believe in you and stick to them.” Read more.
Interview
October 17, 2018
People-Centered Design Practiced by Libby Cole and Her Team at The Work Department
“We use a participatory or co-creation process—meaning our audience participates in the actual design process.” Read more.
Side Projects
September 11, 2018
Consultant Sally Lait Turns Her Admiration of Japanese Details into Animated Art
“I decided to use this as an opportunity to teach myself about creating vector-based illustration and to animate them.” Read more.
Side Projects
September 3, 2018
Copywriter Janelle Blasdel Creates Comedy from the Page to Stage
“My side project is comedy, both performing and writing, which is a pretty broad arena to be working in, but that’s one reason I enjoy it so much.” Read more.
Side Projects
August 20, 2018
Desk Lunch Newsletter Advocates Inclusiveness in the Creative Industry
“We hope this is the first step in switching up the narrative to include more diverse voices.” Read more.
Side Projects
August 10, 2018
Shauna Keating Galvanizes the Design and Tech Community of Hudson Valley and Upstate New York
“We strive to connect the people in our region doing cool work related to technology.” Read more.
Side Projects
August 8, 2018
Woodworker and Storyteller Katie Thompson Champions the International Community of Woodworking Women
“When I started Women of Woodworking years ago, it was because I felt there wasn’t a thriving space on the Web quite yet for women in the craft—but we were out there.” Read more.
Side Projects
July 1, 2018
Graphic Designer Belinda Kou Works Practices Her Hand-Lettering Craft
“I experiment with different styles, refine existing ones and connect with the greater lettering community.” Read more.
Side Projects
June 15, 2018
Po Campo bike bags Designer and Entrepreneur Maria Boustead’s videos on the Quest for Sustainability
“I found the journey of realizing sustainable design to be really interesting.” Read more.
Side Projects
June 2, 2018
Illustrator Rukmini Poddar Draws from a Extended Range of Emotions
“Side projects have opened such a healing and empathetic space.” Read more.
Interview
May 13, 2018
From Acting to Singing, Stephanie Andujar is a One Woman Show
“Do what you love while you’re here!” Read more.
Side Projects
May 2, 2018
Type Designer Dyana Weissman Advocates Experiencing the Outdoors
“I co-lead hikes in a nearby state park, guiding new parents who carry their babies on a different trail. This gives them an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of being immersed in nature.” Read more.
Interview
April 3, 2018
Designer Megan Trischler Co-Creates Opportunities for Humans
“Be citizens before being designers. Better yet, be humans first.” Read more.
Side Projects
March 23, 2018
Designer and Marketer Kimberly Gant Loves to Create with Others
“Side projects gave me the opportunity to explore new things.” Read more.
Interview
March 19, 2018
Kim Goulbourne, Designer, Web Developer and Chronic Creator
“Most of my ideas come from experiences that I’ve had throughout my life. I’m designing the world I want to see.” Read more.
Side Projects
March 11, 2018
Writer, Director and Filmmaker Tara Cocco’s Comedy Chops
“Comedy is about understanding how your content resonates and connects with your audience.” Read more.
Interview
February 19, 2018
Wenting Li Actualizes Her Creative Work Life through Illustration, Paintings and more
“Working in the arts is a really different and special, and a lucky way of looking back at the world.” Read more.
Interview
January 14, 2018
Commercial Artist Shelby Rodeffer Takes Up the Brushes to Create Traditional Sign Painting and More
“I’m an artist first and a sign painter second, so it’s important for me to keep up a personal art practice.” Read more.
Interview
January 3, 2018
Independent Artist and Designer Shawn Smith Creates Things He Loves
“I want to delight and inspire people with my art and design.” Read more.
Side Projects
December 7, 2017
The 100 Black Females Project created and advanced by Shayla Hunter
“A project about what it means to be a black female today.” Read more.
Side Projects
November 29, 2017
Professional Picture-Maker Liz Nugent Happily Goes Into The Wild
“I get a lot of inspiration from nature—then draw it!” Read more.
Side Projects
November 26, 2017
Product Designer Caylee Betts’ Entrepreneurial Outlets: Swipies, Meetup group Moonlighters and More
“If you’re interested in professional self-improvement, I highly recommend taking on a side project!” Read more.
Side Projects
November 25, 2017
Sacha Judd is Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in The Tech World
“My side projects all revolve around the central question of how we can make the tech sector better.” Read more.
Side Projects
November 21, 2017
Designer and Illustrator Ngaio Parr Launched “Make Nice” to Elevate and Inspire Creative Women
“I built Make Nice to make things easier and better for working in the creative industries.” Read more.
Side Projects
November 3, 2017
Designer Rebecca MacDonald’s Mentoring, Collaborating and More
“It is really refreshing to take a break from my day-to-day design work and create something completely different and unique.” Read more.
Side Projects
November 2, 2017
Designer, Photographer Bekka Palmer Turns Threads into Textile Products
“A side project is totally necessary for my creative-self.” Read more.
Side Projects
October 18, 2017
Hand Letterer Libbie Bischoff Nudges People to Save The Fucking World
“I have always been passionate about the environment and I am hoping my artwork can help with that.” Read more.
Events
October 10, 2017
Countering the Dominant Narrative of Turbulence at the 10th Cusp Conference
“The stage—for the tenth time—was conspicuously lit by presenters selected for their Cusp-charged qualities in going against the grain in their line of work.” Read more.
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