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Arts and Design

Design Notes

Design Notes

Design Notes is a show about creative work and what it teaches us, hosted by Google’s Liam Spradlin. Each episode we’ll talk with people from unique creative fields to discover what inspires...

Episodes

20 of 66 episodes

There Is No Neutral Design: Megan Kasselberg, Senior UX Writer and Content Designer, Material Design

This episode, I talked with my coworker Megan Kasselberg, whose work as a senior UX writer and content designer touches billions of users th...

37:29Jul 15, 2026

Beyond the Text Field: Louise Macfadyen, Author of Designing AI Interfaces

This episode, I got to sit down with my friend, podcast cohost on Away from Keyboard , and former coworker Louise Macfadyen as she prepares...

39:47Feb 17, 2026

The Era of the Generalist: Rachel Been, SVP of Design for Expedia Group

In this episode, Liam speaks with Rachel Been, SVP of Design for Expedia Group, about her journey from photography to design leadership and...

43:17Nov 25, 2025

Other Than Expected: Fabian Bircher on Combining Art, Architecture, and Code

In this episode, Liam speaks with Zürich-based architect and artist Fabian Bircher, whose work spans buildings, custom lighting, and interac...

38:19Oct 14, 2025

Design Can't Rely on Logic: Troy Leinster on Type Design and Human Perception

In this episode, I reconnect with my former instructor, type designer and design coach Troy Leinster. Troy shares his journey from graphic d...

45:07Sep 9, 2025

The User Brings the Confetti: Rob Giampietro on Scaling a Human-Centered Brand

Rob Giampietro, Head of Creative at Notion and former Design Director at MoMA, returns to the show to unpack the story behind Notion Faces,...

43:13Aug 5, 2025

True is Better Than New: David Reinfurt on Evolving Graphic Design Education

In this episode, designer, educator, and author David Reinfurt returns to the show to discuss his latest book, A *Co-* Program for Graphic D...

45:02Jul 1, 2025

Material Design Gets Expressive: Inside Google's Emotion-Driven UX Update

This special episode digs into the latest evolution of Google's design system: Material 3 Expressive . Liam talks with Material Design's And...

55:26Jun 10, 2025

Beauty Across the Board: Rich Fulcher on Making Beauty a UX Priority at Google

This season's special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design closes out with Rich Fulcher, former Google UX direct...

52:07Jan 14, 2025

Breaking Silos (and Metaphors): A 'Roving Engineer' on Design & Engineering Collaboration

This season's special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design continues with Adrian Secord, who describes himself a...

53:43Dec 9, 2024

Code, Creativity, Performance: Will Larche on Engineering as 'Creativity with Constraints'

This season's special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design continues with Software Engineering Manager and Music...

43:57Oct 21, 2024

Fab Components: Bethany Fong on Designing Material's Signature Floating Action Button

This episode is part of a special series celebrating ten years of Material Design. In the episode, Liam speaks with Bethany Fong, a Design D...

45:19Sep 9, 2024

Facing Our Interfaces: Matías Duarte on the Future of Individualized Design

This season begins with a special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design, which will explore the inception, evolut...

44:42May 15, 2024

Designing Better Code: How Google Engineers Make Coding a Creative Practice

Liam speaks with Googlers Connie Shi, a software engineer on Material Design, and Matvei Malkov, a software engineer on Jetpack Compose, and...

42:08Mar 14, 2023

How Fonts Change the World: Dave Crossland on Digital Type and Emotional Expression

Liam and Google Fonts Specialist Dave Crossland explore what digital type can teach us about digital production, emotional expression, and w...

36:57Jan 31, 2023

Coding (and Decoding) Social Spaces: Judith Donath on the Future of Life Online

In this episode, Liam speaks with Judith Donath, the founder of MIT's Sociable Media Lab, inventor of e-cards, and author of The Social Mach...

36:46Dec 20, 2022

Fearless Design: Aline Borges on Composition and Creative Career Changes

Liam speaks with Aline Borges, a Zürich-based floral designer who's made the leap from fashion coordination for magazines like Vogue and Har...

28:36Nov 22, 2022

⏮️ How Machines Help Us See Ourselves: Harvey Moon on Art Made Through Machine Collaboration

In this episode, we revisit a conversation from Season 1 with new media artist Harvey Moon, recorded in his San Francisco studio. Liam and H...

30:59Oct 25, 2022

The Impact of Shared Space: Ignacio Ciocchini on Designing NYC's Public Furniture

Liam speaks with streetscape and public space designer Ignacio Ciocchini, who's created much of the public furniture that New Yorkers encoun...

44:44Oct 11, 2022

⏮️ Learning From Your Virtual Twin: Kerry Murphy on Digital Fashion and Virtual Embodiment

In this episode, we revisit a conversation from Season 1 with Kerry Murphy, co-founder of digital fashion house The Fabricant. We uncover ho...

23:03Sep 27, 2022