This week we continue our Nashville coverage with a return visit from one of our favorite people in the whole, wide world, Debbie Millman. She has a new book coming out, you may have heard, titled How To Think Like a Great Graphic Designer, which is releasing on October 30th and oddly does not include interviews with Donovan or myself. Ahem. In one of the more earnest moments in BADCast history, Donovan shoves all of that to the side because just before we walked into Debbie’s room to record this show I mentioned off-handedly that Debbie had redesigned the Hershey’s bar a few years back. So for the first part of this terrific episode we do something with Debbie that most people seem to never do: we talk about her work. Good times and hugs abound in the BADCast this week, so jaded hearts beware. Everyone else: enjoy.

–nv–

podcast [at] beadesigngroup [dot] com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 44 to your computer (13.5mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.

Holy crap. Marian Bantjes (Bant-geez) is freaking talented. Chances are that if you listen to our show you are a savvy enough designer to know this. You may not know that a few short years ago she was burnt out and living in Canada (she still does that), and was considering leaving design behind her completely. It was a t-shirt contest on SpeakUp, a site to which she contributes as a writer, that brought her back into the fold. Picture this: you enter a design contest, actually win, and are actually discovered by the design gods and made into a superstar. That’s right folks, Marian is the only designer on the planet to have ever had any good come of spec work. Or at least that’s the way Donovan and I see it. This show was recorded very early in the morning following what I would call an “adventurous” night out with the other speakers at Think Thank, the AIGA Nashville Board, and a bevy of people who attended the conference, so if it takes us a few minutes to get rolling, that is why. We discuss much of Marian’s views on typography, design, her early work as a typesetter, and the most devious weapon in Donovan Beery’s arsenal: The Open Question.

ps: Marian, dictionary.com lists cavorting as “To have lively or boisterous fun; romp.” So, yeah, that was totally what you were doing.

–nv–

podcast [at] beadesigngroup [dot] com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 43 to your computer (13mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.

Now that we are finally back from Nashville we can bring you the first of four Think Tank Be A Design Casts. On this show we interview illustrator extraordinaire Von Glitschka, whose name I can proudly say that I now know how to spell from memory alone. Von has a large presence on the interwebs with Vonster.com, Art Backwash, Illustration Class, Keyboard Characters, and The Illustrative Designer podcast, which updates, like, all the freaking time. (sorry Von! I couldn’t resist!) We did this interview just as we all arrived in Nashville and then got to spend the whole weekend with Von and I can tell you he is a terrifically passionate individual with more creative stamina than you can shake a stick at. It was a lot of fun having him on the show and we hope you enjoy listening!

–nv–

podcast [at] beadesigngroup [dot] com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 42 to your computer (14mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.

Some years ago, Milton Glaser wrote a short article for AIGA (later reprinted in Metropolis Magazine in 2002) called the Road to Hell. It reads very much as a moral compass for graphic designers; the more you would answer in the affirmative, the closer you are to burning forever in a firy pit filled with drop shadows and Copperplate Gothic. Click on the link above or in the show to read the article, and follow along as Donovan, Steve, Adam and I tackle the list one-by-one to find out how bad we really are on the BADCast. That is pretty much the entire 36 minute show right there, and as Steve said shortly after; *”That really got out of hand quickly.”*

–nv–

podcast [at] beadesigngroup [dot] com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 41 to your computer (17.5mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.

Featuring the Top Ten Things To Do When You Get Back To Design School. Also this week we delve into Halo 3 Mountain Dew because while it is a blatant marketing ploy, it is still a mixture of two things we love. And the can rocks. We do all this with aplomb, and with the Design Princess herself, Ashley McFeely. Finally our intro/outro for BADCast 40 comes from K-Dub so non-design gangstas watch out.

There’s some other news I forgot? That’s right. The Be A Design Cast is going to Nashville! We’ll be in town September 15, 2007, for Think Tank (the AIGA event), where Bennett, Donovan and I will drop mind-grapes into the open mouths that are your brains. And we’re cooking up a BADCast goodie for all the listeners who attend, so we’ll see you there!

-nv-

podcast [at] beadesigngroup [dot] com

Right click to download Be A Design Cast 40 to your computer (13.5mb), or subscribe directly from iTunes.