Design Tomorrow

Phones Never Die. They're Eaten By Birds Sep 09, 2019

Can we really call it progress when it creates so much waste? What if your phone — the one you’re using right now — was your last phone? Take a good look at it and imagine using it for the rest of your life. Could it even last that long? Could you? Probably not. Today I want to think about what that means. What happens to a planet and its people when technological progress is measured in product cycles. And what happens when there's no balance sheet to account for the other side of that — when every new product leaves billions of products and accessories and packaging behind…

Show Notes

My first cellphone
My second cellphone
This clip ended up on the cutting room floor, but here's Derek Zoolander's tiny phone
You can learn more about the Agbogbloshie landfill by reading its Wikipedia page, looking at these photographs, or watching this documentary. Please watch it!
You can learn more about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch here.
"The Victims of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a clip from 60 Minutes
Project Ara Demo at Google IO 2015
Google Cancels Project Ara
The Fairphone
Danny Boyle interviewed by Marc Maron

Music

All music used in this episode was independently produced by r beny and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Felt
Fall Creek Unit
Formation Process
Novation Peak
Mariposa
Alluvial
Natoma
Spindle
Illumination Ceremony

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You Don't Have to Be an Entrepreneur, Part 2 Aug 26, 2019

Every discussion of entrepreneurship is really a discussion about values. Today, we'll follow up on last week's episode, where we began a discussion of entrepreneurship by resetting that idea — by challenging the story of entrepreneurship. We contrasted the protagonist — the hero CEO — with the reality of who we are. And we contrasted the plot — the capitalistic, meritocratic variant of the hero's journey — with the meandering serendipity of our lives' paths. But dismantling one story doesn't write ours for us. And so that's where we'll pick up today — with how we begin — by identifying, examining, and ordering our values so that they may serve as a foundation for the creative and productive lives we build upon them…

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Di Breun, by Blue Dot Sessions
Drip Hop Modular Beats, by r beny
Oriel, by Blue Dot Sessions
The Snowgard, by Blue Dot Sessions
Crosswire, by Blue Dot Sessions
Li Fonte, by Blue Dot Sessions
E2 Ambient X, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You Don't Have to Be an Entrepreneur Aug 19, 2019

Entrepreneurship doesn’t have to mean what you think it means.

Over the course of the next two episodes, I'd like to share with you how my own perspective on “entrepreneurship” has evolved, and offer a critique of the sameness of the popular model of the entrepreneur. I'll also give you eight little nuggets of wisdom that have been helpful to me on my journey so far, and only grow in their value to me as it continues…

Show Notes

Newfangled, where I work.

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Kirkus, by Blue Dot Sessions
Transit Center, by Podington Bear
Order of Entrance, by Blue Dot Sessions
Lunette, by Blue Dot Sessions
Tralaga, by Blue Dot Sessions
Tolls Folly, by Blue Dot Sessions
Exceter Lask, by Blue Dot Sessions

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Future vs. The Future Aug 05, 2019

Every vision of the future is a better index of the present from which it came than whatever time it imagines. So today, let's look back at some of the things we believed would serve as landmarks of the future. Not to point out how quaint they are or to dunk on the blind spots of the past. But so that we can better understand why — no matter what shiny new objects we make and use — we never quite feel like we've gotten to the future. Why it's so difficult to recognize how far we've come…

Show Notes

The Dymaxion House
Le Corbusier
Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford on The City
Robert Heinlein did get a futurist house eventually. He just had to design it himself.
The Entire History of You

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Spirals, by r beny
Fall Creek Unit, by r beny
Live 182801, by r beny
Pines, by r beny
Crystals & Graves, by r beny
Volca Keys Arp Jam, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Words Matter Jul 22, 2019

Too often we think of the word "design" as a shorthand for an ecosystem of mostly visual phenomena. But words play an enormous, though often unseen, role in the creation of everything. Today, I want to tell you a story about how my life was changed by a few words said quickly, but words which I will never forget...

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Envira, by Blue Dot Sessions
Our Digital Compass, by Blue Dot Sessions
Svela Tal, by Blue Dot Sessions
Tolls Folly, by Blue Dot Sessions

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A.I. Ain't that I. Jun 17, 2019

The majority of our clicking and tapping is a repetitive act of information management. Isn't A.I. supposed to help us with this? Don't hold your breath... Today, on Design Tomorrow, in the tradition of the rantiest of rants, I'd like to, well, rant about a few things. About AI and us, about wasted time and wasting of the land, and about the lowing and highing of design...

Links

The Sword in the Stone, Wart eats a bug
“It is important to use your hands. This is what distinguishes you from a cow or a computer operator.” - Paul Rand

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Respiration, by Podington Bear
Transit Center, by Podington Bear
Twine, by Podington Bear
The Dirty, by Podington Bear
Free Radicals, by Podington Bear
Lleb, by Podington Bear
Data, by Podington Bear
Dark Matter, by Podington Bear
Rythn, by Podington Bear

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Glove, the Display, and the Possible Future Jun 03, 2019

Is technology a means to an end — the ladder we climb to a future we want to inhabit because it's better for us than the present — or is it as far as we let our minds and hearts go? In this episode of Design Tomorrow, we'll connect a few stories about technology that didn't make it in order to better understand the technological path our culture is on...

Links

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Arbic Tallow, by Blue Dot Sessions
Fall Creek Unit, by r beny
Ervira, by Blue Dot Sessions
Kalsted, by Blue Dot Sessions
Arbinac, by Blue Dot Sessions
Levanger, by Blue Dot Sessions

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ugh. Advertising. May 20, 2019

Does advertising still make sense in our world today? How does a form of media always known as an associated form — as something that sips from the attention river flowing to and from other things — function when the complexity of those waterways has exponentially increased?

Links

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Greyleaf Willow, by Blue Dot Sessions
Rainy Day Drone, by Blue Dot Sessions
Fall Creek Unit, by r beny
Loam, by Podington Bear
EE2 Ambient, by r beny
Wilt, by r beny
E2 Ambient Electro Jam, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Interface and Me May 06, 2019

Are interfaces good? Or are they a distraction — for us the makers, and for the users we believe we are helping? How can we think better about both how we interface with digital experiences, personally, and how others do it? Today, we'll think deeply about the nature of the interface — what it is, and what it says about us, the people who made it — and explore the need for new rules for better interface-making...

Links

It's a Mistake to Mistake Content for Content, by Kenneth Goldsmith
In the Kingdom of the Bored, the One-Armed Bandit is King, by Nicholas Carr
Amish Hackers, by Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly speaking at Google
What Technology Wants, by Kevin Kelly

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Bloom, by r beny
Cyclotrak, by Blue Dot Sessions
Svela Tal, by Blue Dot Sessions
Tralaga, by Blue Dot Sessions
Exceter Lask, by Blue Dot Sessions

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Useful Fictions Apr 22, 2019

We live in a time of illusions. Simulations that reflect back upon us more than just the passage of time, but something important about who we are. Something unique is going on right now — with the tools and technology we have — that is giving us the ability to stop, stretch, bend, and replay time. In this episode, we'll explore what that offers us, we for whom at some point, time will end...

Links

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Danielle, by Mark Reveley
Together We Are Stronger, by Komiku
I Need to Start Writing Things Down, by Chris Zabriskie
The Dark Glow of the Mountains, by Chris Zabriskie
I Used to Need the Violence, by Chris Zabriskie
Out of the Skies Under the Earth, by Chris Zabriskie

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Last Thing We Need Are Smartphones Apr 08, 2019

When so many problems of existence remain unsolved, we haven't earned the luxury of smartphones. So this is an intervention. A challenge to the status quo of waste and distraction and triviality and short-term pile-on that is our way of life here in 2019...

Links

"Give it a second! It's going to space!"
"not just actual attention but the promise of future, fictional, vaporous attention" - Dan Hon
Flint, Michigan still doesn't have clean water
Bill Gates made a machine that turns feces into drinkable water
It’s In the Bag! Teenager Wins Science Fair, Solves Massive Environmental Problem

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Invicta, by Blue Dot Sessions
Bloom, by r beny
Electribe 2 Meets System 1, by r beny
4-Track Cassette Drone, by r beny
Comma, by Blue Dot Sessions

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Behind Every Robot Mar 25, 2019

What is it about robots that compels us to create them? And what does it say about a culture that makes machine surrogates despite not having reached a consensus about why to make them in the first place? In this episode, we'll explore the robots taking over our world, and the agenda behind them...

Links

hitchBOT
the definition of "robot" from Google and Wikipedia
a drumming robot
a spring-making robot
oh, the many uses of springs
Uber's first self-driven truck delivery was a beer run.
Amazon's newest ambition: competing directly with UPS and FedEx
The permanent transition
The three laws of robotics
The One Thing Real Quick Podcast
"How to Keep Yourself Sane in Faketopia"

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Inside the Toy Submarine, by Blue Dot Sessions
Rotary Cog, by Blue Dot Sessions
Bloom, by r beny
Novation Peak Ambient II, by r beny
Her Caliber, by Blue Dot Sessions
Exquisite Motion, by Blue Dot Sessions
Rainy Day Drone, by Blue Dot Sessions
Tiny Bottles, by Blue Dot Sessions
The Dustbin, by Blue Dot Sessions

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC. You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Real Value of Ideas Mar 11, 2019

What are our ideas worth? Are they as valuable as we think they are? And what might change about how we act on our ideas once we start thinking differently about how we value them and how unique they really are? In this episode, we'll explore how simultaneous ideas and discoveries throughout history show that ideas and minds probably work differently than we think...

Links

The Discovery of Endorphins
Who invented Electricity?
List of multiple discoveries
The Theory of Multiples
Dueling Movies are a real thing
This episode is based upon an article I wrote in 2015 called "What is an idea worth?"

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Ultraviolet Clouds Clone, by by r beny
Bloom, by r beny
Flashing Runner, by Blue Dot Sessions
Canopy, by r beny
Passing Station, by Blue Dot Sessions
E2 Ambient X , by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to Make Good Things Feb 26, 2019

They say that practice makes perfect. I'll settle for "practice makes good," thank you very much! In this episode of Design Tomorrow, we'll explore what it means to practice - what there is in repetition that can help us to get better. Not just at what we do, but also at who we are.

Links

My drawing professor, Alfred Decredico.
Balancing Data with Intuition, by Jon Yablonski
The Way to Make Good Things is to Make Many Things, by Chris Butler

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Arctic Draba, by Blue Dot Sessions
But Enough About Me Bill Paxton, by Chris Zabriskie
Illumination Ritual, by r beny
Drift & Divide, by r beny
Cold Summers, by Blue Dot Sessions
Volca FM Meets PO, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Computer World Feb 11, 2019

There are very few people left on Earth for whom the world isn't shaped by computers or seen through their screens. But does it have to be this way? In this episode, we'll explore how screens — and the images they reveal — are just as much a manifestation of the world from which they come as they are the raw materials of a story about the next one: the future...

Links

The IBM Portable PC 5155
Blade Runner - Opening Scene
Human Progress Landscape, the not-so-good student animation I made in 2003, but for which I still retain some fondness
The machine I used to make it: the Sony VAIO Digital Studio
Jony Ive's magical voice for Apple marketing
you may have noticed some sound from the Tron Lightbike Scene
The Matrix "What is Real?" scene
keen listeners and sci-fi aficionados will have noticed sounds from the Nostromo boot sequence in Alien
you may have also noticed some sound from The Lawnmower Man's disconnecting scene
What Technology Wants, by Kevin Kelly
The last clip you heard came from WarGames - The WOPR introduction scene

Music

With the exception of a brief sample from a live performance of Kraftwerk in 1978, all music used in this episode was independently produced and shared with Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use by Able Parris of kamuter.

Stratosfear, by kamuter
Discovery, by kamuter
the robots (live), by Kraftwerk
Frequency, by kamuter
Terraform, by kamuter
Interrogation, by kamuter

Some of My Favorite Independent Media

Robin Sloan is a writer and self-styled media inventor who constantly inspires me by independently producing short stories and "odd-shaped internet projects." His latest workspace is called Year of the Meteor, where he's writing a regular newsletter and producing some interesting zine-like media. Robin and his partner Kathryn Tomajan also independently produce California extra virgin olive oil under the label: Fat Gold
Desert Oracle is a pocket-sized field guide (and radio show) to the fascinating American deserts: strange tales, singing sand dunes, sagebrush trails, artists and aliens, authors and oddballs, ghost towns and modern legends, musicians and mystics, scorpions and saguaros! Independently produced by Ken Layne.
Mysterious Universe is my favorite podcast about the weird, the strange, the paranormal, and the metaphysical independently produced for over a decade in Sydney, Australia. You can support them by listening and becoming a member of their Plus Club.
Logic Magazine is a print magazine about technology that publishes three times per year and maintains an intentionally small digital footprint.
Hurry Slowly is a podcast about how you can be more productive, creative, and resilient through the simple act of slowing down.
Aquarium Drunkard is an eclectic audio journal focused on daily reviews, interviews, features, podcasts and sessions.

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC. You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Creation of Our Genius Jan 28, 2019

As long as we've been self-aware, we've desired companionship. And yet, we are not enough for one another; we hunger for something more - something that folklore, imaginary friends, and now technology have attempted to satisfy. Today, we stand at a crossroads beyond which is a future full of artificial lives. What kinds of minds will we create for ourselves? And what kind of future will those minds make for us?

Links

"The Measure of a Man," Season 2, Episode 9 of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Her
"Be Right Back," Season 2, Episode 1 of Black Mirror
THX 1138
The confession scene in THX 1138
"When her best friend died, she rebuilt him using artificial intelligence."
The tablets on Star Trek: The Next Generation were called PADDs
...and there were a lot of them

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

MD by r beny
But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton, by Chris Zabriskie
Cities Sleep Like Seeds by r beny
The Sea's Sullen Green by r beny
Empty Grinds by r beny
Glisten by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to Get Your Time Back Jan 14, 2019

The more time passes, the faster it feels it's moving. It's an illusion, of course, but does that really matter? If you feel like it's moving faster, it might as well be. The shrinkiness of time is part of the human condition. But the secret you may not know is that you can slow it down. You can get your time back. Here are eight ways...

Links

"Life is Short," by Paul Graham
The boiling frog phenomenon\
My preferred notebook
Deep Work, by Cal Newport

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Morning Colorwheel, by Blue Dot Sessions
Machination, by Blue Dot Sessions
Our Digital Compass, by Blue Dot Sessions
Basin, by r beny
Ecrins Eurorack Ambient, by r beny
Cold Summers, by Blue Dot Sessions
Full Blossom of the Evening, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ticking Progress Bombs Jan 01, 2019

Progress is something we all try to work toward, but how do we really know if we're making any? And if progress isn’t permanent, is it progress at all? In this episode, we'll explore progress and the ways that certain forms of it actually trap us in the past...

Links

Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress
Interview with Ronald Wright, "What is Progress"

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Early Renaissance Music, Shakespear's Time
Western Sycamore, by r beny
Our Digital Compass, by Blue Dot Sessions
String Theory, by r beny
Traditional Polynesian Music, The Culture Society
Burl, by r beny
June 12, 2014, by r beny
Dulcinea Eurotrack Modular Ambient, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC.

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Voice Interface Nov 20, 2018

We're all using voice interfaces now — a thing of science fiction now very much in our reality. But it turns out that feelings — things like fear, loneliness, trust, and desire — play just as much of a role in the way these machines work than do databases and code...

Links

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Mercurial Vision, by Blue Dot Sessions
I Can't Imagine Where I'd Be Without It, by Chris Zabriskie
Cascade Symmetry, by r beny
Auroral, by r beny
Sidrax Organ Black Fountain, by r beny
Elatan, by Gustav Landin

Credits

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co. Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Power of Perspective Nov 01, 2018

In a world as crowded with technological tools for measuring our progress as ours is, sometimes the best way to see how far we've come is, literally, in our own hands and on our own faces. In this episode, we'll discuss a simple exercise you can do to test your perspective and how well it accounts for other people, not just you.

Links

A 30-second test to determine whether your boss is a gem or a jerk

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

The Terrarium, by Blue Dot Sessions
Mercurial Vision, by Blue Dot Sessions
Novation Peak Ambient, by r beny
The Fossils of Intention, by r beny
Paper House, by r beny

Credits

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

After-Credits Links

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is real? Oct 16, 2018

It may sound like a rhetorical question, but asking "what is real?" is becoming more and more a practical inquiry into the nature of our everyday experience. In this episode of Design Tomorrow, we'll imagine a future — not too far off — where the lines between real and something else will be so blurry that we'll probably need a whole new category of technology to help us bring them back into focus...

Links

Music

Cathedral Redwoods, by r beny

Hallon, by Christian Bjoerklund

Novation Peak Ambient, by r beny

Oella, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC. You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw, visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, or email Chris directly at chris @ designtomorrow.co. Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

After-Credits Links

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Design is Art with Rules Oct 02, 2018

There is no good definition of design. In this episode, Chris talks about what distinguishes design from art, and how accountability plays a unique role in making the distinction clear.

Links

4'33", by John Cage

The scene sampled at the end of the episode is from "A Matter of Perspective," Season 3, Episode 14 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. You can view the clip here.

Music

Wilt, by r beny

Mercurial Vision, by Blue Dot Sessions

ektar, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC. You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw, visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, or email Chris directly at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

After-Credits Links

“Conservatively, our prison story cost roughly $350,000. The banner ads that appeared in it brought in $5,000, give or take.”

An Open Letter to Managers of Women

This clock writes the time

Victorians Wanted to Contact Aliens Using Giant Mirrors

Study Finds That People’s Brains Show a Neural Spike When a Friend’s Brain is Stimulated

3,000 year old intact ostrich egg

Principles of Two-Dimensional Design, by Wucius Wong

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to Think About the Future Sep 18, 2018

We all think about the future. Probably more than we're even aware. But, is thinking about the future useful? Does thinking about the future actually help us make one that's better? In this episode of Design Tomorrow, we'll talk about the future. Not a specific future, but the possibility of one. And what it means to envision the future — practically — in a way that both shapes our present and ensures progress...

Links

Traction, by Gino Wickman

Music

Winter Tracks, by r beny

Refraction, by Podington Bear

Hallon, by Christian Bjoerklund

Vernal Bloom, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC. You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw, visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, or email Chris directly at chris @ designtomorrow.co. Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

After-Credits Links

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Active Erasure Sep 04, 2018

In this episode, Chris tells a story about a drawing professor who taught him about not just identifying the negative space in our thoughts and actions, but something he called active erasure, and how being intentional about the act of taking things out can not only improve the work we do, but change its very nature...

Links

Alfred DeCredico

How to Grow an Idea, by Jenny Odell

Music

Raro Bueno, by Chuzausen

Veins of Silver, by Blue Dot Sessions

Bathyscaphe, by r beny

Credits

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw, just leave all the vowels out. That's @ D S G N T M R R W. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

After-Credits Links

More than half your body isn't human.
MIT's wearable device can 'hear' the words you say in your head.
Do We Finally Understand How Acupuncture Works?
Shh! Don’t Tell Them There’s No Magic In Design Thinking
https://twitter.com/davewiner/status/987350876602978305

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Getting Out of Our Own Way Aug 23, 2018

In this episode, Chris talks about what it means for designers to get out of their own way, and he shares a couple of ways he's made that not only more possible in his life, but more natural to his day to day.

Things Mentioned in the Show

Clients from Hell

“I am trying to be unfamiliar with what I am doing." Said by John Cage. The full quote is, "I am trying to check my habits of seeing, to counter them for the sake of greater freshness. I am trying to be unfamiliar with what I am doing." I'm honestly not sure what the original source of this quote is; it's been quoted in thousands of secondary sources, though.

4'33", by John Cage

Music

All music used in this episode is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Rythn, by Podington Bear
Hallon, by Christian Bjoerklund
Old Growth, by r beny

Credits

Design Tomorrow is produced by Chris Butler at the Tomorrow office in Durham, NC. You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw, visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, or email Chris directly at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

After-Credits Links

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Magic of Ordinary Objects Aug 23, 2018

In this episode, Chris talks about appreciating the design of everyday objects, minimalism, and how some objects can reflect a life well lived.

Links

I mentioned a bunch of objects I own that I especially value. Only some can be found online, so this is a partial list:

My preferred notebook is a Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook
My preferred pen is a Pilot G2 .7mm Fine Point in black
My preferred belt is a Grip6
My preferred pants are a pair of Edgevale Cast Iron Utility Pants in Smoke Black. In the summer, I wear a pair of Fjallraven High Coast Trousers in Limestone
My preferred boots are Blundstone Super 550 in black
My preferred t-shirts are Woolly Merino V-Neck in Grey
My wallet is a BRYK stainless steel case
My watch is a Trintec Zulu-07 in Stainless Steel
My bag is a Booq Boa Briefcase

If you don't know the Spin Doctors song I referenced, congratulations. If you can't handle not knowing it, you can listen to it here.

Ubik is a book by Philip K. Dick. You should read it.

Bruce Sterling coined the term "Spime" in his book, Shaping Things. You should read that, too.

Music

All music featured in this episode (except for the tiny bit of Two Princes) is independently produced and licensed by Design Tomorrow for non-commercial use.

Bass Rider, by Podington Bear
Mercurial Vision, by Blue Dot Sessions
Western Sycamore, by r beny
Waves, by Podington Bear

Credits

You can follow the show on Twitter @dsgntmrrw, just leave all the vowels out. That's @ D S G N T M R R W. You can visit the show's website at designtomorrow.co, and you can email me at chris @ designtomorrow.co.

Thanks for listening, and remember, what we do and think today can create a better tomorrow.

After Credits Links

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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