Design Tomorrow

Latest Episodes:

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.