There’s no single way to becoming a designer these days, which I suppose is one of the most interesting things about this industry. Mikell Fine Iles, for example, grew up in San Francisco around art and design, went to Clark-Atlanta University for school, studied more design in Denmark, and worked for agencies Noise and JWT before his current position at Bloomberg as design director. And there’s more!

We started our conversation talking about Mikell’s day-to-day work at Bloomberg, and from there talked about his time in Atlanta as a student and young professional, discussed what HBCUs can do to prepare the next generation of designers, and he talked about his time studying design in Denmark! Mikell’s talent, drive and hustle have really helped propel him to success.

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Revision Path is sponsored by Facebook Design. No one designs at scale quite like Facebook does, and that scale is only matched by their commitment to giving back to the design community.
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Revision Path is also sponsored by Glitch. Glitch is the friendly community where you can build the app of your dreams. Stuck on something? Get help! You got this!
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If you have followed me and Revision Path since at least 2015, then you’ll hopefully recognize how powerfully significant this week’s guest is. Cheryl D. Miller holds many titles — visual artist, designer, author, writer, and theologian. Her trailblazing 1985 graduate thesis at Pratt Institute helped fuel the conversation about diversity in design for Black designers and designers of color — a conversation we’re still continuing over 30 years later.

Cheryl and I talk about her multicultural upbringing, her time as a student at MICA and Pratt, and she shared her memories of life as a designer in NYC during the 80s and 90s. We also spoke about the latest chapter of Cheryl’s design career — the acquisition of her personal work archive by Stanford University! Cheryl is living design history, and I’m so glad to be able to share her story here with you all!

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Revision Path is sponsored by Facebook Design. No one designs at scale quite like Facebook does, and that scale is only matched by their commitment to giving back to the design community.
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Revision Path is also sponsored by Glitch. Glitch is the friendly community where you can build the app of your dreams. Stuck on something? Get help! You got this!
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Revision Path is also brought to you by Google Design! Google Design is committed to sharing the best design thinking from Google and beyond. Sign up for their newsletter!
Revision Path is brought to you by MailChimp. Huge thanks to them for their support of the show! Visit them today and say thanks!
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Forest Young is the global principal and head of design at Wolff Olins, and let me tell you…he’s a busy, busy guy. Whether he’s serving as a design critic at Yale University (his alma mater) or or overseeing award-winning design projects, Forest brings a high level of observation and specificity to his work.

We start off talking about one of Wolff Olins’ recent award-winning campaigns Dotdot, and that spurred a discussion about the ethics of bleeding edge future design, and even access to meaningful design criticism through education. One thing Forest says is that dream projects are never in the wrappers you expect them to be, and I totally agree with that. If you’re looking for a really deep conversation with someone at the top of their design game, then you’ll enjoy this week’s interview!

Did you like this episode? Get special behind-the-scenes access for just $5/month!

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Revision Path is sponsored by Facebook Design. No one designs at scale quite like Facebook does, and that scale is only matched by their commitment to giving back to the design community.
fbdesign_logo_75
Revision Path is also sponsored by Glitch. Glitch is the friendly community where you can build the app of your dreams. Stuck on something? Get help! You got this!
glitch_75
Revision Path is also brought to you by Google Design! Google Design is committed to sharing the best design thinking from Google and beyond. Sign up for their newsletter!
Revision Path is brought to you by MailChimp. Huge thanks to them for their support of the show! Visit them today and say thanks!
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One of the brilliant things about design is that there’s no one “right” way to enter the industry. Career paths aren’t linear anymore, and no one demonstrates this more than Sabella Flagg. Her journey has a designer has literally taken her around the world, and now she’s settled in Seattle as an interaction designer for digital agency Artefact.

Sabella and I talked about what interaction design is, and she shared what prompted her move to Seattle after spending time teaching English in China. Sabella is also a fine artist and photographer, and talked about her dreams of having her own gallery exhibition, and her motivations for growing as a designer. Learn more about Sabella in this week’s interview!

Did you like this episode? Get special behind-the-scenes access for just $5/month!

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Revision Path is sponsored by Facebook Design. No one designs at scale quite like Facebook does, and that scale is only matched by their commitment to giving back to the design community.
fbdesign_logo_75
Revision Path is also sponsored by Glitch. Glitch is the friendly community where you can build the app of your dreams. Stuck on something? Get help! You got this!
glitch_75
Revision Path is also brought to you by Google Design! Google Design is committed to sharing the best design thinking from Google and beyond. Sign up for their newsletter!
Revision Path is brought to you by MailChimp. Huge thanks to them for their support of the show! Visit them today and say thanks!
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Design and journalism might seem like opposite fields, but technology has brought them closer together than ever before (especially over the past few years). How are journalists navigating this new landscape where news is now a designed experience? To gain some insight on this, I spoke with Michael Grant. He’s the creative director for the San Francisco Business Times and is a current John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University.

Michael an I talked about his current research work, and he shared what he’s learned from working with HBCUs and his day-to-day work at the San Francisco Business Times. Michael really wants to make an impact in the world of design and journalism, and I think he’s well on his way of making that happen!

Thanks to Regine Gilbert for the introduction!

Did you like this episode? Get special behind-the-scenes access for just $5/month!

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Revision Path is sponsored by Facebook Design. No one designs at scale quite like Facebook does, and that scale is only matched by their commitment to giving back to the design community.
fbdesign_logo_75
Revision Path is also sponsored by Glitch. Glitch is the friendly community where you can build the app of your dreams. Stuck on something? Get help! You got this!
glitch_75
Revision Path is also brought to you by Google Design! Google Design is committed to sharing the best design thinking from Google and beyond. Sign up for their newsletter!
Revision Path is brought to you by MailChimp. Huge thanks to them for their support of the show! Visit them today and say thanks!
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