The Variable Design Podcast

Feb 29 2024 5
The Variable Design Podcast artwork

The Variable Design Podcast is an innovator's guide to all things related to product design, industrial design and manufacturing. It's a collection of interviews with industry experts who share their uncensored advice in order to help the next generation of designers and entrepreneurs take their ideas from conception to fruition. Episodes cover aspects of industrial design, graphic design, marketing, engineering, and manufacturing to give listeners key insights on how to successfully develop and sell a product in today's marketplace. 

RSS feed Share
Copy RSS


Subscribe on Podcast Addict


Top 10 questions of young designers ANSWERED with Jon Bennett

Feb 29 2024 54 mins  
This is the first of many episodes where we dive into addressing the top 10 questions young industrial designers face. What skills are most important for a successful career in industrial design?Students are keen to understand which technical skills (such as sketching, CAD software proficiency, and model-making) and soft skills (like communication, teamwork, and creative thinking)

Stand Out!- How to be more memorable and more valuable to companies as a designer.

Dec 06 2023 56 mins  
There's a sea of industrial designers out there, how can you stand out? Everyone is trying to stand out... but how can you actually do it?Skill StackingWe talk about the ins and outs of skill stacking with the help of Sushant Vohra. You can read his LinkedIn post on the topic here.We also address the question "should I show it all?" when it comes to your portfolio. Are you interest

YOU - the problem and the solution. Breaking out of a rut as an industrial designer

Nov 28 2023 49 mins  
I used to enjoy my job, and now it's terrible. I aspire to be a great industrial designer, but I feel like I'm pigeon holed in my current role. I'm not growing as a creative. I feel stuck but I don't know how to get out of my rut. Sound familiar? Well.... there's good and bad news. Bad news is, you're the problem. Good news- you're also the solution. That's right, when it comes to

Banger actually a bust? How to handle times when you're not proud of your design work.

Oct 05 2023 60 mins  
You won't always be able to give something 100%... heck sometimes 50% is all you've got. What do you do when you want to hit a home run, but you feel like you've struck out? In this episode we breakdown strategies for handling these kinds of situations with professionalism and share a few takeaways that will help you make those lemons into lemonade. LINKS:Follow The Variable on You

You don't know what you don't know- with Jack Marple

Sep 27 2023 33 mins  
In this episode we jump on a call with Jack Marple, the Associate Director of Industrial Design at Enlisted in Salt Lake City Utah to discuss design education and the top things that keep young (and old) designers from having job-winning presentation in their portfolios. We discuss eye-opening realizations we've had as educators and best practices on how to not only be able to iden

Design traps we fall for and how to navigate feedback with professionalism.

Sep 22 2023 56 mins  
In this episode of The Variable Design Podcast we dive in and discuss Sushant Vohra's LinkedIn post: If you are a design student in 2023 don't fall for these 12 traps ↘1) Being first in your class and thinking that design life is gonna be easy.2) Copy pasting ChatGPT responses to comment on a post just for 'networking' sake.3) Having those slider scales for each software in your

The Art of Design- with Steve Cozzolino

Jan 18 2023 56 mins  
Steve Cozzolino, an award winning and distinguished industrial designer with over 25 years of consulting experience, earned a BFA in Industrial Design from the University of Notre Dame in 1993. Early in his career, Steve collaborated with Eva Zeisel and was Design Director at Karim Rashid Inc. from 2002-2006. In 2006, Steve launched Cozzolino studio LLC. Steve has received multiple

UGLY DESIGN ON PURPOSE- With Joey Zeledón

Sep 27 2022 64 mins  
About Joey:Prior to starting his own practice, Joey led design teams over the past 15 years while working for companies like Clarks, Continuum, Smart Design, Steelcase, and HP. His design work has been recognized with over 40 awards and featured in Design Milk, Dezeen, Fast Company, Interior Design, New York Times, TASCHEN and Wired. Joey graduated from Rochester Institute of Techn

Experience Design is Not (only) Digital, with Brian Roderman

Jul 15 2022 60 mins  
Recognized as 1 of the 50 most notable designers over the last 50 years, Brian Roderman is the President and Co-Owner of IN2 Innovation, an experience innovation design agency that provides a global range of services from inspiration to integration. IN2 Innovation currently has offices located in Dallas, Austin, and Atlanta.Brian has worked in the design consultancy business for ov

A Designer's Guide to Unconsciously Sabotaging Yourself

Jul 08 2022 59 mins  
There are a number of ways that we as creatives can inadvertently keep ourselves away from progress. In this episode we talk about common ways we shoot ourselves in the foot as industrial designers, how to avoid them, and what to do to find balance and improve in our craft. This episode was a recorded clubhouse session that took place on May 12,2022Join our weekly discussions on Cl