A76 | a design pod

In this bonus episode of the A76 design pod, I talk with the creator of our intro theme music, the talented artist and musician, Stella Solveig. She illuminates her writing and recording process, discusses what informed her decisions, including defining what design sounds like, and shares insights into her own personal music and career.
Check out more of Stella’s music at
Her website stellasolveig.com
IG stella_solveig
TikTok stella_solveig
Youtube stella_solveig
Spotify Stella Solveig
Soundcloud Stella Solveig

Coming soon—season 2's wrap episode and the announcement of season 3's theme—dropped first on A76's Patreon

Support the show

A76 was created by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change is produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs
Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Outro voice over by Pi AI

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]

Change. It’s so ubiquitous that it seems ridiculous to even talk about. Yet our relationship to change is challenging. We have poor reactions to it, we ignore it hoping it will go away. We’re even surprised when it happens; which we should never be. The only thing in life that is constant and will never stop, is change.
Obviously this is a big topic with many facets to it, but why do we have to approach it this way? Why does change have to be so painful? Are there other ways to get ahead of it? To manage it better? And could a designer’s mindset completely change how we approach, change?
My name is Noel Childs and in season 1 of A76 we discussed AI’s impact on the design industry and a potential shift in our methodology. And throughout our conversations I was reminded of the incredible flexibility of thinking from the designers I talked to. And I’ve been lucky to have worked with some of the most creative people in the world over the course of my career. Their ability to not only deal with change but to drive it for their projects, their clients and people around them is heroic and inspiring.
This is something I’ve been thinking about for awhile. I often say that I should have a PhD in Change Management simply by working in the design industry. If I’m touching a project, or my team is, there’s a reason for it; something needs to change, or be solved, or be enhanced. We need to move people’s perspectives from one area to another. And the reality is, I spend a comparatively short amount of time coming up with the solution and most of the time convincing my clients and the people around me it’s the right approach.
So in season 2 of A76 I’ll go deep on the designer’s mindset. Get into how we approach change, talk about the tactics we use to shift the thinking around our projects and hear stories from people who grapple with this everyday. My goal is to not only share it with all of you so we can get a little better, but also bring it to as wide an audience as possible. This is a strength designers have that everyone can benefit from, and our world needs it.
We have too many issues to solve that can only be done through transformation. We need to continue to build those mental muscles to get better at managing change. Find the right balance between a fixed mindset and a growth one. And recognize change for what it truly is, an opportunity.

A76’s Season of Change. Coming soon.

Support the show

A76 was created by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change is produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs
Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Outro voice over by Pi AI

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]

In May of 2021, the iceberg that would become A76 calved off an ice shelf in Antarctica. Spotted by Keith Makinson, a polar oceanographer, he estimated it to be over 100 miles long and 16 miles wide, one of the largest icebergs in history, more square mileage then Rhode Island. Eventually it broke into 3 separate icebergs that are still floating out there in a vast sea of ice. My guess is you’ve never heard of A76 and maybe you’re even thinking to yourself why should I care?
My name is Noel Childs and I’m curious about the surprising connections to hidden aspects of our world. And although I’ve been designing for nearly 30 years, I’ve recently felt the proverbial earth under the design industry shift. A subtle, but unprecedented movement of hyperobjects. Much more then trend. End of a golden age of smart usability. A nascent era beginning.
I created A76 to synthesize these connections and speculate on the future of design. And get into important topics like ethics, diversity, technology in design and climate crisis.
And this first season is all about an established design process that seems at odds with a tech very much in the zeitgeist right now – the Double Diamond design model and AI. Hosted by myself and friend and colleague Casey Hudetz.
A76 and a season of AI. Coming Soon.

Support the show

A76 was created by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change is produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs
Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Outro voice over by Pi AI

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]

In today’s episode, I talk with friend of the pod Casey Hudetz. He’s a Senior Product Design Manager at Docusign, an AI enthusiast and international speaker on all things AI, tech and UX Design. We chat about many things including reconnecting with the greater design community and building sails to catch the future winds of change.

Support the show

A76 was created by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change is produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs
Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Outro voice over by Pi AI

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]

For today’s pod - I’m thrilled to bring you part 1 of my interview with Frank Grubich. He’s had a 35 year career that’s still going. He’s a creative juggernaut who owned a successful design agency for years called Laughing Dog—years before I designed with him. And he's worked on everything you can think of in the creative and design industry.
Yet, the qualities I appreciate most about Frank are his insane curiosity and his passion to differentiate, all balanced with a surprising humor and down to earth ease. Plus he’s got this intense focus on striving for the why of everything, while exploring the future always asking "What if..." which we discuss in detail.

I’ve never met another person like Frank. He’s one of a kind. I cherish the years designing on his team—they were like taking multiple design master classes. I learned so much from him both as a designer and a person and I’m grateful that he is a mentor of mine.
~ Noel

From Frank
I Believe

• Everybody wants change, but nobody wants to change.
• Without trust, nothing is possible.
• All jokes lead to the truth.
• Parameters make creative better.
• If we aren’t making our clients nervous, we aren’t doing our job.
• Clients succeed when we connect people to people — not to stuff.
• Design is a process, not a thing.
• The problem with customer experience is never with the customer.
• An agency should be more passionate about the client’s business than the client.
• You can’t truly think outside the box until you respect the box.
• Successful brands are not born in boardrooms (or in Zoom meetings).
• If you’re billing creativity by the hour, you’re doing it wrong. (a.k.a. the path to efficiency leads to obsolescence.)
• Ideas are a dime a dozen. Real value is in the artful execution and implementation of ideas.
• True innovation is a messy, ugly, exhausting process. If someone is telling you it's easy— they're lying.
• It’s more important to have a sense of purpose than it is to have a sense of place.
• Creativity is an agency's leading point of difference. Treat is like your business depends on it (because it does).
• My team should be better than me.
• There are no boring clients, only lazy agencies.
• Nobody—and I mean NOBODY—wakes up and thinks, “oh goodie, more data!”
• I believe there is nothing more wasteful than doing nothing.
• If a client thinks their nephew can do that, don't waste another minute on that client.
• I believe I have the second coolest job in the world.
• House was right — everybody lies.

Support the show

A76 was created by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change is produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs
Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Outro voice over by Pi AI

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]