Code, Creativity, Performance: Will Larche, Engineering Manager, Google

10/21/24 • 43 min

This season's special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design continues with Software Engineering Manager and Musical Theater Writer Will Larche, who talks about his path to become an engineering manager at Google. Larche, a self-proclaimed “design fan,” describes engineering as “creativity with constraints.” Here, he explains how the development of Material over the years has led to closer collaboration between design and engineering, and imagines how new AI experiments might open up a new era of “Star Trek design.”

Previous Episode

Fab Components: Bethany Fong, Design Director

This episode is part of a special series celebrating ten years of Material Design. In the episode, Liam speaks with Bethany Fong, a Design Director at Meta who was a pivotal figure in the creation of Material Design.

During her time at Google, Fong was responsible for designing the first set of Material components (including Material’s signature Floating Action Button), and went on to become a design Lead on the team.

In their conversation, Liam and Bethany talk about the tactile nature of design, the importance of keeping a notebook, and how the heady early days of Material unfolded.

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Breaking Silos (and Metaphors): Adrian Secord, ‘Roving Engineer,’ Google

This season's special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design continues with Adrian Secord, who describes himself as a “roving engineer.” Adrian has over a decade of experience building systems and tools that transform design into robust product engineering at scale. Plus, a PhD in Computer Graphics.

Here, he reflects on the evolution of Material Design and the (potentially) exciting possibilities for AI-driven UI. He shares insights on the complexities of large-scale design systems and highlights the need for designers and engineers to find common ground.

Design Notes - Code, Creativity, Performance: Will Larche, Engineering Manager, Google

Transcript

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SH Liam

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Design Notes is a show about creative work and what it teaches us. I'm your host, Liam Spradlin. Each episode I talk with people from unique creative fields to discover what inspires and unites us in our practice. This season, I'm starting with a special series that celebrates 10 years since the launch of material design, exploring the inception, evolution and future of Google's design system. In this episode, I sat down with so