The Variable Design Podcast

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 "Red Dot" Design Awards, the industry's highest standard of excellence, has been featured in The New York Times and was honored by the City of New York with a 2011 "Excellence in Design" Award. He's repeatedly won "Good Design" Awards, Housewares Design Awards, ID Magazine's "Design Distinction", and has received numerous design patents. Recently, Cozzolino studio has worked with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Grand Central Partnership, Rockefeller Center, New York Aquarium, and The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
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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 Technology with a BFA in Industrial Design.
Topics we cover in this episode:

1. Be open to new paths: In design school, from shoe obsessed to story obsessed.
2. Ugly design on purpose: In my first design job, I had to design ugly shoes for frumpy dads and learned early on that good design is not universal.
3. Pivot and expand: How and why I transitioned to design consulting.
4. Go on adventures / don’t make decisions based on fear: 1 year Sabbatical in Costa rica in the middle of the great recession.
5. Go beyond things: Working at Smart Design really solidified my approach to storytelling and contextualizing tangible things.
6. Design at different scales: Growing pains from the transition between small scale to large scale objects (Ford and Steelcase)
7. Work in different cultures: Experience working at HP in Barcelona.
8. Invest in yourself (and your side projects): Touchy/Feely, Coat Check Chair etc.
9. Celebrate how far you’ve come

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WEBSITE: www.thevariable.design
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BLOG: https://www.thevariable.design/podcast

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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 over 30 years and is frequently a featured speaker on design and innovation at events and symposiums worldwide. He has extensive design experience in consumer electronics, consumer products, housewares, transportation, telecommunications, and business-to-business industries for clients such as TopGolf, Frigidaire, Interstate Batteries, Newell Brands, Marriott, and many others.

He is active with the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA), having held six terms on the IDSA National Board of Directors. He was recently awarded a Fellowship within the society along with the top notable designer’s recognition honor.

Brian’s Power statements on Experience Design:

• UX design is more than just digital design.
• The experience revolution has begun, and we are in for a 30 year run.
• A True User Experience occurs when human senses are engaged (the more the better) and emotional responses are transmitted.
• A brand can intersect with the True User Experience through combined products and services in digital and physical means.
• We have long tried to adapt to technology, now we are asking technology to adapt to us.
• Experience design brings the human back into the center of the focus.
• We need designers who can create a balanced world of experiences. We need holistic experience designers.

Join our weekly discussions on Clubhouse:
https://www.clubhouse.com/club/the-variable
Other (non-recorded) Clubhouse events hosted by Justin Adleff
https://www.clubhouse.com/club/objects-experiences?utm_source=clubhouse&utm_medium=share_club&utm_campaign=hAr6ifilAK2P84UTJTMbmw-27939
LINKS:
Support The Variable
www.patreon.com/thevariabledesign
WEBSITE: www.thevariable.design
UPCOMING EVENTS: https://www.thevariable.design/qna
NOMINATE STUDENTS FOR SPOTLIGHT: https://www.thevariable.design/spotlight
BLOG: https://www.thevariable.design/podcast
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Questions we cover in this episode
1- Industrial Designers do human factors testing and ethnographic research to drive all their decisions.

• When is it appropriate to let intuition trump validation? Is validation always necessary?
• We always hear about how prospective employers are looking for “good decision making skills” in student portfolios. What the heck does that even mean and how the heck do we show that we’re good at making decisions in our design work? Is that just subjective or can we establish some ground rules?

2- Industrial Designers are expected to perform life cycle analysis on products under development.

• How do we balance sustainability and time constraints for production? Especially consumer electronics product dev, it’s like a flash in the fire. So LSA is usually glazed over, especially with smaller startups that aren’t held to the same scrutiny as big corporations.

3- A design grounded in research findings is the best solution that should always be pursued.

• In the long run, is it more helpful for one’s career growth to make a habit of presenting very solid, research based (or very intuitively grounded) solutions or do we think that being a designer that regularly pushes the envelope by presenting ideas waaay out in left field that you’ll see quicker gains in notoriety and skill?

4- Industrial Designers regularly are carving foam in the shop to create mockups.

5- Industrial Designers who sketch well are better at communicating ideas.

6- Working at a design consultancy right after graduation is the best way to polish a wide variety of skills.

7- Working for a name brand company developing their own products means you’ll design only one thing and your creative diversity is limited.

8- The best way to move up the career ladder is to spend a good amount of time in one place to specialize. TS- Unfortunately no. Most designers will find that the only way to move up is to get out. My experience has been that in spades.

9- You studied ID, but will likely spend most of your time creating graphics for presentations and marketing collateral to promote products.

About Tony Shoemaker:

Tony has been in various roles, across the country, in the ID industry for over 25 years. He came to Milwaukee Tool after 10 years with Sears, working for over 8 years in the Kenmore Brand unit, and 1 1⁄2 years in the Craftsman team. Prior to Sears, Tony worked in consultancies such as Bally Design in Pittsburgh, and Ignition in Dallas. His experience includes medical design, toys, communications equipment, consumer electronics, housewares, packaging, graphic design, retail, and exhibit design.

Once described by a mentor as a “thoroughbred” designer, Tony has always sought to absorb as much information from the world as he can. He seeks odd knowledge and the synergy between its crossings to create those “ah-ha!” moments key to the design process. Just as comfortable in a pile of parts and shop dust as at his desk sketching fervently, Tony is a self-described “mad designer,” a hybrid of a Mythbuster and a Concept Artist. His real energy comes out when recognizing the human link to a concept’s genesis. He strives for those moments that are genuinely transformative to his work.

LINKS:
Support The Variable
www.patreon.com/thevariabledesign
WEBSITE: www.thevariable.design
UPCOMING EVENTS: https://www.thevariable.design/qna
NOMINATE STUDENTS FOR SPOTLIGHT: https://www.thevariable.design/spotlight
BLOG: https://www.thevariable.design/podcast

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This is the first of many episodes where we dive into addressing the top 10 questions young industrial designers face.

1. 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) are crucial in the industry.
2. How do I build a strong portfolio?
   • Guidance on what constitutes a compelling portfolio, how to showcase different projects, and what employers look for in a portfolio are common concerns.
3. What are the typical career paths in industrial design?
   • Information on the various roles an industrial designer can pursue, such as product design, user experience design, automotive design, and furniture design, and the progression paths in these areas.
4. How can I gain real-world experience while still in school?
   • Advice on securing internships, freelance projects, or participating in design competitions to build practical experience and a professional network.
5. What is the job market like for industrial designers?
   • Questions about employment prospects, industry demand, and geographic hotspots for industrial design jobs are common.
6. How do industrial designers stay current with industry trends?
   • Strategies for keeping up with design trends, technological advancements, and materials innovations to remain relevant in the field.
7. What role does sustainability play in industrial design today?
   • Understanding how sustainability is influencing product design and what designers can do to create eco-friendly and sustainable products.
8. How can I develop my own style or design philosophy?
   • Guidance on how to cultivate a unique design voice that stands out while meeting the needs of clients and consumers.
9. What are the challenges of working with clients and managing projects?
   • Insights into client relations, project management, and navigating creative differences or budget constraints in professional settings.
10. How does industrial design intersect with other disciplines?
    • Curiosity about how industrial design collaborates with fields like engineering, marketing, and psychology to create holistic product experiences.

LINKS:
Follow The Variable on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheVariableDesign
Support The Variable
www.patreon.com/thevariabledesign
WEBSITE: www.thevariable.design
UPCOMING EVENTS: https://www.thevariable.design/qna
NOMINATE STUDENTS FOR SPOTLIGHT: https://www.thevariable.design/spotlight
BLOG: https://www.thevariable.design/podcast
_____________________________________________
DISCORD ►► https://discord.gg/vpypTgPEvY
TWITTER ►► https://twitter.com/thevariable_ID
FACEBOOK ►► https://www.facebook.com/thevariable.design/
INSTAGRAM ►► https://www.instagram.com/thevariable.design/
LINKEDIN ►► https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-variable-design

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