Design Life

We’ve reached one hundred episodes of the show! So what better topic to talk about than sticking with a side project consistently over a long period time? In this episode we answer questions from our listeners about running a side project for two years, and share advice for how to commit for the long haul. Sign up for the Design Life community  

Slumps in motivation happen. No matter how passionate you are, no matter how good you are at time management; sometimes you just don’t feel motivated. In this episode we talk about how we deal with the slump, chat about possible reasons for it occurring, and give advice for trying to get out of it. More at www.designlife.fm Sign up for the community

We talk a lot on this show about starting side projects and working on bringing your ideas to life, but what happens when the passion dies and you find yourself not wanting to work on a project anymore? In this episode we discuss our reasons for sunsetting side projects and share ways for you to figure out if you should put an idea on hold. More at www.designlife.fm Sign up for the community

It’s time to start making money from your side projects. Designer/entrepreneur Nathan Barry joins us for this episode to share advice for selling products without seeming too pushy, setting goals for your side projects, and how to launch them. If you’ve been wanting to start earning money online, this episode will give you the advice and confidence to start doing it. More at www.designlife.fm Sign...

Hardware is an essential part of the design process, but how much you invest in that is up to you. In this episode we talk about the technology and gadgets that make up our hardware setup and discuss our research process before buying new tech items, along with why you don’t need a shiny new MacBook to be a designer. More at www.designlife.fm Sign up for the community

The interview stage can be both the most exciting and the scariest part of the design job hunting process. In this episode we share our advice for nailing a design job interview: what to bring, how to prepare, what to ask questions about and how to deal with those unexpected curveballs you might be thrown. Join the community Follow Design Life on Twitter

If speaking at a conference is on your career goals list, this episode is for you. In it we discuss the public speaking opportunities we’ve had, and share advice for not only securing your own spot at an event but also how to plan and present your talk with confidence. Join the community Follow Design Life on Twitter

As humans we are designed to be afraid of taking risks, but a certain amount of risk is necessary to achieve success. In this very special episode Eric Friedensohn (a talented lettering artist and friend of the show) joins Femke to discuss why it’s important to take risks, and how to be smart about them. Sign up for the community Follow Eric Friedensohn Listen to more on our website

Lets say you’ve already done the job hunt – you’ve narrowed it down to a select few companies you want to apply at. Now it’s time to prepare your application. In this episode we share our advice for your CV, cover letter and portfolio, as well as chat about the emotional side of the job application process. Find more at www.designlife.fm Join the community!

Doing great work is just one part of building a reputation and an audience; you also need to get your work noticed. In this episode we give advice for feeling confident sharing your work, and how to go about it in the right way. More at www.designlife.fm

In this episode we’re kicking off the start of a new mini-series about finding a new job. To start with we’re talking about the job hunt process and giving you advice for where to look for your new role and how to research a company to see if it’s a place you’d like to work. More at www.designlife.fm

Do you feel like you need to be careful what you post online? Can you be yourself on social media? In this episode we discuss the divide between our personal and professional sides and how we handle this online. We’ll share thoughts on how this affects job prospects and some rules of thumb to follow. More at www.designlife.fm

Us creative types can often be distracted by shiny new ideas, especially when we’re at a tough point in a project. The temptation of working on something new is easy to give in to, but it’s not always the best thing for achieving our goals. In this episode we talk about shiny object syndrome, how it’s affected us, and advice for dealing with it to stay on track. More at www.designlife.fm

Project scoping is one of the scariest and hardest parts of the design process when you’re new to it. It takes time and practice to get right, and in this episode we’re sharing the best tips on project scoping from us and our listeners. You’ll also hear about some times when we got it wrong, so that you can learn from our project scoping mistakes. More at www.designlife.fm.

Professional development and growing your skills is important in any design job, but when you’re freelancing it can be hard to fit in as any time you spend learning is time not spent working for clients. in this episode we discuss the responsibility we have to develop our skills and how we incorporate learning into our projects. More at www.designlife.fm

The Design Life community beta is open! Join now. These days it seems like there is always a new tool or framework to try. It’s easy to feel the pressure to keep up with it all and stay relevant; especially when all of your peers are talking about it. In this episode we discuss our approach to trying new software and tools and how we deal with the pressure to stay up to date. More at www.designlif...

Feeling down about yourself, and like you’re super uninteresting and unsuccessful isn’t fun. In fact, it downright sucks. But it’s something we all seem to face. So that’s what we decided to discuss in this weeks episode along with feeling too old and comparing ourselves to others. More at www.designlife.fm

As ambitious people, we often find ourselves in situations where we’ve committed to too many things and have to deal with the overwhelm that comes along with it. In this episode we discuss what to do in this situation and how to learn from it for the inevitable next time. More at www.designlife.fm

We have ideas all the time, and sometimes those ideas are so big that we don’t have the skillset to actually follow through on them. So what should you do when that happens? In this episode we discuss our approach to big ideas and the learning or asking for help that comes along with them. More at www.designlife.fm

Bullet journalling has become an incredibly popular way to manage projects and tasks. In this episode we discuss how we use the system and why we decided to try it, as well as give advice for getting started if you’re interested in trying it yourself. More at www.designlife.fm

Design Life will soon be launching a community! In this episode we share in depth our plans for the community and tell you everything you need to know about the beta launch (sign up at http://192.241.209.196/community to be notified), as well as talk about the value we’ve gotten from being surrounded by like-minded people.

Design is often misconstrued as being about surface level visuals, when actually a lot of work goes in behind the scenes before you reach a beautiful finished product. In this episode we discuss the difficulties in communicating the value of design and give advice for talking to friends and clients about it so that you can be paid way you’re worth.   Our site: www.designlife.fm Us on Twitter: @des...

In the future, making videos will be just as common as writing blog posts. In this episode we talk about the benefits of creating online video (hint: it’s more than just audience growth!) and Charli gives advice to Femke for getting started and what to expect. More at www.designlife.fm.

Design software is becoming more and more accessible, with some tools offering automatic layouts and quick logos. As designers should we worry about this future? In this episode we discuss the commodification of design and give thoughts on the future of our industry and what we can do to make sure we’re providing value. More at www.designlife.fm

Procrastiworking is work you do instead of another task; think of it as productive procrastination! But it is still just that: procrastination. In this episode we talk about the process and cons of it and give our tips for avoiding it or making it work to your advantage. More at www.designlife.fm