Designed By:

When you start a convo with Avatar the Last Airbender, you know it's gonna be a good one.  We're all nerds for not only amazing stories but what makes them stand out and resonate with audiences.  In Part 2 of our interview, we chat with Dustin about all the things we love to discuss when the mics are off—but this time, we hit record, and the results were better than we could have imagine...

Jeff and Randy Vines have traveled all over the country, searching for the magic they feel in St. Louis. Spoiler alert: there's no place like home 😎 Founders of STL Stylehouse, these two brothers have been incredible advocates for the community. We can't imagine Cherokee Street (or St. Louis) without them. Tune into this episode, which is low-key a love letter to our city, and learn mor...

New season, new music, new convos.  We're here with one of our very own—Dustin Schaefer. He not only makes shoegaze music at night after his day job but has also helped us with equipment, tech support, moral support...you name it.  Dustin Schaefer is a solo artist who goes by the name Great Ghosts and has published numerous albums and EPs over the past decade. He's been involved in the S...

Welcome to Season 2!   We're joined by Rosanna Vitiello, Bureau Chief of The Place Bureau, to discuss placemaking and the elements that might inform it, such as SXSW, STL vs. London, Hostage negotiations, etc. You know, the norm.  Send us Fan Mail Follow us at @designedbypod on Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes content.  Have an idea for a guest? Shoot us a DM!

Mildly influenced by the ULI ASP report discussed in the previous episode, co-host Jayvn created Loutopia's very first workshop that the pod was also part of: The Free City Collab. In this episode, we talk about our fun and mildly-hectic experiences of the day, Hogwarts houses are discussed, maturing our societal culture, and poorly-placed pairs of scissors. Of course, there's always mor...

Season 1 of DesignedBy: may be done, but the work sure aint! Recently, a report was released by a panel of international real estate, placemaking, and urban planning experts that recommends how St. Louis can improve the heart of our downtown district. Here are 10 general takeaways that this report emphasizes: Transformation into a Central Social District : Downtown St. Louis should pivot from a ce...

Ever wonder how you can get your neighborhood trash can painted? Have you ever thought about who's planning out your neighborhood or city? This time around, we're talking about these things and more with Catherine Hamacher of PGAV Planners. We all love St. Louis on this show so, while we talk about the specifics of her career path, we spend a lot of time relating this to St. Louis. Reall...

-- Part 2 of Episode 9-- The US is great at a lot of sports but somehow we just don't seem to consistently do well in Soccer (football). Why is that? This is a question we explore with our friends Travis Winn & Daniel Flynn, creators of an initiative called "Free the Game". Their mission is to liberate the game of soccer from a system in which it costs way too much money to play...

The US is great at a lot of sports but somehow we just don't seem to consistently do well in Soccer (football). Why is that? This is a question we explore with our friends Travis Winn & Daniel Flynn, creators of an initiative called "Free the Game". Their mission is to liberate the game of soccer from a system in which it costs way too much money to play with not enough reward i...

Whether it's the gatekeepers, lack of support, or otherwise, STL can be tough nut to crack if you wanna bring something new to life. So Brock Seals said f**** it, let's just do it ourselves.  As a multi-faceted artist, Brock blurs the line between music, painter, and designer. From large collaborations to community building (Art Mimosas and Pancakes anyone??) events, it's hard not t...

Hot take: AI can be your best friend and your best tool.  From having it fully integrated into your daily routine to only using it for specific tasks/occasions, we can't deny that AI is here to stay. The question is, how use it without letting it take over our jobs? We end our series of Sasha's Sessions with a chat about how fast AI has grown and what we all use it for, as well as how im...

Sam Smugala is a powerhouse leader in St. Louis who's always busy and always kicking ass. Sometimes she balances her work, her life, and her side hustles/passions perfectly and sometimes she's still trying to figure it out like the rest of us. TLDR: We're all (not so) secretly still working on it, but we still get shit done.  Send us Fan Mail Follow us at @designedbypod on Instagram...

If you're an OG fan, you'll remember one of our first interviews was with Samantha Smugala, talking about Creative Mornings. Since that release, we've stayed friends with Sam and have worked with her professionally so many times -- from Loutopia to Design Week, she's been involved in everything.  Fast forward 4 years and she's now the Executive Director of the East Loop Co...

It only took Jayvn going to SXSW to realize that St. Louis isn't just an arts town to us locals -- lots of other folks agree! From SXSW in Austin, TX to St. Louis Design Week, we're here to remind y'all what we're capable of 😎 Send us Fan Mail Follow us at @designedbypod on Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes content.  Have an idea for a guest? Shoot us a DM!

In this new episode, Jayvn and Anna have "the talk"…about STL 👀 Send us Fan Mail Follow us at @designedbypod on Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes content.  Have an idea for a guest? Shoot us a DM!

Being an introvert and a leader are not mutually exclusive. Anna shares her honest experience of being a quiet kid and eventually leading AIGA and Design Week and what happened in between.   Plot twist: once an introvert, always an introvert.  Send us Fan Mail Follow us at @designedbypod on Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes content.  Have an idea for a guest? Shoot us a DM!

Loutopia has become a movement in St. Louis, but it didn't just happen overnight -- let's get all the details from the fun and exciting to the scary and overwhelming from Jayvn, founder of Loutopia and one of our co-hosts.  Send us Fan Mail Follow us at @designedbypod on Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes content.  Have an idea for a guest? Shoot us a DM!

We're back again as a slightly revised version of STL by Design, where we focus more on the process and the journey to how we get to where we are as creatives and community builders. Tune in for new episodes launching soon!  Send us Fan Mail Follow us at @designedbypod on Instagram for updates and behind-the-scenes content.  Have an idea for a guest? Shoot us a DM!

In this episode, we talked to Gavin Schiffres and Jack Krewson of Kairos Academies about education, education reform, and the importance of how we learn.  Kairos Academies is a free, public charter school serving 6th-12th in St. Louis. They are rethinking education for the 21st century, personalizing learning, empowering student self direction, and nurturing restorative justice within a diverse-by...

In this episode, we talked to Gavin Schiffres and Jack Krewson of Kairos Academies about education, education reform, and the importance of how we learn.  Kairos Academies is a free, public charter school serving 6th-12th in St. Louis. They are rethinking education for the 21st century, personalizing learning, empowering student self direction, and nurturing restorative justice within a diverse-by...

*Note: We had some technical difficulties when recording this episode. We did our best, but apologize for any audio issues you might encounter* In this episode, we talked with Aaron Williams and Julia Allen, two co-founders of 4theVille.  4theVille is a community-based tourism and arts organization created by multi-generational Ville residents and volunteers to restore pride in the legacy of The V...

*Note: We had some technical difficulties when recording this episode. We did our best, but apologize for any audio issues you might encounter* In this episode, we talked with Aaron Williams and Julia Allen, two co-founders of 4theVille.  4theVille is a community-based tourism and arts organization created by multi-generational Ville residents and volunteers to restore pride in the legacy of The V...

*Note: We had some technical difficulties when recording this episode. We did our best, but apologize for any audio issues you might encounter* In this episode, we talked with Aaron Williams and Julia Allen, two co-founders of 4theVille.  4theVille is a community-based tourism and arts organization created by multi-generational Ville residents and volunteers to restore pride in the legacy of The V...

This week, Dee and Jayvn talked to Christine Ilewski, founder and executive director at Faces Not Forgotten. Don't forget to listen to part one!  Faces Not Forgotten was formed in 2010 to serve the dual mission of giving comfort to families who have lost a child (age 20 and under) to gun violence and to raise awareness of this devastating loss to our society. To date, they have completed 30 F...

This week, Dee and Jayvn talked to Christine Ilewski, founder and executive director at Faces Not Forgotten. Tune into part two tomorrow! Faces Not Forgotten was formed in 2010 to serve the dual mission of giving comfort to families who have lost a child (age 20 and under) to gun violence and to raise awareness of this devastating loss to our society. To date, they have completed 30 FNF Quilts inc...