What early experience shaped your design approach most?

Joe G.

U.S. Chief Design Officer · National Design Studio

Crit Buns Cushion

Joe G. says designing the crit buns cushion in art school was an early experience, calling it his own grad school because he learned so much from bringing it to market.

Blaine Billingsley

Member of Design Staff · Openai

Band Posters & Websites

Blaine Billingsley says making posters and websites for his bands in high school was the early hint that he’d become a designer, done as a hobby to help his musical pursuits.

The answer starts at 4:52.

Federico Casalegno

Head Samsung Global Design Studios · Samsung Electronics

Philips Design

Federico Casalegno says his time at Philips Design first exposed him to cross-disciplinary work, where as a social scientist he worked with psychologists, engineers, and designers and found it eye-opening.

The answer starts at 13:56.

🐱 Catt Small 👩🏾‍💻

Design Advisor · Scout

Game Development

Catt Small says her game development background shapes her design approach, explaining that she thinks a lot about movement and animation because of it and that she brings that spirit from games to her work.

Angel Steger

VP of Design · Wealthfront

Questioning Drawing

Angel Steger says an architecture class that began by asking "what is a drawing?" most influenced her approach, because it questions the assumptions behind a technique and opens up what form best communicates an idea.

Ian Silber

Head of Product Design · Openai

Viewing HTML Source

Ian Silber says that when he was getting into design as a teenager, viewing the source on HTML pages was how he had to learn, letting him see how things were built.