A Rather Comprehensive Collection of Design Podcasts

Ste Grainer
UXcellence
Published in
12 min readJul 24, 2017

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Continuous learning is a key part of growing as a designer. Podcasts are an easy way to expand your horizons, keep up with trends, and learn from a wide variety of teachers. Nearly all podcasts are free, they are easy to listen to while doing other things, and there’s a tremendous variety available. I’ve compiled this list of podcasts on design and related subjects to help you discover the right podcast for you.

The essentials

These podcasts are highly regarded, broadly focused, and well produced. You can dive in from the beginning, start with the latest, or dip a toe into whatever episode sounds interesting and you’re guaranteed to learn something.

  • 99% Invisible: Hosted by Roman Mars and produced for public radio, 99% Invisible (or 99pi to listeners) looks at the decisions that go into the everyday things that surround us. While not explicitly focused on digital design, 99pi will open your eyes to the craft and thought that goes into almost everything. Most episodes are around 30 minutes long.
  • Design Details: In this weekly show, hosts Bryn Jackson and Brian Lovin talk with the designers behind different products. Most episodes range from an hour to an hour and a half.
  • Design Matters: With its claim as the first design-related podcast, Debbie Millman has interviewed tons of well known creators in this weekly podcast. Most episodes are under an hour.
  • Presentable: Jeff Veen talks with industry leaders to explore topics from hiring and freelancing to virtual reality and ethics. Most episodes are around 45 minutes long.
  • The UIE Podcast: Jared Spool shares stories and take-aways that you can use in your day to day design work. These bite-size episodes are only 10–20 minutes long.

In-depth discussion

The following podcasts often feature discussions on a specific topic between the hosts, and sometimes including other guests as well.

  • The Accidental Creative: Author Todd Henry interviews artists, authors, and business leaders and offers tips for how to thrive in life and work every week. Most episodes are 30 minutes or less.
  • Bread Time: Gabriel Valdivia and Charlie Deets host this micro-podcast about design and technology. Episodes range from 10–20 minutes.
  • The Crazy One: Stephen Gates shares his experience and actionable insights on leadership, creativity, career development, innovation and more. Most episodes range from 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Creative Pep Talk: Andy Miller mixes interviews and stories to help designers and creators make a living from their work. Each episode ranges from 30 to 90 minutes.
  • Deeply Graphic Design Cast: Hosts Wes McDowell, Mikelle Morrison, and Nick Longo explore a new topic in graphic design every two weeks, answer listener questions, and give useful tips and tricks. Most episodes are around an hour long.
  • Design Life: Hosts Femke von Schoonhoven and Charli Prangley host this weekly podcast about design and side projects for motivated creators. Episodes are about 30–45 minutes long.
  • Design Review: Every few weeks, hosts Jonathan Shariat and Chris Liu focus on a specific topic in design and discuss it from their own experience. Most episodes range from 30 minutes to an hour.
  • The Honest Designers Show: In this weekly podcast, Tom Ross, Ian Barnard, Lisa Glanz and Dustin Lee share an honest look at what it takes to be a successful designer. Episodes run from 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Human Tech: Guthrie and Dr. Susan Weinschenk explore how behavioral and brain science affects our technologies and how technologies affect our brains. Episodes range from 45 minutes to just over an hour.
  • Late Nights with Trav and Los: Best friends Travis Neilson and Carlos Montoya talk late into the night about design concepts, share secrets, and occasionally interview their design heroes. Most episodes range from 15–45 minutes, with occasional shows over an hour.
  • Layout: Hosted by Kevin Clark and Rafael Conde, this weekly podcast explores design, technology, programming and everything else. Episodes range from 1–2 hours.
  • Let’s Make Mistakes: Mike Monteiro, Liam Campbell, and Steph Monette talk about design, often with other designers. Most episodes range from 45 minutes to an hour.
  • The Observatory: Design Observer’s Michael Bierut and Jessica Helfand discuss design and current events. Most episodes are around 30 minutes.
  • Resourceful Designer: In this weekly podcast, host Mark Des Cotes shares tips, resources, and strategies for running a graphic design business with a special focus on home-based freelancers. Most episodes are between 30 minutes to an hour.
  • UX and Growth: Austin Knight talks design, conversion, and leadership with a different co-host each episode, with new episodes coming out sporadically. Episodes run 30 to 50 minutes.

Interviews

Learn from all kinds of experts in these shows, as they interview designers, creators, and others about how they work, what inspires them, and more.

  • Adventures in Design: Mark Brickey hosts this daily design talk show that explores how creators design happiness into their professional lives. Most episodes are around an hour long.
  • Boagworld: Paul Boag and Marcus Lillington talk about all kinds of web design related topics with a different guest each week. Most episodes are around an hour long.
  • The Busy Creator: Prescott Perez-Fox talks with creative professionals about the tools, techniques, and habits they use to be more productive and creative. Most episodes are between 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Clever: Amy Devers and Jaime Derringer have candid and revealing conversations every couple of weeks with designers of various mediums to explore how the designed world around us affects our lives. Episodes range from 45 to 75 minutes long.
  • Design Edu Today: Host Gary Rozanc discusses the state of interactive design education at institutions of higher learning, interviewing industry leaders every two weeks. Episodes range from 30 minutes to an hour.
  • The Design Jones: Hosted by designer Ade Mills, this twice-a-month podcast features the very best of the UK creative industry. Episodes range from 20 to 45 minutes.
  • Design Story: Produced by Adam Fry-Pierce and hosted by Jeni Herberger, they tell stories about design, and how it shapes the world around us by interviewing well-known designers from across the industry weekly. Most episodes run from 30 to 50 minutes.
  • Diseño Cha Cha Chá: In this podcast for Spanish speakers, hosts Lumen Bigott and Pablo Stanley talk with Latinos in the technology industry about design, culture, and more. Episodes are around 30 minutes.
  • Dissection: In this weekly podcast, co-hosts Christopher Holewski and Jason Alejandro interview design practitioners across a variety of fields to tell the story behind one project of their own choosing Most episodes range from 15–45 minutes.
  • Dollars to Donuts: Steve Portigal talks with people who lead user research to learn how it’s done at different companies. This podcast looks like it retired last year, but it has great content nonetheless. Each episode runs about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes.
  • The Futur: Host Chris Do talks about branding, design, business, and user experience with a diverse group of guests. Episodes range from 20 minutes to an hour and 20 minutes.
  • Heroine: Majo Molfino shares real, deep, and meaningful stories from top creative women leaders about their personal and professional journeys. Most episodes range from 45 minutes to an hour.
  • High Resolution: Bobby Ghoshal and Jared Erondu are filming a limited video series on product design and design thinking with 25 masters of the industry. They are also releasing the series as an audio podcast. Episodes run from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
  • Mixed Methods: Host Aryel Cianflone explores the hows and whys of user experience research with industry experts. Episodes range from 30–50 minutes.
  • Non Breaking Space Show: This weekly podcast hosted by Christopher Schmitt seeks out the brightest creatives to find out why they do what they do and how they did it. Episodes range from 30–80 minutes.
  • Obsessed with Design: In this weekly podcast, host Josh Miles interviews some of the hottest designers to learn what makes them tick. Most episodes range from 45 minutes to an hour.
  • On Margins: This is a new podcast where host Craig Mod talks with designers about making books. The two episodes so far are around 45 minutes each.
  • Pencil vs Pixel: Host Cesar Contreras talks with creators about their process and what motivates them. Most episodes range from 25 minutes to an hour.
  • Revision Path: Maurice Cherry hosts this award-winning design podcast that showcases the world’s Black designers, developers, and digital creators and explores their stories, processes, experiences, insights and inspirations. Most episodes are 45–75 minutes long.
  • The Start: Host Patrick Johnson focuses on creative individuals and their growth in the industry, from the very beginning. Most episodes are between 1 to 2 hours.
  • Typeradio: Hosts Donald Beekman and Liza Enebeis talk with typographers around the world and explore what makes them tick. Most episodes are 30 minutes or less.
  • UI Breakfast: Every week, Jane Portman talks with industry experts about UI/UX design, products, marketing, and more. Most episodes are 30 minutes to an hour.
  • User Defenders: Jason Ogle hosts inspiring interviews with UX superheroes every few weeks to learn what makes them tick. Episodes run between an hour and an hour and a half.
  • UXpod: Host Gerry Gaffney chats with experts about various topics in web design, usability, and user experience design every few weeks. Most episodes are 20–45 minutes long.
  • UX Podcast: Hosts Per Axbom and James Royal-Lawson talk with industry experts about balancing business, technology and users within the realm of digital media. Most episodes are 45 minutes or less.
  • Workmode: Hosted by Alex Nemeroff, this is a series of conversations with leading design, tech and cultural creators on how they work. Episodes are 30 minutes or less.
  • Working File: Matt McInerney and Andy Mangold chat with a rotating cast of creative professionals about design practice and its relationship with the world every other week. Most episodes are about an hour long.

On development

Whether you’re a code novice or an engineering wizard, these podcasts are a great starting point for the design-minded developer.

  • The Big Web Show: Hosted by the godfather of web standards, Jeffrey Zeldman, this podcast features special guests and topics like web publishing, art direction, content strategy, typography, web technology, and more. Most episodes are about an hour long.
  • Designer vs. Developer: Host Mustafa Kurtuldu tries to solve the challenges faced in industry by opening a conversation between the two, providing take aways, solutions to workflows, and tools & discussions on everyday struggles. Most episodes are shorter than 20 minutes.
  • Front End Happy Hour: This is a podcast featuring panelists of engineers from Netflix, Evernote, Atlassian, and LinkedIn talking over drinks about all things Front End development. Most episodes run 45 minutes to an hour.
  • Responsive Design Podcast: Host Justin Avery chats with the leading minds in the web industry about life, the web, and most importantly responsive design. Episodes range from 10 minutes to over an hour.
  • Responsive Web Design: Once a week, Karen McGrane and Ethan Marcotte interview the people who make responsive redesigns happen. Most episodes are between 20–40 minutes.
  • Shop Talk Show: Chris Coyier and Dave Rupert cross the streams to talk about design and development with special guests. Most episodes are around an hour.
  • Style Guides: Just like it says on the tin, this podcast is a small batch series of interviews on style guides, hosted by Anna Debenham and Brad Frost. Episodes are 30–45 minutes.
  • Toolsday: Chris Dhanaraj and Una Kravets chat on most Tuesdays about the latest in tech tools, tips, and tricks. Most episodes are around 20–30 minutes long.
  • The Web Ahead: Jen Simmons talks with world experts on changing technologies and future of the web. Episodes range from 1–2 hours.

From businesses

Get a glimpse behind the curtains in these podcasts produced by business owners about their products, entrepreneurship, and the business of design.

  • Cushion’s Ask a Freelancer: This is a podcast series where experienced freelancers answer questions about freelancing. Every episode is under 30 minutes.
  • CodePen Radio: Chris Coyier, Alex Vazquez, and Tim Sabat, the co-founders of CodePen, talk weekly about what it’s like running a small web software business. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Episodes are around 30–45 minutes.
  • Design Better: Hosts Aarron Walter and Eli Woolery of InVision uncover insights from the world’s top design leaders and focus on what it takes to be a product-driven company. Most episodes run between 30 and 50 minutes.
  • Dribbble Overtime: Hosted by Dribbble cofounder Dan Cederholm, this podcast explores the process, tools, and stories behind popular shots from various designers from Dribbble. Most episodes run about 45 minutes.
  • How I Built This: This NPR podcast hosted by Guy Raz dives deep with the founders of some of the world’s most recognizable brands, exploring their successes and failures along the way. Most episodes run from 30 to 50 minutes.
  • Hustle by Funsize: Host Anthony Armendariz, head of design at Funsize, talks about the ideas, methods, people, teams and cultures, and everything else necessary to design meaningful digital products with various guests. Most episodes average about 45 minutes long.
  • Inside Intercom: The team from Intercom interview makers and do-ers from the worlds of product management, design, startups and marketing. Every episode runs 30 to 45 minutes.
  • Lumi Well Made: This podcast, hosted by Lumi’s Stephan Ango and Jesse Genet, is a show about the intersection between business and design, talking with designers and entrepreneurs. Episodes range from 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Seaworthy: Host Andrew Verboncouer of Headway talk about building successful software, often with special guests. Episodes range from 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Thoroughly Considered: The cofounders of Studio Neat, Dan Provost and Tom Gerhardt, talk with Myke Hurley about entrepreneurship, product design, and the ups and downs of running a small indie business. Episodes run between 30 and 45 minutes.
  • True North by Loop11: Ben Newton hosts this podcast, which combines longer interviews with design masters and shorter episodes focused on a single topic. Topical episodes run from 20 to 30 minutes while interviews are typically 45 minutes to an hour.

Conference & publisher podcasts

I’d love to see more conferences make their back catalog available as either audio or video for those who simply can’t attend to hear all the great ideas people are sharing.

  • Creative Mornings: Since 2008, Creative Mornings have helped people start their day off right with inspiring talks over breakfast. The podcast shares one of the best talks every week. Episodes range from 30 minutes to an hour.
  • Creative South: Jason Frostholm talks with presenters, vendors, and attendees of Creative South to get the stories behind the design. Most episodes are about an hour with 30-minute live recordings interspersed occasionally.
  • Design and Exclusion Conference: Wordpress hosted a remote conference on design and exclusion to explore how to build more inclusive and welcoming products. They made audio and transcripts available afterward. The panels ran 30–45 minutes.
  • The Great Discontent: The Great Discontent podcast features in-depth conversations with today’s artists, makers, and risk-takers roughly once a month. Each episode is about an hour long.
  • HOW Design Live: Ilise Benun chats with successful creative professionals and design entrepreneurs about the business of creativity and creativity in business. Most episodes are under 30 minutes.
  • O’Reilly Design: O’Reilly books are pretty great for designers and developers. Their design podcast explores how experience design [and designers) are shaping business, the Internet of Things, and more. Most episodes are between 30 minutes and an hour.
  • Patterns Day: Clearleft produced a one-day conference on design systems, style guides, and pattern libraries, then generously made all of the talks available in podcast form. Each talk was 30 minutes.
  • Rosenfeld Media: Lou Rosenfeld talks with a LOT of brilliant, interesting changemakers in the UX world and beyond. Episodes are between 15 and 30 minutes.

Did I miss one?

It was bound to happen. Podcasts come and go. I left out old podcasts that haven’t put out new episodes in over a year. I also didn’t add any with only a couple episodes. And while I did a lot of digging to pull this together, there’s simply no way I can find every possible podcast out there. So while the list is as comprehensive as I could make it, if I missed your favorite, I am very sorry!

If you think I should add something to this list, let me know. I’d love to keep it up to date and add more.

Originally published at uxcellence.com on July 24, 2017.

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Ste Grainer
UXcellence

UX designer and developer from Richmond, VA. I design, code, and write with a focus on clarity, usefulness, and delight. Find more at http://uxcellence.com