Revision Path

You may remember Chris Barker from last week's interview with Brandy Spain. Chris' design work has graced the cover of magazines -- literally! We talked about how he came into design through print work, his plans for creating a platform for Black gay men (print and online) and the importance of representation in the design industry.

Creative professional Brandy Spain came to us at the referral of next week's interview subject, Chris Barker. Brandy's crisp and clean design style, along with her strong work ethic, even helped pave the way for a new entrepreneurial venture -- presentation design! We even geek out a bit talking about music. Learn more about Brandy in this week's interview!

Adekunle Oduye is a young designer in New York City. As the youngest of seven kids, Adekunle wanted to become a painter, and he talks about how he came into design and development, his time studying in Rome, and projects he's created though hackathons. He even gives nods to some of the big names in the industry, and I share a little advice about giving design and tech talks. I hope you'll enjoy this interview!

When it comes to design, Jacques Dupoux is big on communicating without pretense. It was really great to talk with him and get his honest, unvarnished take on how he got started in this industry and where he plans to go. We also talked about diversity in the design field and on what it means to have the space to fail.

This week's interview is with Michele Washington, a creative director, brand strategist, educator, connector...the adjectives go on and on. Three of the people we've interviewed before (Andrew Bass, Maurice Woods, Steve Jones) have mentioned her and I was so glad to get a chance to talk about her work and decades of experience in the design industry.

Catt Small is her name and there's no shame in her game. I talked with the Bronx-born UX designer/developer about how she got started, the need for greater representation in the tech field, her work with Brooklyn Gamery and The Code Liberation Foundation, and even geeked out over gaming for a bit and talked about fighters and racial and gender representation in gaming.

Who wants to be the next Mark Zuckerberg when you could be the next Alaxic Smith? This 18-year-old wunderkind started coding at the age of 12 and has already founded two social networks and is busy building his third -- Communly -- where he's working with some of the biggest names in music. Alaxic is a rising star that you'll definitely want to watch for in the future. Learn more about his tireless drive and work ethic (as well as some of my tips for SXSW!) in this week's interview.

Alesha Randolph kicks off this month's interviews! This creative professional calls Washington DC home, and we talked about her path to becoming a designer, representation, and giving back to the design community. Alesha has well over a decade of experience in the design industry and now that she's out on her own, you'll definitely hear more from her and about her work!

For the month of January, we have a 3-part “Design Journeys” series — podcast interviews with designers that have been featured on AIGA.org. Rounding out our series here on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is an interview with Emory Douglas, the former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party from 1960-1981. I think you’ll really enjoy this talk with an American design legend.

For the month of January, we have a 3-part “Design Journeys” series — podcast interviews with designers that have been featured on AIGA.org. This week, we talked with Maurice Woods, former professional basketball player, graphic designer, and executive director of the Inneract Project. His advice for what Black designers can do to help give back to the community rings through very clearly.