Jens Bringsjord
Welcome to Season three on the Design Atlas podcast. This season we will be rocketing ourselves into the vastness of outer space, but also keep things real here on planet Earth.

Megan Luedke
We will explore the intersection of design, science and engineering from a creative perspective and highlight exactly how creativity helps the space industry. Through an extensive line-up of guests from organizations like NASA's, the European Space Agency, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Google, and many others, we are excited to take you on the journey of discovery through the desire of keeping things human while we explore and uncover more about the origins of our universe and what's out there.

Jens Bringsjord
Hi, I'm senior product designer Jens Bringsjord.

Megan Luedke
And I'm graphic designer Megan Luedke, and we're going to be your co-hosts for the third season of the Design Atlas podcast.

Jens Bringsjord
Both of us have had a keen interest in design and everything space in general, so we thought it would be great to bridge our two passions together and create a super impactful, educational, and fun season for all of you.

Jens Bringsjord
We are so excited to uncover with you the connection of design and the bigger impact it has on future technologies that are being developed and the general design intersections in the science and engineering fields.

Megan Luedke
Through this discovery, we will rocket into space with NASA astronaut Nicole Stott and learn about painting watercolours in zero gravity and learn more about how she is sharing her experiences as a former NASA astronaut through art.

Guest Speaker
And so is my art. Whether they like it or not, you can lure them in in some way and I can talk to them about the backstory of what the inspiration for that painting was. And here's what we're doing on the space station and all these things that then they walk away. They're the ones with the app on their phone, you know, putting their zip code in, where's the space station going to be flying over.

Guest Speaker
And they want to know, you know, they want to know then.

Megan Luedke
And next we will talk with information and visual designers. Sarah Poletti from the European Space Agency and Valentina de Filippo, an award-winning data designer, and London. And we will talk to them about what it takes to translate complex information and topics into beautiful infographics for the public to view and interpret.

Guest Speaker
How to just be able to reach people who know very well about the subject. So, are really the scientist, you know, who knows about their mission, who knows about gravitational waves and these kinds of things, you know, but also the people in the street, we just have no clue about these kinds of things, you know? So how can you just reach most of them, you know?

Guest Speaker
But I suppose it's just about being inspired. I think Inspiration Draw drives your motivation to get out of the box. I think that's why I really like to do what I do, because I feel like there is no one brief. This is the same as is not the one and there is no data that is the same because every it's a puzzle.

Guest Speaker

Every data story that we're trying to sort tell is truly unique and therefore you need unique ways to use design to solve the puzzle.

Megan Luedke
You will hear from Chief Creative Director John Laporte at Perceptions Studio and learn about how their work in science fiction helps influence the reality of futuristic technologies being produced today.

Guest Speaker
For us, the key thing is this idea of the future of technology, and so that carries over into the other half of our business and the other half of the work that we do, which is similar in that we're thinking about the future of technology, but we're doing it with real world brands.

Megan Luedke
And we will introduce you to Tanya Gupta, a former NASA augmented and virtual reality engineer, and how she landed a creative residency position with Adobe.

Guest Speaker
Like, I wasn't trying to make it all fit into one box because I knew that that was going to limit me and not make a lot of sense because I have a lot of different hobbies and very different disciplines.

Megan Luedke
Next, we will take you deep into the cosmos with Gray Falls and Eloise Moore to understand how astrophotography and telescopes capture the vast universe and what it really means for us here on Earth to constantly be looking into the cosmos.

Guest Speaker
But the great thing that makes us all possible is automation with computers. So, it feels a little bit like cheating sometimes, but once you have everything set up, I have it like so set up to the point where I can hit, run, and then I go to sleep and then the telescope just does all that stuff throughout the night and then I wake up and have a big pile image in the morning.

Megan Luedke
Humans are, by nature curious about things like, I don't know, like understanding how things work, looking up at the stars, wondering what's out there. It kind of like is interesting to a lot of people at some sort of level. I guess it's curiosity in a way. Senior user experience designers I've been told much of from Blue Origin and Rachel FINEMAN from Google bring us back down to earth and share how space exploration can change the way we experience our everyday lives and find inspiration.

Megan Luedke
They'll dove deep into navigating life, being a designer, and what it takes to follow your passions.

Guest Speaker
And then suddenly, I stumble upon Blue Origin Careers website, and I see that they are looking for a UX designer. It's like, Oh, interesting. I wonder if, you know, if this might be it, you know, of this prominence not nowadays. I kind of see it as more meaningful than what I thought about it back then.

Guest Speaker
I felt like I was always very much like 5050 left brain and right brain, you know. And I, I was good at math, and I liked math, and I liked problem solving. But I was so confused because I was like, you know, I really love like I'm very artistic. I was so on that side of the brain, very creative.

Guest Speaker
But then I also really loved, like, math and problem solving. And I really feel like I found myself in this sweet spot where I'm able to do both, where I like to have a very strong creative side.

Megan Luedke
And finally, to close out the season, we will talk to Dan. That's a visual strategist and creative director at the studio within NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and learn about how a team of designers, artists, makers, strategists, and thinkers are helping scientists and engineers imagine the future and help give people a sense of awe and wonder about the universe.

Guest Speaker
I think what draws me to space is just the how it makes us think about ourselves. And I can look at space and not ask all the big questions and the things that maybe we'll never answer.

Megan Luedke
We are so excited to have you on this journey with us, so get ready for the wild ride because our first guest of this season will join us next week on May 12.

Jens Bringsjord
Be sure to subscribe to the show so you don't miss out on the episodes this season. Also, be sure to leave us an honest review about the podcast. We are constantly learning and want to make sure you're enjoying the show. And finally, we love to see you in our Slack community with other listeners and guests from the show.

Jens Bringsjord
Check out the link below in the description and be sure to join us.

Megan Luedke
We hope you're looking forward to next week. And we can't wait to share with you everything we've got planned this season.