Megan Luedke
Hello everybody and welcome back to Design Atlas. We are here today to do a recap on season three and to share with you just some insights on how we produced Season three and what went on behind the scenes.

Jens Bringsjord
We're excited that you're here to listen about our journey on season three. Everywhere we went, virtually, of course, and how we went into outer space was just exciting with all our different guests and even in the science labs here on earth. So was really, fun just hearing everybody's stories in season three. And you should go back and listen.

Jens Bringsjord
If you're listening to this recording first, go backwards now and listen to this at the end because we will have some spoilers in this episode, in this episode about different things that happened.

Megan Luedke
And if you've forgotten about any of the episodes or you missed one, you go back to it. They're fun. I've listened to them more than once and have every single.

Jens Bringsjord
So, I guess everything starts down with a theme, right? Every season that we've produced so far has always had a central theme. And I think that's one of the big things that has happened kind of just out of our podcast journey for both Meghan and I, that we've just kind of landed in this little way of producing that this season content has been just really fun to create, and it gives us the time to produce really good quality work instead of just, you know, trying to meet that deadline every week to produce an episode, which we do know that you guys are really noticing and appreciating as well.

Jens Bringsjord
So that's great. But yeah, so we kind of start out with a theme and kind of figuring out exactly how we, you know, what we're going to speak about. What kind of guests are we going to have on this on that season and just kind of, yeah, organizing our thoughts and ideas around that. So how did that start? I think we've had a bit of this like science space.

Megan Luedke
Yeah.

Jens Bringsjord
So, we vibe going on.

Megan Luedke
They had this sort of interest in the background. I think even producing season two and all these other things Jens and I were always talking about, you know, what is the latest events happening in space and kind of just some of the latest ongoings of things in the space industry? And as we were wrapping up season two and looking forward to season three and trying to figure out what we wanted to do next with the podcast and where we wanted to take it, it seemed like a great challenge and opportunity for us to explore how design impacts the space industry.

Megan Luedke
I know that we've spoken on chats a little bit and even here, just about my experience working with the European Space Agency in designing a mission patch, and that plays a huge role. And you know who I am as a designer and just, you know, my interest in the space industry is sort of stemmed from that and knowing that there are these really amazing people and designers and creative people in the industry that are just not being highlighted because it is such a scientific and like a science focused industry, we just don't get to see that.

Megan Luedke
So, we wanted to sort of highlight these people that are unknown to a lot of folks and just yeah.

Jens Bringsjord
And I think at the beginning too, we kind of had that question that we wanted to know the answer to of like, is there actually creative people within the science and space industry? Like, is there actually like do people do creative things there? And obviously we know that there is creative work that needs to be done. I mean, you look at Space X and there's great visuals and branding and all of that.

Jens Bringsjord
But sometimes I think the backstory of that is it's an agency that produces it for that that corporation or that that organization. And so, I think for us to undercover like who are the people in those areas and, and how did we kind of yeah, like find them and figure out who they were and doing a lot of that research really, really took quite a bit of time.

Jens Bringsjord
So I guess that does Segway into kind of we landed on the topic of let's try to find people in the science and space industries specifically like yeah, just thinking about like NASA's and those types of organizations and yeah, we just started kind of researching and figuring out different people and different organizations that were doing really cool things, reading a bunch of articles and like news topics and, and those types of things and scrolling through social media I think was.

Megan Luedke
Oh yeah, absolutely. And even just the added challenge of not trying to be so isolated to just NASA and the United States, we wanted to really try and tackle like what our, you know, space agencies and companies and people across the world in the space industry trying to do not just the United States, where it's so more of dominating an industry in and of itself.

Megan Luedke
So, I think we had a tough challenge to find as many people as that. And we learned so much in that process and uncovered so many amazing people. I know even I still follow a bunch of creatives that we, you know, didn't even have on this show, but still are impacting the space industry and an incredible, unique way.

Megan Luedke
So those that we, you know, ended up getting were incredible. And we really appreciate everyone. Every single one of our guests that we ended up having to show.

Jens Bringsjord
Yeah, it was quite interesting just to pause on that thought because it's quite interesting how the guests, not all of them, of course, but some of them were very like connected with each other. Like I think one thing that came through with this is that like the research part and finding gas was how interconnected the like science community is, especially with the art kind of domains.

Jens Bringsjord
So, see, I was just really kind of interesting to see that connection come through. Yeah, it was just great to have all those guests on the season and go again. Just reminder, go back and check that out again. It's been a while you have and listen to it for all. You can't remember the story. We recommend everybody go back and listen because there's a lot of things that we can learn from those.

Jens Bringsjord
And I think that's true. Like every guest was just bringing their story and there, like, honest heart to the podcast and, and that really comes through in this season. Like, yeah, we're just so thankful to have had everybody on the show and contribute their story to this season, making it great. So, so again, thank you to all the guests as well.

Megan Luedke
We really appreciate you. And I think one of the really big things that I noticed through all our guests is that they were also very, very passionate about what they do and very dedicated to, you know, being creative in these tough industries and making an impact where they can and just, you know, being on the forefront of design in the space industry.

Megan Luedke
And it's amazing to see. Just a quick rundown on timeline. We really didn't start planning the season three until fall of 2021, after we wrapped up season two in the summer of 2021, we started on this long journey of trying to find guests and book interviews, and we started doing some interviews and October, November, and December, and we wrapped up interviews late January.

Megan Luedke
I think even a straggler here and there in February. And so, we then took, I think, February, March, April to really refine sounds and to all the background editing. And then we finally released in May, June, July and wrapped up.

Jens Bringsjord
What was happening.

Megan Luedke
Yeah, well I was having a couple of months that we were editing.

Jens Bringsjord
So, what was happening during that process was that Meghan and I were also moving across mobile for Meghan the country, and I was moving from also north, south, but Norway to Spain. So, there was a lot of transition. Yes. And I guess that was not foreseen early in the year, January, February. We didn't really know that that was going to know.

Jens Bringsjord
Then the exact timing of that was going to happen. So, we ended up moving, but we had to plan a lot and structure a lot of the things that we were doing and really set strict deadlines to meet our kind of release date that we had set prior to knowing when all of this was going to happen.

Jens Bringsjord
Which was funny. It was it was good fun because we had a real deadline that we had announced.

Jens Bringsjord
But it was intense.

Megan Luedke
Yeah, but it was, it was intense. I do not recommend, you know, moving across the country and trying to produce the entirety of a ten-episode season on a podcast. But we, we ended up making it work well. I think we were super-efficient in how we ended up doing it because I moved first and what everybody doesn't know is I decided to move after Younes had already decided to move, I think because of the timing and how things worked out.

Megan Luedke
But I ended up moving and of March, beginning April. And so, I, you know, while Younes was doing the first person editing and working on those storylines and everything for the episodes, I was packing and getting my life together to move across the country. And finally, when I moved, had all my stuff, Younes was pretty much doing the same thing and packing and getting his life together and moving across the country.

Megan Luedke
And it was my turn to tackle the episodes and do some recording. Do any rewrites and get those last sort of bits into the episodes. And once Younes finally moved to, we were able to wrap up those final pieces and get everything settled out. And then social media work began, and we were beginning our new lives and our new station countries, and.

Jens Bringsjord
Luckily, we'd finished the recording in the location that we were. Well no. You started recording later. Added editing parts during your time in Florida. Yeah, I was just finishing up all my recordings in Norway. So, so none of mine were none of my recordings in season three are from Spain. They're all in Norway. But for you, Meghan, it was in there like your new apartment, and you would set up your mike prior to like all of your other.

Megan Luedke
Things had you like only had.

Jens Bringsjord
Like a couch or TV set up. Yeah.

Megan Luedke
Yeah. Luckily, I think that got my furniture because I had to use a moving company.

Megan Luedke
I think I got my furniture maybe like the week before I started like writing and doing all this stuff. I remember trying to like to get to know Orlando. I lived downtown Orlando, and I was just trying to get to know the city and I was listening to the first versions of the episode for walking around the lake down by my apartment every other morning, just trying to get to know the area and like visit, see.

Megan Luedke
But I was yeah. In the meantime, I was listening to the podcast episodes and trying to like to see what, you know, Younes had proposed for the storyline in the script and what that it's we're looking at like and finding out what's missing, what needs to be in there and then yeah. And then once I finally had all my stuff.

Jens Bringsjord
It was a bit of ping pong.

Megan Luedke
Yeah.

Jens Bringsjord
It was just like I did the one part and then you did the other part and then we combined it on the end. And, and that is like the magic of the podcasting is like everything doesn't have to happen at the same time. So when, when someone has time, they can add and another person's time they can add.

Jens Bringsjord
And, and we really got efficient in that process this season. So was really, fun and lots of learning as well just in terms of podcasting and setting all that up and then getting all that sorted. So yeah, it was great. And then then we published it, and everybody enjoyed it and we.

Megan Luedke
Took a little break because us.

Jens Bringsjord
Were we'd take a break. We were exhausted. Yeah. And yeah, after the summer we've basically started now getting into the next season, which is coming up in 2023. We're really excited to kind of bring that to everybody. So, make sure you do follow this podcast on whatever plot from your on as well because it really will just inform you right away when season four of the first episode comes out.

Jens Bringsjord
So, so do that. Go ahead and do that and we'll and we'll let you know but sooner and well in 2023 when the actual launch date will be. But go ahead and follow this this. So just to keep informed and stay on up to date on that. So yeah, so definitely exciting things coming in the new year.

Jens Bringsjord
So, stay tuned to everything. We should also mention that it is the New Year very soon, so we do want to wish everybody a happy new year. It's 2022, the final days of it, so hopefully everyone enjoys their time and everything and sets those resolutions for the new year. I know we have some for this podcast and it's going to be an exciting, exciting next year.

Jens Bringsjord
But what we were also thinking is maybe there's a thing you want to add to your New Year's resolution, and that might be being on the podcast. So, if there's any students out there or creatives that are looking to maybe get their name out there a bit more, we would love we would love to hear from you. We would love for you to go check out our website Design Outlets podcast.

Jens Bringsjord
And there you can apply to be on an episode in our in the Design Chats podcast and um, yeah, it would just be great to, to get as many applicants as possible and, and we'll, we'll obviously have to go through the information and make sure certain criteria are met for the show. But we would love for you to apply and, and get your name on the list, so go check out our website.

Jens Bringsjord
The form is right there at the top of the page and yeah, just go check it out. It'd be great to have you on the show.

Megan Luedke
Yeah, I'm sure many designers probably have updating their portfolio and their resumes on their New Year's resolutions. So, if you want to get your name out there and sort of establish yourself as a designer, reach out to us. We you do not have to wait for us to come to you. Absolutely come to us. And we are more than happy to have you on just by Design Atlas and maybe even back on design outlets in the future.

Jens Bringsjord
And so as the New Year is approaching, also, just don't forget if you want to stay up to date with what we're doing, latest things that's happening, and getting those links to the episodes, getting the links to design charts, application forms, all of those things you can find all that also on our social media, we're on everything Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, go follow us on any of those platforms are all of them.

Jens Bringsjord
We love it and yeah, we're just really excited for the new year. So, um, so yeah. Thanks everybody for, for listening to our little season three recap. Um, it was great chatting with you today, Megan, and.

Megan Luedke
Yeah, I'm sure I can't wait to for everybody listen to season four and what we have in store for 2023. Happy New Year, everyone!

Jens Bringsjord
Happy New Year!