By Design

What defined design in 2025? For our December episode, we look back at the seven most significant design trends of the year. This time, Liz and Mark are joined by some special guests, as they discuss growing movements ranging from vibecoding to ragebait advertising. They ask questions like, is craft dead in the age of AI? And, when did everything in design become so political?  Tune in for the best analysis of our year that was from some of the sharpest minds in the industry, and stay for hints to what’s coming next in 2026.

As AI companies pour trillions of dollars into building infrastructure like data centers, one non-tech sector is seeing a boom of its own: Architecture.  This month on By Design, our guest is Jordan Goldstein, the co-CEO of Gensler, the world's largest architecture firm, which is seeing skyrocketing demand for data center design. He explains how AI has transformed the firm and how Gensler approaches designing facilities for computers, with the human experience in mind.  We also discuss the biggest moments in design from the past few weeks: The opening of Netflix House and why the streamer is betting on real-life experiences The Stream ring and why it might be a breakthrough for AI hardware  The Department of War’s $2 billion rebrand And we’ll close the episode with hot or not — including the Issey Miyake iPhone pocket, Naked Cheetos, Starbucks’ bear cup, and more.

You might not know the name Tyler Evans, but you’ve definitely seen his work. He designed Zorhan Mamdani’s iconic campaign poster, led design for Bernie Sanders’ campaign, and was the Teamster’s creative director. Now the creative director for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Evans has a front-row seat to some of the biggest players in progressive politics.  This week on “By Design,” Evans shared his takes on modern political designs including the “shameful” rise of AI in politics and why the left haven’t been able to counter the MAGA movement.  We’ll also cover the latest in design news (AI slop, Nike, White House demolition) and play our hot-or-not game.

Brian Niccol is on a mission to change how you get your morning coffee, and on this episode, we learn how in Niccol’s first public interview since taking over as Starbucks CEO a year ago.  We also run down the latest news on NikeSkims’ first lookbook, Apple’s Liquid Glass launch, and Amazon’s settlement over its deceptive UX — the “Iliad Flow.”  Then, we close the episode with a new game: Hot or not…but for design.

President Trump just created the National Design Studio and tapped Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia to lead the charge. Cracker Barrel has offended or enraged just about everyone with its new logo. Figma hit Wall Street with a bang.  It’s been a big month for design. And on this episode of By Design, hosts Liz Stinson and Mark Wilson give the rundown of the latest news before talking with Figma Chief Product Officer Yuhki Yamashita just after the company’s super successful IPO.  Yuhki shares where Figma goes from here and how he’s thinking about design products in the age of AI and vibe coding.  Then, we’ll round things out the best and worst designs of the month as Teenage Engineering, Apple, A24, and AOL battle for the crown (or not).