Better: The Brand Designer Podcast
Better: The Brand Designer Podcast, founded by Giselle Field of Wander Design Co. and Jen Davis, was founded on the belief that designers need community. We find that the branding world often feels secretive, competitive, and sometimes just plain old confusing. When we realized that our honest, soul-chat-level convos could potentially help other designers, we realized a podcast was only natural! Better: The Brand Designer Podcast was officially born.
Giselle passed away during a climbing trip in Peru in summer of 2020. We encourage all listeners of our podcast to listen to our two Celebrating Giselle episodes. Giselle's adventurous, kind, funny, and supportive presence is missed every day—each and every episode that we record is dedicated to her legacy and her vision for this podcast. It is our honor to continue recording episodes in Giselle's memory and we know that she is with us every time we sit down to record.
In winter of 2022, we welcomed Esther Knox-Dekoning from Sereth Design as a new co-host. Esther brought an incredible and fresh perspective to the pod—her transition from agency to design studio as well as her love for web design, sustainability, and world change brought new guests, ideas, and amazing episodes to our listeners. She departed the pod in spring 2023 to dedicate more time to her studio's growth, and will be greatly missed!
Now, Jen runs the podcast solo and is beyond excited to continue interviewing guests, having interesting conversations, and sharing the behind-the-scenes of running her design studio.
Better: The Brand Designer Podcast
S13 E06: Designing Brands That Hold Up Over Time with Matt Ellis
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*Learn more about The Brief Collective's Scaling Summit happening May 3rd-May 6th, 2026 and reserve your spot!
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This week I chatted with Matt Ellis, who is the Executive Director of Brand at Metalab in the UK. We talk about how he spotted a gap at MetaLab to bring in more brand services that actually enhance product development, and what makes a brand stand the test of time. He also shares his take on AI—experimenting with new tools while keeping your craft sharp, using AI to explore ideas and make them richer rather than just speeding things up.
Guest Name: Matt Ellis
Guest Linkedin: Connect with Matt
Metalab: metalab.com / @metalab
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Tags:
designer, design, brand design, brand identity design, design studio, design business, graphic design, brand designer, better podcast, brand designer podcast, logo design
