Lighting designer Pablo Pardo was born in Venezuela 3 minutes after his identical twin brother, making him the youngest of 5. His father’s work as a civil engineer took them to Chile until age 7, and then to Ohio. Making remote control airplanes in Dad’s workshop revved up his curiosity and he followed it directly into industrial design. (So did his twin and a sister, that’s 3 in one family!) After some time in both automotive and toy design he found his love of light and he’s been glowing ever since.

Seth Grizzle of architecture and product design studio graypants, tells us about being the creative kid in a family that didn’t quite “get” him, how an art teacher helped set him on the course to architecture and why living on a boat helps him edit his possessions down to just the ones that make a great story. Also, he reveals the story behind the name graypants.

New Zealand-based designer/maker David Trubridge, who is known the world over for his beautiful and environmentally responsible lighting and furniture, has wandered to the corners of the earth, soaked up all its glory, and pays homage to it in everything he does. Amy and Jaime are rapt as he details his life of adventures and poetically distills how they inform his work and his experience of humanity. A real salt of the earth, this guy.

Lighting, furnishing, and toy designer David Weeks chats with us about growing up in the South, making it in NYC, and being driven by curiosity, liberation and the importance of tactility in an increasingly virtual world. Along the way he slips in tales of smashing cars, badgering local acid trippers, and utilizing a technique called formal reduction.

Los Angeles-based lighting and furniture designer Brendan Ravenhill is leading an interesting life. From a youth in West Africa, to running a growing studio in Los Angeles, he's made stops along the way that involve lobstering, boat-building, academia and a Schindler house. 

In this episode, Brendan reveals how profound grief led him to find solace in making things with his hands. While he's got a rigorous work-ethic, play tops his list of to-dos. He shares with us the story of his unusual courtship with his now-wife, and melts us like buerre with his French.