“Did I Do That?” is a conversation-style podcast with professionals working in graphic design about making what it's actual like to design, talking through mistakes that successful folx doing creative work have struggled through at various points in their careers, and how they came to overcome those mistakes and even grow to laugh about them.
“Did I Do That?” tries to be both a gateway to the more joyful and silly sides of the field for those who might have no experience with it, and provide an antidote to the gatekeeping and perfectionism that can make the field seem imposing to those new to it.
Sean Schumacher (he/they) is a graphic design communicator and educator whose research focus is in increasing public access to the field of design through media projects. Their show, Did I Do That?, is a conversational design podcast about iterating through failure while still being able to laugh about it. As a practicing designer, Sean has specialized in creating projects for artists and arts institutions for over a decade, including several years working on Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s internationally-recognized Time-Based Art Festival. Sean has presented research at the UCDA Design Educators Summit, the International Conference on Design Principles & Practices, and the Open Engagement Conference.
Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sean has lived in Portland, Oregon since 2010. They serve as an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design with the PSUGD program in the Portland State University School of Art + Design.
Graphic design is our passion, but it’s also a dumb, weird, fun thing where we fart around and get to make cool stuff. I’m a big believer that getting goofy helps make the real design talk go down a bit smoother.
Are you a mid-career or later designer, art director, creative director, or other creative practitioner? I'd love to have you on the show! While I often reach out to guests who I know or come across in my research, I'm always open to creatives who have a story to tell. Dig out your best and strangest stories, and maybe a piece of work or two from your past that you'd be okay laughing about, and reach out over email here.
All episodes are recorded live and in person in-studio on the campus of Portland State University in downtown Portland, Oregon. While I do sometimes travel (see our stories on @dididothat.design on Instagram for a rough sense of our travel schedule) and record there, I never record shows over Zoom—nothing against it, it just isn't especially conducive for the kind of show I want this to be. However, whether you're local to me or not, feel free to reach out to get on my list!
Guests should try to have either (or both)…
…some design work from your past as a designer (IMPORTANT: that you are okay laughing about/at least sort of making fun of)! These could be things you made from when you were just starting out (college is a good go-to, but we’ve had lots of variety), or stuff from your other later points in your career that ended up being messy, weird, or straight up mistakes. The audience won’t see these, but we will be talking about them at least jokingly in the hopes of connecting with how you’ve grown through it into the professional design person you are now (if it’s something you love that you did or have some strong feelings about, maybe it isn’t good for this???).
…a fun story or two from your college life or career relating making mistakes. This could be a pitch that went sideways, a completely misunderstood direction from a boss/client, a point in a design process where you realized you were barking up the wrong tree, a color combo that turned out VERY WRONG IRL, or something else entirely—I’m open!
Please note that Did I Do That? is fairly single-minded in its premise, and doesn't really do episodes on specific prepared topics, current news/trends, or interviews around a particular project. I can't really accept pitches around anything other than guest themselves and their stories—this show really is about the people and failure as a part of creative practice.