Royaldesigners

Mike Dempsey RDI interviews graphic designer Fernando Gutiérrez RDI. Born in London in the 1960s to Spanish parents, Gutiérrez displayed artistic talent from a young age, often drawing and painting on the walls of his room. Despite being initially directed towards a trade job with the London Electricity Board, his art teacher recognized his potential and steered him towards a different path. Gutiérrez’s unique upbringing contributes to his identity as a genuinely European designer, with a unique way of choosing projects and the clients he works with.

In this interview with the landscape architect Andrew Grant RDI, Mike Dempsey RDI covers Andrew’s idyllic farming childhood, the long path to discovering his creative potential, his teenage passion for the illustrator Roger Dean’s otherworldly landscapes, and the reality of his own interpretation of such a setting in Singapore that would change his life and firmly establish him on the global creative map.

Mike Dempsey in conversation with renowned architectural designer John Pawson. For over three decades, Pawson has dedicated his career to creating minimalist spaces that eliminate the unnecessary. With his passionate attention to detail and materials, he has become known for his signature style, which has brought him global fame. But as you will hear, Pawson's creative path was long and winding before he finally found his passion in architecture.

Mike interviews the aeronautics designer engineer Geoff Kirk RDI. During his long career at the Rolls-Royce Airline Business, he rose to the position of Chief Design Engineer and worked on the designs of many of the company's iconic jet engines. On retirement, he continues to pass on his design engineering knowledge as visiting professor at Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Nottingham.

John McConnell in conversation with Mike, talks about his long career as a leading light in the world of graphic design, along with his thirty-one years as director of Pentagram Design. And he explains the complexity of coordinating large corporate projects. John left Pentagram in 2005 and re-established as McConnell Design.

Sir Christopher Frayling has long been a friend and supporter of the RDI with his impressive wealth of knowledge of its history. During his extensive period as rector of The Royal College of Art, he changed the course of design education and presided over many designers who are now members of the RDI Faculty. Mike Dempsey RDI interviewed him at BAFTA in 2018.

In this interview, Mike talks to architect and product designer, Kim Colin about her early life and career in a male-dominated profession. Kim Colin became an RDI in 2015.

Sir Kenneth Adam RDI, most famous for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, talks to Mike Dempsey RDI about the production design discipline

This RDInsights archive recording from 2009 features product designer Terence Woodgate RDI. In 2023, he left the UK to set up a new home and studio on Rocacorba Mountain, just outside of Girona in Catalonia, Spain. We look forward to seeing new work emerge from his new permanent base in these sunnier climes.

3D Designer, Thomas Heatherwick became an RDI in 2004. Listen to his RDInsight with Mike Dempsey in the form of an informal discussion.

Jenny Beavan RDI, the much-in-demand, three times Oscar-winning costume designer in conversation with Mike Dempsey RDI looking at her creative path that blossomed into an astonishing film career, with productions from ‘A Room With A View’ to ‘Gosford Park’ and ‘The Kings Speech’ to ‘Mad Max: Fury Road', just a small sampling from the 46 films she has worked on since 1979.

In this 60th edition of RDInsights, Tom Lloyd RDI takes over the reins to interview Mike Dempsey RDI about his life and work, his love of music, cinema, book cover design, dyslexia, along with his unconventional entrée into the world of graphic design.

Mike Dempsey RDI in conversation with the celebrated cartoonist, illustrator and author Steven Appleby RDI, who has been entertaining us with her wobbly line drawing style, transporting us into often darker corners of her imaginative musings on what life is really all about, for over three decades. In 2021 her graphic novel 'Dragman' was a Guardian Book of The Year, and it also won the PRIX SPÉCIAL DU JURY at the 48th International Angoulême Comic Festival in France.

Graphic designer and filmmaker Marina Willer RDI talks to Mike Dempsey RDI about her Brazilian childhood, creative education and her path to becoming the first female partner of Pentagram, London.