She’s the smartest person I’ve ever known and a lifelong New Yorker who takes no shit from anyone. She ended up being the last person in line, and I was like, “Wow, she’s hot!” We had a beautiful dinner and, when we got out onto the street, she asked if she could kiss me, which was sweet and sexy and romantic.ĭebbie’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. I didn’t know what she looked like, so at the book-signing afterwards, I wondered if each woman was her. I was in New York for a book event in October 2018 and we arranged to have dinner after that. The way she phrased it was adorable, and she was persistent, so I agreed to have dinner with her the next time I was in New York. Several emails later, she asked me out on a date. Then Debbie sent me a lovely email talking about the impact Hunger had had on her. I didn’t know who she was, so I told her to contact my publicist. Jackson, Oliver Jeffers, Saeed Jones, Thomas Kail, Maira Kalman, Chip Kidd, Anne Lamott, Elle Luna, Carmen Maria Machado, Thomas Page McBee, Erin McKeown, Chanel Miller, Mike Mills, Marilyn Minter, Isaac Mizrahi, Nico Muhly, Eileen Myles, Emily Oberman, Amanda Palmer, Priya Parker, Esther Perel, Maria Popova, Edel Rodriguez, Paula Scher, Amy Sherald, Simon Sinek, Pete Souza, Aminatou Sow, Brandon Stanton, Cheryl Strayed, Amber Tamblyn, Christina Tosi, Tea Uglow, Chris Ware, and Albert Watson.Roxane: In 2017, Debbie emailed me to ask me to appear on her podcast, Design Matters. Marina Abramovic, Cey Adams, Elizabeth Alexander, Laurie Anderson, Lynda Barry, Allison Bechdel, Michael Bierut, Brené Brown, Alain de Botton, Eve Ensler, Shepard Fairey, Tim Ferriss, Louise Fili, Kenny Fries, Anand Girhidardas, Cindy Gallop, Malcolm Gladwell, Milton Glaser, Ira Glass, Seth Godin, Thelma Golden, Gabrielle Hamilton, Steven Heller, Jessica Hische, Michael R. Why Design Matters features 100 images and includes interviews with: Grouped by category-Legends, Truth Tellers, Culture Makers, Trendsetters, and Visionaries-these eye-opening, entertaining, and enlightening conversations-offer insights into new ways of being and living.Īccompanying each entry is a brief biography, a portrait photographed by Millman, and a pull quote written in Millman's artistic hand. In this illustrated, curated anthology, Millman includes approximately 80 of her best interviews with visionaries from across diverse fields. In those conversations, she has not only explored what it means to design a creative life, but has, as Millman's wife, Roxane Gay, assesses in her foreword, "created a gloriously interesting and ongoing conversation about what it means to live well, overcome trauma, face rejection, learn to love and be loved, and thrive both personally and professional." Over the course of her popular podcast's fifteen-year reign, Debbie Millman has interviewed more than 400 creative minds. She has demonstrated time, and again, why design matters."-Roxane Gay, from the foreword "Debbie Millman has become a singular voice in the world of intimate, enlightening conversations. The author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast Design Matters showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today's leading creative minds from across diverse fields. This sparkling collection is one to be savored slowly."- Publisher's Weekly Sharpened by Millman's penetrating commentary, the candid musings teem with insight and empathy. "Debbie Millman brings her Design Matters podcast, 'about how the most creative people in the world create their lives, ' to the page with this excellent interview anthology.