Design Your Life with Vince Frost

Content note: this episode includes a candid discussion of childhood sexual abuse and suicidal ideation. Listener discretion is advised.

What if the biggest health data set in human history still can't tell you how to feel better tomorrow? Mark Britt has spent his career inside moments of disruption, as an internet lawyer at 22, in the executive ranks of ninemsn and Microsoft, and building a streaming business that reached 25 milli...

What happens when you take a Victorian era locomotive workshop, built in 1887, and turn it into a home for contemporary sculpture? Matt Mewburn has spent the last decade finding out. 

Matt is a blacksmith and sculptor, and the founder of Eveleigh Works, a working forge inside one of the last remaining industrial blacksmithing workshops in the world, complete with machinery dating back to the 1850s. At 27, with no savings and a...

What does an institution built in the 1820s have to teach us about designing for the future? Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon has spent two decades moving through museums, historic houses and public space, and now leads the State Library of NSW into its 200th year. 

In this episode, Caroline talks with Vince about the library as one of the last true third spaces, somewhere people come to be alone together. She unpacks why t...

 What happens when architecture is driven by passion, adventure and the power of nature? 

On the latest episode of Design Your Life, Chad Oppenheim joins Vince Frost for a wide-ranging conversation on creativity, resilience and designing life beyond buildings. 

From growing up in suburban New Jersey dreaming through films like Star Wars and James Bond and becoming fascinated by the dramatic archit...

What does it take to design spaces that feel like a series of carefully crafted scenes? 

In this episode, Vince sits down with architect Ismael Soto, founder of SOTO, whose global career spans some of the world’s most influential practices before launching his own studio in Los Angeles. 

They discuss the role of research in design, the evolving impact of AI on architecture, and how new housing models must respo...

What does it take to build not just a successful practice, but a lasting partnership? 

In this episode, Vince sits down with Tim Hay and Jeff Fearon, founders of the critically acclaimed architecture and design practice Fearon Hay. Nearly 30 years into their journey, they reflect on how a shared vision, mutual respect and deep friendship have shaped both their work and their lives. 

From early ambitions and form...

What does it really mean to design for wellbeing?

For husband and wife team architect Michael Kovac and pediatrician Karina Maher, it begins with understanding the powerful relationship between nature, environment and health. While their work comes from two very different disciplines, both are guided by the same belief: the spaces we inhabit have a profound impact on how we live and feel.

Michael is the founder of Kovac, the Los An...

From launching P.E Nation onto the global stage to redefining how women move through their day, Claire Greaves has built brands that shape culture. 

But success is only one part of the story. 

In this episode, Claire shares how scaling fast, leading through pressure and navigating very public life changes ultimately led her to something more powerful than growth. Clarity. 

Now back in the business she co founded and ...

What happens when you realise the world moves too fast for the things that matter most? For artist, sign writer and maker Will Lynes, the answer has always been craft — the kind built slowly, imperfectly and with both hands. 

Will is the founder of Lynes & Co., known for their handcrafted lettering, gilding and detailed reverse-glass work that has shaped some of Australia’s most memorable shopfronts. Growing up...

 What does it mean to design a legacy — not just through buildings, but through the lives they shape? 

In this episode of Design Your Life, Vince sits down with architect Koos de Keijzer, founding director of DKO, to explore how culture, travel and values influence the way we design — and the way we live. Raised in a Dutch household in New Zealand and trained in the Netherlands, Koos developed an early belief ...

What shapes the feeling of a place? And how does a life spent moving between cities, countries and creative worlds influence the way you design for others? 

For interior architect Simone McEwan, co-founder of international design studio Nice Projects, the thread has always been the same — creating spaces that make people feel something. 

From a childhood spent moving between eight homes before the age of 12, to stud...

What does it take to lead one of the UK’s oldest and most respected architectural practices into the future? 

As CEO of Scott Brownrigg, Darren Comber has steered the 115-year-old practice through change, challenge and reinvention. From its early roots in Guildford to a network of studios spanning Amsterdam, London, New York, Singapore and Riyadh, Darren has played a pivotal role in shaping its global presence. 

Wit...

What if the true measure of success isn’t scale, but connection? 

From a childhood spent in expat compounds of Saudi Arabia to founding one of Australia’s most admired design studios, Jeremy Bull, founder and principal of Alexander &CO., has designed far more than homes, he’s designed a life rooted in meaning, craftsmanship and human connection. 

After overcoming years of illness and self-destruction...

What does it mean to create objects that tell stories, that shape how we feel, live, and connect?

For Gabriel Hendifar, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of APPARATUS, design is about more than beautiful lighting and furniture, it’s about creating the container for human experience. 

Born in Los Angeles to Iranian immigrants, his early world was filled with music, memory, and craft, influences that continue to inform his ...

How do you go from almost joining the Marines, to leading the world’s largest hospitality design firm? 

Born in Yorkshire and now based in Singapore, Chris Godfrey’s story is one of creative grit, adaptability and quiet determination. From humble beginnings as a teenage print boy in an architectural practice, to founding his own studio, to now serving as Co-CEO of HBA, the global design powerhouse behind some of th...

What does it mean to shape culture through design?  

For Peter Saville CBE, one of the most influential designers of our time, it has always been about perception. From his early work at Factory Records, crafting the visual identities of Joy Division and New Order, to collaborations with fashion houses like Yohji Yamamoto, Burberry, Calvin Klein and Chanel, Saville has consistently redefined how we experience music, fashi...

How do you build a design career that spans continents, cultures and scale, and then redesign your life after a wake-up call? 

Rido Pin is a Director at Plus Studio, a solutions company for the built environment, with 11 studios across Australia and New Zealand and projects worldwide. Originally from the Netherlands, Rido’s journey has taken him from cycling the fields of Holland, to island life in Curaçao, to New York s...

What happens when you combine a love of design with a mind for business? For Ajaz Ahmed, it meant building one of the world’s most successful creative companies from scratch before starting all over again. 

Ajaz is the visionary founder of AKQA, the global digital agency that he grew to 5,000 staff across 30 countries. After three decades at the helm, he stepped down and launched Studio One, an agile new venture built fo...

Growing up in North London in the 80s, no one was talking about art or design. Life was about conversations with neighbours on the street, the good and the not so good. Four decades later, Paul Cocksedge’s work is grounded in these formative years. Known for his unorthodox approach to materials in works that span public art, sculpture and architectural installation, everything he designs is about human connection.

Paul founde...