Doom and Bloom

Season 2 trailer

We are back with a new season of Doom & Bloom! This time, we're unpacking how designers can shift the culture within the design industry. We all know designers want to make their work more climate positive, but too often this desire is met with resistance or roadblocks. Transforming the entire design industry starts with changing the culture where designers work. This season, we'll tap back into the Thinknado process to brainstorm ways to make climate action the default at any studio or company. We're inviting professionals in and outside of the design industry to help us crack the code on changing design culture from the inside out.

Childlike Waterpark

Join the Doom & Bloom team for the final episode of Season 1 as they look back on everything, from Jolly Sand to Unlikely Peaches to Gorilla Hard and beyond. The crew digs into key ideas, challenges, and takeaways, pushing some frameworks even further with their own raw interpretations. Then, in true Doom & Bloom style, they turn the mic on themselves for a full-on Thinknado process, brainstorming what Season 2 could become. It’s unfiltered, reflective, and full of possibility.

Gorilla Hard

What if sustainability isn’t the selling point? In this episode, we sit down with Carly Schonberg, NYC Chapter Leader and product designer leading a renewable energy company, to dig into the uncomfortable truth: climate isn’t always the top motivator for business. Her work shows that when renewable energy is framed as solving real problems (financial, operational, human) it becomes impossible to ignore. Marc and Carly get into why design isn’t just pixels on a screen, but the bridge between problems and solutions. Designers decide how people interact with a product, how it functions, and most importantly, why people care. Carly challenges the status quo: Why is design treated as an afterthought in climate companies? Why aren’t we rethinking “best practices” when the stakes are this high? From behavioral science to primitive needs, the two unpack how design can shake things up, help us communicate better, and move people toward change without ever once mentioning “sustainability.” The takeaway? If you want people to act, meet them at their pain points, not your ideals. Homework for listeners: try to sell a sustainable product without using the word “sustainable.”

Fancy Port

We sit down with design educator Stevie Bales to tackle a big question: How can designers nudge decision makers toward climate action? We unpack why decision makers should be seen as people, just like us, who need to understand climate issues, why values shouldn’t be separated from everyday choices, and why companies get away with “values” that sound good but rarely guide their actions. Stevie shares fresh ideas for how designers can live their values—through visible iconography, intentional design choices, and bold public statements. We imagine a system where designers define who they are, create work that reflects those values, and spark change in their communities. This conversation is about making climate values not just a statement, but a standard… one design, one action, and one conversation at a time.

Sudden Skyscrapers

In this episode of Doom and Bloom, Eric Benson and Marc O’Brien join us to ask some big questions: Why is climate being erased from federal budgets? Why is climate literacy still an elective in design schools and not a required course? And why are we preparing students for AI but not for the climate crisis? We explore the uncertainty of our current political moment and the urgent need to embed climate education into the foundation of every design program. Eric and Marc also explore a bold vision for the future—transforming unused office buildings or local restaurants into pop-up co-learning hubs where designers, students, and communities come together to collaborate, learn, and act. From rethinking how we teach design to reimagining where learning happens, this conversation is a call for creativity, community, and radical inclusion in the face of climate change.