Masters of Many

Masters of Many

It seems that what we call ourselves matters to our sense of wellbeing, and as professionals we are hired based on a specific title which describes our skill. So why do I no longer know what to call myself? Defining who and what we are – and who and what we want to be – is becoming ever more complicated. ‘Graphic designer’ no longer adequately reflects the increasingly specialised working conditions that designers find themselves in. Conversely, newer terms such as ‘multidisciplinary’, ‘interdisciplinary’ and ‘transdisciplinary’ have been adopted to better express the work of those practices which transcend specialisation. And actually, these terms are not so new.

Who are the ‘masters of many’? Do they still exist in an environment which assumes that specialisation is natural, inevitable and desirable? A closer look through history shows us that design has been multidisciplinary all along.

Masters of Many is a podcast which initiates dialogues with creatives who work in and across various fields, while also taking a critical perspective on the question of multidisciplinarity, probing its advantages and disadvantages.

Episode 0 – Introduction [05:10]

Episode 1 – Irene Vögeli [15:24]

Episode 2 – Nicolas Polli [35:07]

Episode 3 – Christian Pahud [24:57]

Episode 4 – David J. Ross [26:24]

Episode 5 – Tim Rodenbröker [23:50]

Episode 6 – Artificial Intelligence [10:11]