logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2024
57m 3s

045 • SHARLENE KING

The Chicago Graphic Design Club
About this episode

Our guest is ⁠⁠Chicago-based designer and innovation executive at Salesforce, Sharlene King — she is skillful, wise, and unapologetic.

In this episode, Sharlene speaks with host ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Christian Solorzano⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ about the art of listening, education, art/design school, generosity, taxidermy, her love for her 1989 Honda Civic, and much more.

She walks us through her introduction to design by way of working security at a museum and the path toward her career as a designer championing accessibility and authenticity within the creative process. Sharlene shares valuable lessons from her adolescence and explains her enthusiasm for new technologies that will evolve creativity, the commonalities between design and taxidermy, and life as neurodivergent.


Music by the band ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Eighties Slang⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Up next
Jul 20
111 • JARRETT FULLER
Our guest is Jarrett Fuller, a designer, writer, educator, and host of the long-running podcast Scratching the Surface, based in Raleigh, North Carolina.In this episode, Jarrett speaks with host Christian Solorzano about how conversation became the organizing principle of his cre ... Show More
53m 47s
Jul 6
110 • JO-NELL SIEREN
Our guest is Jo-Nell Sieren, a photographer, designer, and educator who spent fifteen years at Columbia College Chicago before moving into her current role at Northwestern, where she focuses on industry strategy and connecting design and engineering students to employers.In this ... Show More
1 h
Jun 22
109 • DANIEL SWARTZ
Our guest is ⁠Daniel Swartz⁠ — a letterpress designer, printer, and writer based in rural northern Indiana, where he runs Hoosier Type Company out of the back of his garage using antique wood type, vintage presses, and hand-mixed inks.This episode, Daniel sits down with host ⁠Chr ... Show More
57m 19s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2023
What's Cool In Mexico City Right Now | PLUS Emerging Designers You Should Know
Today on the show, Karla Martinez de Salas, Vogue Mexico and Latin America’s Head of Content and all in all boss lady (force!) comes on the show to talk about the most iconic covers she’s worked on, and the new Mexico City feature in the magazine. Later on, Vogue colleagues José ... Show More
41m 9s
Oct 2020
#291 Sharon Walters: Art as Therapy
Welcome back to Ctrl Alt Delete, my guest today is Sharon Walters: a London-based artist, speaker & freelance educator who creates hand-assembled collages celebrating Black women. The series, entitled 'Seeing Ourselves' explores under-representation in many arenas in particular, ... Show More
27m 12s
Jun 2016
#7: Finding Your Home's Personality with Addie Jones
Introducing the coolest girl ever with the coolest job ever. Addie Jones is a stylist, decorator, and creative ninja. She's also incredibly kind and generous with her ideas and encouragement. Kendra and Addie chat about her jobs, the craziest thing she's ever hung in an Anthro st ... Show More
51m 48s
Aug 2023
Architectural Design with Susan King
<p>Susan King is based in Chicago where she works with HED, a major national architectural design firm. On today&#39;s show we are talking about architecture and how it applies to design of affordable housing. To connect with Susan, visit HED.design or connect with her on LinkedI ... Show More
13m 49s
Mar 2025
Portraits of an Artist
This is a special episode featuring an interview with Shirley Wu from a brand-new podcast series, Portraits of an Artist. In this new series, Ryan Burgess explores the creative journeys of artists—diving deep into their process, inspirations, and the stories behind their work.In ... Show More
54m 29s
Dec 2022
31. Trust your intuition ft.Sophia Khalifeh
In this Episode i chat with Sophia Khalifeh about her work as a third culture creative, Sophia is a photographer who has worked with Brands like Milk Makeup, Vogue, Vogue Italia, Okhtein, Fendi, Dior & many many more, We talk about how she rose to her success, what she's learned ... Show More
29m 46s
Dec 2021
20. “Practice makes perfect” ft.Salma Atef
In this episode I chat with Salma about her incredible business Totelly. Salma shares the story of how her brand came to life, the struggles she's faced along the way, the life lessons she's learned and much more..... tune in to listen!! xxx Amina 
40m 17s
May 2021
Design Matters: A conversation with Sarah Kay
Today, we're sharing an episode from another podcast in the TED Audio Collective: Design Matters with Debbie Millman. For over 15 years, Debbie has been interviewing incredibly creative people about how they design the arc of their lives. For more interviews with people like Jacq ... Show More
54m 58s