Useful Podcasts for Designers and Developers

This is a reprint from SmashingMagazine

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http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/05/14/useful-podcasts-for-designers-and-developers/

by Sean Hodge

Podcasting is an engaging medium that is available
in both audio and video formats. Podcasts often refer to audiocasts,
but now with iPods and other media players being able to play video,
videocasts are just as popular. A handful of web design podcasters
deliver both audio and video formats. Some do so through the same
subscription, others separate the two.

Audio podcasts are a great way to stay informed about web design news, learn about emerging technologies,
listen to discussions, and continuously learn about the ever-changing
landscape of web design — on your way to work or before you go to bed.
Videocasts are great at showing step by step tutorials, or delivering
visually rich presentations. Many of the long running successful
podcasts have communities built around the show. Forums and detailed
show notes are usual for a podcast that regularly serves its community.
The time span of how long a podcast exists often indicates its level of
quality and professionalism.

We’ve amassed a collection of podcasts that are either directly
about web design, or would be helpful to a web designer. If you’re
interested in more podcasts try searching through Odeo or iTunes.
There are quite a few web development podcasts, and a few niche topic
web design podcasts, not covered in this roundup. Following is a list
of useful podcasts for web design professionals.

You may want to take a look at the article

Professional Web Design Forums which covers forums dedicated to web designers and developers.

Web Design Podcasts

Boagworld
Boagworld is a
long running web design podcast. There are over 100 podcasts Paul Boag
& Co. have put out. They have been covering standards based design
from the beginning of the show. They do a lot of great interviews with experts
from the field of web design. There is always web design-related news,
a special theme of the show, and some fresh content covered. The
content is well organized, nicely presented and it is funny, too. The
banter between Paul and Marcus is often the best part; the podcast has
a large community built around the show.
The Rissington Podcast
This web design podcast takes the format of answering questions
from its fan base. Each subject that comes up is discussed. This show
is informal and loaded with fun British humor. The fans tend to send in
as many humorous questions as they send in questions asking for web
design advice. The podcast is still young, with less than ten released
so far. The hosts John Oxton and Jon Hicks are well versed in web
design techniques and technologies. They are also well-known in the
design community.
Audible Ajax
This podcast is hosted by Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith. These guys are technically savvy, passionate about scripting and run a professional podcast about Ajax.
They discuss news on Ajax, related technologies, and the significance
of changes in this field. They have been broadcasted this podcast since
2005. The schedule is irregular, on occasion it’s monthly, though not
always. The Ajaxian site is a great place to keep up with what’s
happening in the world of Ajax.
Web Axe
This podcast is focused on web accessibility.
Hosts Dennis Lembree and Ross Johnson are passionate about this topic.
They cover web accessibility issues in detail. They review technology
solutions in regards to accessibility, how WCAG guidelines can be
practically applied in web design, and they present numerous interviews
of working professionals that work with accessibility issues daily. The
podcast has been regularly broadcasted over the last 2 years. Over 60
issues are available for free download.
Rookie Designer
The host of the podcast, Adam Hay, covers a variety of web design-related topics
— colors, freelance, interviews, technical design and customer service
— which are useful for both beginners and professionals. The podcast is
updated weekly every Wednesday. One episode is 45-50 minutes long.
Until now 98 episodes have been aired.

Web Design Conference Podcasts

Future Of Web Apps
This
conference somehow manages to involve a variety of professionals and
companies of all shapes and sizes that are actively involved in building innovative web projects.
The most recent event was attended by Matt Mullenweg (WordPress), Kevin
Hale (Wufoo), Leah Culver (Pownce), Tantek Celik as well as Digg,
TechCrunch, Google and Twitter. All presentations are available as
podcasts for free download. This page offers a large number of
interesting and insightful sessions as podcasts.
@media 2007 Europe, @media 2007 US
This conference is held each year, both in Europa and in US. @media speakers are renowned web professionals,
with experience, talent and passion for web design and web-development.
Last conference in US was attended by Andy Clarke, Dan Cederholm, Joe
Clark, Jeremy Keith; the recent European conference was attended by
Jesse James Garrett, Jon Hicks, Kelly Goto and Jason Santa Maria.
@media regularly offers podcasts and slides of all presentations for
free download.
South by Southwest Podcast
These
podcast have been recorded at the SXSW Interactive Festival Panels.
These are professional presentations put together by this festival that
is held annually in Austin, Texas. There are some interesting issues
discussed. SXSW has released a handful of 2008 podcasts. For some
topics, it may be worthwhile to review previous years podcast materials
as well. Podcasts from 2007.
d.Construct Conference Podcast
This
conference is held each year in September, and is located in Brighton,
UK. The podcasts are recorded presentations from the conference. They
have multiple podcasts of presentations on topics such as: experience
design, graphic design, web design, microformats, and mobile design.
The last conference was in 2007. Clear Left presents this conference.

Content Management System Podcasts

Lullabot Podcast
Lullabot releases a fairly regular podcast on the Drupal
content management system. A variety of Drupal-related topics is
covered in more than 50 podcasts. Hosts often discuss the significance
of technological changes within Drupal: system release issues, new
significant modules and documentation projects. Both subjects for
beginners and advanced users are covered. In each episode usually 3-5
people participate, discussing Drupal and related topics. There is a videocast as well. Lullabot is an agency that is known for teaching Drupal and building large Drupal projects.
The WordPress Podcast
This podcast covers all things related to WordPress.
Blogging, web design, hosting, WordPress plugins, and many other
topics. Charles Stricklin runs this podcast, and Jonathan Bailey is the
co-host. They interview members from the Wordpess team and other
professionals as well. For each episode there are follow-up-links and
show notes.
Joomla Juice Podcast
This podcast is focused on the Joomla
content managment system. It doesn’t come out regularly, but it has
been produced since 2006. The format for the show is an audiocast,
though they mix in videocasts occasionally as well. The audiocast has a
multi-media element that allows you to see what they are talking about.
The links are embedded in the visuals. Pete Russell is the host. He
interviews key influencers from the Joomla core team and Joomla
community.

Web Design Videocasts

Web Design TV Videocast
.Net
Magazine publishes the WDTV videocast. Before the format changes in
March of this year, they had a podcast that was hosted by Paul Boag.
Now it’s a “tutorial-style” videocast. Each episode
focuses on a different web application, and teaches how to create
specific types of projects. The basics of using tools within each
application program are covered as well. So far, mostly Photoshop and
Flash have been covered. Each video podcast is about 15 to 30 minutes
long. The new release schedule has been weekly so far.
Adobe Creative Suite Video Videocast
Terry
White is the host of this videocast. Terry and guests follow a tutorial
format. They teach you tools and features within each of the Adobe Creative Suite
software products; some of them are used in web design. Flash,
Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and other applications are covered. The videos
range from short 5 minute tutorials, all the way up to more than an
hour long sessions. It’s a weekly series you can subscribe to in your
favorite media player.
Lynda.com Videocast
The feature of each of these videocasts is a video from one of the training series
available at Lynda.com. These videos cover a wide range of software,
design, and programming languages. The podcast is published to promote
Lynda’s membership sales, but each weekly episode is informative and of
course free. There is no obligation to buy, though it’s tempting after
seeing the quality of each weekly video.
Photoshop User TV
This
show is hosted by Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski, and Scott Kelby from the
National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). They cover
shortcuts, tips and tricks, timesaving techniques, interviews, and
tutorials related to Adobe Photoshop. The quality of
the show is very professional. If you use Photoshop regularly, this is
a very useful videocast to learn from experts and professionals.
Layers TV
Layers
TV is produced by Layers Magazine, “the how-to magazine for everything
Adobe”. The show is focused on step-by-step video tutorials and tips on
how to work with Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Dreamweaver,
AfterEffects and Flash. The show is released every week and is 20
minutes long. So far 34 episodes have been aired. For all tutorials
source code as well as further examples are provided for free download.
PixelPerfect
The
host of this podcast, a professional digital artist Bert Monroy.
presents tips and tricks you need to whip those digital pictures into
shape with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. The episodes are presented
weekly and are often step-by-step-tutorials, each 15 minutes long.
Photoshop Killer Tips
This
podcast presents Adobe Photoshop tips, timesaving shortcuts,
workarounds, and undocumented tricks. The host is Matt Kloskowski, one
of “The Photoshop Guys” from Photoshop User TV. New shows are posted
almost each weekday.
You Suck at Photoshop
Of
course, this list would be incomplete without narrator Donnie Hoyle and
his dramatic, hilarious and always excellent podcast about professional Photoshop techniques.
Unfortunately, the series has ended after the 10th episode. Hopefully,
the show will come back. The podcast gained eight million page views
and two Webby Award 2008 nominations (Best Comedy and Best How-To
Series). For further Adobe Photoshop video tutorials check our recent
post Adobe Photoshop Video Tutorials: Best Of.

Further podcasts

CreativeXpert Podcast
Alan
Houser is the host of this podcast. He has a professional voice and a
professional approach, with over 10 years of audio and video production
experience. He also finds interesting people to interview and asks
probative questions. The show doesn’t stick to a regular schedule, as
only one episode has been released so far this year.
The Web 2.0 Show
This podcast has released more than 40 episodes. It comes out sometimes weekly and sometimes monthly. The show centers around interviewing developers and entrepreneurs
who create web projects and are invovled in interesting web ventures.
This show provides you with a view behind the scenes of some of these
innovative companies that are using and defining the “Web 2.0″
technology.
Geeks and God Podcast
Bob
Christenson (Rob Feature on the podcast) and Matt Farina are the hosts
of the show. These guys are both upbeat. They plan the show well, and
it moves along at a quick pace. There is a community built around the
forum of the site as well. The show is aimed at church ministries,
but the information covered is often applicable to any website. Rob and
Matt are well versed in website design and development. They give
practical advice on the nuances of web design, building websites, and
running web communities.
You Suck at Web Design Podcast
This is a comedic podcast put out by freelance web designer Matthew D. Jordan. He creates fictional stories related to web design.
He describes the podcast as an attempt to deal with web acronyms, such
as Web 2.0, WYSIWYG, and Ajax. His “disdain for the corporate world,”
as well as “micro management,” permeates through his stories. You’ll
likely either love this podcast, laughing uncontrollably, or you’ll
hate it, and end up breaking iTunes. Mathew describes his humor as,
“juvenile” and “not-baddish.”