Industrial Design, AI & the Business of Design with Jordan Nollman | S3E02

What does it take to build a career in industrial design—and then turn that experience into a successful design consultancy? In this episode of Designing in the Wild, Rob sits down with Jordan Nollman, founder and CEO of Sprout, to talk about industrial design from both sides of the table: as a designer building a career and as a business owner hiring talent, finding clients, and growing a multidisciplinary studio. Jordan shares his perspective on what he actually looks for in a designer’s portfolio, why great work still comes first, and how persistence, networking, and simply putting yourself out there helped shape his own career. From there, the conversation moves into the business of design. Jordan talks candidly about growing Sprout from its industrial design roots into a studio spanning strategy, branding, UX, visualization, engineering, and more—and some of the lessons learned along the way, including retainers, equity deals, client relationships, and the challenge of communicating what a multidisciplinary consultancy actually does. Rob and Jordan also dig into the changing practice of industrial design: collaborating with engineering, designing for real-world manufacturing constraints, demonstrating the ROI of design, sustainability, and how AI is beginning to change the speed and capabilities of the design process without replacing the thinking behind it. In this episode: • What design leaders actually look for in a portfolio • Breaking into industrial design and building your network • Growing a multidisciplinary design consultancy • Finding clients and developing long-term relationships • Retainers, royalties, equity, and lessons learned the hard way • Industrial design + engineering collaboration • Balancing aesthetics, function, cost, and manufacturability • AI as a tool for designers—not a substitute for design thinking • Sustainability and lifecycle thinking • Why there’s still no shortcut for learning your craft Jordan’s closing advice brings the conversation back to something remarkably simple: do what you love, get good at it, and put in the work. Welcome to Season 3 of Designing in the Wild. Have ideas or just want to say hi, shoot me a note. Support the show