Thanks to the explosion of amazing free downloadable content, Podcasts are making a serious bid for our attention, giving us something to listen to while we work that is informative, inspirational and entertaining. For Your Ears will be an ongoing series in which we highlight/recommend podcasts, lectures and informational series that inspire us.

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LET’S MAKE MISTAKES
Mike Monteiro, Katie Gillum
5by5 Network

Mike Monteiro has become something of a cult hero among designers – particularly freelancers and small studio owners – for his March 2011 CreativeMornings talk, “F*ck You, Pay Me” (fans of Goodfellas should recognize the reference), a frank discussion about dealing with clients and protecting your work and business (video embedded after the jump – as the title would imply, the language is a bit salty and may be NSFW). But even before that, Monteiro was co-founder and Design Director of Mule Design (muledesign.com), a highly successful San Francisco-based web development studio.

Soon after “FY,PM” became viral online, Monteiro and his Mule Design colleague, Katie Gillum, were asked by Dan Benjamin’s excellent 5by5 podcasting network to host a podcast of their own based on their experience as design professionals in a new-media world. Their frank discussions about how to survive and thrive in the competitive world of professional design – especially in a market as cut-throat as Silicon Valley can be – is what inspired the podcast’s title, Let’s Make Mistakes. Humorous, curmudgeonly, topical and always informative, Let’s Make Mistakes has been a personal favorite of mine since the first episode, and one whose weekly sync on my iPod I always look forward to. In every subject discussed – from “why waiting to be inspired is bullsh*t” to Star Wars trivia or the Philadelphia Philies (Mike is a die-hard fan), Let’s Make Mistakes is easily worth your time and attention. Mike’s Twitter feed, @Mike_FTW, is also worth a follow.

You can subscribe to Let’s Make Mistakes via iTunes.

If you have a podcast, lecture or series you’d like to recommend for us to share with the AIGA Houston community, send submissions to education (at) houston.aiga.org.

Stay tuned for future installments, where we’ll cover Design Matters w/ Debbie Millman, Back to Work, GreyScaleGorilla and others.

Video after the jump…

2011/03 Mike Monteiro | F*ck You. Pay Me. from San Francisco Creative Mornings on Vimeo.