Design Better · 2026-06-11 · 39 min
There’s something magical about the Vestaboard : it’s a physical, split-flap display connected to the internet that displays missives and useful information with a charm that we love. The Vestaboard in our kitchen greets our family with the family schedule for the day, riddles, updates from our favorite sports teams, and the best/worst dad jokes. Everyone who visits our house is amazed by it. Vestaboard is the vision of Dorrian Porter, and has its origin story in a Parisian train station. A few years ago, we had Dorrian Porter on the show to tell us about Vestaboard, and since then, we’ve become even bigger fans of the product. We keep spotting them in the wild, from coffee shops in Savannah to airport storefronts in Minneapolis. Dorrian is back to tell us about the Vestaboard Note, a smaller, more affordable, and more versatile version of the original that went from basic prototype to Red Dot Award winner in about a year - a story that starts, believe it or not, with tariffs.
Chris Entwisle and Mark Havens: authors of WAIL on the constraints that led to timeless designs for Prestige Records58 / 100Niyati Gupta: Netflix Product Design Lead on what happens when a designer becomes a product manager, and why your influence might not be in your titleMike Schnaidt: Fast Company Creative Director on typography, creative endurance, and designing for the long haulTina Roth Eisenberg: Creative Mornings founder on building communities that run on trustPaul Ford: Writer, developer & "fun Cassandra" on why everything is changing (but not how you think)