What’s the worst project you’ve ever made—the one you almost cringe to think about sharing with the world? It’s a feeling every designer can identity. But what if you had a chance to fish it out of the proverbial trash can and pit it toe-to-toe against some of your peers’ worst-ever work live on stage, with the hope of having it named “Worst in Show?”

Did I Do That? Scrapes the Bottom of the Barrel did just that this past summer at Seattle Design Festival with special guests Isabella Medina and Maxwell Miller—and now you can hear it to celebrate our fourth anniversary and the end of season seven!

Both Isa and Max are former students of mine now based in the greater Seattle area. You can follow Isa on Instagram as @is.medina, or as part of the community event series ¡snack time!, which also hosted an event during this year’s Seattle Design Festival! You can follow Max on Instagram as @stoned_cold_316, or near you at your local LINE ski and snowboard reseller!

Bottom of the Barrel was presented live on stage at Seattle Design Festival in Lake Union Park on Saturday, August 16, 2025. Huge thanks to our competitors, Isabella and Max, for their generosity and good humor in being so game to be part of such a bizarre idea—you absolutely rocked it! Additional thanks to Seattle Design Festival for hosting us once again, and special thanks again to Adrian Pacheco and all our incredible SDF volunteers for helping to make this show happen!

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An audio note: This recording unfortunately has a few noticeable audio issues; while I’ve done my best to improve things, these issues were also present on stage which is most evident during my opening monologue. Luckily, this improves as the show goes on, but apologies for the more-than-occasional lost syllable here and there.

What work are they competing over? You can follow along using the slide deck with all the work our competitors brought here (PDF).

Rather watch than listen? Check out the full video of the event, along with images of the work being discussed, on the Seattle Design Festival YouTube channel.

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Canadian/Australian illustrator and designer Mariah Barnaby-Norris joins Sean to talk about her design mistakes… as well as school photo backdrops, choosing graphic design over a promising career as a rural road work flagger, and THE DID I DO THAT? 2026 TREND REPORT (based entirely on the out-of-date trade and specialty magazines available in downtown Los Angeles’ Central Library).

You can keep up with Mariah’s work on Instagram at @mariah_bn, or see her portfolio over at her website, mariahbn.com. As I mentioned in the show, prints of Mariah’s piece from the recent A Sometimes Gallery exhibition “DOG” are available at asometimesgallery.com.

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We’re letting our freak flags fly! Product designer and “edgelord of sculpture” Ryan Swedenborg joins Sean to talk about her design mistakes… as well as New York’s hottest club, the future of art galleries, and where the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl ends.

You can find both Ryan’s design and art practice at her website, rswedenborg.com. You can also find her on the ‘gram at @rswedenborg. If you’re in Portland as this goes out, you can find Ryan’s work on view through December 1 in the former Compound Gallery space at NW 5th and Couch Street, conveniently located on the transit mall! Go see it—it’s a fun show!

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