Undesign: A Social Change Podcast

In the final chapter, the conversation turns inward. Jeff and Angel reflect on the decision to integrate DrawHistory into national impact agency Today, a step toward evolving their legacy alongside one of their earliest sources of inspiration. Set against a backdrop of pivotal milestones — including parenthood and layoffs — this episode carries both grief and grace. It ends not with finality, but with a passing of the baton, and hope that the work will continue to bloom in new hands.

About Annotations

Annotations is a raw and reflective three-part audio series about building — and ultimately evolving and letting go of — one of Australia’s early purpose-led strategy and design studios, DrawHistory.

Co-founders Jeffrey Effendi and Angel Chen open the vault on a decade of navigating ambitions, doubts, and decisions with former teammate Kosta Lucas. From advocating with refugee communities to reimagining technology’s role in democracy, they trace the personal and professional choices that shaped their journey.

For anyone at a crossroads or quietly asking themselves what’s next, Annotations is part memoir, part manual — a time capsule of the fears, flashpoints, and moments of clarity that come with trying to do meaningful work, and the courage it takes to evolve.

Following their public recognition, the studio is no longer a secret — and neither are its growing pains. This episode explores the ambitions and sacrifices behind DrawHistory’s expansion, from growing the business during the pandemic to expanding into APAC: the wins, the cultural tightropes, and the reckoning that comes when purpose starts to feel stretched. Jeff and Angel speak openly about leadership fatigue, transparency, and keeping the soul of the studio intact.

About Annotations

Annotations is a raw and reflective three-part audio series about building — and ultimately evolving and letting go of — one of Australia’s early purpose-led strategy and design studios, DrawHistory.

Co-founders Jeffrey Effendi and Angel Chen open the vault on a decade of navigating ambitions, doubts, and decisions with former teammate Kosta Lucas. From advocating with refugee communities to reimagining technology’s role in democracy, they trace the personal and professional choices that shaped their journey.

For anyone at a crossroads or quietly asking themselves what’s next, Annotations is part memoir, part manual — a time capsule of the fears, flashpoints, and moments of clarity that come with trying to do meaningful work, and the courage it takes to evolve.

Jeff and Angel trace the origin story of DrawHistory, a leap of faith away from the legal profession and into the unknown. They reflect on the early convictions that fueled their mission, the decisions that set the tone for the studio’s emerging culture, and the naivety that helped them persist in the early days of imposter syndrome. However, as word about the studio begins to spread, the stage is quietly set for a new kind of pressure: the spotlight.

About Annotations

Annotations is a raw and reflective three-part audio series about building — and ultimately evolving and letting go of — one of Australia’s early purpose-led strategy and design studios, DrawHistory.

Co-founders Jeffrey Effendi and Angel Chen open the vault on a decade of navigating ambitions, doubts, and decisions with former teammate Kosta Lucas. From advocating with refugee communities to reimagining technology’s role in democracy, they trace the personal and professional choices that shaped their journey.

For anyone at a crossroads or quietly asking themselves what’s next, Annotations is part memoir, part manual — a time capsule of the fears, flashpoints, and moments of clarity that come with trying to do meaningful work, and the courage it takes to evolve.

With world leaders responding to climate emergencies, and unprecedented threats such as the pandemic and global conflict, we seem to be running headlong into a future where our learnings from the past are both too slow and too small. Have we been too attentive and attached to the wrong things, are we suffering from problems of our own unenlightened making? 

We speak with Four Arrows and Darcia Narvaez, who introduce us to the limitations of the dominant worldview which has propelled a world concerned with commerce and progress, often at the expense of principles closely linked to our ability to thrive and survive as human beings. They offer us an insight into how indigenous world views can be incorporated into our ability to adjust to the challenges we face as diverse people, trying to survive and ultimately thrive in a world which demands more reflection and adaptation than ever.

In a world of rapidly evolving expectations on citizens due to COVID, environmental pressures, and the very public role playing of morality and ethics on social media, people face a dizzying space in which to set and attune their own moral compass. 

Unpicking this challenge, Dr Tim Dean, Senior Philosopher at The Ethics Centre, discusses how morality and ethics came to exist for humans and what roles they play in our modern lives today. The contagious nature of outrage on social media is uncovered, providing solutions for understanding the addictively engaging nature of cancel culture and the limitations of social media in converting outrage into positive action.

Dr Tim Dean is a philosopher and an expert in the evolution of morality, specialising in ethics, critical thinking, the philosophy of science and education. He is also the author of How We Became Human and Why We Need to Change.