In this episode, we speak with Nataliia Hera, co-founder of Voger Design, the studio behind some of the most recognizable virtual instrument interfaces in the world. Nataliia shares her journey from post-Soviet Ukraine to building a global creative business, the role of luck and collaboration, and why design isn’t just cosmetic — it’s essential to how we make music.

VOGER DESIGN LINKS:

Website: https://vogerdesign.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@voger_design

Voger Design Blog: https://vogerdesign.com/blog/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vogerdesign/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/voger/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vogerdesign

Markus Junnikkala is a Composer from Finland.

https://www.markusjunnikkala.com/

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00:00) Intro — Creative life and war in Ukraine

(00:03:00) What Voger Design does & why UI for audio matters

(00:07:00) From poetry to design — discovering beauty in bleakness

(00:11:00) Building Voger from scratch with $80 and a dream

(00:16:00) Early community work, Reaper themes & first clients

(00:21:00) How collaboration fuels creativity

(00:26:00) The philosophy of teamwork — “Skyscrapers aren’t built by solo people”

(00:31:00) Mentorship, proximity, and luck in creative careers

(00:37:00) Leadership lessons — hiring, structure & humility

(00:43:00) Balancing motherhood, time, and entrepreneurship

(00:50:00) Psychology of design — why looks do matter in plugins

(01:00:00) Developers, ego, and the empathy gap

(01:10:00) Lessons from building for humans, not markets

(01:18:00) The illusion of objectivity in design decisions

(01:22:00) Oversaturation in the plugin industry & design sameness

(01:28:00) Nataliia’s YouTube journey — teaching design philosophy

(01:35:00) Speaking uncomfortable truths about the industry

(01:42:00) Ideology bubbles & resistance to feedback

(01:48:00) Learning to collaborate with difficult personalities

(02:01:00) Facing the future — AI, identity & human meaning in design

(02:10:00) The deeper philosophy of empathy and beauty

(02:20:00) Closing reflections — art, family & creative balance