In this week’s episode, Monotype’s Executive Creative Director, Tom Foley, sits down with renowned graphic designer Astrid Stavro to explore her captivating journey. Astrid grew up amidst the hum of printing presses in her father’s print shop in Trieste, Italy. She recounts the profound influence of her family’s publishing heritage, her deep-seated love for books, and pivotal moments such as her studies at St. Martins and her discovery of Interview magazine. Astrid opens up about her recent ADHD diagnosis, the delicate dance between chaos and tranquility in her creative process, and her responsibilities as Chair of the International Society of Typographic Designers (ISTD). Throughout the conversation, she reflects on her insatiable curiosity and endless pursuit of knowledge, the value of learning from mistakes, and the wealth of inspiration she finds in everyday experiences.

Learn more about Astrid at https://astridstavro.design.

You can find blog posts for this and all our past episodes at monotype.com/podcast.

It's August. Many of us on the podcast team are trying to wring out the last drops of summer. Others are hard at work getting ready for Monotype's visit to Adobe Max.

So this week, we're replaying an oldie episode from our first season.

Monotype Creative Type Director Charles Nix talks with Scott Starrett, Co-Founder and Principal of NYC design firm Tandem. Scott shares his story of a serendipitous introduction to a young bartender named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which led to Tandem designing the branding for her transformational 2018 Congressional campaign.

To learn more about Scott and the work Tandem is doing, visit: https://www.tandem.nyc/.

To see this episode's blog post and other past episode, head over to https://www.monotype.com/podcast

Hear Monotype Creative Director Graham Sturt in conversation with Vic Lee, an artist, illustrator, and self-described “ragamuffin.”

After years of doing graphic design work for agencies, Vic was ready for a change. So, he began sketching a streetscape from a little cafe in his London neighborhood — a practice that evolved into a popular local prints project and launched his career as a working artist.

Murals may be what Vic is best known for, as he’s inked them for clients across the UK and internationally. Currently, he's painting a portrait a day, each inspired by a real person he’s seen out and about.

If you need a bit of creative inspiration or are looking to reinvent your creative practice, this episode’s for you!

In this week's episode, first-time host Doug Wilson chats with Petra Dočekalová, a designer, educator, calligrapher, and sign painter from Prague, Czech Republic. They explore Petra's involvement in a book about Yaroslav Benda, a notable Czech designer known for his typography and calligraphy. Their conversation covers networking at events like TypeCon, the influence of Benda's style on Czech design, and the impact of his work. Petra also shares insights on her lettering, calligraphy, and type design work, along with her passion for teaching and knowledge sharing, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and blending historical and modern design practices.

Each year, for over a week, the city of Austin, Texas erupts into a cacophony of life, music, film premieres, comedy showcases, interactive tech demonstrations, and world-class exhibitions for the annual South by Southwest (SXSW).

This year, amongst the chaos, community, and creativity of the festival, we recorded our first-ever episode of the podcast on stage in front of a live audience. Monotype’s Bill Connolly gathered guests from different corners of the branding world and settled on stage in the balmy, Austin air to talk branding, design, and customer experience through each of their unique lenses.

Tune in for a masterclass in branding that explores the visual elements and innovative technology driving how brands, advertising, and experiences influence our responses. Read more about the event here: monotype.com/resources/expertise/brandtalks-sxsw

For many of us, the sea holds a special place in our hearts — the sights, smells, sounds of long summer nights are etched into our minds.

Join Monotype Creative Director Graham Sturt as he and guest Justin Burns, Head of the School of Arts at the University of Derby, explore the signage and typography of the English seaside and examine the linkage between letters, memories, and emotion.

How do cultural influences, historical contexts, and geopolitics influence design and typography? As part of the 2024 Type Trends report, we wanted to take a deeper look at how design is manifesting across the globe.

This episode will take you on a journey from the bustling streets of New York City to the colorful neighborhoods of Santiago, the romantic avenues of Paris, and the vibrant restaurants of Kuala Lumpur.

Tune in for insights, stories, and anecdotes from creative thought leaders shaping their local design scenes: Jolene Delisle, Founder & Creative Director of The Working Assembly; Belén La Rivera, Senior Brand Designer, and Alan Eaglehurst, Creative Director, at FutureBrand; Violaine Orsoni and Jérémy Schneider, Creative Partners at VJ Type and Violaine & Jeremy; and Joanne Chew, Founder of Fictionist Studio. 

Want to learn more about type trends? Join our Type Trends 2024 webinar on March 21; register here.

Heading to SXSW? Don't miss a live recording of this very podcast! Join us March 13 at 3pm; register here: mntype.co/sxsw

This week, host Charles Nix sits down with Steffi Marty, the Global Director of Brand Identity and Design for Mars Snacking. If that sounds abstract, you probably know the brands she oversees: the Mars Bar, Snickers, Skittles, and M&M's.

Charles and Steffi collaborated on a new typeface for M&M's, released last year, and the two discuss the joys and challenges of managing such beloved and personal brands, why typography is crucial to that, and what she calls a "ruthless discipline to weed out the things that are unnecessary.”

Heading to SXSW? Don't miss a live recording of this very podcast! Join us March 13 at 3pm; register here: mntype.co/sxsw

You’ve probably heard something about it, but just in case you missed it: our 2024 Type Trends report is finally here! And good news: this week on Creative Characters, you can tune in to hear even more about it.  

Join Type Designer Jordan Bell and Creative Type Director Damien Collot as they discuss their experiences curating this year’s report, guide you through the trends that moved them, and discuss the projects they admired. Take a plunge into the styles that shaped the typographic landscape this past year and find out more about what sets them apart. Who knows, you might fancy something a little bit deformed? Or perhaps you’ll welcome a return to serifs? Maybe you’ll crave a little bit of Everythingallofthetime! Listen up — this is what type is telling us as 2024 begins. Enjoy!  

If you haven’t done so already, download the report at monotype.com/type-trends-2024 — and if you’re keen to hear more about it, be sure to sign up for our webinar on March 21, 2024!   

We're closing out 2023 by spotlighting three amazing type studios from different corners of the world — and three of our favorite hosts. 

This week, Charles Nix, Phil Garnham, and Tom Foley each selected a type designer they admire to bring on the show: Stephen Nixon of ArrowType; Alja Herlah, Directress & Lead type designer at Type Salon; and Matthieu Salvaggio, Founder and Type Designer at Blaze Type. Three perspectives, three journeys, and three lively conversations about our favorite subject. Enjoy!

Roger Black draws from origins and evolution of type, type trend drivers, and his own career in this week’s episode with our own Charles Nix. Combining various lenses that allow creatives to see between and behind the lines of type, the two designers inspect the nitty gritty of typographic design — from machinery to wider influences of cultural shifts — and how to look backwards in order to see forward and achieve timeless and iconic type design. 

Roger Black is a renowned American designer known for his extensive and influential portfolio, from editorial designs for Rolling Stone, New York Times Magazine, and Newsweek to his digital work for Barnes & Noble, the Senate, and more.

Now that the Adobe MAX dust has settled, we bring you our second annual recap of the inspiring event that brought 10,000 from around the world to Los Angeles in October. Between emotional, soul-baring presentations that went much deeper than design, to the “font connection” game at the Monotype booth, there was a palpable sense of community and connection at MAX this year.

In this episode, you’ll hear from twenty or so voices, including type designers, animators, comic book designers, students, and even a specialty letterpress printer, all of whom were kind enough to share their time and their stories with us on the mic.

Read more about Adobe MAX here: monotype.com/adobe-max-2023-follow-up   

Follow our guests:

Zipeng Zhu - instagram.com/zzdesign

John Roshell - swelltype.com, comicbookfonts.com

Chris Hoffman - velleitystudios.com

Cam Sherrill - camsherrill.com

Nubia Navarro - nubikinistudio.com

Eph Gerard Cruz - instagram.com/quantumeph, xfinitycreative.com

Joshua Ariza - instagram.com/joshua_ariza, joshuaariza.com

Ben Levitz - instagram.com/STUDIOONFIRE, studioonfire.com

Kelsey Slay - instagram.com/kelseyslaydesign 

This week on Creative Characters, host Charles Nix sits down with Thomas Jockin, the founder of Type Thursday, a global type meetup. The two discuss Thomas’s journey from an art-obsessed youth on Long Island to becoming a key figure in the global type design community. Thomas shares pivotal moments such as his apprenticeship with Joshua Darden, the development and international expansion of Type Thursday, and his passion for the open-source type movement. Tune in for an interesting look at the intersection of type design, education, and community-building.

You can find blog posts for this and all our past episodes at monotype.com/podcast.

For decades, the bright colors and bold type of Globe Poster Printing Corportation formed the cultural heartbeat of Baltimore. From R&B shows and rock concerts to boxing matches and, now, something called a Deviled Egg Pageant (?!), Globe's unmistakable style has shouted out a range of events — and brought color and electricity to the urban landscape. 

Globe and its archive are now part of the Maryland College Institute of Art (MICA), and we sat down with Allison Tipton from MICA to discuss the living legacy of this landmark print shop.

Check out Globe's collection online here.

Can you remember a time you had an emotional reaction to type? Have fonts ever made you feel some type of way? This week, we dive into Monotype’s scientific research on the emotional power of typography.

Marie Boulanger, Senior Brand Designer at Monotype, joins as a guest and shares some of the thinking, methodology, and insights behind the global studies. You’ll also hear stories about fonts and feelings from designers, creative directors, and producers we spoke with at Brand Talks Chicago and Brand New Conference.

Learn more about the research at monotype.com/typography-matters

David Berlow has been at the forefront of type design, publishing, and technology for 45 years. His impressive career began in 1978 drawing letterforms for the Haas, Mergenthaler, Linotype, and Stempel type foundries, before he went on to work at Apple, Bitstream, and later founded the Font Bureau with Roger Black. 

A self-described “loose cannon” and “boat rocker,” Berlow has been at the center of type innovation for decades, consulting for companies like Apple and Google, all whilst designing some of the world’s most celebrated and recognizable fonts, including custom designs for iconic publishers such as The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Esquire Magazine and The Wall Street Journal and brands including Apple Computer Inc., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corporation. 

In this week’s episode Tom Rickner, the Senior Director of the Studio at Monotype, sits down with Berlow. Fun fact: Berlow hired Rickner at the Font Bureau, kicking off his career as a type designer. You’ll hear the two reminisce, talk shop, and explore Berlow’s influences, predictions, and perspectives on mentorship and team building.  

Read more about this episode and our past guests at monotype.com/podcast. 

Erwin Hines’ creative life began with an interest in architecture and urban planning but shifted to art, design, and brand building after several serendipitous events.

In a time when concepts like empathy and inclusivity have become trendy catchphrases, Erwin decided to step away from agency life, where he had been actively involved with DE&I initiatives, to build his own brand, Future is Color.

Erwin designs and produces intentionally crafted garments and hosts in-person events at Future is Color's mixed-use studio in San Diego, California. The brand's mission is to create space for intentional conversations about collective liberation.

For more on Erwin's work and Future is Color, visit future-is-color.com. 

Read more about this episode and our past guests at monotype.com/podcast.

Kent Yoshimura does a lot. And that's kinda his thing. At a young age, Kent learned that pouring himself into something artistic meant he could glimpse at mastery and then find ways to play with whatever that skill might be.

Throughout his life, Kent has illustrated for children's books, recorded music for film and television, made a couple documentaries, designed immersive experiences, built a thriving business, painted numerous beautiful murals, and so much more.

But what's maybe most striking is this: through all the hard work, trial and error, and eventual success, Kent's pursuit is in the joy of creating something with a community and for a community. 

We're excited for you to hear his story.

Read more about this episode and our past guests at monotype.com/podcast

Sarah Olin started her career as a magazine designer at a challenging time — during the 2010s, when the industry was trying to figure out its transition to digital. She stuck with magazines for over a decade, designing for major fashion and beauty publications like Allure, Glamour, and Cosmo. But she recently shifted to brand art direction and, spoiler, she likes it.

As Art Director at Warby Parker, Sarah works on everything from retail design to TV commercials to fashion campaigns. Her story is one of adaptability, and with the design landscape rapidly changing, it feels fitting for the moment.

In the Before Times, working from home was often treated as a perk, or maybe a dubious accommodation for someone with a doctor’s appointment. But we know how that story unfolded following the COVID outbreak in 2020, and now remote work is the norm for creative teams all over the world.

Upwork Executive Creative Director Patrick Holly joins us this week to talk about the benefits and challenges remote work presents for creatives, how he keeps his global team connected and fulfilled, and why the days of “adult daycare” and “butts in seats” should be relegated to the history books for good.

“Modern creators know that pace rivals perfection.” Picsart, which provides photo and video editing tools and templates to the creator community, has lived this motto since it began more than a decade ago. Today, with more than 150 million monthly users, the company is helping to streamline the design process like never before.

In this week's episode, Monotype's Bill Connolly sits down with Scott Walker, Executive Creative Director at Picsart, to learn about Scott's design process, which began in a print shop and has led him to work with some of the world’s most popular brands. They also discuss artificial intelligence, the future of creativity, and why it’s important for designers to always “follow the feels.”

Read more about this episode and our past guests at monotype.com/podcast.

This week’s episode is a triple threat. Monotype Executive Creative Directors Phil, Tom, and Charles each selected a type designer they admire to bring on the show. 

What resulted is inspiring discussions with Mark Bloom of CoType, Naïma Ben Ayed Bureau, and Jesse Ragan and Ben Kiel of XYZ Type, three unique studios making great work in their own distinct ways.

For decades, creative work has consolidated in traditional locations such as Los Angeles, New York, and London. Today, technology has opened the aperture on creativity, enabling brilliant producers, writers, and artists to work directly with brands and entertainment studios from anywhere.

In this week's episode, Monotype's Bill Connolly sits down with James DeJulio, co-founder and CEO of Tongal, a "studio on demand" that boasts an impressive roster of clients like LEGO, PayPal, NBC Universal, and more.

A former Hollywood producer, DeJulio shares his insight into the ever-changing world of content creation and outlines the recipe that has grown Tongal's community to more than 160,000 members.

Read more about this episode and our past guests at monotype.com/podcast

In this episode, host Doug Wilson sits down with his long-time friend, Kyle Read, a distinguished type designer and graphic designer based in Denver, Colorado. Kyle shares his journey from studying at the Savannah College of Art and Design, working for various design studios and advertising agencies, to founding Badson Type Foundry. The two discuss the balance Kyle maintains between branding and type design, offering insights into the economic realities of the industry and the importance of creating brand-ready, personality-driven typefaces. Additionally, the episode delves into Kyle's innovative marketing strategies for type foundries and his collaborative project, Proof & Co, which provides valuable data analyzing the independent typography market. Through it all, Kyle emphasizes the significance of community within the type industry, particularly within Denver, a city he and Doug both celebrate for its unique creative spirit and historical ties to typography.

You can find blog posts for this and all our past episodes at monotype.com/podcast.

Mark Simonson has designed some of the most widely used typefaces in the world. Host Charles Nix sits down to talk influences, process, and why truly memorable work – such as Simonson’s versatile, legible, and wildly ubiquitous Proxima Nova – has to be “both novel and familiar.”

And speaking of legibility, don’t forget to check out the article about font legibility mentioned in our intro: https://www.monotype.com/resources/expertise/find-legible-fonts

Ever wanted a peek inside the creative minds behind one of the biggest design platforms in the world? If so, this episode is for you. Canva, the go-to graphic design software for 125 million global users, recently celebrated its 10th birthday at its annual Create event in Sydney. Before the big event, our Executive Creative Director, Charles Nix, sat down with Canva’s Head of Design, Andrew Green, to talk about his own international career beginning at agencies in New York and Hong Kong and circling back to Canva, where he now oversees the design leadership team in Melbourne.

Read more about this episode and our past guests at monotype.com/podcast

Maureen Raisch has spent the past 18 years designing for some of the biggest names in professional sports — from MLB team rebrands to marquee events for the NHL and NFL, including the Super Bowl.

Now, as she embarks on a new journey as the first ever Creative Director for the National Women's Soccer League, Maureen reflects on the importance of visibility and inclusivity in sports branding, the power of design to elevate women's sports, and what she calls her own "personal rebrand."

To read more about this episode and our past guests, head over to monotype.com/podcast.

This week, we take you behind the scenes of one of Monotype’s biggest, and most anticipated campaigns of the year: the annual Type Trends report. Tune in to hear from the report’s curators, Creative Type Directors Terrance Weinzierl and Emilios Theofanous on their experiences producing the report. Why do people make trends reports? What does the curation process entail? How do cultural and societal shifts influence patterns in typography and design? What should creatives do with this information?

Download the report, watch our webinar, and get more Trends goodness at https://www.monotype.com/type-trends-2023.

To read more about this episode and our past guests, head over to monotype.com/podcast.

Aaron Draplin likely needs little introduction – he's one of the most beloved and well-known designers working today. People fill auditoriums for his talks and workshops, wait in long lines for selfies (and Draplin Design Company merch), and fill his DMs with requests for advice, help, and perspective. In this episode, Draplin shares his perspective on design education, staying inspired and motivated, the “surreal” experience of becoming a mentor figure to so many designers, and the “weird little spot” he’s in as he approaches 50.

Warning: some explicit language, but all in jest!

This week, Monotype Executive Creative Director, Charles Nix, is joined by Michu Benaim Steiner and Lope Gutierrez-Ruiz of In-House International. Michu and Lope share the studio’s origin story, which also includes Art Director, Alex Wright. In-House is connected by Venezuelan roots, and they discuss how the country’s “tropicalized geometries,” and former lives as researchers and magazine publishers, help to infuse curiosity into their work and their cutting-edge typographic designs.

To read more about this episode and our past guests, head over to monotype.com/podcast.

To learn more about In-House and see their work, visit weareinhouse.com

In our first episode of Season 3, we welcome the new Senior Director of the Monotype Studio, Tom Rickner, as a first-time host. Tom speaks with Jim Moran, Master Printer and Collections Officer for the internationally-known Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum. The two discuss Jim’s history as a printmaker working at his family business for 35 years, the road that led him to Hamilton, and why letterpress is still important today.

To read more about this episode and our past guests, head over to monotype.com/podcast.

To learn more about Type Electives, visit typeelectives.com

This week, Creative Type Director Phil Garnham sits down with Elliot Jay Stocks, designer, musician, and lover of all things typographic. From his time with Adobe Typekit to his current project building out Google Fonts' Knowledge center, Elliot has explored the vast universe of typography and helped people understand what they need, how to use it, and why there's so much to love about type.

What has everyone been up to for the past two years? Is AI coming to take all our jobs? What’s your least-favorite typeface? We packed up our recording gear and traveled to Adobe MAX, one of the largest creative conferences in the world, to pose these very questions to people just like you. What we found was an audience craving connection and inspiration, and that was more than happy to wait at our booth so we could… scan their brains? Yes, really.

To learn why we were scanning people's brains, visit monotype.com/neurons

From big brands to lego bricks, Craig Ward has left his mark all over the world of typography. This week, host Charles Nix sits down with Craig to talk about his career, his myriad side projects and quirky pastimes, and how technology could revolutionize the way we use type and ensure the rights of ownership for designers.

In the final edition of our new podcast miniseries series, Behind the Font, we answer your questions about font licensing [cue Jeopardy theme]!

Once again, Monotype's Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Phil Carey-Bergren wades into the intricacies of font licensing with our host, Carl Unger. Topics include the implications of breaching font licenses, the significance of copyright, and what to do if you accidentally breach a contract or misuse a font license.

Behind the Font is exactly what it sounds like - a podcast miniseries that looks behind the creative work we love to better understand how creative work gets done. Have a question or topic you'd like us to explore? Email us at podcast@monotype.com and we may cover it!

Today we're welcoming Annie Atkins, a creative in the film industry. She's known for her graphic props and set pieces for Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs. She's also done design work for The Tudors, The Boxtrolls, and Spielberg's thriller, Bridge of Spies. Tune-in to learn about the magic of film.

Today we're welcoming Holly Fraser, editor-in-chief at WePresent, WeTransfer's digital arts platform that works with 1,000+ creatives from over 100 countries. Holly was part of the team that commissioned the 2022 Oscar-winning best live action short film, "The Long Goodbye", created by Riz Ahmed and Aneil Karia. Tune-in to learn what makes a hit film, how to stay inspired, and why the creative industries need more diversity.

Today we're welcoming Mindy Seu, a New York-based designer, researcher, and assistant professor at Rutgers. Seu recently completed the Cyberfeminism Index, a book documenting more than 700 short entries of radical techno-critical activism. Tune in as Seu shares her story of getting involved in cyberfeminism and the process involved in publishing her book.

To see what Mindy Seu is currently working on, view her Instagram or visit her teaching portal for a list of upcoming classes. You can pre-order a copy of the Cyberfeminism Index book, which ships December 2022.

Today we welcome Jason Debiak, an old friend of our co-host, Carl, and co-founder of Paper Tiger, a family-owned design agency in New Jersey. Jason runs the agency alongside his brother, creating designs for user-friendly websites and mobile applications while having a "Helvetica of a good time" (his words, pun intended, no apologies). They've worked with big-name companies including the New York Times, Fort Point Beer, and PBS. Tune in as Jason shares his story from the world of indie music, his "journey of screwing up," and why AI design programs may not be as scary as they seem.

This week we speak with Ximena Amaya, recent graduate of ArtCenter in Pasadena, California by way of Mexico City. Ximena talks about what led her to study graphic design and her passion for using it as a communication tool, in architecture, and for emerging technologies through her work as an intern at Pentagram.

To see Ximena’s work, visit ximena.works.

To learn more about the research she documented, visit hmctartcenter.org/programs/mujeres-hispanas-y-tipografia/

Today, we're welcoming Sarah Boris, a London-based artist who runs her own creative studio. Creativity seems to be in her DNA. Tune in as Marie Boulanger, Brand Designer at Monotype talks to Sarah about her experiences working in-house versus running an independent creative studio, the power of titles, and her interest in pop art.

To see more of Sarah Boris's design work, view her portfolio at sarahboris.com or visit her Instagram to see her latest projects.

This week’s guest is passionate about designing for change. We're welcoming Nathan Lance, creative director at Leap, a B Corp certified design agency in Truro, England. Nathan is here to spill the tea on eco-friendly design, sustainability, and brand transparency.

To see more design projects from Leap. Design for Change, view their case studies online.

For more information on the agency's sustainability ethos, visit the Leap website.

Get ready for a dive into punk rock history! This week’s we're welcoming Andrew Krivine, author and punk rock collector, alongside Michael Worthington, faculty at CalArts and co-founder of Counterspace. The creative duo is here to tell the tale of how they co-created the largest exhibition of punk and new wave graphics ever shown on the West Coast. 

Visit the "Torn Apart" exhibit at the PDC Design Gallery until September 8. For more information, check out the PDC Design Gallery on IG and the exhibit website. To see more of Andrew's work, view his collection of published books.

This week we're joined by award-winning creative Cristina Pandol, VP Creative at Westbrook Media, an entertainment company founded by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Tune in as our own Bill Connolly talks to Cristina about her experiences as a creative from growing up multi-cultural to her short-lived allergy to entertainment.

Listen until the end to hear their favorite advertisements.

This week’s episode features the first ever guest from Monotype, our very own Juan Villanueva, a senior type designer on the studio team. Outside of the work he does designing typefaces for clients like M&M’s, Tencent and Google, Juan leads a busy life as an educator and active member of the design community in NYC. The overarching theme of this episode is personal challenges – and how you can challenge yourself throughout life whether in your career, as a leader, or in your personal practice. 

To learn more about the work Juan is doing, visit www.juankafka.com or www.typecritcrew.com.

In the second edition of our new podcast miniseries series, Behind the Font, we dig into the technical side of font licensing [cue psycho theme]. Our Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Phil Carey-Bergren, and host, Carl Unger, dissect the main parts of a font license and walk us through some common font licensing use cases you might see at work. 

Behind the Font is exactly what it sounds like - a podcast miniseries that looks behind the creative work we love to better understand how creative work gets done. Have a question or topic you'd like us to explore? Email us at podcast@monotype.com and we may cover it! 

This week’s guests are Jennifer Sagalyn, Director of Strategic Partnerships, and JoAnn Becker, Assistive Technology Support, Training and Testing Specialist at Perkins Access. Perkins Access is an organization whose mission is to build a more accessible digital world for all people, regardless of their abilities. Sagalyn and Becker both have years of experience working in accessibility and share some of their favorite tools, best practices and stories of how they help organizations build for all.

See Perkin’s work at https://perkinsaccess.org/knowledge-center/client-stories/.

Dune. Blade Runner 2049. Spider-Man: Far from Home. Avengers: Endgame. Ready Player One. If you’ve seen any of these big-name blockbusters (along with many others), then you’ve seen the work of this week’s guest: David Sheldon-Hicks, Founder and Executive Creative Director at Territory Studio, a design firm that specializes in VFX and graphics for the entertainment industry. David sits down with his schoolmate Phil Garnham, Creative Type Director at Monotype, for an inside look at moviemaking, managing a creative studio, and how type and design contribute to believable world-building on the screen.

In this week’s episode, our host Bill Connolly chats with all-around creative, Greg Lutze.

Greg is a founder, advisor and artist based out of California. His company, VSCO, started as an app for photo and video, but now provides tools, tips and community for creatives.

Greg has a rich perspective on the evolution of the art community, the role of the artist and talks of his own creative trajectory (beginning in kindergarten!) and why he founded VSCO in Silicon Valley to show up for creators.

Find Greg online at greglutze.com

As always, find out more at monotype.com/podcast

In this episode, Senior Content Strategist at Monotype, Kadley Gosselin, is joined by Dewey Bryan Saunders, the mastermind behind album covers for artists like Anderson .Paak, Future, and Turnstile. Classically trained in graphic design and illustration, Saunders discusses how he landed clients like The New Yorker fresh out of college, and a path that’s led him to collage, art direction and inspired him to launch a clothing line during lockdown.

This episode offers wonderful advice for creatives just getting started as well as those further along looking for inspiration to invert their creative practice or flip their aesthetic. To learn more about Dewey’s work, visit deweysaunders.com.