Creative Characters

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 

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

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.

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.

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. 

In the first episode of Season 2, Carl Unger sits down with calligrapher, lettering artist and beach calligrapher. Andrew van der Merwe from Cape Town, South Africa. They discuss the ephemeral nature of his work; how movement, philosophy and asemic writing play into his letterforms and creative process; and what led him to start carving calligraphy into his local beaches.

In this week’s episode, Monotype Creative Type Director, Terrance Weinzierl has an inspiring conversation with designer, educator and design thinker, Adam Weiler, who currently leads the social innovation program at Steelcase, a furniture company founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Weiler shares his perspective on design thinking, strategy, his complicated relationship with the internet and the meandering it took to find his place in the creative world.

To learn more about Adam’s work, check out our blog post at Monotype.com/podcast

In this episode, our own Bill Connolly is joined by Chelsea Goldwell, partner and creative director at Zero Studios, a digitally-native branding studio. Goldwell shares her experience designing for the Hillary for America campaign, teaching the next generation of design students at Parsons, and how her team prioritizes balance and health in this era of intense work.  

This is a good one for anyone looking to create a multi-disciplinary career and a purposeful life. To learn more about Chelsea’s work, visit ChelseaGoldwell.com or Zero.nyc. Or, check out our blog post at monotype.com/podcasts.

Pew pew! Our eighteenth episode goes deep into the world of science fiction films, with a decidedly typographic twist. 

Terrance Weinzierl, Creative Type Director at Monotype, talks with Dave Addey, author of Typeset in the Future, about the use of type in classic science fiction movies like Blade Runner, Alien, and Wall-E. In particular, Terrance and Dave explore how Eurostile became the de facto font of the future for movie makers, and what science fiction says about our dreams and fears for the unknown years ahead.

To learn more about Dave’s work, visit typesetinthefuture.com, or check out our blog post at monotype.com/podcasts.

This week’s guest, Ellen Lupton, has built a prolific career as a writer, educator, and designer. She serves as a senior curator at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City, and the Betty Cooke and William O. Steinmetz Design Chair at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She has also authored several books, including most recently Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-Racist, Non-Binary Field Guide for Graphic Designers. In the episode, hosted by Monotype’s Brand Designer Marie Boulanger, Ellen shares her perspectives on building a career in design, the power of bringing typography together with the written word, and the importance of representation within the design community.

To see Ellen’s work, visit ellenlupton.com or read our blog post at monotype.com/podcast

This week’s guest, photographer Tyler Haughey, has made a career for himself photographing the unseen angles of beach towns in the off-season—neon signs glowing in the snow, darkened motel rooms blinking out of deep hibernation, a promise to “see you next spring” painted by some unknown hand. We talk about how signage and other visual signifiers anchor memories in our minds, how those memories slowly transform into nostalgia, and how we reconcile the distance between places as they are and places as we want them to be. And we trade a few Jersey shore stories along the way, for good measure.

To see Tyler’s work, visit tylerhaughey.com or read our blog post at monotype.com/podcast.

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

This week, Creative Type Director Charles Nix talks to James Horwitz, founder of the London-based design agency Two Times Elliott. The agency's work was featured heavily in Monotype’s 2020 Type Trends report, thanks to its inventive use of bold type. Even a quick glance at their portfolio reveals an agency working at the cutting edge of modern design.

James spoke with us during a London heat wave and shared the lessons he learned from founding a design agency, his approach to guiding clients through the creative process, and the impact of Instagram and social media on branding and design.

Make sure you check out the work at Two Times Elliott. It's excellent: https://www.2xelliott.co.uk/

To learn more about Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit: https://www.monotype.com/.

This week’s guests are Jessica Seamans and Dan Black, who together comprise Landland. Landland is a small but mighty studio that designs and screenprints posters, primarily for bands and musicians. A lot of Landland’s aesthetic centers around the strange and forgotten and corners of society—the abandoned gas stations, rest stops, and other relics of lived lives—and the combination of linework, watercolor, imaginative imagery and lettering is truly unique. We discuss their early days of going to (and playing in) DIY punk shows, how screenprinting keeps you humble, and the evolving relationship between music and the art of the poster.

Check out their work at landland.bigcartel.net or on Instagram @landlandcolportage. Also be sure to read our blog post at monotype.com/podcast.

In this week’s episode, Senior Creative Type Director Phil Garnham sits down with the esteemed Michael Johnson, founder of the UK-based design firm Johnson Banks.

Michael has seen and done it all in the nearly thirty years since founding his studio, and he shares his perspective on design, branding, and the importance of purpose-driven work. This episode includes some bonus guitar playing and lots of sardonic humor, plus an amusing story about an old Monotype logo that never got a fair shake.

To learn more about Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit: https://www.monotype.com/

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

In our twelfth episode, we speak with James Edmondson, a renowned type designer and founder of OH no Type Company in California. James speaks with our own Charles Nix, and shares how he got his start in typography, as well as his perspective on designing a fulfilling creative career.

To learn more about James and his work, visit his website (https://ohnotype.co/), or check out our blog post. 

To learn more about Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit: https://www.monotype.com/.

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

In our eleventh episode, we speak with Lauren Hom, a celebrated designer and hand-letterer based in Detroit. Lauren shares her perspectives on design and how her personal vision has given her the courage to take on a new journey in her impressive career. This one is for everyone who is pursuing their passion, and is hosted by one of Monotype’s most passionate voices, Jay Loo (making his Creative Characters debut!).

To learn more about Lauren and her work, check out our blog post. 

To learn more about Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit: https://www.monotype.com/.

Monotype Creative Director and admitted car nut Terrance Weinzierl sits down with Hannelore Ocampo, Fonts Lead and Type Specialist at Ford Motor Company.

Terrance and Hanne discuss the countless ways type shapes the in-car experience, how type helps keep your eyes (and your car) on the road, and the role type will play in our self-driving future.

To check out more great Monotype content, head over to https://www.monotype.com/

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

In this episode, Creative Type Director Charles Nix talks with Angelina Lippert, Chief Curator at the Posterhouse museum in New York City, about the history of poster design, the unseen hands behind some of the more iconic posters from history, and the finicky wonder of Rubylith. 

To learn more about Angelina and Posterhouse, check out our blog post at monotype.com/podcast. 

To learn more about Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit https://www.monotype.com.

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

In our eighth episode, we speak with John Norman, a celebrated visual storyteller and former Chief Creative Officer of world-renowned creative agencies. John shares insights from his career, which started with an appreciation of typography and has spanned several decades, including work for iconic brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, HP, and many more.

To learn more about John and his work, check out our blog post. To learn more about Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit https://www.monotype.com/.

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

In our seventh episode, we speak with Sarah Hyndman, founder of Type Tasting and the author of several books, including Why Fonts Matter and How to Draw Fonts and Influence People. Sarah shares her mission to change the way we think and talk about typography by making it entertaining and relevant with humour, a dash of theater, and lashings of audience participation.

To learn more about Sarah and her work, visit typetasting.com and check out our blog post. 

To learn more about Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit, montype.com

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

In our sixth episode, we speak with Chris Do, award-winning designer, CEO and Chief Strategist of Blind and the founder of The Futur—an online education platform that teaches creatives how to make a living doing what they love. Chris shares his vision for helping one billion people build meaningful careers, and discusses what the future holds for creative work. 

To learn more about Chris and to connect with his team, visit thefutur.com and check out our blog post. Also, we’ve partnered with Chris on something pretty exciting: a set including his hand-picked, curated, all-time favorite typefaces. Explore all three font bundles here, which fit every application from posters, websites, identity systems, presentations and videos.Finally, to learn more about Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit: https://www.monotype.com/.

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

In our fifth episode, we speak with Terrence Williams, Senior Design Lead at Salesforce. Terrence discusses the importance of relationship design for brands, and shares his perspective on building environments that allow designers to bring their full identities into the workplace. 

To learn more about Terrence and to connect with his work, check out our blog post at http://monotype.com/resources/expertise/creative-characters-terrence-williams.

Also, be sure to read his brilliant article, “Designing My Blackness,” and listen to his new podcast, Macro Progressions.

To see what his team at Salesforce is working on, visit: https://www.salesforce.com/design/. 

Finally, to learn more about Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit: https://www.monotype.com/.

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype that explores the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

Our guest in episode four is Tré Seals, founder of the type studio Vocal Type. We talk about his efforts to break down stereotypes in design, create space and opportunity for designers from marginalized communities, and how a middle-school side gig, born out of a brush with serious childhood medical issues, helped him become the artist he is today. 

To see Tré’s work and learn more about Vocal Type, visit: https://www.vocaltype.co/ or check out our blog post at http://monotype.com/resources/expertise/creative-characters-tre-seals.

To learn more about how Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit: https://www.monotype.com/

In this episode, we talk with Chicago-based lettering artist Jenna Blazevich, founder and sole proprietor of Vichcraft, a multi- disciplinary design studio that "works right around the line between art and design to build a collection of activist-driven products." Topics include (but are not limited to) chain stitching, punk rock, the artist’s role in social justice movements, and whatever the heck Malört is.

To see Jenna’s work, check out our blog post at https://www.monotype.com/resources/expertise/creative-characters-jenna-blazevich

Or visit her website at www.vichcraft.com and follow her on Instagram @vichcraft.

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

In our second episode, 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 learn more about how Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit: https://www.monotype.com/

Welcome to Creative Characters, a podcast by Monotype exploring the people and personalities behind the brands, campaigns, and designs we love.

This is our first episode, and our guest is James Sommerville, who has worked at several notable brands including The Coca-Cola Company. Today, he is the co-founder of KNOWN_UNKOWN and is working to transform the future of creative talent.

To learn more about James and the work he’s doing at KNOWN_UNKNOWN, visit: https://known--unknown.com/

To see a presentation James gave on his career journey and the future of creative work, visit: https://www.monotype.com/resources/videos/james-sommerville-keynote-brand-talks-connected

To learn more about how Monotype, and how we are empowering brands through type, visit: https://www.monotype.com/