Welcome, dear friends, to the library. Each episode finds me loitering in a library with a special guest in a location of their choosing. We comb the stacks and have a chat about passions, practices, and possibilities, letting the story unfold as it will. You’re encouraged to read between the lines because it’s going to be a real page turner… Welcome to The Library Loiterers. --- Our story begins in the early days of the 21st century. I, Diana Varma, was a young teen and em

From the middle ages to the Middle East, From Futura to Freight, join us on a journey across the type universe and go where no designer has gone before...Welcome to An Incomplete History of Type . Name: Verdana Release Date: 1996 Designer: Matthew Carter and Thomas Rickner Classification: Humanist Sans Serif Owned By: Microsoft Claim to Fame: A typeface that was designed not for print, but for the screen, changing the way digital text looked and felt. In this episode of An In

From the middle ages to the Middle East, From Futura to Freight, join us on a journey across the type universe and go where no designer has gone before...Welcome to An Incomplete History of Type . Name: Garamond Release Date: Mid 16th Century Designer: Claude Garamond Classification: Old Style Serif Typeface Owned By: Not owned by one single person, but digital variations are owned by multiple different companies: Adobe Garamond, Monotype Garamond, Stempel Garamond, and E

From the middle ages to the Middle East, From Futura to Freight, join us on a journey across the type universe and go where no designer has gone before...Welcome to An Incomplete History of Type . Name: Calibri Release Date: 2007 Designer: Lucas de Groot Classification: Sans Serif Owned By: Microsoft Corporation Claim to Fame: Calibri made history by dethroning Times New Roman as the default font of the MS Office Suite. Microsoft’s favourite typographic child is taking the

I’ve spent a lot of time in libraries so far this year, both personally, with my kids, as well as professionally, with a variety of guests for my upcoming and ongoing Library Loiterers series. (More on that soon!) I’ve also been thinking a lot about the rapid decline of social trust in the age of digital misinformation and disinformation, never quite knowing if what you’re reading (and now seeing) is real. In this lonely and scary tsunami of information overwhelm, libraries

"This is the conclusion of a successful semester, where concept, creation, and distribution plans came together. Professor Diana welcomes the class for a final reflection and listening party, handing hosting duties over to Shana and Alex. This episode is a celebration of the creative energy poured into the course, covering everything from the development of a central concept to planning final distribution strategies. The discussion explores the powerful concept of "class citi

"If you're stuck in the planning phase, you're losing the game. The secret to success in any venture, especially podcasting, is fast feedback and radical adaptation. This is 100 Ways to Make 100K, and this week, host Javon Martin is going behind the scenes of his own show. For over 70 episodes, Javon has been on a relentless hunt to find 100 different paths to generating $100,000 per month. In this special session, Javon reveals the brutal, yet necessary, truth about what it

This episode has been three conversations in the making. It started in episode #273, when I spoke with Amanda Breeze of TRIPPER Magazine, who mentioned being inspired by George Wylesol’s grown-up choose-your-own-adventure book, 2120 . In episode #276, George joined me to talk about the book and how Internet culture and GeoCities websites shape his work. Then, in episode #280, I spoke with Jill Blackmore Evans, creator of GeoCities Memory , a personal and scholarly project arc

Welcome back - I’m so glad you’re here. This is the first episode in a 3-part guest lecture series, speaking with a diverse range of design and typography pros from across North America! This episode features type designer and educator, Leo Vicenti . Leo is an Assistant Professor of Communication Design at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver whose research approaches indigenous language preservation, revitalization, and the return of these languages to everyda

It’s a big book day! Today I sit down with two authors with two new books on two interrelated topics. David Berry (H ow Artists Make Money & How Money Makes Artists ) and Raymond Biesinger ( 9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off: An Informal Self-Defence Guide for Independent Creatives ) are here with me today. David Berry profiled and critiqued the book, film, music and theatre scenes for a local alt-weekly, and then nationally for the National Post, and has contributed essay

If you’re a frequent listener of this podcast, you may recall an episode released earlier this fall: Episode #273 - On a Trip with Amanda Breeze of TRIPPER Magazine . Without knowing it at the time, episode 273 marks the start of a little experiment—a journey down the rabbit hole. Each conversation in this series connects in unexpected ways; each new episode spurring a new line of inquiry, like a tunnel turning off in a different direction, each with an origin that’s traced b

Today’s guest and her team’s most recent book project is truly emotional and inspiring. As always, this episode is not sponsored, however I do want to disclose that I received an advance copy of the book and after experiencing it, I absolutely had to chat with our guest about the incredible technology, typography, and hope behind this project. In this conversation, you’ll hear from Rachel Arthur, Founder and Editor of boom saloon , “an independent publisher dedicated to democ

Welcome back everybody! We’re 6+ weeks into the fall semester and I have the great pleasure of teaching my first podcasting course at Toronto Metropolitan University! The course is called MDM Podcast Lab: Design, Develop Distribute with around 20 students actively working to create their own podcasts. It’s been so much fun to imagine what a more linear path to podcasting than my own experience would look like, and build a workshop-style course to help guide digital media st

We’ve come so far in this series and I’m thrilled that you’ve been along for the ride. I really, truly, unequivocally believe this...

I invite you to close your eyes. Imagine yourself as a kid, a fresh box of crayons in one hand and a colouring book in the other. You...

Failure has a lot to teach us. We can learn far more from a failed experience – whether large or small, big F “Fail” or little f “fail” – than a perfectly smooth, frictionless experience will ever make possible. I stumbled upon a post on social media recently (by someone named @brightwanderer) about their perspective on “success” and “failure”. It was a breath of fresh, “muddy middle” air in a sea of right and wrong. Here's what they said: “I think a lot about how we as a cul

Today is the day! Brave Creative Human: Embrace Failure, Reframe Imposter Syndrome, and Be Unapologetically You is now available in...

One of my very favourite ways to produce creative work is when it unfolds naturally, like a constant flicker of ideas lighting each step...

Zines! Zines! Hooray for Zines! From makers near and far, with small and large publications, you’ll hear about the exciting medium of...

Welcome to a 4-part publishing series all about the world of zines! From makers near and far, with small and large publications, you’ll...