Happy summer everyone! This marks the final episode of Talk Paper Scissors before I head on my summer/social media sabbatical until September. Today’s episode contains a compilation of voices from DesignThinkers Vancouver from May 2026. The theme of this year’s DesignThinkers conferences is ‘Out of Office’ and I asked conference attendees their favourite out off office reset, as well as their favourite places to disappear when they’re out of office. Voices featured in today’s episode include: Elana Rudick, James Nguyen, Joanne Chang, Rain Senra-Francois, Tessa Laity, Chelsea Bell Eady, Raph Maturine, Helena de Aguiar, Elyssa Schmid, Patrick Brown, and Hilary Ashworth. As I head Out of Office myself this summer season, I’ll be doing my best to reset with friends, family, and food, as well as intentionally focus on slowing down, doing one thing at a time, and sinking into contentment. Until we meet again in the fall… --- Music: Softly, Boldly, And With a Piano (Album) by John Bartmann is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

Welcome back Magazine Makers! We’re having conversations with magazine-makers— big and small, new and seasoned, independent and commercial—from all over the world, who are sharing what they do and how they do it. This year’s line up includes folks making magazines for kids, art and culture, as well as luxury lifestyle magazines, and a massive global publisher who covers all of this and more. There’s something for everyone in these 4 episodes. This fourth and final episode features Nicola Ryan, Vice President of Product Design at Condé Nast. She is a design leader working at the intersection of brand, storytelling and technology. She is currently Vice President of Product Design at Condé Nast, having previously worked at Pentagram, Karmarama and The Telegraph. Throughout her career, Nicola has led teams in designing digital experiences for iconic brands such as Vogue, the New Yorker and the Times of London. She's focused on how great design can scale yet remain distinct, and how iconic brands can transform towards the future. In this conversation, you’ll hear about Nicola’s career path that has led to her current role. Nicola shares how she thinks about designing for scale across so many publishing brands, including a toolkit that has drastically reduced the time it takes to reimagine visual design changes for brands like Wired and Architectural Digest, including how she helps brands balance consistent processes and experimentation. You’ll hear the specific ways Nicola and her team are thinking about and thoughtfully integrating AI in their creative workflow. We talk about boredom, critique, and the importance of trust-building as a creative leader. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in DG 8111 Digital Publishing in Spring 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Let’s listen in… About Our Guest: Nicola Ryan is a design leader working at the intersection of brand, storytelling and technology. She is currently Vice President of Product Design at Condé Nast, having previously worked at Pentagram, Karmarama and The Telegraph. Throughout her career, Nicola has led teams in designing digital experiences for iconic brands such as Vogue, the New Yorker and the Times of London. She's focused on how great design can scale yet remain distinct, and how iconic brands can transform towards the future. She lives in the UK, with her husband, three children and two cats. --- Music: Bubbles ( Lofi , Bright , Relaxed ) by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

Welcome back Magazine Makers! We’re having conversations with magazine-makers— big and small, new and seasoned, independent and commercial—from all over the world, who are sharing what they do and how they do it. This year’s line up includes folks making magazines for kids, art and culture, as well as luxury lifestyle magazines, and a massive global publisher who covers all of this and more. There’s something for everyone in these 4 episodes. This episode features Ojus Jain, Founder of Esses, a new publication celebrating global culture and motorsports. Esses—meaning the S-shaped turns on the racetrack— launched in October 2024, and just recently released their sixth quarterly print magazine with rookie Formula 1 driver Arvid Lindblad as the cover star. Since launching, Esses has quickly cemented itself as one of the only premium media brands at the intersection of global culture, lifestyle, and motorsports with a readership in over 81 countries, thousands of subscribers, and global partners such as Visa, Cash App, TAG Heuer, Puma, and more. Before starting Esses, Ojus was one of the early founding team members at global news startup Semafor. In this conversation, you’ll hear how Esses fits into the media landscape for current and future F1 fans. In an expansive and fractured media landscape, you’ll hear how Ojus and his team decide the right balance of content, tools, and platforms that help support the brand, including why print is central to their strategy of building trust, including how they extend that trust into digital publishing. You’ll hear why building a strong team is critical, even in an age where tools allow us to do more of the process ourselves, and why job titles matter less than you might think in a start up. Ojus shares his insider take on what’s possible in independent publishing, how he’s thinking about AI, and how the Esses team is creating a financially-sustainable media brand through partnerships, events, and subscriptions. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in DG 8111 Digital Publishing in Spring 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Let’s listen in… About Our Guest: Ojus Jain is the Founder of Esses, a new publication celebrating global culture and motorsports. Esses, meaning the S-shaped turns on the racetrack, launched in October 2024, and just recently released their sixth quarterly print magazine with rookie Formula 1 driver Arvid Lindblad as the cover star. Since launching, Esses has quickly cemented itself as one of the only premium media brands at the intersection of global culture, lifestyle, and motorsports with a readership in over 81 countries, thousands of subscribers, and global partners such as Visa, Cash App, TAG Heuer, Puma, and more. Before starting Esses, Ojus was one of the early founding team members at global news startup Semafor. --- Music: Bubbles ( Lofi , Bright , Relaxed ) by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

Welcome back Magazine Makers! We’re having conversations with magazine-makers— big and small, new and seasoned, independent and commercial—from all over the world, who are sharing what they do and how they do it. This year’s line up includes folks making magazines for kids, art and culture, as well as luxury lifestyle magazines, and a massive global publisher who covers all of this and more. There’s something for everyone in these 4 episodes. This episode features Krupa Patel, a Toronto and Ahmedabad-based independent magazine maker, founder and editor-in-chief of TURMERIC Magazine—an independent print publication documenting emerging artists, spatial practices, and contemporary culture through a lens of storytelling from the Indian subcontinent and it’s diaspora. Krupa has an academic background in Architecture from OCAD University, has worked in producing over 30 public art and placemaking projects across Canada with municipalities, and worked as an independent curator developing exhibitions that platform emerging voices and explore the intersections of art, design, and everyday life. In this conversation, you’ll hear how Krupa became inspired to create TURMERIC Magazine and how she uses language and linguistics to strengthen the publication’s message and the meaning. With no formal graphic design or publishing education, you’ll hear how Krupa navigated editorial, design, printing, and global distribution steered by 3 words: fun, quirky, and contemporary. Krupa looks backward, sharing what she would do differently if she started again, as well as looks forward, sharing how she plans to evolve the magazine for issue 02 and beyond. Finally, you’ll hear why knowing your niche may be the key that unlocks your magazine making journey. This episode is action-packed with fantastic advice for all new magazine makers. TURMERIC Issue 01 launch party TONIGHT at Issues in Toronto! 📍 ISSUES Magazine Shop, 1489 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON M6K 1T6 🗓 Thursday, June 25 ⏰ 6–9 PM Let’s listen in… Instagram Website Substack About Our Guest: Krupa Patel is the founder and editor-in-chief of TURMERIC Magazine—an independent print publication documenting emerging artists, spatial practices, and contemporary culture through a lens of storytelling from the Indian subcontinent and it’s diaspora. She has an academic background in Architecture from OCAD University, has worked in producing over 30 public art and placemaking projects across Canada with municipalities and worked alongside as an independent curator developing exhibitions that platform emerging voices and explore the intersections of art, design, and everyday life. She is currently based in between Toronto and Ahmedabad, India. --- Music: Bubbles ( Lofi , Bright , Relaxed ) by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

It’s magazine time! I’m currently teaching a magazine production and publishing course, as well as a digital publishing course, and it’s always a delight to connect students with magazine makers of all kinds at this time of year. Welcome to conversations with magazine-makers— big and small, new and seasoned, independent and commercial—from all over the world sharing what they do and how they do it. This year’s line up includes folks making magazines for kids, art and culture, as well as luxury lifestyle magazines, and a massive global publisher who covers all of this and more. There’s something for everyone in the next 4 episodes. This first episode features Caroline Versteeg, a Toronto based Art Director, Designer and Artist who brings content to life at Chickadee Magazine at Owl Kids. Chickadee is 1 of 3 magazines for kids that are 100% Canadian. Chirp is “The See and Do, Laugh and Learn Magazine for Children Ages 3 to 6.” Chickadee is “The Full-of-Fun, Hands-On Magazine for Children Ages 6 to 9.” Owl is “The Entertaining, Informative, Challenging, and Inspiring Magazine for Preteens.” In this conversation you’ll hear the typical process from start to finish for Chickadee magazine, as well as specific design decisions Caroline considers for their audience of children and how the approach is different from designing magazines for adults. Caroline explains the very specific and very intentional typographic choices that are necessary for early readers (this is a no ligatures or ampersand zone!), and why print is still so relevant and important for kids who are immersed in a digital world. Caroline also shares how the publication’s print design has been influenced by the digital world. You’ll hear how the team at Owl Kids finds new contributors for their publications and Caroline shares great advice for students wanting to work in the world of children’s publishing. Let's listen in... About Our Guest: Caroline Versteeg is a Toronto based Art Director, Designer and Artist who brings content to life. When not busy at her design desk at Owl Kids, Caroline is likely painting or designing for clients on a contract basis. --- Music: Bubbles ( Lofi , Bright , Relaxed ) by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

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. --- Nestled on the 2nd floor of the Tranzac Club at 292 Brunswick Avenue, I find myself in a cozy space on a cold winter evening at the Toronto Zine Library with local creative, Izy Iannetta. Izy is an advertising strategist, performer, and a published poet, with a Master of Digital Media from Toronto Metropolitan University. They are a queer, mad, neurodivergent, AFAB person with a passion for community building and self-expression. Izy is also a member of the team at Sick Stories, a radical bookstore and micropublisher focused on amplifying the voices of disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent, and mentally ill writers and artists. Learn more at sickstories.org The Toronto Zine Library & Archive (TZL) is a physical library space run by a collective of zine readers, zine makers, and librarians who strive to make zines accessible for the Toronto community. They believe that zines are an important medium of communication, and that they should be cherished, protected, and promoted. Through conducting workshops at their library and abroad and hosting events that promote zines as a method of open communication and free expression, as well as the library space itself, they aim to make this belief a reality. Last year I had the opportunity to speak with two volunteers from the Toronto Zine Library for this podcast. You can check out Episode 262 for the full conversation and explore their catalog at https://www.torontozinelibrary.org/. Today Izy and I find ourselves exploring the catalog in-person, surrounded on all sides by shelves containing big ideas tucked into small publications. Let’s see what we find… https://www.sickstories.org/ https://www.prudemag.net/ https://www.pagerecords.ca/about-page About Our Guest: Izy Iannetta is an advertising strategist, performer, and a published poet, with a Master of Digital Media from Toronto Metropolitan University. They are a queer, mad, neurodivergent, AFAB person with a passion for community building and self-expression. Izy is also a member of the team at Sick Stories, a radical bookstore and micropublisher focused on amplifying the voices of disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent, and mentally ill writers and artists. Learn more at sickstories.org Colophon: Recorded on location at Toronto Zine Library on February 27, 2026. Music tracks used in this episode were both from the Free Music Archive. Bach - Aria Variata, BVW. 989 - Variation No. 2 by Brendan Kinsella is licensed under a Public Domain License. Variatio 6 a 1 Clav. Canone alla Seconda by Kimiko Ishizaka is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Sound Effects were all Creative Commons 0 license from Freesound.org Creak 11.wav by jameswrowles -- https://freesound.org/s/323546/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 pages turning.wav by simone_ds -- https://freesound.org/s/366079/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 Scribble.wav by TiesWijnen -- https://freesound.org/s/341738/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 group shush by chapter15studios -- https://freesound.org/s/760256/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 Text is set in conversation, bound by curiosity. Until next time…

Design students and design educators — this episode is for YOU! We have Mitch Goldstein, educator and author of How to Be a Design Student (and How to Teach Them), here to share some powerful thoughts and actionable advice. Mitch is based in upstate New York and he is an associate professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he teaches in the College of Art and Design. Over the past twenty years, he has taught at Rhode Island School of Design, Virginia Commonwealth University, Maryland Institute College of Art, and other institutions. Mitch also maintains a creative practice focusing on various disciplines such as graphic design, wet darkroom photography, sculpture, and furniture design. He also writes and speaks about art and design education, pedagogy, and creative practice. In this conversation, you’ll hear Mitch’s approach to being “professionally curious” and the difference between “education” and “professional practice”. We dig into grading, what design education does well and what parts of the system needs improvement. We talk phones, distraction, and the power of working with materials and analog technologies in the context of digital media. We also dive into Mitch’s book How to Be a Design Student (and How to Teach Them), specifically what Mitch hopes everyone will learn about ownership and agency, critique, and engagement. Mitch also shares his artistic practice and all that entails. Finally, Mitch mentions a study in our conversation from Psychology Today from March 2026 and that study is called The Impact of Tech on Young Minds: Measurable evidence-based decline in student cognitive abilities. Mitch’s style as a teacher and as a communicator cuts through the noise and he tells it like it is. I really feel his authenticity come through in the audio. Design students and design educators, I think you’re really going to enjoy this one. Let’s listen in… About Our Guest: Mitch Goldstein is a designer, artist, educator, and author based in upstate New York. He is an associate professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he teaches in the College of Art and Design. Over the past twenty years, he has taught at Rhode Island School of Design, Virginia Commonwealth University, Maryland Institute College of Art, and other institutions. Mitch also maintains a creative practice focusing on various disciplines such as graphic design, wet darkroom photography, sculpture, and furniture design. He also writes and speaks about art and design education, pedagogy, and creative practice. Mitch has an MFA in Furniture Design from RIT, an MFA in Design/Visual Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts, and a BFA in graphic design from Rhode Island School of Design. --- Music: Bubbles ( Lofi , Bright , Relaxed ) by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

Today I have for you an extra special, extra ordinary, out of this world conversation (literally) about Moon Joy and the digital strategy that surrounds it. Our guest today is Thalia Patrinos, who seeks to make science accessible for everyone through storytelling. Thalia has worked for NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, as a contractor since 2018. Today, she is the Artemis Digital Lead within the Office of Communications. She leads and strategizes all digital communications about NASA’s Artemis missions to and around the Moon, including social media, video, audio, web presence, and digital engagements. In her spare time, she writes science fiction, studies Greek, and juggles fire. In today’s conversation, you’ll hear Thalia talk about the years of work that goes into digital strategy for communicating a mission around the moon, balancing planning and flexibility to capture spontaneous moments of moon joy. She talks about the spreadsheets—the spreadsheets!—including how she uses technology to help with creative strategy. You’ll hear the ways that NASA prioritizes publishing factual information above all else, and get a better sense of who is behind the content and how these teams work together. Thalia takes us into her thinking when addressing multiple audiences across multiple platforms when the whole world is watching and what success looks like for a project of this magnitude. Finally, Thalia lets us in on her career backstory including how she ended up at NASA and the funny and relatable story about her first job interview. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in DG 8111 Digital Publishing in Spring 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. “Copy, Podcast joy.” Let's listen in... About Our Guest: Thalia Patrinos (she/her) seeks to make science accessible for everyone through storytelling. Patrinos has worked for NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC, as a contractor since 2018. Today, she is the Artemis Digital Lead within the Office of Communications. She leads and strategizes all digital communications about NASA’s Artemis missions to and around the Moon, including social media, video, audio, web presence, and digital engagements. In her spare time, she writes science fiction, studies Greek, and juggles fire. --- Music: Utopian Future by John Bartmann is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

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. --- Ahhhhh, today we find ourselves at Canada’s largest reference library and home to over 4 million items, specialized Digital Innovation Hubs, extensive study spaces, and rare historical archives: welcome to the Toronto Reference Library. Located just north of the buzzing downtown intersection of Yonge and Bloor, this library is an incredible resource for the people of the City of Toronto, and a place (I’m a little ashamed to admit), I was visiting for the first time with today’s guest, and I couldn’t think of a better person to traverse the floors with… none other than the delightful Carl Shura. Carl Shura (he/him) is a Canadian visual designer focused on identity, wayfinding, installations, and type design in his practice and as an educator. He's a graduate of the graphic design program at Winnipeg's Red River Polytechnic, the post-graduate type design program at The Cooper Union, and the type design residency at SVA in New York. Carl is a member of faculty at the SCHOOLOFDESIGN at George Brown Polytechnic in Toronto where he teaches design, typography, communication, and print production. He is a member of TDC (the Type Director’s Club), RGD (the Association of Registered Graphic Designers), RHSC (the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada), and is the Canadian Delegate for ATypI (Association typographique internationale). He is also a lover of books, which some call a bibliophile, though he's accepted that it's much more accurate to call him a bibliomaniac. To give you a sense of the breadth and depth of resources in this library branch, here are a few highlights from the Toronto Public Library’s website and adjacent sources: There’s a gallery space as soon as as you walk in, inviting you into a space within a space There’s access to 3D printers, green screen studios, audio/video recording equipment and even soldering stations! An Adaptive Technology Hub, equipped with Braille writers, print magnifiers, and screen-reading software for visually impaired library goers There are piano practice rooms and an extensive sheet music catalog There are study and event spaces totalling 1250 seats Not to mention the books (the books!), with rare books, special collections, manuscripts, historical maps, the Baldwin Collection of Canadiana, and the Arthur Conan Doyle Room Carl and I met in the lobby to explore one of the city’s most bountiful spots, to see what would unfold. BONUS TRIVIA FROM CARL! The TPL online account lets you have your own "shelves" as a way to like/favourite titles for later or for items you've finished, and also to share publicly with comments or recommendations. I have several titles on my shelf that are significant to me regarding design or design history like Adrian Frutiger's iconic work, "Signs and Symbols" and Gerrit Noordzij's collection of newsletters about type design theory in "Letter Letter"—but I also have "The Wonderful World of Insects" by Abro Gaul in 1953. Any guess why that's on my shelf of design significance? A HINT: think about production and type in this period of time.* Both images are Creative Commons; attribution: "Jeremy Norman Collection of Images - Creative Commons" About Our Guest: Carl Shura (he/him) is a Canadian visual designer focused on identity, wayfinding, installations, and type design in his practice and as an educator. He's a graduate of the graphic design program at Winnipeg's Red River Polytechnic, the post-graduate type design program at The Cooper Union, and the type design residency at SVA in New York. Carl is a member of faculty at the SCHOOLOFDESIGN at George Brown Polytechnic in Toronto where he teaches design, typography, communication, and print production. He is a member of TDC (the Type Director’s Club), RGD (the Association of Registered Graphic Designers), RHSC (the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada), and is the Canadian Delegate for ATypI (Association typographique internationale). He is also a lover of books, which some call a bibliophile, though he's accepted that it's much more accurate to call him a bibliomaniac. Colophon: Recorded on location at The Toronto Reference Library on February 5, 2026. Music tracks used in this episode were both from the Free Music Archive. Bach - Aria Variata, BVW. 989 - Variation No. 2 by Brendan Kinsella is licensed under a Public Domain License. Variatio 6 a 1 Clav. Canone alla Seconda by Kimiko Ishizaka is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Sound Effects were all Creative Commons 0 license from Freesound.org Creak 11.wav by jameswrowles -- https://freesound.org/s/323546/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 pages turning.wav by simone_ds -- https://freesound.org/s/366079/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 Scribble.wav by TiesWijnen -- https://freesound.org/s/341738/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 group shush by chapter15studios -- https://freesound.org/s/760256/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 Text is set in conversation, bound by curiosity. Until next time… *ANSWER: It's the first book published using phototypesetting instead of metal type.

It has become a Talk Paper Scissors tradition to feature the incredible work of up-and-coming typeface designers in this space (check out Episode 026 with Veronika & Mary-Anne, Episode 113 with Nate & Sarah and Episode 146 with Nicole & Cameron, Episode 191 With Max & Cecilia, Episode 258 with Paulina & Darrab, and Episode 277 with Ivana & Mahrukh). This work was born in the Advanced Typography course I teach at Toronto Metropolitan University. After reviewing many submissions, with work scaffolded throughout the semester, I chose today’s guests because their work was consistently thoughtful, innovative, developed and well-executed. There were lots of incredible submissions and it’s always genuinely hard to choose. As a testament to their contributions to the type community, I am awarding today’s guests (Juliette Bifolchi and Jasmin Gulati—as well as Sakina Shaikh who couldn’t be here) the totally fictitious, highly coveted, not an actual award award: The Apostrophe! Juliette designed a typeface called Road Block and Jasmin designed a typeface called Invertia. In the following conversation, you'll get to hear about each typeface. You'll also hear their perfect type pairings, sensory descriptions of each (sight, smell, touch, sound and even taste), as well as what was easy and difficult about the process. Let the type geekery begin! Let the type geekery begin! About Our Guests: Juliette Bifolchi is a fashion communications student in her final year of study. Her work is grounded in the belief that design goes beyond aesthetics, emerging instead from intention and purpose. She extends this viewpoint to typography, with a particular interest in its function as a narrative tool and its influence on contemporary visual communication. Jasmin Gulati is a graphic designer in her third year of Graphic Communications Management. Her work focuses on translating complex ideas and interdisciplinary research into visual systems, with an attunement to typography as a tool for communication. She is interested in information design and data visualization, and engages with film photography and visual art alongside her design work. --- Music: Bubbles ( Lofi , Bright , Relaxed ) by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

This is the final episode in a 4-part guest lecture series, speaking with an incredible range of design and typography pros from across North America! Today’s conversation is with Sara Soskolne of Monotype, sharing her 20-year history of working on one of the world’s most recognizable typefaces: Gotham. Sara is a typeface designer and Executive Creative Director at Monotype. As a reformed bookworm her deepest inspiration as a designer is the experience of reading, and her abiding interest is in creating typefaces which not only serve but enrich that experience. Prior to joining Monotype, Sara was the senior designer at Hoefler&Co and played a part in nearly every release after her arrival there in 2005 — as a designer, and later also through her oversight of the type design team. She made significant contributions to the Verlag, Chronicle, Gotham, Tungsten, Idlewild, Numbers, Sentinel, and Whitney families, and played a formative role in the design of Quarto, Ringside, and Decimal. As an only partially reformed Torontonian living in New York, Sara still spells like a Canadian and can’t really think in Fahrenheit. In this conversation, you’ll hear about Sara’s origin story in graphic and type design, including how she’s experienced collaboration in commercial type design. Sara shares her recent contributions to Gotham, working directly with the Obama Foundation for the opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Centre in Chicago. Sara gets delightfully technical about Gotham’s letterforms, pulling back the curtain on the decisions made in the expansion of this iconic type family, including for the brand new Gotham variable font. Sara talks about how success is measured in a big project like this and how she knows when the work is done. Finally, Sara shares her advice about what current and future type designers can do to stay on top of the changing landscape. I absolutely encourage you to watch one of my very favourite documentaries that just so happens to showcase some of Sara’s work at Hoefler&Co. It’s available on Netflix and the series is called Abstract: The Art of Design. Their episode is S02 E06. And, Jonathan, if you’re listening, I would absolutely love to chat with you about your incredible career and legacy as a typeface designer. Hopefully we can make that happen one day soon! Please excuse the weird audio on my end. I forgot to bring my mic to class and, well, the show must go on! This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in GCM 806 - Advanced Typography in Winter 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Let’s listen in… About Our Guest: Sara Soskolne is a typeface designer and Executive Creative Director at Monotype. As a reformed bookworm her deepest inspiration as a designer is the experience of reading, and her abiding interest is in creating typefaces which not only serve but enrich that experience. Prior to joining Monotype, Sara was the senior designer at Hoefler&Co and played a part in nearly every release after her arrival there in 2005 — as a designer, and later also through her oversight of the type design team. Among these she made significant contributions to the Verlag, Chronicle, Gotham, Tungsten, Idlewild, Numbers, Sentinel, and Whitney families, and played a formative role in the design of Quarto, Ringside, and Decimal. As an only partially reformed Torontonian living in New York, Sara still spells like a Canadian and can’t really think in Fahrenheit. --- Music: Bubbles ( Lofi , Bright , Relaxed ) by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash

I love a beautiful book about typography (who doesn’t?!) and this one, that we’re about to get into, is a BEAUT! Our guest today is Elliot Jay Stocks and I am obsessed with his other book (Universal Principles of Typography) and use it as the textbook in my intro to typography class (it’s really, really good) and I couldn’t wait to chat with him about his new book, available around the world now! Elliot is a designer and author, known in typographic circles for his work as the co-creator of Google Fonts Knowledge, founder of 8 Faces magazine, and creative director of Typekit (now known as Adobe Fonts). He’s the author of several books, including Universal Principles of Typography (Quarto, 2024) and Fine Specimens (Quarto, 2026), has spoken at over 90 design conferences around the world, and has served as a judge for the D&AD Awards. He and his family live in Somerset, UK. In this conversation, you’ll hear why Elliot wanted to make his new book (Fine Specimens) and what it contains. You’ll hear just how small the type design world actually is (Hi Jamie! Hi Mark!), as well as Elliot’s take on traditional type classification systems. He explains why he chose to integrate non-Latin typography throughout the book (versus it living in a separate section) and where type designers who want to expand into multiple new, unfamiliar scripts can start to think about collaborating with other foundries. Finally, Elliot shares his advice for designers creating specimens today—what to keep and what to consider reinventing. Let’s listen in… About Our Guest: Elliot is a designer and author, known in typographic circles for his work as the co-creator of Google Fonts Knowledge, founder of 8 Faces magazine, and creative director of Typekit (now known as Adobe Fonts). He’s the author of several books, including Universal Principles of Typography (Quarto, 2024) and Fine Specimens (Quarto, 2026), has spoken at over 90 design conferences around the world, and has served as a judge for the D&AD Awards. He and his family live in Somerset, UK. https://elliotjaystocks.com/books https://www.instagram.com/elliotjaystocks/ https://bsky.app/profile/elliotjaystocks.bsky.social --- Music: Bubbles ( Lofi , Bright , Relaxed ) by HoliznaCC0 is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License. Talk Paper Scissors Theme Music: Retro Quirky Upbeat Funk by Lewis Sound Production via Audio Jungle Boat Origami Photo: Boat Origami Photo by Alex on Unsplash Elliot's Photo: Norman Posselt