New York-born Max Phillips has been drawing letters for money since he was a teenager. But his path to full-time type design was a bit circuitous — and even involves a stint as a novelist.

Join us as Max, founder of Dublin-based Signal Type, waxes poetically about designing typefaces. He shares the creative process behind his diverse library; how Hermann Zapf has influenced him; and the delicate balance between crafting bold faces to amuse yourself and making versatile fonts for the design world.

Check out the newly expanded version of Max's Reckham family from Signal Type on MyFonts and Monotype Fonts.

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

This week, we travel to Thailand to hear the story behind Cadson Demak, the Bangkok-based type foundry and design studio that has been shaping the landscape of Thai typography and design for 25 years.

Host Dan Rhatigan chats with Founding Partner Anuthin Wongsunkakon and Senior Type Designer Nalat Jaturapattarapong about how their foundry and studio have influenced Thai type culture, moving from a time when fonts were undervalued to building a thriving industry.

They discuss the complexities of the Thai script, the evolution of the design industry in Thailand, and their pivotal role in educating designers and creating infrastructure for the industry.

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

Step into the world of Malcolm Garrett, an iconic British graphic designer whose career is grounded in punk rock and new technology.In this episode, Malcolm talks about designing record sleeves for bands like Buzzcocks, Duran Duran, and Simple Minds, as well as his enthusiasm for adopting new digital design tools. From the DIY spirit of London's Shoreditch neighborhood in the '80s to learning how to design on Apple IIe computers and early iterations of Adobe Illustrator, Malcolm's reflections offer a glimpse into the evolution of graphic design over the past five decades.

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

Toronto-based Bruce Mau Design is known for tackling environmental, social, and economic problems with design.

Kar Yan Cheung, Director of Design Strategy at Bruce Mau, and Laura Stein, Bruce Mau's Chief Creative Officer, joined us to talk about optimism, the realistic potential for design to influence behavior, and our Re:Vision project with the agency. Also joining us are Monotype's Terrance Weinzierl and Phil Garnham, and Phil's puppy, Otto.

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

Tune in for an inside scoop on Adobe Max 2025, a hub for creativity and design.

In this episode, hosts Carl Unger, Kadley Gosselin, and Livia Halltari guide participants through an interactive Find the Font game and reveal which font they'd send in their place to a job interview.

We also trade notes about MAX's vibrant artist marketplace; talk to Monotype Executive Creative Director, Sara Soskolne, about her work expanding the iconic Gotham typeface for the Obama Foundation; and catch up with John Roshell of Comicraft.

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

Cyla Costa's work feels alive. Hailing from Curitiba, Brazil, she's an award-winning graphic artist and type designer known for expressive lettering and vibrant color palettes. Feminism, strength, inclusivity, and culture are a few of the themes her work explores.

This week, Cyla chats with host Molly Doane about building a creative career and studio in Brazil, her approach to type design, and why letters are not only meant to be read.

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

In this episode, Joy Nazzari chats about her corner of the design world—place branding—with host Marie Boulanger. Joy is the Founder and Executive Chair of DNCO, an agency that's done branding for neighborhoods in London, New York, and Vancouver as well as the city of San Francisco.

From her early days in finance and tech to building an agency that centers both creativity and business strategy, Joy shares her perspective on design leadership, the power of discomfort, and how to connect people to places in meaningful ways.

To see Joy's work, visit dnco.com.

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

What does it take to build an international type foundry from scratch — and keep it thriving for nearly two decades?

In this episode, host Doug Wilson talks with Veronika Burian, co-founder of the independent type foundry TypeTogether. From her background in industrial design to discovering a love for typography while working in Milan, Veronika shares how global experiences shaped her perspective and inspired her to build a remote global team.

You'll hear about the delicate craft of designing multi-script typefaces that respect multiple cultures, honest reflections on growing a collaborative team across continents, and why mentoring new voices in type design feels like one of Veronika's most important missions.

To see work from Veronika and TypeTogether, head to type-together.com or check out their typefaces on MyFonts.

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

Host Livia Halltari chats with Cihan Tamti, a graphic designer based in Bochum, Germany. Cihan designs for clients like Nike, Calvin Klein, and Ms. Lauryn Hill. Yet he's passionate about designing in his community, spending time each year on the identity for a local film festival called DOXS RUHR and on pro bono work for local coffee shops and restaurants.

In this episode, Livia talks to Cihan about his creative process, his early interest in graffiti, the magic of having an art teacher who encouraged him, and designing the identity for the world's largest sailing event.

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

Aaron Draplin likely needs little introduction. He's one of the most beloved and best-known graphic designers working today. People fill auditoriums for his talks and workshops, wait in long lines to take selfies and buy Draplin Design Company merch, and fill his DMs with requests for advice.

In this episode, originally published in 2023, Draplin shares his perspective on design education, staying inspired and motivated, the "surreal" experience of becoming a mentor figure, and the "weird little spot" he's in as he approaches 50.

He's a fixture at Adobe Max, coming up next month, so we thought it was a good time to dig this one out of the archives.

Warning: some explicit language, but all in jest!

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