Graphic Support Group Podcast

Hi everyone,

Wow, we’ve got a big one, a true one, a real one on this episode. Bryan and I are so happy to have Meg Forsyth, current partner and Creative Director at Sylvain, on the show. There’s so much in this hour of conversation: from her early days making zines and selling them on James’ old blog GraphicHug, to the Netherlands, to gardening and parenting, to just being present and authentic for her family and her team. A written summary cannot do this exchange justice and we’re just so grateful to Meg for being 100% with us. We really hope you enjoy it and feel comforted that there are good bosses like Meg out there. Check out her work at meghanforsyth.com and of course the work that her stellar team is doing at Sylvain.

We R Here 4 U.

It’s James here. A few months back a friend sent me a text to an article with the headline “I lost my job, got divorced, and had to move within weeks. I found purpose in building a layoff support tool.” The situation sounded simultaneously shocking and familiar. With news of layoffs at companies like Microsoft and Meta along with daily debates about the impact of AI on labor across the globe, Amanda Snyder Cathey’s story was compelling. She recognized the gap in resources between a company’s human resource emails and the actual process of securing resources after a disruptive employment experience.

I’ve been in the “fog” of a layoff before and Amanda’s empathy and positive resourcefulness brought me hope for the current moment of confusion many designers face today. If you or someone you know is dealing with a job transition please share her tool RIF Surfer. Amanda also recommends Never Search Alone to find support in navigating job searches.

We R Hear 4 U.

“Timing is everything” is as much of a cliché as “you only live once”, but behind those tired phrases is truth. When Bryan and I spoke with Abby Chen, the timing was right. She was celebrating two months since leaving a job at Apple and beginning her independent practice as Studio Present Tense.

Throughout the conversation, Abby walked us through the tremendous amount of courage, deliberation and negotiation with her self that led up to that moment. She shared how she was able to give herself a chance and described the many barriers along the way. It was such a pleasure to share this intimate conversation that mirrors many talks many of us have in our careers and working lives.

Congratulations again Abby on opening Studio Present Tense. Check out her work!

Again, thank you all for listening

We R here 4 U.

Continuing on the mission to introduce more voices to the podcast, we’ve invited Berlin’s #1 fan Muj Abdulzade to co-host with James. When we first asked Muj about hoping on the podcast Naïma Ben Ayed was at the top of her list of people to talk to.

We spent a lovely afternoon chatting with the London-based type designer on her family, the laziness of certain tech companies and the general challenge of working on Arabic type in a world that seeks to stay rooted in Latin. Naïma’s honesty opened space for James and Muj to relay their own experiences with language and culture in the globalized design world.

It’s amazing to be releasing the 50th conversation! Thank you to all our past guests and for all the love from our listeners.

Keep a look out on our Substack for more updates from GSG and news about Naïma’s forthcoming Arabic type design book!

Practice, practice, practice. Whether or now practice makes perfect it's about putting in the hours, the work, the sweat, the tears and the reflections. Bryan Collins of Poetic State joined me, James, in a calm and collected conversation with designer and illustrator Alex Kirsch. We connected on how drawing and soccer have been pillars in his life since childhood, yet the two worlds haven't always merged together. Alex shares how his love of sport and the discipline it has taught him has influenced how he's pushed himself as a designer who now occupies several different spaces.

Thanks for the support.

We R Here 4 U.

We’re back for another season of Graphic Support Group. Kicking off for Season 6 is another episode of our beloved “Behind the Screen” series. If you haven’t heard it our first installment was with Hasan Askari.

This time we got to speak with LA print legend David Mayes. He's long been a part of the LA design community, going beyond his role as a printer to be a steward of design in the city. He shared the development of his career and the many relationships he’s fostered through his work as a printer. David was honest and candid about the weight of being responsible for executing so many people’s work. Throughout the years he’s created lasting bonds and helped bridge the gap between printers and designers. His involvement in AIGA LA has added depth and meaning to his business and the community that’s grown around him. We’re so grateful for his story and helped us better understand the humanity behind the service. Be kind to your printers!

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This year we’ll be bringing some new voices to the podcast to join as co-hosts. Thank you all for supporting this project and we hope to grow the community of creativity and care.

Before we begin we have a special message from Bryan and Poetic State.

Hey, listeners. I'm Bryan Collins, founder of Poetic State, and I'm a career coach who helps multidisciplinary creatives break through whatever is holding them back. If you're stuck, unclear about your next steps or just ready to get outta your own way, I'd love to hear your story. We're offering free 30 minute discovery calls for the listeners of the podcast where we can talk about where you are, where you want to go, and your next action. Follow the link below to book your session with me.

Take him up on this and don’t miss out!

As we wrap up the year and our Season 5, we welcomed back Bryan Collins to help us work some stuff out. James admitted his suspicion of Bryan and recruiters. Drew lets off a little steam about the pressures of collaboration. Through it all Bryan was there with us and helping bring our attentions to the center.

Thank you all so much for supporting Graphic Support Group this year. We have had a chance to reflect on how great this podcast platform is and what it means to us.

We R Here 4 U.

Our guest, Aurélia de Azambuja has been speaking at conferences more recently with her talk, “How to make the logo bigger when the world is burning?” – a provocation that confronts what it means to practice design in today’s world, and more broadly, how to find meaning in design at all. It’s a particularly dark time for humanity, and, once we caught wind of the talk as it went semi viral on Instagram, we were drawn to find out more about Aurelia and her presentation. We were curious about her role in the design world as a member of Base Brussels’ team, how these provocations and honest opinions intersect with her daily work life, and her thoughts on being a designer during great uncertainty and escalating upheaval. She was joined by Editorial Director of Base Julie Tentler to provide even more context to the talk and the culture and life working at Base.

Aurélia is a Senior Designer at Base Design Brussels, where she has been working for the last 8 years. She orchestrates teams of copywriters, illustrators, and art directors to bring bold, conceptually rooted design to life. Her passion about the power of design as a tool for change has her frequently (and now more publicly) asking the big questions – challenging her creative approach, her team, and the design world at large.

Julie Tentler is the Editorial Director at Base Design, leading global communications across the network’s studios. Her focus is on strengthening the Base brand – defining its values and point of view with an engaging tone. Spanning all six studios, she brings a transversal perspective that guides storytelling so the brand shows up with clarity and consistency worldwide.

Base Design was Started in the early ’90s and is an international network of creative studios in Brussels, New York, Geneva, and Melbourne, with a new studio in Saigon and a Digital studio that operates without a physical location. For more than three decades, they’ve built brands that are memorable, human-centric, and crafted for good business.

Rather than replicating the same model everywhere, each of their studios thrives on its local culture – while staying united by a shared mission: to help companies create brands with vision, clarity, and empathy.

In conversation, we hear how Julie and Aurélia are bringing a caring and inquisitive perspective to spaces like the design conferences out of the Base studios to spark important questions. We’re happy to share this episode with everyone and hope it scratches your brains a little to move with your hearts.

We R here 4 U. Thanks.

We’re back with another episode of Graphic Support Group and we’re filled with joy to share this one. Our guest Nontsikelelo Mutiti “is a Zimbabwean born designer, visual artist, and educator whose conceptual approach to design spans the mediums of print, moving-image, web design, fine art, and community engagement.” That introduction doesn’t even begin to capture the breadth of wisdom that Nontsi shared with us. As the spring semester came to an end this past May (she is the current Chair of Director of Graduate Studies in Graphic Design at Yale University) the multidisciplinary designer spent a gracious couple of hours with us.

Her words moved us through the many worlds and spaces she occupies in her life. The conversation helped Drew and I to re-think some ideas about Modernism, community and representation that admittedly had us in knots over the years. Sometimes the complexity of the world has a simpler, more honest solution. We’re so happy to share this generous episode and hope it’ll bring some joy to the beginning of the fall. We hope you all will find some joy in the episode and maybe consider becoming a dragon slayer.

We R Here 4 U.

The work of branding and strategy agency PORTO ROCHA needs little introduction. Founded by Leo Porto and Felipe Rocha after meeting and collaborating together in New York City, the studio has quickly grown and set a high standard for quality work. Drew and I have long wanted to have them on the podcast, but for many reasons we were hesitant to reach out. Even after being linked in the agency’s fantastic “annual report” Design Threads, we were still too shy to approach Leo and Felipe. But finally, this past spring, we sent an email and were honored to have them on as guests.

The two designers have managed to balance many parts of their lives and selves through their partnership. They were candid about the struggles, but spoke with a frank optimism about striving forward and respecting resources. We really appreciated their honesty, care and general openness about their experience. A lot of wisdom was shared, along with some tough questions about competition and perceptions that come with growing a business and studio culture. It was especially touching to hear about a recent project they completed for the Kunsthalle Basel in Switzerland. For Leo, Felipe and the PORTO ROCHA team it was a beautiful full-circle project. As to why it was, you’ll just have to listen to the episode.

As always, thanks for listening.

We R here 4 U.