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.

Warning: this episode speaks about autism and mental health. We remind listeners that the Graphic Support Group hosts are not medical professionals. Please listen with care and understanding.

I met Able during my junior year as a passionate and painfully green design student. What I remember was that he was a tall, older guy who was simultaneously disarming for his height and earnestness. For a chronically detached art student, it was a breath of fresh air that I didn’t know how to take in. Him and I only attended school together for one semester, but he’s taken that education and gone very, very far. He’s currently a Group Creative Director at Thought Matter in New York and previously worked at Noom, been a Creative Director at Deustch NY and LA, member of the AIGA NY board and taught at SVA.

Over the years, Able and I have been in sporadic touch through past projects and social media. From a afar, he’s defined persistence for me and I’m so glad we got to spend some time together on the podcast. Able bares all about the many obstacles he’s overcome including a life threatening illness, financial precarity and mental health struggles. Through it all he’s remained hopeful and grateful to be who he is. Able is a truly creative human being and I’m very fortunate to know him. I hope that his story can be of support for anyone. For me, it was yet another reminder of how much good there can be in the work we do and to not be tied up in the implications we can’t always control.

Check out some of the projects he’s mentioned in the episode: his music as Kamuter, his partner Julia Parris’ creative studio Analog is Heavy, his own work at WTF Studio and some of his collage works.

Choose gratitude friends.

Note: The first part of this episode has some clicks because of a connection issue. We tried to clean the sound up as best as we could. Bare with it because we really think it’s worth listening to! This one’s a long one, but one of our most amazing conversations.

Drew and I spoke with Julie Cho and Erin Segal about their collaborative publishing project Thick Press. The two friends who met when they were 15 have been working together as graphic designer and social worker, asking hard questions about the value of work, juggling life and professions and sticking with relationships.

We recorded this episode on November 8, 2024, two days after the US Presidential election. Despite the disappointment of the time, Julie and Erin showed up for our conversation in a way that can only be described as generous and present. Drew and I always joke that the podcast is “our therapy” and this episode couldn’t be more validating of our motivations. We got to share about how we’ve struggled to keep Graphic Support Group going, the evolution of our friendship and admit to each other that we’re still here and making the project happen. Julie and Erin took such care to hear us and opened up their stories for us to learn and reflect together. We are so appreciative of their time and words.

Thick Press officially published “An Encyclopedia of Radical Healing” shortly after we recorded. They share the details about the massive project in the episode, so please check out their Instagram for more information and support their work with an order.

They’ve also been super busy since we spoke! Here is a listing of some of their upcoming activities and recent publications:

* Thick Press will be at the LA Printed Matter Art Book Fair at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena on May 15-18.

* They have published Change the World: A Research Book for Children and Adults by Sibylle Peters, is based on 20 years of performance-based research at the Fundus Theatre in Hamburg.

* The second, may we dream and design felt futures: where our creative being and practice can feel the sensations of care, intimacy, and liberation, by Denise Shanté Brown, is both a memoir and a guide to creative social practices.

* The third, It’s Too Late. Do It Anyway! A Book about Being a Cultural Worker in the Apocalypse + a Hologram Starter Kit edited by Cassie Thornton and Magdalena Jadwiga Härtelova, is about a mutual aid protocol called The Hologram.

Growth and collaboration!

Warning: this episode contains some foul language. If you are sensitive to this or are listening around young children please use your own discretion before you tune in.

James here :) I was able to sit down with Gabrielle Widjaja, who works under the name Gentle Oriental, and asked her about how she navigates the highs and lows of her creative practice. Gabby began her career as a graphic designer and over the years went through many hurdles to be able to tattoo full-time today. She shared her journey with me, and the two of us compared our different, but connected Asian American lineages.

Gabby would like to shout out a Gentle Pokes, Studio Bumi and Ricky Wang! Check ‘em out!

—

We’re really excited to be sharing this episode with the GSG family. Thank you always for the support. If you appreciate this platform for creativity and care, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. We’re planning many things for the GSG community, so stay tuned. We R Here 4 U.

In case you might've forgotten, we R here 4 U and we got what you've been waiting for. In the heat of last summer, we got to spend some time with Berlin-based “retired” graphic designer Charlotte Rohde. As we connected from three different continents, she shared her love of the Olympics, the typeface New Edge, EULAs and what ‘brat’ summer really meant.

With this hot episode we kick of Season 5 of Graphic Support Group! We have a lot of amazing guests coming up. Thank you as always for the support and love. Community will keep us together, together we keep community. Don't forget - new hotline number - +1-929-277-1941We R Here 4 U.

Hi everyone, I'm James.

And I'm Drew.

Welcome to Graphic Support Group.

It's kind of crazy to think that this podcast has been going on for over three years. When Drew brought his idea of Graphic Support Group as a creative collective, we both thought a podcast would be a fun first project to work on. But neither of us had any idea we'd create something that would resonate with so many other people and have such staying power.

We really appreciate all the support and interest in the podcast over the years. And as we say in our Instagram profile, we are here for you. That means we'd love to hear from you for anything at all. Responses, questions, recommendations, suggestions, anything. Reminder, the hotline is always open.

We have a new number since Google Voice decided to expire our old one. The new number is +1-929-277-1941.

And you can always reach out to us via email, which is [email protected]. Don't hesitate to reach out for any reason.

You can also DM us on Instagram.

And last but not least, you can also send us a message through Substack where you can subscribe and get all our updates. We're at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com.

We really look forward to hearing from you, and we really mean that, so please don't hesitate to reach out.

We have a lot of new ideas in store for year four. And we plan to engage more with our audience and community to get a better idea of what this podcast means to everyone and help us determine what else Graphic Support Group could become.

Thanks again to all our guests over the years and a big thanks to all of our listeners. We really appreciate the support from you all, the calls, likes, messages, and the generosity overall. It really means a lot for us to get some support in that way as well.

A seriously big thank you. And so with that, we have a special mini episode where we're finally replying to one of our favorite calls we ever received on the podcast. We know that this response is now years delayed, but we still felt like we owed it to Berlin's number one graphic support group fan to respond and follow up on our word.

Again, we are very sorry about the delay getting back to you. I think by now you received the t-shirt that you talk about in the call after a series of shipping fiascos where the shirt was returned from Germany back to the U.S. And then I had to send it again. I think that took several months, so I hope you got it. And please know that we value your time, your support, and your enthusiasm. And thank you again for the kind words.

With that, please enjoy Berlin's number one graphic support group fan.

A few months back Drew invited John Provencher to his Brooklyn home and we had a deep dish conversation on the many trappings of design work. John very candidly shared his many experiences working as a designer and how he found a “loop hole” from his former client-driven career.

Nowadays, Provencher’s work revolves around the generative art he creates using scripts and code-based tools. At a time when technologies like NFTs, Web3, blockchain and AI are quickly shifting the landscape of creative work, John has been able to find harmony with technology. He even has taken a reverse trajectory and mined older machines like an old iMac and other archaic screen-based devices.

Ironically, while producing this episode we had some heated battles with our own podcast technologies. We’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that the current state of these AI tools—tools which many designers fear threaten their creative labor—simply aren’t all that smart yet. Graphic Support Group is about the human dimension of creative labor and, as we all know, humans aren’t perfect. So, please pardon some of the audio quality hiccups you may pick up throughout the episode.

Fortunately, with patience and some luck with backed up files, we are finally able to share this lively conversation. At times we run “off-script,” but we had a great time speaking with John, talking about the epic Pink Floyd album “The Wall,” sharing how bad I am at video games, and getting behing the tomfoolery of graphic design.

As always, thank you for the support and stay tuned for exciting updates in the next few months.

Please subscribe, rate and share if you’ve enjoyed our sessions.- James

Hey hey! Hope everybody is having a truly relaxing, mindful summer with enough sunscreen and design totes filled with image-heavy, text-light books to go around. We’re back with another episode of Graphic Support Group, believe it or not.

We have a very special episode for you, the first in a series we’d like to call “Behind the Screen” (thanks to Drew’s partner Deniz Önder for the great nomenclature). This series focuses on the behind-the-scene heroes of the design industry: the printers, technicians, administrators, and studio managers who keep the wheels of this chaos screwed on. Without them, we’d be pretty helpless, so we’d like to dig into what keeps these instrumental figures motivated and inspired, and the pitfalls they undoubtedly face from time to time.

Our inaugural Behind-the-Screen-er is Hasan Askari. Hasan has been a key figure at The Rhode Island School of Design since the late 90’s when he co-founded Concept-Link, a print and design shop that slowly but surely became a go-to resource for design, photo, and architecture students, helpless to find the proper printing capabilities on RISD’s Campus. Over the years Concept-Link offered their services to RISD’s students and faculty to the point of giving students access to the print shop after hours, answering emergency 3 am phone calls from feverish degree project candidates in the 11th hour of production, and even eventually moving into RISD’s official facilities to become the one-stop-shop for students to talk through print techniques and revise projects to make them actually printable, while Hasan dished out philosophy and literature references and pearls of wisdom to bloodshot-tearful eyes of the RISD woebegone.

Besides being a full time print hero and entrepreneur, he has also enjoyed a journalistic career and contributed in critical studies and creative nonfiction. He has also been working on an anthology of English translations of contemporary Urdu poetry.

James and Drew were delighted to talk with Hasan, after years away from Concept Link with memories rushing back in of our days as crying students. We hope you enjoy!

You have likely seen Jonathan Castro’s work, even if you don’t know his name. His influence on the contemporary design landscape is magnificent. The Amsterdam-based, Peruvian born former Metahaven and Studio Dumbar designer has a style all his own; one that has shapeshifted and continues to evolve daily. The through line is that his work constantly embraces the unknown spaces between art and design practice. Look no further than his latest massive endeavor, the design of Dekmantel’s 10th anniversary branding and promotional materials. If you haven’t seen his work, you’ve seen his sources of inspiration: rocks, cracks in pavement, dirt, garbage, the sky on a windy day, etc. He mines the tangential—the marginal—to create visual communication, and also to evoke and capture emotional resonance.

Castro is at the forefront of a plea for design to be a form of visceral creative expression and emotional healing. And he seems to have settled in as organically as the work he’s created. It feels natural, alive, incidental, and vital. Talking to him felt no different. To Castro there’s no line between assemblage, recycling, readymades, and originality: it’s all fair play.

We spoke with Castro about growing up in Peru, his various influences and ideologies, his ongoing conversations with himself surrounding how and why he continues to make work, the concept of “Ambient Design” (did we coin this?!), and what it means to take the time to explore the margins of life, the margins of creativity, and to embrace those things that others may have ignored or glazed over. His interest in the totality of the human experience—the darkness with the lightness—is explicitly laid out in our conversation.

We can’t thank Jonathan enough for his time. It was truly a phenomenal conversation and we hope you enjoy it.