Daniel Benneworth-Gray — book designer, writer, Twitter noise, and all round nice chap — joins us on the podcast that is, and isn't, about design. We talk about his career in design, as well as gravy carbonisation, and telephone chairs.

News includes a new freelance rate calculator, Birmingham Design Festival, Record Store Day, and Rob updates us with Martin Sorrell’s latest movements.

This week’s pies are from Marks and Spencer, Pieminister and Yorkshire Baker. One of the pies is called Kevin.

Special Guest: Daniel Benneworth-Gray.

Links:

• Old Man's War by John Scalzi
• A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
• SodaStream UK — Water made exciting (ps shoot the copywriter).
• Day Rate Calculator
• Record Store Day — Ebay scam or worthwhile cause?
• Wetherspoon — Social Media has no value
• Sorrell Gone — Martin Sorrell is no more at WPP. Despite earning £200million over the last five years, he’s accused of misusing company funds.
• All Too Human — National Portrait Gallery exhibition – All Too Human
• Birmingham Design Festival — Birmingham Design Festival looks like a treat.
• Han Solo ice cube tray
• Kona Brewing Co. — Rob's beer this week is a Longboard Island Lager
• Five AM Red Ale from BrewDog — Daniel's beer this week
• Yorkshire Baker pies — Daniel enjoys a Steak and Ale pie. He believes it was already cooked. 8/10.
• Pierate's review of M&S's Steak and Old Peculiar Pie — Rob's pie this week scored a 7.2. If you thought we're weird reviewing pies, then take a look at www.pierate.co.uk.

Links:

We're back for series three! Like a run down syphilitic bus.

What's happened in our absence? Not a whole lot. Creative Review has gone to the paywall, Charlie Higson got stuck in a twisty maze of passageways, all alike, Fonts got all, like, look at us, we're fonts, we're so academic. And Hellboy is coming to a tabletop near you.

This week we talk digital tipping jars: Patreon, Kofi and the like. Rob's considering throwing his flat cap onto the cobbles and asking for donations. Jon works his monocle into his mean little eye and turns his snooty nose skywards.

Pies are tested as usual, but no LOTR this week. Old Man Willow stole our books.

Links:

• Deller Pick Up — RRUNews
• Mantic Games to launch Hellboy Board Game
• Ko-fi.com
• Patreon
• Route Map — Quintin Lake’s walk around the coast of Britain
• FontFace Dojo
• Fighting Fantasy return
• Font Map · An AI Experiment by IDEO
• Google Art & Culture Experiment - Art Palette
• The Devil You Know: A Felix Castor Novel — Mike Carey's series of London-based Urban Fantasy novels

Links:

In the final episode of a rather intermittent season 2, our emissaries of ephemera discuss whether social media has levelled the playing field for both Davids and Goliaths.

News includes Wacom’s artist profile films, how Michael Bierut chooses typefaces, t shirts as design, academicism, The Culture, Dr Who’s rebrand, and Oxford Commas (see what I did there).

One pie is disqualified for being a stew with a lid. LOTR Chapter 5: A Conspiracy Unmasked is discussed in the extra bits.

Links:

• Storm Front: The Dresden Files, Book One (The Dresden Files series 1) eBook: Jim Butcher: Amazon.co.uk: Books
• Chalk by Paul Cornell
• Frank Quitely sketch book — Frank Quitely: Drawings & Sketches - a new book featuring work from the sketchbooks of comic artist Frank Quitely (Vincent Deighan).
• BBC Four - Detectorists
• Brand New: New Logo for Doctor Who by LittleHawk — Who?
• Jean-Léon Gérôme — Academicism
• Social Media Marketing Statistics 2018
• Griefcast on acast — Comedians talking about death
• How Pentagram’s Michael Bierut Picks A Typeface
• Umbrella studios

This week our podcasting curators visit the British Museum, taking in snarky mugs, cuneiform receipts, Roman curses, walrus chess pieces, Portuguese custard tarts, and a very noisy pub.

NB – This episode was recorded in an insanely busy British Museum by a decidedly amateur sound recordist. You have been warned!

Also, the podcast now has chapters so you can skip to the bits you want to hear, rather than listen to us waffle. Oh wait, we waffle all the way through every show. Scratch that.

Links:

• British Museum - Welcome to the British Museum

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