Talk Paper Scissors

This episode features a conversation with Toronto-based designer, developer and accessibility specialist, Michael Young. His graduate level research involves making technology more accessible, specifically through the expansion of Raleway; an open source Google font used in communications by the Ontario Government.

In this episode you’ll hear more about Michael’s gateway into this work, hear about the Syllabic writing system, and what Unicode is in plain language. You’ll hear what it was like for Michael to embark on a journey of font creation for the first time, including what surprised him the most and what challenged him most in the process. You’ll learn about typographic tofu and hear helpful resources related to typography for Indigenous language support.

If you’d like to see some of the visuals related to what’s discussed in this episode, please check out the show notes at www.talkpaperscissors.info. 

This conversation is part of a guest lecture series in GCM 230 - Typography at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University.

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

This episode features an in-person conversation at Canada’s largest graphic design conference with type aficionado, Carl Shura! 

In this episode you’ll hear LOTS of excellent type geekery, such as: 

• The history of the typeface Cooper Black and the ways it’s connected to Carl as a person
• The idea that letterforms are just ‘blobs with defects’
• How Carl worked backwards from a few letters to reconstruct an iconic Toronto building sign
• How to approach the development of a revival typeface
• The ways that tools and our physical human bodies shape our understanding of how type should look
• Carl’s delightful views on Comic Sans
• And so much more!

If you’d like to see some of the visuals related to what’s discussed in this episode, please check out the show notes at www.talkpaperscissors.info. 

This conversation is part of a guest lecture series in GCM 230 - Typography at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University.

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

In today’s episode, I have Ali DuHart, a Senior Graphic Designer at Benefit Cosmetics where she’s worked for the last 8 years. You’ll hear about Ali’s role at Benefit Cosmetics including visual merchandising: what it is and how it comes together.

We get into some specifics around prototyping for print, the importance of understanding different audiences in different situations/events, and we talk about balancing brand identity with trendiness, and specifically how Benefit Cosmetics achieves this. 

Ali talks about her career path getting into design and where she started as a traditional artist. Ali’s also RGD Certified and has attended conferences, judged awards and mentored students within the design hub of the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Canada. She describes the benefits of being part of this professional organization. 

If you like cosmetics, if you like printing, if you like glam… this episode’s for you!

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

The Herzberg Design Co is a New Orleans based studio specializing in type design, brand identity, art direction, and everything related to letters; it’s a one-man operation founded by Dutchman Matthijs Herzberg. He focuses on unconventional and exuberant work, but always with a sharp eye for detail, quality, and purpose (as such, combining the best of New Orleans with the best of The Netherlands).

In this episode, you’ll hear why Matthijs loves letters, an analogy about type designers that fundamentally changes the way I understand the profession and what he’s working on now and next. This episode is ripe with metaphor and deep thinking about the role of type and the type designer in the larger realm of visual communications.

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

This episode is all about collage! Eric Bargenda is seasoned design director who has taken his love for graphic design, ephemera and all things vintage and applied it to the art of analog collage. 

In this episode, you’ll better understand the ways in which collage is a natural extension of graphic design, you’ll hear Eric describe his collage process and learn about the surprising way community and collaboration has popped into Eric’s artistic work.

We talk about the power of getting feedback, explore a reframing of the designer’s role beyond simply being ‘a creative’ and you’ll hear about the bricks and mortar design store Eric and his wife run in St. Thomas, ON called Revival Studio.

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

In this episode, you’ll hear world-class Canadian Olympic sprinter and Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Micha Powell, share the process for writing and publishing her book, Sprinting Through Setbacks, and the important lessons she’s learned in the process.

You’ll hear her inspiring story that changed the trajectory of her track career. Micha speaks about self doubt and imposter syndrome, the ways in which they’ve shown up in her athletic journey. How writing can be a time machine and we get into why relying on AI as a writing tool isn’t the answer.

Micha shares the importance of mindset in sport and beyond, including the importance of staying in your own lane (physically and metaphorically). You’ll better understand the ways in which we can all succeed in our own ways, as well as lots of actionable strategies for maintaining focus in a distracted, digital world.

I encourage you to also check out my first episode with Micha, Episode 96: Storytelling & Athletics with Micha Powell. 

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

This episode features a conversation with Jeff Newberry, a music director, composer, arranger, sound designer, and educator working in theatre, concert, and community spaces. For Mirvish, Jeff is the associate music director of Disney’s The Lion King in Toronto. (Opening night is November 2!)

In this conversation, Jeff describes his vision of strong creative leadership — a leader who isn’t afraid to feel stuck, can embrace silence and scrap a plan when needed. We talk about the importance of learning names as a gateway to making others feel seen and the magic to be found in encouraging others to be ‘strong and wrong’. 

We also dive into education more broadly. The importance of agency, what student-centred learning actually looks like and ways in which traditional hierarchical structures should be re-examined for a truly collaborative process. 

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

It’s Peter! Peter Ha is a designer, artist and educator. He is a co-founder of Equal Parts Studio, a Toronto-based contemporary graphic design practice, whose process is founded on curiosity and finding the joy and playfulness in every project. 

In this conversation, you'll hear why Peter loves type, including some different professional and passion projects that put type in the spotlight. Peter seamlessly transitions from coding to working with wood on type and back again, using a variety of digital and analog tools in experimental ways. You’ll also hear Peter share his Vietnamese culture (and a Zoolander reference makes an appearance!).

I encourage you to check out Instagram @talkpaperscissors or talkpaperscissors.info for visuals that Peter describes in this episode.

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

Why do thousands of people have Johnny Cupcakes' logos tattooed on their bodies? And why have thousands of people camped out for Johnny's special edition T-shirts? 

In this conversation, you’ll learn about the secret ingredients to Johnny Cupcakes’ success: surprise and delight. You'll hear how he’s been able to stretch a traditional marketing budget using these key ingredients and SO MUCH MORE, including:

• How Johnny’s printing internship helped inform his brand today
• Johnny's entrepreneurial evolution, including where the name ‘Johnny Cupcakes’ originates
• Actionable steps for flexible and long lasting logo design
• A sales strategy that really works: the art of the pre-sale 
• Demystifying working with others: licensing, partnering and parody
• How to price products to reflect invisible value
• And remembering that being kind is free

This conversation is so rich and has a ton of actionable items for starting and growing a brand.

Entrepreneurs, marketers, brand owners, printers and designers… this episode is for ALL of you!

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)

Welcome to a fun deep dive into typography, play, passion projects and butts, with self-proclaimed Type Dork, Sophie Elinor Brown!

In this conversation, you’ll hear the ways in which Sophie weaves humour and silliness in her work, the tools she uses, curiosity’s role in resourcefulness and continuous learning and the ways in which doing work both for large, global clients as well as for smaller, local clients can be exciting in their own right.

Check out the visuals discussed in this episode at talkpaperscissors.info or Instagram @talkpaperscissors and @sophie_elinor.

 Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)