The Reflex Blue Show : A Graphic Design Podcast

Ben Lueders joins The Reflex Blue Show after doing a breakout session at the 2026 OnBrand Conference in Omaha last month. Longtime listeners will remember Ben as the co-host of most of Seasons 5 and 6.

Ben’s session, The Collaborative Design Process, focused on the value in the design process and the changes in work over the past few years. We also talk about the changes at Fruitful Design (following up on the podcast with Raj Lulla recorded just before this one), the Growing a Fruitful Brand podcast he hosted with Raj, his book Escape from Terikiak, designing book covers, and more.

A big thanks goes out once again to the groups behind the OnBrand Conference – AAF Nebraska, AMA Lincoln, AMA Omaha, and PRSA Nebraska.

Enjoy.

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This year, none other than Raj Lulla, of Lulla Consulting, gave the opening/morning keynote at the 2026 OnBrand Conference in Omaha last month. Just after the breakout sessions that followed, I sat down to talk with Raj about the changes in the industry he’s seen since 2022 – and those that led to him starting up Lulla Consulting (Raj was previously one half of Fruitful Design with Ben Lueders (they still work together)).

We cover part of his keynote on the non-profit company Access Period, and how people can “Do the good that’s right in front of you … just help.”

We also talk a bit about the Growing a Fruitful Brand podcast he hosted with Ben, the return on investment you get when you invest in people, what Lulla Consulting is currently working on, his book The Caring House, and more.

A big thanks goes out once again to the groups behind the OnBrand Conference – AAF Nebraska, AMA Lincoln, AMA Omaha, and PRSA Nebraska.

Enjoy.

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I sit down with Teruko Tsubaki and Kelsey Scofield to discuss graphic designers in Omaha once again having a monthly reason to meet-up. Sometime last year, they created an event called Working Title, and like all great events, have already seen it change a bit. I look forward to seeing how the event evolves and grown in the future.

We talk about the need for community and networking; how to know what to wear to the office of a new job; what is considered proper attire in 2026; and then end when a dog named Maple Syrup told us it was time.

Enjoy.

The post Working Title – Teruko Tsubaki & Kelsey Scofield: The Reflex Blue Show #281 appeared first on 36 Point.

Justin Ahrens is no stranger to the Reflex Blue Show, as he makes his 32nd appearance (for non-hosts, only Steve Gordon has been on the show more often).

We cover the many changes and evolutions of Rule29 over the past six years – ending with being part of the O’Neil Printing Platform, his Design Of podcast, the Running Ahrens podcast he is co-host of, the other podcast he was on, the Homy Inn, Runza, designing for good and using color to heal, and more.

Enjoy.

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Marian Bantjes stops by the Reflex Blue Show to discuss her new venture – Design Art Gallery (DAG). Located in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, DAG is the gallery showcasing the fine art from designers we all wish was in our town.

We talk about Marian beginning as a typesetter, her work in lettering, and her current work in fine art. We end with a discussion on what makes a good pattern.

Enjoy.

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Charles Nix, Senior Executive Creative Director at Monotype, stops by to kick off Season 19 of The Reflex Blue Show!

We talk about working with type at scale (Monotype has a font library of 250,000+ from 4,500+ foundries, which is crazy). We also talk about the Fonts, Feels, & Reels: Generational Attitudes to Type – 2025 Report, 1 of the 6 type trends reports monotype released at the end of 2025.

We also discuss the need for a new (well, 2018?) version of Helvetica in Helvetica Now, the Creative Characters podcast, how Charles got started in type design, and more.

November 7th, 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of the podcast launch for “Be A Design Cast” (the show that we did before “The Reflex Blue Show”, which launched March 4th, 2008) … I guess I have been doing this for a while now. At the 10 year date, I wrote a longer post, this milestone gets a paragraph, and one that is 3 months late.

Enjoy.

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Lyn Wineman opened up the 2025 OnBrand Conference in Omaha last month with her talk, “The Invisible Problem: What’s Really Holding You Back – and How to Fix It.” Her talk, covering the importance of branding, was a great way to start a conference on, well, branding.

We talk about signs of a bad brand, a few red flags in a potential new project, and branding.

We also discuss her “Agency for Change” podcast, and her book, “Untangling Spaghetti: A Branding Fable.”

A big thanks goes out once again to the groups behind the OnBrand Conference – AAF Nebraska, AMA Lincoln, AMA Omaha, and PRSA Nebraska.

Enjoy.

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Mark Mohammadpour was the lunch keynote speaker at the 2025 OnBrand Conference in Omaha last month.

Mark, through his company Chasing the Sun®, is a keynote speaker on employee culture and well-being, so, well, we speak about what that actually means (not the keynote speaker part, but what IS employee culture?). We also talk about working in Public Relations and how it is one of the top jobs when it comes to burning out employees. And the things to look for in job postings (both good and bad).

We also discuss Mark’s significant weight-loss from over fifteen years ago, keeping off the weight, and the effects of it.

A big thanks goes out the groups behind the OnBrand Conference for having me out again – AAF Nebraska, AMA Lincoln, AMA Omaha, and PRSA Nebraska.

Enjoy.

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Jessie McGuire of ThoughtMatter was last on The Reflex Blue Show during the 2023 HOW Design Live conference in Nashville, TN. This time, we speak via Zoom about, well, first that Nashville venue, and then move onto ThoughtMatter’s Censor This! event that was held at their office during the New York City Design week back in May and created to discuss what a designers role is in civic engagement.

We also cover their work for the NBA 2K League (the official Esports league of the NBA), ThoughtMatter’s Where Democracy Begins mural (and what it takes to get a mural made in NYC), and more.

Enjoy.

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Rachel Elnar & Erik Cargill of the Cheers & Tiers podcast stop by to talk about their show that is based partly around the heydays of the AIGA Leadership retreats. I was fortunate enough to get to be at six of these conferences, ending with the one in Omaha, Nebraska. I still miss this event and the immediate connections you had with the other 250~ people there. We also talk about design leadership, the need for design community, and human pyramids.

Enjoy.

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