Underscore

On this episode of Underscore, host ⁠⁠⁠Christian Solorzano is joined by committee member John Hatherly⁠⁠⁠⁠ to reflect on the last three years of the Chicago Graphic Design Club. They share their favorite moments and vision for the club's future and respond to community comments.

Music by the band ⁠⁠⁠Eighties Slang⁠⁠⁠.

Our guest is Nicolette Stosur-Bassett, a business strategist and communications professional working primarily in the social impact space. In 2018, she founded Do It Better Design, a Chicago-based branding and communication studio. She graduated with a BA in Social Enterprise and an MA in Social Innovation and Sustainability from Goddard College. 

In 2022, she spoke with the Chicago Graphic Design Club about her project, Designing For, an examination of the ways in which the global pandemic shaped the personal practices of designers and their approach to community engagement. 

In this episode, Nicolette speaks with host ⁠⁠Christian Solorzano⁠ ⁠about her approach to learning, the meaning of socially conscious work, graphic design's relationship with communication, and more.

Music by the band ⁠⁠Eighties Slang⁠⁠.

Our guest is Joseph Michael Essex, someone who has played a pivotal role in the history of Chicago graphic design for the last five decades. Joseph has spent his career asking questions and finding meaning and reason throughout the process. In the 1970s, he started his career as an art director for the station that produced Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and the National Geographic Specials. Today, he leads J.M.Essex, where he consults corporations, institutions, associations, and independent creative offices and agencies — helping others implement plans personalized for their creative leadership goals.

In this episode, Essex speaks with host ⁠Christian Solorzano⁠ about his childhood, learning from Paul Rand, Herb Lubalin, and John Massey design competitions, the value of learning, writing, leadership, and more.

Music by the band ⁠Eighties Slang⁠.

Our guest is Grace Hamilton, host of the podcast Design Is Not Neutral, a thesis project created during a design master’s program at the University of Notre Dame. Hamilton focuses on challenging perceptions of design, conversations on the meaning of socially conscious work, design education, and history. 

In this episode, Hamilton speaks with host Christian Solorzano about her early introduction to graphic design, growing up in South Bend, Indiana, her approach to teaching design to designers and non-designers, equity within our industry, and much more.

Music by the band ⁠Eighties Slang⁠.

Our guest is designer and community leader David Sieren. In 2002 he graduated from RISD with a BFA in graphic design. Over the past two decades, he’s been an educator at DePaul University, Spudnik Press, the Chicago Portfolio School, has been Co-President of AIGA Chicago, and Co-Founder of the creative collaborative, The Post Family. Today, he’s a Managing Director and Partner at One Design Company, where he leads teams focused on creating powerful experiences rooted in research, design, and strategy.

In this episode, Sieren speaks with host Christian Solorzano about growing up in Milwaukee, being raised by a painter and designer, moving to Chicago, design education, culture, history, and much more.

Music by the band Eighties Slang.

Our guest is entrepreneur, muralist, and designer Jay Byrnes. In 2010, he founded Fourth is King, a Chicago-based streetwear brand. In 2003, he founded his studio Adapt Studio, where he collaborated with companies such as Avondale Type, Chicago Athetlic Hotel, the Museum of Science and Industry, Google, and Nature Valley. Most recently, he’s the Director of Brand at MNML, described as a product development and brand incubation agency.

In this episode, Byrnes speaks with hosts  Christian Solorzano and Jaime Cisneros about starting projects from scratch, building design culture, AI, and more.

Music by the band Eighties Slang.

Our guest is designer, artist, and community organizer Lashun Tines. Chicago-born, Lashun has been working in design for nearly two decades. Since then, he’s worked at VSA Partners, Leo Burnett, Razorfish, and currently, he’s a Design Director at Wieden + Kennedy. Between 2014–2018, he was the Diversity Lead for AIGA Chicago.

His notable work as founder of the project the Art of Blackness has paved the way for African American graphic designers to obtain familiarity and exposure to the creative field through representation and inspiration by celebrating and highlighting African American creatives working today.

In this episode, Lashun speaks with host  Christian Solorzano about growing up in Chicago, high school, the power of finding your “creative tribe,” Emory Douglas, diversity and inclusion, leadership, mentorship, and more.

Music by the band Eighties Slang.

Our guests are Dan McManus and Sofya Karash, partners in both life and business. Together, they run the design studio, the Narrative. Both as educators and designers, they are committed to contributing to and advancing culture through graphic design. Their expertise lies in storytelling and multidisciplinary visual communication languages — relying heavily on research and collaborations, they visualize their clients' narratives. 

In this episode, Dan and Sofya speak with host Christian Solorzano about their Chicago roots, creative inspiration, the meaning of community, and more.

Music by the band Eighties Slang.

Our guest is Crissy Chahyadi. She is currently in the graduate program at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art), earning a Master’s in Graphic Design. Her connection to Chicago is through the work that she’s done for the Field Museum and Adler Planetarium. Originally from Indonesia, she came to the United States to study design at Dordt University in Iowa.

In this episode, Crissy speaks with host Christian Solorzano about her introduction to lettering, starting a design business at 16, studying graphic design in Iowa, her faith, the meaning of community, Chicago, and more. 

Music by the band Eighties Slang.

We're absolutely thrilled about Chicago Graphic Design Club's programming scheduled for 2023, but we also want to take some moment to reflect on 2022. This episode is special because we do just that — some of the Chicago Graphic Design Club's committee members reflect on 2022, discuss the club's future in 2023, and share comments from our community. 

As always, thanks to our listeners and supporters throughout the year — everyone that rolled up their sleeves and contributed their time and energy to what we do; you're what makes this club possible. 

Happy New Year!

Music by the band Eighties Slang.