CAPTN OffScript

Some people walk a straight line into design. Teresa Ferreira dug her way in, through archaeology. She was born in Lisbon, spent part of her childhood in Macau, has lived in London for nineteen years, ran design at the Financial Times, and now runs her own studio, Ferrgood. When I said she felt like the whole world in one person, I wasn't exaggerating. What I didn't expect was how much of this con...

This is the fourth bonus episode of Captn OffScript. When Gemma O'Brien and I recorded her main episode, we got into burnout and flow, and I held that part back for this. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. Gemma has talked about burnout in a lot of other interviews, so I didn't want to rehash it. What I wanted, as someone who leans tow...

This is the third bonus episode of Captn OffScript. When Radim Malinic and I recorded his main episode, the conversation about fear came near the end, and it was good enough that I kept it back for this. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. It's short, and it's the most reassuring thing I've put out in a while. Radim used to think you co...

Gemma O'Brien is a lettering artist, a fine artist, a muralist, and most recently a student of neuroaesthetics. She's painted a billboard in Times Square, had work acquired by a museum, and she has a public Strava profile on her website, because running is as much a part of her as the lettering is. I'd been trying to get her on the show for a long time, and the hardest part was knowing where to st...

This is the second bonus episode of Captn OffScript. When Martyna Wędzicka and I recorded her main episode, we spent most of it on the past and the present. But right at the end, I asked her where she's heading next, and the answer was so warm and so hopeful that I held it back for this. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. It's a short...

Radim Malinic has been a role model of mine for years. He's a designer, a writer, a speaker, he runs the agency Brand Nu, he hosts his own podcast, and he's built a whole philosophy around the idea of daring creativity. I expected this conversation to be about all of that output. Instead it became one of the most honest talks I've had on the show, about the cost of the work and the years he spent...

his is the first-ever bonus episode of Captn OffScript. CJ Cawley and I recorded the main S02/E32 conversation for over an hour and twenty minutes, and somewhere around the hour mark it took a turn that didn't belong in the main episode and didn't deserve to be cut either. So we held it back. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. This is...

Martyna Wędzicka is a Polish graphic designer from Gdańsk with one of the most distinctive styles working today. She's a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale, a two-time winner of the Polish Graphic Design Awards, and she built her entire body of work on something most designers are taught to avoid: mistakes. "I really wanted to destroy something," she told me. "That was my main goal." We t...

CJ Cawley is having the strangest year of his career. Someone built a pixel-for-pixel clone of his website and replaced his face with theirs. A parody video of him triggered a wave of hate inside the design community. He's getting married this weekend. And through all of it, he keeps showing up on camera. This is one of the episodes I've been most looking forward to publishing all season. We recor...

Kristof Devos answered the call from his studio in a small town in rural Belgium, with a cat wandering in and out and his daughter's eighth birthday party happening that same afternoon. It felt like the right way to start a conversation about slowing down. Kristof Devos is an illustrator, a children's book author, a watch designer for the cult London brand Mr Jones Watches, and an art teacher in B...

Episode 30 of Season 2. The 80th episode I've recorded since starting this show. And honestly, I couldn't have picked a better guest to mark a milestone like that. Andy J. Pizza is the host of Creative Pep Talk, an illustrator, a children's book author, and one of the people who has quietly shaped how thousands of designers think about their own creativity. He's also the guy who chose to call hims...

He grew up in Salamanca. Spent 20 years as an art director in Amsterdam. His father died. He boarded a plane to Japan for a sabbatical — and 14 years later, he's still there. Luis Mendo is a Spanish illustrator and the founder of Mundo Mendo — a personal membership project built on illustrated stories, shipped directly to readers with no algorithm in between. This is a conversation about finding y...

He wakes up at 4:30am. Two kids under two. Three hours of work before the house comes alive. This is how one of the most sought-after artists in America currently operates. Temi Coker is a Nigerian-American artist and creative director based in Dallas, Texas. His work has appeared in campaigns for Adobe, Apple, ESPN, AT&T, and the Oscars. He launched a home collection with Walmart in 2025. And...

She chose graphic design over photography because she couldn't afford a camera. She chose it over philosophy because her teacher said get work first, study ideas later. Now she runs a studio of exactly three people, plays guitar in an all-women punk band with no expectations, writes articles on the bus, and has just started her philosophy degree. Ingrid Picanyol is a Catalan graphic designer based...

She designed a Vogue cover during COVID while riding her motorcycle through Barcelona without a helmet. She made over 300 logos before landing on the one for a Nike Haaland campaign. She survived a pandemic across two countries paying two rents simultaneously — and ended up in a farmhouse with bats, eagles, and rats for four months. Marta Cerdà Alimbau is a Catalan graphic designer, AGI member, an...

He's back. And this time we accidentally planned a Madrid book event live on air. Elliot Jay Stocks is a designer, writer, editor, and the person behind Fine Specimens — a brand new book showcasing contemporary type design from 69 foundries, including three of mine. We talked about the book, the five-stop tour, joining Adobe after 18.5 years of freelancing, the love-hate relationship with Instagra...

He founded Serial Cut in Madrid in 1999. For nearly 30 years it became one of the most recognised creative studios in the world. And then he let it go — not because he failed, but because something new had already taken hold of him completely. Sergio del Puerto is an art director, image maker, and one of the most influential creatives in the Spanish design industry. This is the story of Serial Cut...

She learned Photoshop at 12 on multiple 30-day trials. She got into five art schools and couldn't afford a single one. She moved to New York with no job, no safety net, and no plan B. And then her artwork went around the world on a UPS box. Sophia Yeshi is a New York-based illustrator whose bold, colourful, inclusive work has appeared in campaigns for Google, Spotify, Adobe, Instagram, and UPS. Bu...

Lettering legend Jessica Hische sat in a room full of ultra-successful entrepreneurs — and realised they all dreamed of doing exactly what she was already doing. Drums, stained glass, creative hobbies, time with their kids, work they actually love. Her life, right now. In this episode, we go well beyond the portfolio. Jessica opens up about imposter syndrome, building a creative life entirely on h...

Jacob Cass started a blog in 2007 as a design student in Sydney, documenting his learning journey. That simple act of sharing imperfect work caught the attention of a New York agency and launched a career designing for Disney, Nike, and Red Bull. Nearly 20 years later, Jacob has traveled to 88 countries as a digital nomad, hosted the Just Branding podcast for six years, and founded Brand Builders...

What do you want to be known for in five years? Austrian brand designer Geri Kriechbaum asks himself this question constantly — and it's transformed how he builds Stroncton, his brand design studio. In this episode, Geri shares his journey from technical engineer to self-taught designer, the trademark setback that led to Stroncton's creation, and why putting your work out there (even when it's imp...

In this episode, I sit down with Scott Fuller to talk about what it truly means to succeed as an independent designer. We move beyond surface-level advice and dig into the realities of building a sustainable design career. Scott shares how consistency, reliability, and long-term thinking have shaped his path, and why independence requires more than just talent. A large part of our conversation foc...

In this episode, I talk with Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio about building a creative life together and what that really looks like behind the scenes. We discuss their path into design writing, publishing, and criticism, the origins and evolution of Brand New, and the choices that led them away from traditional career structures toward independence. This conversation explores how creative iden...

In this episode, I sit down with Paul and Jan, founders of Hyperfocus, to talk about building a design studio with intention in an industry that constantly pulls your attention in a hundred different directions. We discuss how Hyperfocus was founded during a moment of uncertainty, and how that experience shaped their approach to work, culture, and decision-making. From the influence of skateboardi...

In this episode, I sit down with Alex Trochut for one of the most personal and reflective conversations we’ve had on the podcast. We talk about creativity, identity, and what it really means to stay human in a world that constantly pushes optimization, speed, and output. Alex shares stories from growing up in Barcelona, discovering graphic design early, and being shaped by a family environment whe...