The Interrogang Podcast

Are emojis typography‽ The debate rages on (or rather, rages from a year and a half ago) in this Rewind episode. Click here to get your 2022 Annual Report and Almanac , our data-driven look at the world of independent typography in 2022! Click here to subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter to get all the latest type news and notes from your friends at Proof&Co! Please take a moment to rate and rev...

Do we have to be good salespeople to be good designers‽ This Rewind explores the trials and tribulations of having to talk a big game while still being effective designers. Can good work just speak for itself? Click here to get your 2022 Annual Report and Almanac , our data-driven look at the world of independent typography in 2022! Click here to subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter to get all the l...

What could possibly make a typeface lawful, chaotic, or just downright evil‽ We assign fonts to the nine role-playing game character archetypes in this Rewind episode from Season 1. Click here to subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter to get all the latest type news and notes from your friends at Proof&Co! Please take a moment to rate and review us on your podcasting site of choice and if you like...

How will you look back on 2022‽ It's been a bonkers year, but from the best font names to the best single-style release to what new fonts blew minds into the stratosphere, Josh and Kyle have some awards to hand out for the year that was in type. After glasses are raised to toast the winners, the guys reflect on 2022 and look forward to 2023. Kyle makes up his own rules and wants to get weird...

Is Santa ready to deliver all the type gifts this year‽ The independent type world has him covered if not! Joshua Claus and Little Drummer Boy Kyle put their Santa Pants on and review the 2022 Proof&Co Gift Guide for all your gift-giving needs in this holiday episode. Also, the guys get excited for x-height, we learn Kyle likes to sniff his presents, and Josh has Clement Moore rolling in his g...

Can good design be made by committee‽ Collaboration and constructive criticism are supposed to make our creations better, but that can get out of hand when experts aren’t allowed to be experts. Josh and Kyle share their thoughts on design camels, Blackletter-ish miscues, and the oft forgotten capital “Q”. And if we could just give you, the listener, a quick little constructive note…you're doi...

What are you bringing to Typography Thanksgiving‽ Josh and Kyle set the podcasting table, loosen their belts, and bring you the most belly-filling spread of fonts you could possibly imagine. It's a time to be thankful, especially for happy looking "e"s, free swag bags, and for the fact that your hosts kept their pants on. Just don't give Josh any more hats, he's got plenty...

How many type designers does it take to screw in a font‽ More than one, as it usually turns out, and Josh and Kyle are here to celebrate that there is no "I" in "typography team" (though there should be one in every typeface). Like drones in the sky coming together to form a letter, we all come together to make good type. But Josh worries that there is a foundational lack of un...

How many glyphs is too many glyphs‽ Stylistic alternates, contextual ligatures, icons, dingbats, and borders, oh my! So much to design, so little time. But is adding to your glyph count always worth it? The guys explore the idea of the "imposition of choice", what it means to designers and buyers when you give people too many options with a font. Their discussions also take us back in ti...

Where do all our best deleted scenes go‽ Why, our autumnal bonus episode of course, in which an unevenly designed blackletter precedes an uncertain future, mathematically-inclined fonts cause unintended trauma,  font descriptions get automated (and more than a little worrisome), and overachieving designs annoy and delight simultaneously. With all this to talk about, typography's future seems...

Have you ever considered the font needs of monsters‽ Josh and Kyle are tasked with that very thing in this special Halloween episode as they go about designing business cards for things that go bump in the night. They also encounter headless "S"s, sans-serif existential crises, techy-blobby fonts, and Ancient Roman mummies. And just as long as they don't hear a distant clown horn, t...

Can type design ever be considered dangerous‽ The guys tackle the idea that designs that "push the boundaries" can sometimes go too far and become stupid or even dangerous. Josh shares a story from high school to help prove this point, a story that Kyle thankfully survives. Before all this, Kyle tells us all about the conference (festival) he attended, a deep look into how technology, co...

What could be better than two typography podcasts for the price of one‽ Josh and Kyle team up with Micah Rich and Olivia Kane from The League of Moveable Type's Weekly Typographic and have a rollicking conversation through the Olympics, Italian fashion, and, what else, Future Fonts. Our Interro-couple has finally become an Interrogang, and if anyone out there can figure out how to make an amp...

Can you engage with typography using all five of your senses‽ Kyle takes us on a fantastic voyage through the senses of the human body, exploring far-reaching realms of typography though smell, taste, sight, touch, and sound. Josh has a great idea for a partnership with Stomp (patent pending),  Bailey the cat calls our bluff, and things sometimes get a little creepy in this accidentally Halloween-...

Can you describe what a font looks like from the name alone‽ Josh and Kyle see if they can with mixed results. Font names can be weird and Eklektyk, leave you feeling Wild or like a Hopeless Diamond, or even give you inspiration for naming your children. A Zombie Punk by any other name would smell as sweet... Font releases highlighted in this episode: Carolinéale from Pampatype Writer from Pangram...

Is there such a thing as a "foundry groupie"‽ Josh and Kyle hang out in the typographic green room and talk about foundries that set themselves up as one-stop shops and how often font buyers only look to one foundry for all their font buying needs. But first, it's story time with Kyle, and his parable leads the guys to the “Goldilocks Zone”, the just right, sweet spot for the number...

Is there a difference between boring and bad design‽ The guys try to keep things good and exciting while realizing that boring design might just be the backbone of typography and bad design can sometimes be a catalyst of innovation. Kyle talks chairs and Josh descends the NYC Subway into chaos. Little does Kyle know, but he's getting a balloon chair for Christmas... Font releases highlighted...

What did we miss over summer break‽ Kyle guides us through several of the best font releases from the summer of '22 while Josh tries not to get in the way. Kyle commits acts of physical prowess and Josh doesn't know much about the city he lives in. At least we finally found out where XYZ Type got inspiration for their name... Font releases highlighted in this episode: Fang from Matthijs...

Why is it so hard to find out who designed a font‽ Josh can't always find a designer listed when a font is released and finds this baffling. He's on a crusade to see designers listed, and he wants names! We may never know who designed all the fonts, but at least there will always be Future Fonts to bring us home... Font releases highlighted in this episode: Canicule Display from Kostas B...

Ever talk to someone who's using the word "lettering" when they should be saying "type"‽ Kyle serves as judge, jury, and dictionary this week to clarify some of the most common wording mix-ups in type. Readability or legibility? Font or typeface? Understanding the difference matters! Maybe. Kyle then turns the Interrogang into its own Chuckle Hut as the guys submit Andrew...

Isn't it just better to talk about type in-person‽ The guys are excited to be recording from the same room for the first time, and they take that energy to talk about the joys of discussing and taking in type when we are together and not always engaging with each other over a screen. Kyle gesticulates with typographic enthusiasm and Josh admits to asking dumb questions.  But if Josh can learn...

Be honest: how do you really feel about Helvetica and Arial‽ If your answer is a hot take, then this episode is for you! It's Typographic Hot Takes Round 2! Kyle poses some of the most controversial opinions in the type world today to see how Josh feels about them. We learn that we shouldn't have passed kindergarten, Josh is a robot, and we all make mistakes in our twenties. We are pro-B...

Can you tell the difference between the description of a font and the description of a bottle of wine‽ Josh puts Kyle to the test in a game of "Font or Fine Wine" and may have accidentally ended Kyle's type career. The guys also discuss how having strict parameters can help or hinder your work flow and how ligatures can give creepy backrubs. But what are ligatures if not images of o...

Do you feel relevant when it comes to the fonts you create‽ We all strive to see ourselves in our work, but we want other people to like it too, of course! Kyle ponders what the point of it all is, but Josh is too worried about his elderly eyesight. What is more important, who designs the fonts or who the fonts are designed for? It may be an unanswerable question, just like, "did Kyle really...

What is the Interrogang without Kyle‽ Well, we'd rather not find out. Kyle is away this week, so Josh curates some deleted scenes from this season to tide us all over until Kyle returns. There are metaphors aplenty, what could possibly go wrong? The metaphors may get away from us sometimes, but we can't stop, won't stop making them...  Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter at proofco.x...