The Interrogang Podcast

What kind of year has it been in type‽ Josh and Kyle have much to reflect on from 2024, and even though they try to do it with a chill vibe, it's hard to ignore all the energy coming from the type world. Kyle can't quite pin down how 2024 made him feel, but he finds the strength to forgive all those unnecessary ligatures. Meanwhile, Josh identifies a Times New Roman assassin and thinks w...

Have you ever wanted to find a font specimen underneath the tree on Christmas morning‽ Then you might just be...a type person. With gifting season upon us, it is once again time for Josh and Kyle to bring you their favorite physical media from indie foundries and shops, ranging from type that is cuddly to tools that facilitate play to a hat that might just help you get lucky at the bar. And we&apo...

What’s your starchiest font‽ It’s Turkey Time again people, and we have once again laid out a five-course meal of our favorite fonts from 2024! So get ready to devour gorgeous backslants, crunchy fonts with no curves, and New Jersey license plate letters that say "I'm walking here!". You’ll wash it all down with tipsy mono italics and finish up with everyone’s favorite anarchical ty...

Why do we think of neutrality as a dirty word‽ Josh and Kyle highlight what makes neutral typefaces integral to the lifeblood of modern type design, both creatively and economically. Now, it may sound like such a conversation might be pretty middle-of-the-road (ya know, neutral), but a lot of ground is covered here. Does the specter of Helvetica loom over all neutral sans designs? When should we l...

What fonts are best for your scariest messages‽ It's the annual Halloween episode and the guys have unearthed a plethora of fonts to make your skin crawl. From fonts that just returned from the torture chamber, to sweet fonts with a dark side, to plant-like alien protuberances, it's a ghoulish typographic menu. Then, Josh has prepared four Halloween short stories, each requiring Kyle to...

What makes for a good name‽ In this very special episode of the Interrogang, there's reason to celebrate as Josh and his wife welcome their first child into the world. So, we're throwing a font-themed baby shower! Kyle takes the reins in this episode and devizes baby shower mini-games, naming challenges, and (maybe not so helpful) friendly suggestions for baby names inspired by the type...

What does Google know about what fonts are made of‽ Josh and Kyle turn once again, despite their better judgement, to Google in everyone's favorite Interrogame to see how well Google's AI can answer your questions about fonts. It's a mixed bag, but once you listen to the episode you might just learn that gothic fonts are from the Gothic era, that modern fonts attended leadership tra...

How old is too old for a font‽ There's a lot of discussion around the age of a font in this episode, as we tour recent modern medieval designs that don't look the way you think they do, question the value of fonts released decades ago, and wonder why we continue to put up with Papyrus. Josh is all about calligraphy, and Kyle has found that gravestone under a depressing tree glyph you wer...

Are we entering an entirely new universe of font genres‽ It's becoming harder and harder to classify genres in typography, and many of the newer releases are just exacerbating that difficulty. Whether it's finding whimsy in your text serifs where it doesn't belong, a dot font that abandons all conscious typographic reality, or a new-fangled approach we're calling a "multi-...

How adventurous can a big corporate font rebrand really be‽ Obviously, there's a lot of room for improvement there and Josh has a bold new direction for Chipotle to go. The guys also talk Olympic logos, handwritten fonts that make you feel seen, a foundry's equivalent of the Burger King Kid's Club, and the trials and tribulations of font pairing. And Fonty McFontface has a cool new...

Did you miss us‽ It's been a while and we've got a lot of ground to cover to make up for lost time. This episode has font help for indie comic designers, football jersey oopsies, and a serif wave crashing to shore. We also explore the concept of a juice cleanse for font foundries and introduce a font release that makes us question our very existence. It's a weird one, but we're...

“Where are all the new Interrogang episodes‽” you, our gentle listener, may be asking yourself. Here’s a quick programming update and a brief trip on the Hogwarts Express. 

Are all type rules meant to be broken‽ We take you back to our convo about the pros and cons of challenging the so-called "rules" of good type design in this Rewind episode. We reference the type used in the credits of some films and TV shows a few times in this episode: Loki , The Favourite , and Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell . Support the Interrogang and help us expand what P...

Where is all the artistic feedback that we so crave‽ Tech Master Andrew sends us back to our discussion from Season 2 in which the guys wonder how we are supposed to develop as designers in this criticism-filled world we live in. Support the Interrogang and help us expand what Proof&Co. and the Interrogang have to offer! Subscribe to TypeCraft , our sister podcast, for hour long interviews and...

Can you tell the difference between a font description and a description of a bottle of wine‽ Kyle was put to this ridiculous test with his type reputation on the line. Hear how well he fared in this Rewind episode. Support the Interrogang and help us expand what Proof&Co. and the Interrogang have to offer! Subscribe to TypeCraft , our sister podcast, for hour long interviews and visual compan...

What's next for type in 2024‽ We're all about FUN this episode (finally), and with a new year rapidly approaching, Josh and Kyle look back on what this past year has been like for independent type and make some hopeful predictions for the future. It also seems like as good a time as any to clear the air and start fresh, so Josh tells us why he doesn't need your ampersand and Kyle wi...

Who will help guide Santa's sleigh tonight‽ It's our annual Gift Guide review, and although Josh has had too much eggnog, Kyle the Red-Nosed Reindeer is here to help finish out your holiday shopping list. There are pencils that will encourage you to sketch more, apparel for your naked designer friends, tools for adding typography into your next woodworking project, and more than enough g...

How much typography can one person possibly consume‽ We intend to find out this week as we foodify some of our favorite releases from this year and fill our plates with typefaces, all in the name of being thankful for this year's font harvest. We've got entrees that will get you toned, starchy fonts that remind us of the power of potatoes, cool and refreshing display types, and sugar-coa...

Can an iconic brand also be a dynamic one‽ This episode starts with a good font with which to sell hugs, a new release that also serves as a marketing exercise, and two handwriting fonts, only one of which is born of hand writing. Then, Josh has to rant about how the ever-changing NBA jerseys are examples of poor branding, and even though Kyle may not exactly disagree, there's a chance the gu...

Did you know that font releases come in all sizes‽ Of course you did, you've been listening to this podcast for almost three years now. The releases keep getting bigger and bigger this week, and we start by pulling Gantry out of Ohno Type Co's dangerous Drawer, then we get old-timey with Ephemera Font's Osbert , followed by the jive-inducing Name Mono from ArrowType, and finishing w...

What are the best fonts for horrifying candy creations‽ This is our annual Halloween episode and Josh has the mad scientist credentials to meet the occasion. He and Art Director Ygor introduce you to the next generation of Halloween candy and the fonts they will use to sell them. The guys also discuss what haunts them in type, ancient incantations to rid us all of a particular typeface's curs...

Have you ever considered the font needs of monsters‽ It's a monster mash (or rather, job fair) for this Rewind episode in which we design business cards for all your favorite Halloween ghosts and ghouls. And, unfortunately, for Fluffles... And here are the fonts we recommend for the employment-seeking monster in your life: Oroban from Blaze Type Ehrie by Blast Foundry on Future Fonts Ohno Cas...

Why is this podcast so obsessed with the names of fonts‽ Because it's important, that's why! (And fun!) This time, Kyle challenges Josh to come up with his own name for fonts, both real and imagined, to explore the thought process behind how a font gets its name. Turns out, naming a font is quite a journey; in this episode alone we have Chonkboards, we get a little Smoishii, there are Sp...

How badly do we all need to expand our type vocabulary‽ This episode starts with Skeleton fonts, a typeface that brings the glom, creative pixelation, and the Goofus and Gallant of font releases, and then the guys rank the definitive* list of type words, phrases, and concepts that everyone should know. Josh just won't let you forget about Blackletter fonts and Kyle is all about those ligature...

Need more type podcasts in your life‽ We've got you covered! We're expanding our podcasting output with a new show: TypeCraft! TypeCraft is a podcast mini-series with interviews conducted by our very own Kyle Read, where we will hear from some of the biggest names in type. Give this episode a listen to hear who we've got lined up for Season One. Then stick around to solve the myster...