Scratching the Surface

Adrian Shaughnessy is a designer, writer, and publisher. Along with Tony Brook, he co-founded Unit Editions, an independent publishing company that specializes in design books and monographs for people like Paula Scher and Herb Lubalin. He's written for publications like Eye and Design Observer and his collected essays were published as a book, also called Scratching the Surface, in 2013. In this...

Elliott Earls is a graphic designer, performance artist, and the artist-in-residence in Cranbrook's 2D Design program. He also produces the YoutTube series Studio Practice, a "no bullshit resource for those things that animate the artist and designer's studio." In this episode, Elliott and I talk about experimental graphic design, Cranbrook's interesting critique format, and how he thinks about hi...

In a special one-year anniversary episode, Michael Bierut returns to the show and turn the tables to interview me. One year after I started the podcast and fifty interviews later, Michael and I talk about my own background and why I started the podcast, my graduate school experience, video essays, how the podcast has changed, and what I've learned about design writing over the last year. Links fro...

Doug Thomas is a designer, historian, writer, and teacher. He's the author of the new book, Never Use Futura, and an Assistant Professor in Brigham Young University's graphic design department. After graduating with a degree in graphic design, Doug continued his education by getting a masters degree in history at the University of Chicago where he began his research on typography history. Doug and...

Paola Antonelli is the senior curator of the Department of Architecture and Design and the Director of R&D at MoMA where she's expanded the traditional definition of design by acquiring pieces like the @ sign, the original emoji set, and Minecraft. Originally trained as an architect, Antonelli has written and edited for publications like Domus, Metropolis, ID, and Harper's Bazaar and was previousl...

Karrie Jacobs writes about cities, buildings, and design. She's written for publications like Metropolis, Travel and Leisure, The New York Times, ID, and Fortune. She was also the founding editor-in-chief of Dwell and the founding executive editor of Colors. In this episode, Karrie and I talk about working at her college paper with Matt Groening and Lynda Barry, how she started writing about desig...

Elizabeth Glickfeld is a design writer and lecturer currently based in London. She's the co-founder, along with Anna Bates, of Dirty Furniture, a new kind of design magazine that looks at "when design leaves the showroom" by focusing each issue on a specific piece of furniture. She's also written for various publications including Eye, Design Issues, Domus and Frieze magazine. Previously, she was...

Geoff Manaugh's blog BLDGBLOG, which he started in 2004 to talk about architecture and landscapes, has been one of my favorite blogs for years. He's also the author of the book, A Burglar's Guide to the City, which was optioned for television by CBS, and has contributed to publications like The New York Times, The Atlantic, Cabinet Magazine, The New Yorker, and Domus. In this episode, Geoff and I...

Theo Inglis is a freelance graphic designer and writer based in London. He is a recent graduate of the Critical Writing in Art and Design MA at The Royal College of Art and currently writes for Grafik and Monotype. In this episode, Theo and I talk about his recent MA thesis, An Absurd Machine: Branding, Design, and the City, how he got started writing while he was working as a designer, the types...

Hannah Ellis is a designer, writer, and lecturer in London, England where her work explores the intersection between graphic design and education, through publication and editorial design, writing, lectures, workshops and gallery-based pieces. She's a lecturer in the design department of Sheffield Hallam University and writes frequently for the Creative Review. In this episode, Hannah and I talk a...

Tony Brook is an award-winning designer, creative director, and publisher. He is the co-founder of the London-based design studio Spin and in 2009, he co-founded with Adrian Shaughnessy the design-focused publishing venture Unit Editions. In this episode, Tony and I talk about his early interest in design and how he is continually reinventing Spin, the origins of Unit Editions and his work in publ...

Mark Lamster is the architectural critic of the Dallas Morning News, a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and a professor in the architecture school at the University of Texas at Arlington. He's the author of several books, and is currently finishing a biography of architect Philip Johnson. In this episode, Mark and I talk about how he started writing about architecture, how mak...

Mr. Jeffery Keedy is a designer, writer, and educator. He studied at Cranbrook and since 1985, has been on faculty at CalArts. Originally trained as a designer, Mr. Keedy started writing early in his career and became a frequent contributor for Emigre and his writing has appeared in publications like Eye, I.D., and the AIGA Journal. When I discovered Emigre, Mr. Keedy's writings were always some o...

Ian Lynam is a designer, writer, teacher, and publisher currently based in Tokyo. He runs his own design studio, teaches at Temple University Japan and Meme Design school, is chair of VCFA's MFA graphic design program, writes for magazines like Idea and Slanted, and runs the boutique type foundry and online shop Wordshape. In this conversation, Ian and I talk about his early interest in writing an...

Juliette Cezzar is a designer, writer, and educator. She's currently an Assistant Professor of Communication Design at the New School’s Parsons School of Design, where she was the Director of the BFA Communication Design and BFA Design & Technology programs from 2011–2014. She served as President of the board of directors of AIGA/NY from 2014–2016 and recently finished a sabbatical where she focus...

Jack Self is an architect and writer based in London. He recently founded The Real Foundation, an architecture practice and curatorial institute. The Foundation's flagship publication, The Real Review is a quarterly magazine about architecture, material culture, and what it means to live today. In our conversation, Jack and I talk about his career as both architect and writer, the goals and ideas...

John Caserta is a designer and educator based in Providence, Rhode Island. He is an Associate Professor and former Department Head of the Graphic Design Department at The Rhode Island School of Design and founder of The Design Office, a work and project space for independent designers in downtown Providence. In this episode, John and I talk about the changes RISD's made in their undergraduate grap...

Teal Triggs is an educator, historian, and designer. She is currently Associate Dean in the School of Communication at Royal College of Art in London and editor-in-chief of the design journal Communication Design. She's written extensively on the intersection of design and popular culture for publications like Eye, Visual Communication, and Design Issues. In this episode, Teal and I talk about her...

In the final episode of my June series on my professors, I talk to the co-director of MICA's MFA graphic design program Ellen Lupton. In addition to her work at MICA, Ellen is the Senior Curator of Contemporary Design at Cooper Hewitt, and a prolific author of notable design books like Thinking with Type, Type on Screen, and Graphic Design: The New Basics. In our conversation, recorded a few days...

To continue my series interviewing the professors from MICA who have helped shape this podcast, this week I talk to my critical theory professor Ian Bourland. In addition to teaching at MICA, Ian is an art historian and critic whose work focuses on the diaspora, photography, and the global contemporary. In this conversation, Ian and I talk about his background and interest in art, the role of the...

In the second episode of my miniseries interviewing my professors and advisors from MICA, I talk to my writing professor, Abraham Burickson. In addition to teaching writing at MICA, Abe is also an architect, poet, and performance artist who runs Odyssey Works, a performance group that creates durational performances for audiences of one. In this conversation, Abe and I talk about his background th...

In a special mini-series for the month of June, I'll be interviewing a few of my professors at MICA who advised my thesis project and helped shape this podcast. First up is Kristian Bjørnard, a designer, educator, and sustainabilitist, who I met two years ago when I took his Interactive Design class. Kristian and I bonded over a shared love of design theory, reading, history. In this episode, Kris...

Abbott Miller is a designer, writer, and a partner at Pentagram where he leads a team designing identities, exhibitions, and books. Before Pentagram, Abbott ran a studio, Design Writing Research, with Ellen Lupton and wrote for publications like Eye, Print, and I.D. A monograph of his design and writing, called Design and Content, was published in 2014. In this conversation, Abbott and I talk abou...

Emily Smith is a designer, researcher, educator, and visual anthropologist based in Berlin. She is currently professor and Head of Communication Design at BTK University of Art and Design where she teaches a range of interdisciplinary, research-based design courses and lectures in design, fine art, anthropology, and architectural academic settings. In this episode, Emily and I talk about her journ...

Kenneth FitzGerald is a designer, writer, and educator. His writing has appeared in Emigre, Speak Up, Design Observer, and was collected in the 2010 book of essays, Volume. He's also on the founding board of AIGA's new academic journal, Dialectic, and steering committee member of the AIGA Design Educators Community. In this episode, Kenneth and I talk about his early writing for Emigre and how the...