Two Designers Walk Into a Bar

Hi, it’s Todd and Elliot here with a quick announcement about Season 3. We’re going to be mixing it up a little bit from our first two seasons. Think themes. Think mini-series. We heard streaming services like Netflix make crazy money with these things so we thought, Why not? (We have a rather large bar tab we need to pay.) Anyway… We’re still talking design and pop culture, but how certain people...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgement, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is frequent artist, occasional sax player and North Carolina resident Kyle T. Webster. Today we ask him even more thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What’s your favorite album cover? What video game (arcade or console) is the best? What’s your favorite sport? What’s the best...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgement, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is frequent artist, occasional sax player and North Carolina resident Kyle T. Webster. Today we ask him even more thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What was the last thing you bought based on the ad or package? Tell us about your favorite drink? (We’ll see if the bartender...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgement, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is frequent artist, occasional sax player and North Carolina resident Kyle T. Webster. Today we ask him even more thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater? Who was (or is) the best advertising character? Are you camp Warner...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgement, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is frequent artist, occasional sax player and North Carolina resident Kyle T. Webster. Today we ask him some thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What’s an iconic design from your childhood? What logo brings a smile to your face? Who is your favorite cartoon character? If you...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgment, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is artist, North Carolina resident and all-around nice guy Lenny Terenzi. Today we ask him even more thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What video game (arcade or console) is the best? What’s your favorite sport? What’s the best Halloween costume you ever had? You’re at the f...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgment, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is artist, North Carolina resident and all-around nice guy Lenny Terenzi. Today we ask him even more thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: Tell us about your favorite drink? (We’ll see if the bartender can make it for you.) What’s your favorite place you’ve had a chance to visit...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgment, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is artist, North Carolina resident and all-around nice guy Lenny Terenzi. Today we ask him even more thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater? Who was (or is) the best advertising character? Are you camp Warner Brothers or c...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgment, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is artist, North Carolina resident and all-around nice guy Lenny Terenzi. Today we ask him some thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What’s an iconic design from your childhood? What logo brings a smile to your face? Who is your favorite cartoon character? If you like this conv...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgment, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is a designer, autodidact and bon vivant in Seattle and beyond named Terry Marks. Today we ask him even more thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What’s your favorite album cover? What video game (arcade or console) is the best? What’s the best Halloween costume you ever had? Y...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgment, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is a designer, autodidact and bon vivant in Seattle and beyond named Terry Marks. Today we ask him even more thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What was the last thing you bought based on the ad or package? Tell us about your favorite drink? (We’ll see if the bartender can ma...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgment, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is a designer, autodidact and bon vivant in Seattle and beyond named Terry Marks. Today we ask him even more thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater? Who was (or is) the best advertising character? Are you camp Warner Broth...

Sometimes, in spite of their better judgment, friends choose to join us in the bar. One of our drinking buddies is a designer, autodidact and bon vivant in Seattle and beyond named Terry Marks. Today we ask him some thought-provoking questions over a few drinks: What’s an iconic design from your childhood? What logo brings a smile to your face? Who is your favorite cartoon character? If you like t...

We’re wrapping-up our second season with one last six pack. Our mix includes books about Batman and from The Onion, iconic images of Bigfoot and a World War II battle, logos for both The Dead Kennedys and The Ramones, a couple of incredible B movie posters from Reynold Brown, two stunning TV show openers for Carnivalé and Six Feet Under, and we finish up with a conversation about hobo symbols and...

Today we’re back with a big stack of goodies from our second season. Consider it your Dagwood sandwich of audio deliciousness. Ingredients include product flops from Coca-Cola and Google, movie props including a tiny business card and a giant W, a couple of stories about the Olympics in Denver and Los Angeles (one good, one bad), a return to Saturday morning with some cartoon characters (all of wh...

Today, we’re doing our dutiful service by revealing some secrets hidden in plain sight. We begin by talking about the symbols found all over the one dollar bill—think pyramids with eyes—and why they’re part of the bill’s design. We then shift gears to discuss who a hobo was and the alphabet they used to communicate with their fellow travelers. - - - - - Visit our full episode page for show notes,...

Nothing sets the stage for a TV show or movie quite like title design. Today we explore two different examples of amazing work that went above and beyond to get viewers excited about each episode of two shows on HBO, Carnivalé and Six Feet Under. We talk about the hints these openers drop, the stories they contain and the talented people who brought them to life, so don’t touch that dial. - - - -...

For our special Halloween episode, and because of our love of B movies, we wanted to pay homage to one of the best horror poster artists of all time, Reynold Brown. We talk about the movie (and poster for) Tarantula, plus what is arguably one of the most recognizable staples of pop culture: the poster for Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman. (The movie? Not so much.) - - - - - Visit our full episode page f...

Today’s episode is loud, fast and very DIY. We jump in to talk about two of our favorite logos, one simple and one ornate, from two iconic bands, The Dead Kennedys and The Ramones. We also talk about the artists Winston K. Smith and Arturo Vega, their relationships with the bands, and the sources of inspiration for their artwork. - - - - - Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual exa...

Photos or it didn’t happen! In this episode we explain the circumstances that led up to two images most people could sketch from memory: Bigfoot walking across a dry creek bed in the woods of California and a group of American soldiers raising a flag halfway around the world from the United States on the island of Iwo Jima. Are they real? Are they fake? We dig in to find out why they have such sta...

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na…When it comes to iconic superheroes, few if any are bigger than Batman. And when it comes to satirical news parodies, there’s no bigger name than The Onion. Today we jump into 100 years of news with the Onion’s first book, a collection of front pages entitled Our Dumb Century. We then turn the page to highlight designer and author Chip Kidd’s incredible book Batman Collected t...

You may consider them funny, bizarre or annoying, but there’s no question they are the biggest fans of their home teams. No, we don’t mean little league parents. Today we’re talking sports mascots. First we drop into Milwaukee and get in a lap or two with The Famous Racing Sausages. Then we head to Central New York to spend time with the Syracuse Orange. Play ball! - - - - - Visit our full episode...

Flags have existed for thousands of years and are arguably the most well-known symbols for countries, cities and movements. They come in different shapes and sizes with distinctive designs and colors influenced by both patriotism, military association and legend. Today we discuss a couple of our favorites from Switzerland and Panama. - - - - - Visit our full episode page for show notes, the visual...

With this episode, regardless of the time of the week you’re listening, it’s Saturday morning. And for decades nothing was a bigger staple for kids of all ages than morning cartoons. We discuss a couple of our favorites when we start with how The Pink Panther wants to build his dream house, and then we slide into a jazzy update of a famous fable with The Three Little Bops. - - - - - Visit our full...

Bum-bum-ba-bum-bummm…Nothing brings the world together every couple of years like the Olympic Games. With such a large stage and a chance to influence audiences around the globe, designers jump at the chance to create something great. In this episode we discuss what did (or didn’t) happen in Denver in 1976 and the Technicolor vibrancy of Los Angeles in 1984. - - - - - Visit our full episode page f...