Join host, Diana Varma, as she explores the wonderful world of design and printing, typography and branding, books and publishing. In each episode Diana aims to answer many age-old, deep philosophical questions such as: Where the heck did Comic Sans originate? Why do the majority of printed books have blank pages at the end? What is the world's ugliest colour? What does a sassy three-year-old have to say about the visible colour spectrum? Ready to have some fun? Let's talk paper scissors.
Today’s conversation is with Alanna Munro of Arcane Type Foundry. She is a certified letter nerd, designer, and educator. In this conversation you’ll hear about Alanna’s creative process for designing type, the importance of squinting, and common misconceptions about independent foundries. You’ll also hear helpful, actionable advice about font licensing. And for all students here: listen up! Alanna lets type design students know how they can get professional critique on your type design work.
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Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Today I’m joined by Andrew Huot, who is book making royalty: a book artist, bookbinder, printer, and conservator whose artists’ books are in collections across the US, from the Art Institute of Chicago to Yale University.
In this conversation, you’ll hear what the term “book arts” means. You’ll learn what a typical day in Andrew’s studio looks like, including his most necessary tools: from bone, to surgical scalpels, to teflon. Andrew shares how he repairs paper (my mind is blown!), the oldest book he’s ever worked on, and he debunks a popular book handling myth (again, my mind is blown!). Finally, Andrew speaks to the importance of books in a highly digital world, and he shares the best next steps for aspiring book artists, which might just be you after hearing this episode!
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Meet emerging typeface designers, Ivana Vukmirovic and Mahrukh Saeed! Ivana designed a typeface called Lindworm and Mahrukh designed a typeface called Khabartoon. In the following conversation, you'll get to hear about each typeface, their perfect type pairings, sensory descriptions of each, as well as what each of these emerging typeface designers plans to do next in the world of letterforms. Let the type geekery begin!
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Down the rabbit hole we go! Each conversation in this series connects in unexpected ways; each new episode spurring a new line of inquiry, like a tunnel turning off in a different direction, each with an origin that’s traced back to episode 273.
This episode features George Wylesol who is an artist and author based in Baltimore, Maryland. In this conversation, you’ll hear about George’s grown-up choose-your-own-adventure book, 2120, that forces the reader to question who is in control. You’ll hear about his inspiration for the work, his technical process, as well as how AI’s evolution shaped the book’s content and meaning. George also waxes nostalgia for early Internet culture and websites like those found on the now defunct Geocities website.
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Today’s guest and her team’s most recent book project is truly emotional and inspiring. In this conversation, you’ll hear from Rachel Arthur, Founder and Editor of boom saloon, “an independent publisher dedicated to democratizing creativity for good”. You’ll hear about their most recent publication (and deeply personal project) that humanizes the experiences of dementia, called “4,4,4&2”.
You’ll hear about the process of co-creation central to the making of the publication, the disappearing ink technology and intentional typographic choices used to mimic the experience of living with dementia, as well as Rachel’s beautiful hope for this project and where it could lead.
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
This episode features Maria Bowler, author of ‘Making Time: A New Vision for Crafting a Life Beyond Productivity’. In this conversation, Maria clarifies the way we orient to the world, either as “the producer” or “the maker”. She dives deep into the problematic ideas around productivity, the ways in which these ideas reinforce colonial systems, and how to re-imagine time, questioning the typical options laid out before us.
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
In this conversation, you’ll hear from Amanda Breeze, a cannabis writer based out of Toronto, Canada, who documents international cannabis culture and explores new smells. This year she launched Tripper Magazine, an adventure travel guide to the world’s cannabis friendly destinations.
In this conversation, you’ll learn about the process of making a magazine from the seedling of an idea, through to distribution all around town. Amanda shares so much invaluable info for new magazine makers!
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Julian Brown is an independent motion designer and augmented-reality artist. In this conversation, you'll hear how Julian and his wife, Amy Shackleton, work together to merge the worlds of fine art and digital media to create interactive installations. You'll also hear how the design space and the fine art space differ in terms of how and when creatives are compensated for their work.
You'll hear Julian’s thoughts on AI and all the ways in which it is both deeply problematic, as well as opportunistic. Julian also shares excellent, actionable money advice for young creatives.
Finally, I turn the tables on Julian and we play a little game of “Never Have I Ever”. ;)
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Welcome to the Brave Creative Humans series! This is the final episodes in the series featuring some of the many past Talk Paper Scissors guests who exemplify brave creative living: Allison MacKenzie, Kevin Shaw, Vincent Wanga, Meg Lewis, Emad Saedi, and Justine Abigail Yu.
In this episode, the 6 answer this question: “In your opinion, what does living life as a ‘Brave Creative Human’ mean to you?”
This series is inspired by Diana’s recently published book, Brave Creative Human: Embrace Failure, Reframe Imposter Syndrome, and Be Unapologetically You. Thank you so much to everyone who joined me at DesignThinkers Toronto for the official launch on October 1 and 2!
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Welcome to the Brave Creative Humans series! This is the fifth of 6 episodes featuring some of the many past Talk Paper Scissors guests who exemplify brave creative living: Allison MacKenzie, Kevin Shaw, Vincent Wanga, Meg Lewis, Emad Saedi, and Justine Abigail Yu.
In this episode, the 6 answer this question: “How do you ‘colour outside of the lines’ in your creative work; in other words, how are you living a creative existence on your own terms?”
This series is inspired by Diana’s recently published book, Brave Creative Human: Embrace Failure, Reframe Imposter Syndrome, and Be Unapologetically You. Thank you so much to everyone who joined me at DesignThinkers Toronto for the official launch on October 1 and 2!
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Welcome to the Brave Creative Humans series! This is the fourth of 6 episodes featuring some of the many past Talk Paper Scissors guests who exemplify brave creative living: Allison MacKenzie, Kevin Shaw, Vincent Wanga, Meg Lewis, Emad Saedi, and Justine Abigail Yu.
In this episode, the 6 answer this question: “What is your approach to maintaining sanity and humanity in a hyper-connected world, particularly as it relates to comparison with other creative folks?”
This series is inspired by Diana’s recently published book, Brave Creative Human: Embrace Failure, Reframe Imposter Syndrome, and Be Unapologetically You. Join Diana for the book’s official launch on October 1 and 2, 2025, at Canada’s largest conference for graphic designers, DesignThinkers Toronto!
I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people!
Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)