Eleni Beveratou, creative director at the London type studio Dalton Maag, comes back to Daring Forever. ~

Her first conversation looked back at her origin story; this one looks ahead at what it means to be a type designer in 2026. Eleni explains why accessibility and multi-script design now lead client conversations, how variable fonts are bringing back craft that was lost in the early digital years, and why her team calls themselves font developers rather than type designers. 

She talks about the weight of designing letters that billions of people will read, the problem with outdated accessibility guidelines, and how growing up with Latinised Greek type shaped her sense of responsibility. Along the way, she makes the case that knowledge can’t be fast-tracked, that collaboration exposes our blind spots, and that bad kerning still gives the world plenty of stories.

Key takeaways

• Type in 2026 is human. Accessibility and multi-script design are now what clients bring to the table, and Eleni sees both as type doing what it should.
• Bad kerning is a gift. A world of perfect type would be boring. Every misplaced letter on a boat or shopfront carries a story.
• Same typeface, different worlds. One font can look completely different depending on scale and context, so don’t be too prescriptive about how people use it.
• Variable fonts revive old craft. Punch cutters adjusted design and spacing for different sizes. Early digital type lost that, and variable fonts are bringing it back.
• Type can now move and respond. Variable fonts can react to sound, colour, and distance from the screen, opening type up to motion and interaction.
• Design and engineering inform each other. Knowing a typeface’s technical capabilities shapes the design, and design ambition pushes the engineering further.
• Test where the type will live. White text on black looks heavier because of a halo effect. Thorough testing across environments and operating systems shows what a shiny studio screen won’t.
• Know when to stop. Deadlines are real, imperfection is human, and more eyes on the work (colleagues, clients, real users) is how you reach excellence.
• Design for the eyes you serve. Most designers are 20 to 40, but many users are over 40, and eyesight changes.
• There’s no single accessibility fix. Expressive type can create a feeling. Information type needs to be read fast and clearly. Different needs call for different solutions.
• Question outdated guidelines. Many accessibility rules for type date from an era of five system fonts. Put real users in the decision-making.
• Multi-script work is shared work. Native in-house knowledge, outside consultants and clients’ local teams all help shape each script.
• Responsibility means doing the right thing slowly. Greek type was once heavily Latinised. Designers gradually corrected it, and in the process changed people’s habits.
• Hire the person behind the talent. Skill has to be there, but soft skills, teamwork, and a company’s human side make the difference.

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
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A short bonus episode showcasing a few standout moments from this week's guest interview with Seth Epstein from Los York ~

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
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Seth Epstein is a creative entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Los York, a global creative company of self-described “global nomads of the arts.” In this conversation, Radim and Seth skip the business talk and follow the story behind it. ~

It starts with a furious client phone call in the mid-’90s, in the early days of Fuel, one of the first Mac-based motion design studios in LA. Inspired by the Zen parable “Emptying the Cup,” Seth asked to come in and simply listen. That meeting became the basis of how he listens, leads and wins work to this day.

Seth talks about growing up between a hippie philosopher father and a disciplined, self-improvement-driven mother. He sold Fuel to Razorfish at 31 and then spent nearly a decade lost, without purpose. At one low point, his family couldn’t afford groceries. 

A small passion film made with one camera, about his hero Shawn Stüssy, opened the door back into the industry. It led to taking over Stardust and eventually to Los York, whose name, ethos and clothing label all trace back to Stüssy’s International Tribe. The episode ends with a reflection on why creatives keep returning to their hands, and on the universal urge to grow towards the light.

Key takeaways

• You can’t have a breakthrough without a breakdown. Breakdowns are a signal that growth is around the corner, so go looking for them.
• Empty the cup. Let people say everything, don’t defend yourself, then repeat back what you heard so they feel fully heard.
• There are three kinds of listening: distracted, listening to respond (the cocktail-party default) and listening to recreate. The last one wins work and builds relationships.
• Write your own notes. Seth handwrites his and doesn’t let AI do it, because the quality of listening is the competitive edge.
• Money without purpose leads to misery. The “someday my prince will come” story falls apart without community and meaning.
• When everything is stripped away, go back to home base. Ask what you’re good at and what you’d do for free.
• Constraints create great work. One camera, no crew and nothing to lose made a hero-level ask feel easy.
• Comfort kills. Comfort is when we start trimming our dreams and ignoring the “wouldn’t it be cool if” urge.
• One meeting can change your life. Stay open and available, because a throwaway comment can change your direction.
• Find your North Star. Look for people living the life you want and let them pull you forward.
• Be a multi-hyphenate. Keep finding new ways to create, including being bad at ceramics.

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
Book bundles  https://novemberuniverse.co.uk

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A short bonus episode showcasing a few standout moments from this week's guest interview with Amy Swift ~

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
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Amy Swift is a singer and songwriter from London. She grew up in South East London on her parents' Motown, jazz and blues records and was going to gigs from about 15. ~

Her career started on Myspace and in a part-time job selling subscriptions at Music Week, where she "bullied" her way into industry events. Amy Winehouse was breaking through at the same time, so Amy took an alias, Berry Farley, which was her nan's name. 

Features on house tracks followed, then fronting Pacific State with The Shapeshifters and a deal with Universal. She was grateful for all of it, but she never wanted to be just a voice on a house track, because she had stories to tell.

She and Radim talk about where songs come from, and about learning to write to a brief for sync, TV, adverts and even a musical for a cruise ship. They also cover the "twisted fairy tale" of publishing contracts, a week-long writing camp in Denmark with no phones, and why her track Moving ended up using the first demo vocal she recorded.

Takeaways

• Songs start with a feeling. Ask yourself how you feel and what you want to say, then the melody and words follow.
• Anyone can write, because we all share heartache, loss and grief.
• Writing to a brief is a different way of thinking. The constraints can free you up instead of limiting you.
• Sync work became a real income during COVID. It also put her music in front of hundreds of thousands of people through a Netflix show.
• Be open about the commercial side of being an artist. There's no shame in having more than one way to earn from music.
• Labels and publishing deals aren't the be-all and end-all, and they can leave you stuck.
• Less is more. When it feels good, stop, because overcooking can take months or even years.
• Your songs capture a moment in time, and that's what makes them beautiful years later.

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
Book bundles  https://novemberuniverse.co.uk

Lux Coffee Co. https://luxcoffee.co.uk/  (Use: PODCAST for 15% off)
November Universe https://novemberuniverse.co.uk (Use: PODCAST for 10% off)

A short bonus episode showcasing a few standout moments from this week's guest interview with Nils Leonard from Uncommon Creative Studio ~

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
Book bundles  https://novemberuniverse.co.uk

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Nils Leonard is the creative founder of Uncommon Creative Studio, with offices in Stockholm, London and New York. Its work covers design, advertising, film, narrative objects and art, including a show at the Venice Biennale. ~ 

In this conversation, Nils explains why he doesn't want to win the opening weekend. He wants to make reference points: work people still talk about years later. 

He talks about the long break after Grey that stopped Uncommon from becoming "Grey Part Two", and why the first question he asks every new client is "why are you here?" He also explains how three years of a website with nothing on it but a bouncing flag flushed out the time-wasters.

Nils looks back on LifePaint and what he'd do differently, tells the Yves Klein story that inspired the bacteria reveal at OFFF Festival, and explains why he markets to talent before clients. He ends with the kind of work he wants to make next: places and monuments built to outlast everyone involved.

Key takeaways

• Treat every brief as a chance to matter. Whether work adds to your life's tapestry or just fills someone else's list depends on how you choose to see your job.
• Define success before you start. Most of the industry's frustrations come from never asking the client what success really looks like.
• Make it inevitable, not brave. The goal is an idea so right for the problem that nobody even sees it as a risk.
• Build first, then invite. Taking an idea to a brand as an invitation, instead of asking permission, changes the power dynamic.
• Scarcity is value. When everyone takes in the same inputs and offers the same things, being unlike anyone else becomes the offer.
• Narrative objects travel further than adverts. A product, object or place that tells a story lets people retell it in their own way.
• Market to talent first. If the best people want to work with you, the clients follow.
• Want people, don't need them. The power lies in making things happen without depending on anyone.
• Articulation matters as much as art direction. Creatives need to be heard outside their work, whether that's writing, speaking, publishing or making.
• Make it for yourself. The most personal work is often the most universal.

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
Book bundles  https://novemberuniverse.co.uk

Lux Coffee Co. https://luxcoffee.co.uk/  (Use: PODCAST for 15% off)
November Universe https://novemberuniverse.co.uk (Use: PODCAST for 10% off)

A short bonus episode showcasing a few standout moments from this week's guest interview with Frances Yeoland ~

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
Book bundles  https://novemberuniverse.co.uk

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Frances Yeoland is a Sydney-born, New York-based creative director and artist who has spent fifteen years working across branding, campaigns and design systems, while building a parallel practice as an abstract painter and poet.~

She talks with Radim about growing up between Australia's Western outlook and its geographic place in Asia, discovering gallery spaces as a teenage sanctuary, and the long process of letting her commercial and artistic selves finally meet instead of staying separate. 

The conversation moves through her process, poetry as the seed of every painting, colour pulled from photos of everyday urban scenes, and the discipline of resisting the impulse to "fix" a stray brushstroke. They also wander into living eulogies, the value of sitting in ambiguity rather than being pigeonholed, and why doubt doesn't have to disappear for the work to be good.

TAKEAWAYS

• Frances trained in graphic design in Sydney without knowing it existed as a career, discovering it was a way to combine language and visual delivery
• Art galleries became a teenage sanctuary for her as a queer woman navigating a conservative upbringing, offering stories and ways of living she couldn't find elsewhere
• She spent years keeping her commercial design work and personal art practice deliberately separate, before realising the two feed and sharpen each other
• Her paintings begin as poetry — she writes fragments of language first, then builds visual rhythm and colour that mirror the feeling of the words
• Colour choices come partly from a "colour stories" photo album on her phone, pulled from urban scenes and everyday compositions she notices while out in the world
• She resists retouching or correcting mistakes in her physical work, treating an errant brushstroke as proof of the handmade rather than a flaw to erase
• Showing her art publicly for the first time, in a solo show curated by Sydney Fishman, felt deeply vulnerable but gave others permission to be vulnerable too
• She'd rather sit in ambiguity than explain herself into a single job title, believing people are too often afraid of mystery
• Doubt, for her, never fully goes away — she's made peace with it being part of the process rather than a signal to stop
• She and Radim riff on the idea of "living eulogies" — describing people by their values and qualities while they're still here to hear it

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
Book bundles  https://novemberuniverse.co.uk

Lux Coffee Co. https://luxcoffee.co.uk/  (Use: PODCAST for 15% off)
November Universe https://novemberuniverse.co.uk (Use: PODCAST for 10% off)

A short bonus episode showcasing a few standout moments from this week's guest interview with James Martin ~

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
Book bundles  https://novemberuniverse.co.uk

Lux Coffee Co. https://luxcoffee.co.uk/  (Use: PODCAST for 15% off)
November Universe https://novemberuniverse.co.uk (Use: PODCAST for 10% off)

James Martin — designer, educator, and now double author of No Bullshit Branding — joins Radim to unpack why perception so often outruns talent, and what to do about it. ~

The conversation moves from why James wrote a deliberately slow, research-heavy book in a fast-content world, into his central framework: the gap between evidence (everything you've actually done) and proof (what you show the world so people can believe it). 

Along the way, they cover the "hidden geniuses" of the creative industry, the effort heuristic, and why chasing social media visibility without asking where your actual clients are is quietly (well — loudly) burning people out.

Takeaways

• Evidence and proof are not the same thing — evidence is everything you've done; proof is the fraction of it you make visible to people who don't yet know you
• Perception can outweigh talent: the effort heuristic means people equate visible effort with value, regardless of skill
• "Hidden geniuses" — highly skilled people with no visibility — lose opportunities to less-skilled people who are simply better perceived
• A brand is a recognisable reputation, not a logo or a content calendar
• The Five Idea Keys are sequential — you can't skip ahead without answering the question in front of you
• Minimum Viable Brand borrows from lean startup thinking: build small, put it in the world, test, then improve
• Ask existing clients how they actually found you before deciding where to spend your marketing time
• Human biology drives us to conform (Hotelling's Law) — awareness of that pull is the first step to resisting it
• A book (or any deliberate act of proof) can reset how you're perceived, separate from algorithmic visibility

Daring Forever. Podcast with Radim Malinic

daringcreativity.com |  [email protected]

Books by Radim Malinic Paperback and Kindle > https://amzn.to/4biTwFc
Free audiobook (with Audible trial) > https://geni.us/free-audiobook
Book bundles  https://novemberuniverse.co.uk

Lux Coffee Co. https://luxcoffee.co.uk/  (Use: PODCAST for 15% off)
November Universe https://novemberuniverse.co.uk (Use: PODCAST for 10% off)