DesignThinkers Podcast
From the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD), this podcast extends the mission of Canada's largest graphic design conference, DesignThinkers. Host Nicola Hamilton interviews past and present conference speakers, including creative legends like Erin Sarofsky, Michael Beirut, and Paul Scher. The conversations explore process, creativity, and the business of design. Follow RGD on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit rgd.ca.
Episodes
Live Recording with Dalit Shalom
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Dalit Shalom. Dalit is the Director of Product Design at The New York Times where she oversees the creation of new formats, spaces and tools that advance the future of storytelling. She also leads Design and Strategy for various work streams for the company's AI initiates, having previously focused on trust and credibility by developing f
Kenjiro Kirton on How Design Doesn’t (Only) Happen at a Desk
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Kenjiro Kirton. Ken is the co-founder and creative director of HATO, the London- and Hong Kong-based publishing house, design studio and concept store known for its playful, research-driven approach to culture, branding and digital experiences.His work moves fluidly between publishing, interaction, retail, and storytelling, often blurring the
Ariane Spanier on Typography as Visual Voice
This week on the DesignThinkers Podcast, I’m joined by Ariane Spanier, a Berlin-based designer whose work sits at the intersection of typography, culture, and editorial design.Ariane has built a practice working closely with cultural institutions—museums, publications, and artists—where design isn’t just about communication, but about interpretation. She’s also the creative director and co-editor
Dr. Dee Miller on Designing Beyond Compliance
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Dee Miller. Director of Product Strategy and Insights for Product Equity at Adobe. Dee is a researcher and innovation leader, working at the intersection of technology, design, and equity. She's focused on turning real world insights, into products that are more accessible, usable, and culturally relevant. In this conversation, we unp
Peter Smart on Why Your Design Skills Still Matter in the Age of AI
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Peter Smart. Chief Experience Officer and Managing Partner at Fantasy. Based in the Bay Area, Fantasy is a creative partner behind some of the world’s most widely used digital products. Working with companies like Disney, Nike, Spotify, Netflix, Meta, and Google.In this conversation, Peter shares how he’s thinking about the next shift in digit
Nu Goteh on Designing With Community
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Nu Goteh, founder of Room for Magic and co-founder of Deem Journal.Nu’s path into design isn’t a straight line. He started out making graphics on early internet platforms, spent over a decade working in marketing for brands like Puma, Red Bull, and Sonos, and eventually returned to design through a deeper set of questions—about power, partici
Emmi Salonen On Managing Your Creative Inputs
Emmi Salonen is a Finnish graphic designer and art director whose work spans editorial design, visual identity, publishing, and exhibition graphics. She often works with cultural and institutional clients, bringing a thoughtful, systems-driven approach to typography and structure—with just enough play to keep things interesting.Beyond the systems and the structure, Emmi has long been thinking abou
Elizabeth Goodspeed On Finding New Ideas in Old Things
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Elizabeth Goodspeed. Elizabeth is an independent designer, art director, writer, and educator oscillating between Providence, Rhode Island and New York City. Her work riffs on history and visual culture in ways that feel both smart and weirdly intimate. She’s a devoted generalist: branding, packaging, book & editorial design. She’s also kn
Pali Palavathanan on Design as Activism
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Pali Palavathanan, co-founder and creative director of Templo. Based in London, Templo is a purpose-led design studio known for bringing creativity and activism together—working with clients like the UN, Amnesty International, and GF Smith, alongside grassroots organizations fighting for justice around the world.In this conversation, Pali shar
Pablo Martin on Building an Agency Culture In-House
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Pablo Martin, Creative Director at MUBI. A legend in editorial design, Pablo has spent four decades shaping the visual language of publications and brands across Spain, the UK, and beyond. His journey has taken him from a work placement with Massimo Vignelli to co-founding the Barcelona-based studio Grafica and then Atlas, to leading major cul
Debra Bishop on Making Magazines
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Debra Bishop—an award-winning creative director and one of editorial design’s most influential voices. Over the past four decades, Debra has shaped the look and feel of some of publishing’s most iconic titles—from her early days at Rolling Stone, to launching magazines at Martha Stewart, to serving as a design director at The New York Times.Fo
Nadia Tzuo on Storytelling Through Title Design
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Nadia Tzuo—an Emmy Award–winning motion designer and director whose title sequences have become cultural touchstones.Nadia’s work spans television, film, and streaming, with credits on The Last of Us, Shogun, American Horror Story, Pachinko, Star Trek Beyond, and Captain Marvel. Her sequences don’t just introduce a story—they set its mood, bui
Stephen Gates on Speaking the Language of Business
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Stephen Gates—global design leader, keynote speaker, and host of The Crazy One podcast.Stephen’s career has spanned more than 20 years leading creative teams at companies like Apple, Citi, InVision, and McCann, where he’s built award-winning work across branding, product design, and customer experience. Known for his candid, no-nonsense approa
Verònica Fuerte on Building Hey Studio
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Verònica Fuerte. Verònica is the founder and creative director of Hey Studio in Barcelona.Since launching the studio in 2007, Verònica has built one of the most recognizable and beloved visual identities in contemporary design: known for bold color, geometric forms, and a relentlessly optimistic aesthetic. Hey’s work has spanned everything fro
Rachel Gogel on Redefining a Creative Career
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Rachel Gogel. Rachel is an independent creative executive shaping the future of design at the intersection of brand, culture, and technology.After building multidisciplinary teams at places like GQ, The New York Times, Meta, and Godfrey Dadich, Rachel launched her own consultancy in 2020. Since then, she’s worked with everyone from tech giants
Kemp Atwood on Design as a System for Value
This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Kemp Attwood, partner at AREA 17. With a background in creative writing and new media design, Kemp has spent nearly two decades working at the intersection of design, strategy, and technology.He has helped shape AREA 17’s global vision—leading interdisciplinary teams across Paris and New York to deliver transformative work for clients like The
Introducing Season Three of the DesignThinkers Podcast, Coming August 6th
We’re back with a third season of the DesignThinkers Podcast. DesignThinkers is Canada's largest graphic design conference. For twenty-five years, the Association of Registered Graphic Designers has been bringing together visionaries from a range of disciplines to explore creativity and the design process.This podcast is an extension of that mission. We’re here to talk about process, creativi
Adam JK on Embracing Imperfection
This is our last episode of the season—and what a high to go out on! Adam JK is a Toronto-born, Honolulu-based artist whose illustrative work is rooted in honesty, humour and a little bit of darkness. His books and journals, including Things Are What You Make of Them, have sold over a million copies in 20 languages worldwide. Obsessed with aphorisms and ephemera, Adam's work seeks to craft ne
Eva Cremers on Finding Your Own Way
This week, I’m sharing my conversation with Eva Cremers. Eva might be a new name for our DesignThinkers audience! She’s a 3-D artist and animation director from The Netherlands. Eva blends her playful, graphic CGI style with her own graphic design sensibility to create charming, joyful worlds for a growing list of global clients including H&M, Meta, Amazon Music, Apple and Samsung. In this epi
Vincent Wanga on Audacious Creative Leadership
This week, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you, our DesignThinkers audience to Vincent Wanga. Vince is new to the DesignThinkers universe. He’ll be joining us on stage in Vancouver next month to talk about creative audacity. Vince is one of those multi-hyphenates—In this episode, we joke that “I do a lot of things” is our shared tagline. He runs a couple of different businesses and has hi
Catalina Estrada on Creating for Change
This week, I’m sharing my conversation with Catalina Estrada. Catalina is a Colombian illustrator now based in Barcelona. She reinterprets Latin American folklore and expertly documents the natural world in her stunning, and extremely colourful, artwork and patterns. Catalina has worked for major brands like Disney, Netflix and Coca-Cola but she’s also done heaps of self-initiated work for a host
Carson Ting on Making Career Moves
This week’s guest is illustrator, art director and fine artist Carson Ting. Carson kicked off his career in Toronto before moving across the country for a dream job at Rethink. Today, Carson is best known as an artist and founder of Chairman Ting. He’s a bit of a legend in Vancouver, where his murals are plentiful and on occasion span entire city blocks. I’m catching up with Carson on the heels of
Eleni Beveratou on the Intricacies of Type
In this week’s episode, I’m catching up with typeface designer Eleni Beveratou. While working toward her MA in Typeface Design from the University of Reading, she developed an interest in the science of reading for the partially sighted. Her research and findings were published in Digital Fonts and Reading by World Scientific. Today, Eleni works at Dalton Maag, an independent type foundry in Londo
Meg Lewis on Leveraging Your Quirks
In this episode, I'm zooming into The Meg Lewis Fun House! Meg is an artist, performer and educator transforming the world through joy and playful design. Their bold designs burst with colour, bringing an explosion of energy to brands like Dropbox, Meta, Target and Pinterest. With a background in design, improv, clown, music and stage combat, Meg creates uniquely playful experiences through w
Introducing Season Two of the DesignThinkers Podcast, Coming March 26th
We’re back and so excited to bring you a second season of the DesignThinkers Podcast! DesignThinkers is Canada's largest graphic design conference. Since the year 2000, the Association of Registered Graphic Designers has been bringing together visionaries from a range of disciplines to explore creativity and the design process live and on-stage. This podcast is an extension of that mission. W
Christopher Doyle
This week's guest is Christoper Doyle. With over 22 years of experience, Christopher has established himself as one of Australia’s leading brand and design talents. Based in Sydney, his independent studio, Christopher Doyle & Co., is celebrated for its sharp approach to visual identity, creative direction, campaigns, and digital design. Known for blending curiosity and beauty in his work,
Howard Poon RGD
Every year, RGD asks a different Canadian design studio or agency to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ve been speaking with some of our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. My guest this week is Howard Poon, VP of Design at DDB Edmonton. In 2022, Howard and the team at DDB Edmonton tackled the conference identity for our triumphant return to in-person conferences. The e
Min Lew
My guest this week is Partner, Executive Creative Director & Managing Director at BaseNYC. Min Lew was born in Germany, raised in Seoul, and now lives in Brooklyn. Min brings 20 years of experience across culture, technology, luxury, fashion, and more. Her impressive portfolio includes collaborations with clients like Apple, The New York Times, JFK T4 Terminal and MoMA. In this episode we talk
Greg Hoffman
Our guest this week is a global brand leader. Greg Hoffman is the former Chief Marketing Officer at Nike. For 28 years, Greg held marketing, design, and innovation leadership positions at Nike. His role in the rise of marketing and design through that period was recognized when Fast Company named him one of the Most Creative People in Business. Today his primary role is as founder and principal of
Laura Stein RGD
Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ve been speaking with some of our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. My guest this week is Partner and Chief Creative Officer at BMD, Laura Stein. In this episode, I’m asking Laura to go back in time to 2020. Bruce Mau Design was our Design Partner in 2021, which meant
Gail Anderson
Getting to chat with Gail Anderson is a dream. Gail is a designer, writer, and educator. And today, Gail Anderson is Chair of BFA Design and BFA Advertising at the School of Visual Arts. She spent the first part of her career working in publishing: books and then stints at The Boston Globe Sunday and Rolling Stone. She went on to make poster art for Broadway and off-Broadway productions at SpotCo
Chip Kidd
My guest this week is graphic designer and writer Chip Kidd. At Alfred A. Knopf—where he has worked for over 38 years—Chip has designed thousands of book covers. A writer as well, Chip has authored two novels—‘The Cheese Monkeys’ and ‘The Learners’, both national bestsellers. His bio also includes lines like: He was an extra in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ and an answer on Jeopardy in 2002.
Bonus Episode: Mo Bofill RGD
Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ve been speaking with some of our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. My guest this week is Mo Bofill. Mo is currently a Partner and Executive Creative Director of Design at 123w. In this episode, I’m asking Mo to reflect back on her experience as Executive Design Direc
Grace Hwang
My guest this week is Grace Hwang. Up until very recently, Grace was working at Microsoft as Partner Director of Device Research + Design. That role encompassed Device Design, Mixed Reality hardware and software, Accessibility, and Sustainability. She believes in the power of human-centered design to cultivate positive change in people, systems, and society—and she brought that belief to that role
Brian Collins
Brian Collins has presented memorable DesignThinkers talks dating back as far as 2006. Brian is a designer and co-founder of COLLINS, the business transformation company based in San Francisco and New York City. Brian co-founded COLLINS with Leland Maschmeyer in 2008 with a focus not on what they would make, but what they would make possible through design. In this episode, we talk about some of h
Bonus Episode: Jonathon Yule & Thomas van Ryzewyk
Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ve been speaking with some of our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. In this episode, I catch up with Jonathon Yule and Thomas van Ryzewyk. Both Jonathon and Tom work at Concrete here in Toronto. Jonathon functions as their Director of Design and Tom as Creative Direct
Robert Wong
This week's guest is Robert Wong. Robert was born Chinese, grew up Dutch, was Canadian, and is now American. While studying to become an accountant in Toronto, Robert woke up one day, flew to New York, and became a graphic designer instead. Robert is best known for his time leading design at Starbucks and as one of the co-founders of Google Creative Lab, where he still works. In this episode,
Jennifer Kinon
This week's guest is Jennifer Kinon. Jennifer founded Champions Design with Bobby C. Martin, Jr in 2010. Today, Jennifer leads business, design and strategy at Champions. For more than a decade, the firm has crafted meaningful brand strategy and visual identity systems for some of the world’s best brands. At every point in her career, Jennifer has tackled big systems. She served as Design Dir
Bonus Episode: Michael Romaniuk
Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ll be speaking with some of those folks—our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. In this episode, I catch up with Michael Romaniuk. Today, Michael is an Associate Creative Director at Zulu Alpha Kilo. After leaving pre-med in 2018, he executed a surprising direct mail st
Liza Enebeis
This week's guest is Liza Enebeis, Partner and Creative Director at Studio Dumbar/DEPT®. Studio Dumbar is an award winning international agency with Dutch heritage. They specialize in visual branding and motion and Liza is directly involved in all their main projects. Liza also co-founded and co-hosts Typeradio.org, a podcast on type and design, and co-initiator of the Design in Motion Festiv
Michael Johnson
This week's guest is Michael Johnson. Michael set up Johnson Banks in 1992, after a decade learning design, branding and art direction across the globe. His company is known for how they define, then design, brands that make a difference. ‘Do great work for good people’ is their mantra. He’s produced an enviable portfolio of work and received countless awards, including D&AD’s highest hon
Bonus Episode: Hans Thiessen RGD
Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ll be speaking with some of those folks—our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. In this episode, I catch up with Hans Thiessen RGD. Hans leads the design team at Rethink—an agency that’s been named AdAge’s Creative Agency of the Year, one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most I
Jessica Hische
This week's guest is Oakland-based designer, lettering artist and NYT best-selling author, Jessica Hische. If you're a child of the internet, you're probably already familiar with Jessica's work. She kicked off her career working at Headcase Design and later as a senior designer working under the great Louise Fili. In 2009, Jessica stepped out on her own as a freelancer. You mi
Khoi Vinh
Khoi Vinh is a Senior Director of Design at Adobe. He’s been a leading figure in the design community for more than two decades. He has led design teams at large companies and startups across the industry. I first sat down with Khoi during our pandemic-era, Virtual DesignThinkers conference. We had a pretty in-depth conversation about the intersection of design and technology. (If you're an R
Bonus Episode: Tina Mackenzie RGD Emeritus
Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ll be speaking with some of those folks—our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. In this episode, I catch up with Tina Mackenzie RGD Emeritus. Tina is a very accomplished graphic design manager. In 2012, the award winning in-house graphic design team at the City of Missi
Debbie Millman
This week’s guest has been named “one of the most creative people in business” by Fast Company, “one of the most influential designers working today” by GDUSA, and a “Woman of Influence” by Success magazine. It’s author, educator, curator and podcast pioneer, Debbie Millman. I first interviewed Debbie in 2020 as part of our pandemic-era, Virtual DesignThinkers, where we talked at length about Debb
Karin Fong
Karin Fong is an Emmy award-winning director and designer. She’s a founding member of Imaginary Forces, where she works at the intersection of live-action, design, and animation. If you’ve watched shows like Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Little Fires Everywhere, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, or feature films like Spider-Man: No Way Home or Slumberland—you’ve encountered Karin’s work. She’s also helme
Bonus Episode: Dominic Ayre RGD
Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ll be speaking with some of those folks—our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. In this episode, I sit down with Dominic Ayre RGD. Dominic is the Creative Director at Hambly & Woolley, who worked on the conference identity in 2009. Dominic also plays a big role in h
Steven Heller
This week’s guest is Steven Heller. Steven is the co-chair and co-founder of the School of Visual Arts MFA Design program. He was a senior art director at the New York Times for 33 years. He is the author or co-author of 200 books, mostly on design and pop culture, and has been contributing editor to PRINT, BASELINE, EYE and other design magazines. You'd know his writing best under the slug T
Erin Sarofsky
This week’s guest is Erin Sarofsky. Erin is an internationally heralded creative, regularly chosen by brand and entertainment titans to lead their most artful storytelling projects. Erin launched Sarofsky Corp in 2009, in Chicago’s West Loop. The firm has forged long standing relationships in the advertising and entertainment industries, but they’re best known for their main title sequences for mo
Bonus Episode: Mikey Richardson RGD & Mike Kelar RGD
Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian design agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ll be speaking with some of those folks—our past DesignThinkers Design Partners. In this episode, I chat with Mike Kelar and Mikey Richardson. Their titles are both Co-Founder and Co-ECD at Jacknife. In 2008, the year they were our Design Partner, Mike and Mikey were wor
Aaron Draplin
This week’s guest is a DesignThinkers favourite. Aaron Draplin lives and works in Portland, Oregon. He makes work, under the moniker Draplin Design Co., for rock bands, comedians, restaurants, festivals and leftie politicians. He also makes typefaces, for the recently launched DDC Fonts, and has a DDC merch line that’s produced over 350 products. In 2016, he published his first book, titled “Prett
Michael Bierut
This week's guest is Pentagram partner, Michael Bierut. Michael has been at Pentagram for more than 30 years. He's led projects for clients like The New York Times, MIT Media Lab, Mastercard, Princeton University, and the New York Jets. He's also the cofounder of the Design Observer and has authored countless books on graphic design. In this episode, we talk about his early career l
Bonus Episode: Glenda Rissman
In this Bonus Episode of the DesignThinkers podcast, I sit down with Glenda Rissman and Darrell Corriveau of q30 design. Glenda co-founded q30 design with Peter Scott in 1991, Darrell joined as Creative Director Interactive, in 1993. Today Glenda is a regular civilian, having retired from the industry, while Darrell is still at q30 as their VP of Digital. We caught up about the DesignThinkers iden
Forest Young
This week's guest is Forest Young. Forest just announced his new position at Fundamentalco, where he leads the design discipline for new economy clients as part of a senior business acceleration team, with singular focus on value creation. Prior to that, Forest has been the Global Head of Brand at Rivian and the Chief Creative Officer at Wolff Ollins. In this episode, we talk about the past,
Ellen Lupton
This week’s guest is Ellen Lupton. Ellen is a designer, writer, and educator. She’s written and contributed to at least thirty books including Thinking With Type and Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-Racist, Nonbinary Field Guide for Graphic Designers. She teaches in the Graphic Design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (MICA), where she serves as the Betty Cooke a
Bonus Episode: John Furneaux RGD
In this Bonus Episode of the DesignThinkers podcast, we hear from John Furneaux RGD. John is Managing Director, Toronto at PS&Co Brand Studio. He’s led his own firm, B3 Strategy and held executive positions at a handful of leading brand consultancies. I’m talking to John about his time at Karacters, who were our DesignThinkers Brand Partner in 2006. That means John helped lead the team who dev
Sagi Haviv
This week’s guest is the one and only Sagi Haviv. Sagi is a partner and designer at Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv—a firm responsible for some of the most famous logos of all time. Their clients include Chase Bank, NBC, State Farm, OBS, NYU, Animal Planet and the US Open to name a few. Sagi also teaches Visual Identity Design at the School of Visual Arts in New York and has penned a couple o
Annie Atkins
This week's episode features Annie Atkins, a leading voice in the world of graphic props and design for film. Based in Dublin, Ireland, Annie has designed graphic pieces for multiple Oscar-nominated films: including the animated feature The Boxtrolls, Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies and West Side Story, and Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, French Dispatch, and the Grand Budapest Hotel – the latter wh
Bonus Episode: Vanessa Eckstein RGD
Welcome to our first bonus episode of the DesignThinkers podcast! Each year, RGD asks a different Canadian agency or studio to tackle the conference identity. In these shorter episodes, I’ll be speaking with some of those folks—our past DesignThinkers Brand Partners. In this episode, I have pleasure of chatting with Vanessa Eckstein, founder of blok design. Vanessa and the team at blok design wer
Lauren Hom
This week, I sit down with designer, lettering artist, and muralist Lauren Hom. Lauren is best known for turning her passion projects into thriving design businesses. Over the past decade, Lauren has created work for clients like Vans, Target, Google, and Adobe. I’m catching Lauren at the tail end of her most recent side quest: a year-long adventure into the culinary arts. Lauren talks about balan
Paula Scher
In this episode, we sit down with the Paula Scher. Paula is one of the most acclaimed graphic designers in the world. Since 1991, she has been a partner at Pentagram New York, where her work for the Public Theatre, the Museum of Modern Art, Shake Shack and the High Line has become landmarks of modern branding. We talk about her early career, life at Pentagram, and how she’s still designing well in
Introducing the DesignThinkers Podcast from The Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD), coming April 29th
Welcome to the DesignThinkers Podcast! Join host and RGD President, Nicola Hamilton as she digs into the archives of the DesignThinkers conference, reconnecting with past speakers about their talks and ideas that have shaped Canada's largest graphic design conference. Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at
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