Living the Dream: Dan Cederholm's Creative Journey (Part 1)

Summary

Designer, author, and co-founder of Dribbble, Dan Cederholm joins Podcast Awesome to chat with Matt Johnson and Jory Raphael about finding joy in creativity later in life, making fonts just for fun, and the art of embracing imperfection. From typefaces and merch to dice games and design detours, Dan shares how side projects, constraints, and a healthy dose of curiosity keep the creative spark alive.

This two-part conversation is full of laughter, nostalgia, and lessons about learning new things just because they’re fun. You’ll walk away inspired to make something— anything — awesome.

Key Takeaways

• Creativity thrives in curiosity: Dan reminds us that learning new things (even outside your job) can reignite your creative energy.
• Constraints fuel originality: Sometimes not knowing everything — or having limited tools — can sometimes help create the most human, interesting work.
• Merch can tell a story: From fonts to dice games, playful side projects become part of a designer’s personal brand.
• Imperfection = personality: The best designs often come with flaws that make them real, memorable, and relatable.
• Spend time not doing your job: Font Awesome’s team philosophy — creativity grows when you step outside your usual sandbox.

Timestamps

• 00:00 — Introduction and catching up with Dan Cederholm
• 02:00 — Typefaces as creative puzzles
• 06:00 — The joy of passion projects
• 10:00 — The first font and lessons from “Chameleon”
• 18:00 — The lineage of icon design and learning from imperfection
• 26:00 — Failures, Field Notes, and finding the next fun thing
• 30:00 — Creative constraints and the beauty of not knowing everything
• 36:00 — Humor, joy, and “making stuff that makes you laugh”
• 38:00 — The icons that exist just because they’re funny
• 42:00 — Hidden glyphs, zombie hands, and bonus icons in fonts
• 44:00 — Wrap-up and where to find Dan online

Related Links

• SimpleBits.com
  — Dan’s home for fonts, merch, and creative experiments
• Dan’s Newsletter
  — The one Font Awesome staffers never skip
• Dribbble
  — Co-founded by Dan, still inspiring designers everywhere

Credits

Produced and edited by Matt Johnson
Video editing by Isaac Chase
Theme music by Ronnie Martin
Interstitial music by Zach Malm

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