DesignThinkers Podcast

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 new reminders from familiar sources, offering his brand of "back-handed optimism" as a token of encouragement and camaraderie for other creative, emotional and deeply human people. Our conversation takes us to all kinds of places. We talk about big transitions that span our personal and professional lives. We talk about downswings in our lives and the ways the Internet has ruined the experience of making things. We talk about reclaiming a sense of purpose in our lives—and how we’ve accidentally learned a lot along the journey of making and doing things. Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

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 episode, Eva tells me how she sort of fell into 3-D animation as she familiarized herself with Cinema 4D in preparation for her first internship. She shares the ways her developing skill set actually gave her constraints for developing her signature style and how she still feels a sense of overwhelming joy when a cool, new project request lands in her inbox. We spend some time talking about Generative AI too. As an experiment, Eva trained a model on her own work. The results were hilariously mixed. Eva and I spent a bit of time catching up before we hit record, so we’re diving right into this conversation without any of the usual greetings. Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

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 his hands in a myriad of projects. For the purposes of our conversation, Vince is a design leader, a serial entrepreneur and brand consultant. As former VP and head of creative for one of the fastest-growing technology start-ups in North America, he oversaw corporate brand strategy and creative during a period of unprecedented growth. He was with the company from before their Series A to their achievement of a $1 billion “unicorn” valuation. But what Vince is most passionate about right now is creative leadership. In this episode, we dive into his career trajectory. We talk about overcoming adversity, the delusional optimism that he’s gained from those tough experiences and how valuable that delusion can be for entrepreneurs. We also talk about what it means to become a good creative leader and how those leaders should be thinking about new technologies like AI. Enjoy this one! Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

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 of global causes. In this episode we talk about her transition from design into illustration—a story that’s full of childlike curiosity and moments of kismet—and the ways her signature style has evolved over the years. My favourite bit is near the end, where Catalina talks about the value of active patience for creative people. She’s not the kind of patience where you sit on the couch quietly, but instead the kind of patience where you diligently do the work until something magic unfolds.  Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

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 a career reset. While Chairman Ting isn’t going anywhere, he’s doubling down on his fine art practice. We talk about his transition from advertising to fine art, his distaste for client feedback, and how much he loves the kind of procrastination that manifests as play. Plus, I ask him about the role bunnies have played in his life and work—something he’ll be talking more about in his DesignThinkers workshop, titled “Great designers don’t just create; they leave a mark”. Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

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 London, England. Eleni has worked on projects with brands such as Airbnb, Oracle and Facebook. I’m always excited to geek out with Eleni! Her knowledge base is deep and she’s incredibly skilled at explaining complicated typographic ideas in plain language. Listen in as we discuss the qualities of a good typeface, how Eleni stays on top of—and integrates—changing technology into her work, and the complex world of licensing a font. Plus, near the end, Eleni gives us a little preview of her DesignThinkers Vancouver presentation. Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

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 workshops and talks that spark laughter and inspiration. Meg guides both corporations and individuals to reshape how they work and create, inspiring audiences to tackle life's biggest questions through joy, creative exploration and career strategy. This conversation feels a bit like a pep talk. We explore the idea of leveraging your quirks to scare away the wrong kinds of clients, to ultimately, build the right kind of career for you. Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

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. We’re here to talk about process, creativity and the business of design with past and present DesignThinkers speakers. Join me, Nicola Hamilton, for a season of candid conversation with creative legends like Meg Lewis, Carson Ting, and Adam JK.If you like what you hear, join us at one of our conferences in 2025. DesignThinkers in Vancouver is happening this May 13 and 14, and DesignThinkers in Toronto will take place on October 1 and 2. You can find all the details at designthinkers.com.Tune in on Wednesday, March 26 for our first episode. We’ll have a new episode for you every Wednesday. Follow us on Instagram at @rgdcanada or visit us online at RGD.ca. And if you loved our first season, please leave us a review. It really helps!Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com. Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

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, Christopher collaborates across disciplines to deliver award-winning designs for clients in music, architecture, film, and the visual arts. We caught up with Christopher for a live recording ahead of his DesignThinkers presentation. We talk about his best and worst projects to date, why he doesn't have a formalized process, the value of openly sharing ideas and how he balances work and family life.  Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

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 execution was a restrained approach packed with iconography. In this episode, Howard and I go back in time to discuss the process that got them there.  Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.