Scratching the Surface

Stuart Bertolotti-Bailey is a designer, writer, editor, and publisher. He co-founded Dot Dot Dot with Peter Bil'ak in 2000 and began working with David Reinfurt, under the name Dexter Sinister, in 2006. Along with Reinfurt and Angie Keefer, he's the co-founder and publisher of The Serving Library. Late last year, he was appointed Head of Design at the ICA in London. In this conversation, Stuart and I talk about his early design career and working with Richard Hollis, the relationships he sees between design and writing, and how his career is influencing his approach to his new job. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Paul Ford is a writer, programmer, educator, and technologist. He is currently the co-founder of Postlight, a digital product studio in New York and teaches at the School of Visual Arts. He's written for publications like Harper's, New York, Medium, and The Morning News and is a frequent commentator on technology and the internet. In 2015, he published "What is Code?" for Bloomberg Businessweek, an issue-length essay explaining programming to a mass audience. In this episode, Paul and I talk about his childhood interest in computers and books, the early days of the web and building his own blogging software, as well as how the internet effects the form of content and the issues surrounding digital product design. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Dmitri Siegel is a creative director, designer, and writer. He's currently the Vice President of Global Brand for Sonos and was previously Executive Creative Director at Patagonia. He also was one of my favorite writers of the Emigre-era, where his writing appeared in Emigre, Design Observer, and Dot Dot Dot. In this episode, Dmitri and I talk about his interest in writing about design, going from writing for Emigre to leading design at Sonos, and how design criticism has changed over the course of his career. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Mitch Goldstein is a designer, artist, and educator based in Rochester, NY. He is an Assistant Professor the School of Design at the Rochester Institute of Technology, works in collaboration with his wife Anne Jordan on client projects, and maintains an ongoing art practice focusing on experimental darkroom photography. He also co-hosted the design podcast Though Process and has written and lectured extensively on design and design education. In this episode, Mitch and I talk about our evolving definitions of the words 'graphic design', critique methods in the classroom, and the problems with contemporary design discourse. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Paul Soulellis is a designer, writer, and educator. After spending twenty years working as a designer, fifteen of those years under his own studio, Soulellis Studios, Paul recently has shifted his work into a more expanded and experimental practice. In 2014, while part of the New Museum's incubator, he started Counterpractice, his new design studio, and began publishing his now-ongoing project Library of the Printed Web. He also recently joined the faculty at RISD in their graphic design department. In this episode, Paul and I talk about the significance of blogging to his work, building new types of graphic design practices, and how the classroom can be a nucleus for the intersection of theory and practice. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Rory Hyde is an architect, curator and writer based in London. His work is focuses on new forms of design practice, and redefining the role of the designer today. Currently, he's Curator of Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism at the Victoria and Albert Museum and is the author of the book, Future Practice, a collection of interviews about the edge of architecture. In this wide-ranging conversation, Rory and I talk about his early career as an architect and interning at Volume magazine, the differences between practice and curation, and the types of design criticism he's drawn to and wants to see more of. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Sara De Bondt is a designer, educator, and publisher. She runs her own independent design practice working with cultural clients and is the co-founder of Occasional Papers, a small publishing company focusing on publishing affordable books devoted to the histories of architecture, art, design, film, and literature. The Walker Art Center called Sara "the epitome of a cultural designer, combining a love of contemporary typography with a deep investigation into the history of graphic design. Through her design practice, which consists of client-based work, designing and editing books, and curating conferences, she is consistently contributing to the critical discourse." In this episode, Sara and I talk about her background from studying acting to working with Stuart Bailey, Daniel Eatock, and James Goggin; the importance of design history in contemporary practice; and what designers can learn from other disciplines. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Alice Twemlow, a design writer, critic, and educator, discusses her fascinating journey from English literature to design criticism. She explores the evolution of design criticism and the collapsing boundaries between design disciplines. Alice also dives into her book, *Sifting the Trash*, highlighting its blend of literary analysis and interviews. She emphasizes the significance of addressing environmental issues and societal reflection through design. Additionally, Alice shares her current interests in trash and repair, and her role in researching design within geological time.

Penelope Dean is an architectural theorist and critic whose research focuses on contemporary architectural culture with an emphasis on the exchanges between architecture and the allied design fields. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the founding editor of Flat Out, a fascinating new independent magazine of architecture and design criticism. In this episode, Penelope and I talk about the concept behind Flat Out as well as her own background moving from practice to academia, audiences for design criticism, and how to inject more humor into the critical discourse. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

James Goggin is a designer, educator, and writer. He runs his own design studio with his partner, Shan James, under the name Practise and recently joined the faculty of RISD's graphic design department. He previously worked as Director of Design, Publishing and New Media at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and has taught at Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and at ECAL in Switzerland. His writing on design has appeared in numerous publications and he currently serves as art director and is on the editorial board of the architecture publication, Flat Out. In this episode, James and I talk about closing the gap between theory and practice, the value of writing in his design process, and subverting the traditional lecture/slideshow format. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.