Podcast Awesome

In our latest installment of the Nerd Show and Tell, we have the pleasure of chatting with Kelsey Jackson, Font Awesome's Designer and Front End Developer. Maybe you've noticed how slick the Font Awesome site looks these days? Yeah, Kelsey is responsible for quite a bit of that work. In this episode, Matt chats with Kelsey about his recent chunk of work where he helped create an internal design system, how he met Dave Gandy, won him over, started contracting, and eventually landed a job. (Kelsey called this process a “long con”, but we think it was probably a more virtuous process than that.) In addition to telling the story of how a high school art teacher convinced him to pursue a career in design and front-end development, Kelsey also discusses his passion for B-grade horror, experimenting in the kitchen at home, as well as his newfound interest in cocktail mixology. (According to Kelsey, middle-of-the-road rum is just as good as top-notch stuff when it comes to mixed drinks.)TIMESTAMPS: 0:00:16 Creating an Internal Design System and More0:02:43 Kelsey's Former Job at Waco Media as a Developer/Designer0:04:28 Exploring the Connection Between Drawing and Design0:07:29 Refining and Standardizing a Design System at Font Awesome0:11:57 Design System Consistency and Compliance0:13:27 Web Components, Machine Learning AI, and Content Creation0:15:34 Kelsey's Horror Movie Icon Wish-List 0:17:32 B-Grade Horror and Crappy Job Experiences0:22:07 Reflections on Working at a Car Wash and Assisting with Disaster Relief0:27:49 Conversation on Spirits, Sneakers, and Celebratory Bottles of Bourbon at the Bi-Annual Snuggles0:29:47  Cooking Steak and Mixing Tiki Drinks0:31:25 Conversation About Hulu Series "The Bear"0:33:29 Maddie Matheson's Foodie Comedy 0:35:18 Resources For Learning About Design Systems ---------------------Notes The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie MartinAudio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon ProductionsAtomic Design by Brad Frost Nielsen Norman GroupThe Bear Matty Matheson Killer Klowns from Outer Space Some of the places Kelsey goes for cooking inspiration Sam the Cooking GuyBabish Culinary UniverseJoshua WeissmanStay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, we sit down for a little chat with Noah Jacobus and Jory Raphael and discuss the benefits of using Figma for collaborative design and icon design. They highlight Figma's unique features, such as its Boolean operations and non-destructive vector editing, and compare it to other design software like Adobe Illustrator. We also touch on the recent acquisition of Figma by Adobe and the possibility of creating a Font Awesome plugin for Figma. ----------------TIMESTAMPS00:05:56 Tools don't always matter.00:12:12 Adobe owns Figma now.00:12:31 Adobe acquisitions can be good (and sometimes bad).00:24:22 Linking Font Awesome Pro accounts.00:27:09 Figma has rainbow magic.-------------------HIGHLIGHTS"So Figma has rainbow magic." (00:26:57-00:27:19)"Figma is a central place where we can both work in the same file at the same time. If I make a change, he sees it." (00:20:52-00:23:44)"Noah is entirely responsible for us moving to Figma." (00:00:00-00:03:29)"And the ability to easily test things in the context of digital products is kind of where it found its place for me." (00:03:23-00:06:24)"Being able to identify each of those, you know, every element of a stroke shape or path and make adjustments to it that way is pretty cool." (00:17:58-00:20:57)"Boolean operations are one of the biggest ones... it's kind of a unique way of treating stroked objects like their actual shapes at the same time... that is something that it can't do. So it's a nice more unique feature." (00:15:08-00:18:08)"I think that Figma is enough of a powerhouse kind of on its own that that's not going to happen with the employees there and the community, especially as such a huge force with a lot of momentum behind it that helps support the product and keeps it moving." (00:11:51-00:15:16)"There are just tons of things that are out there that if you run into an issue, someone else likely has run into it already and there's probably a plugin that exists to fix it or address it, which is awesome." (00:23:38-00:27:07)"But what started to become really appealing to me about Figma was, as Noah said, some of the, well, number one, the simplicity of collaboration, which is now super important because we have multiple icon designers at Fawn Awesome, but also some of their unique takes on doing things with vectors." (00:06:17-00:09:04)"We made a slight tactical mistake of announcing our new Sharp icons before they were completely done...I put the call out to some icon designers that I knew and admired to see if they could help us with the project of getting the sharp icons out the door...And he shared a Figma file...I took them and I looked at them and it was so fun to be able to manipulate them...I was able to trick Noah into spending some more time on the sharp icons...I had been starting work on a personal project for myself that was sharp icon based...And so I was already kind of very much ingrained in sharp, chunky icon world." (00:08:59-00:11:56)---------------------------------------NOTESThe Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie MartinAudio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions10 Reasons We Switched to Figma for Icon DesignStay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

In this episode, we chat with Joey Henson, the Controller at Font Awesome. Throughout his career, Joey has been working in the startup world, which has lasted most of his time, but he has found himself feeling the strain of burnout since the birth of his son. According to Joey, there can be a lot of pressure in the finance world. Everyone works long hours in an effort to justify their existence in a world that's pretty stressful. Font Awesome, on the other hand, is not like that at all. Joey has noticed a difference in the work culture between Font Awesome and other startups, as the environment at Font Awesome is more relaxed and supportive. This is largely due to the founders' approach to work-life balance and that management understands the effects of burnout and wants to prioritize the well-being of their employees. Having a good work-life balance has enabled Joey to have time for his family and to enjoy a reasonable work-life balance. Although Joey currently works at Font Awesome in a role that isn't tech-oriented, in his spare time, he enjoys learning SQL, Ruby programming, and Ruby on Rails in addition to his regular job at Font Awesome. Joey also shares how  he helped find a Harry Potter themed metaphor to help explain Font Awesome Kits, how he has lobbied for the development of a Harry Potter themed icon set, his obsession with nutrition, fitness, and his journey towards better health over the past few years.---------------------------TIMESTAMPS 0:03:50   Reflection on the Challenges of Working Long Hours0:05:27    Self-Development and Quality of Life at Font Awesome0:08:43  Tech, Finance, and Harry Potter Icon Pack at Font Awesome0:11:13   Exploring Harry Potter Lore to Explain the Functionality of Kits0:18:34   Dungeons & Dragons and Nutrition Habits0:20:20   Counting Macros for Optimal Health and Fitness-----------------------HIGHLIGHTS In a previous Snuggle, we were talking about metaphors or some way to describe how a kit works. And I seem to remember an allusion to Harry Potter lore would maybe be a good way to explain it. I think we discovered that there was confusion among folks between whether a kit is populated like it's a container that's full of something, or if it's empty and you add to it. And what we came around to say was more accurate is that a kit comes fully loaded with everything you might want to use.Yeah, it is. So Hermione, the beaded bag, it had an undetectable extension charm on it. They used that multiple times in the books and the movies. And it is it's kind of like the DND bag of holding where you can pull out a lot of stuff if you know what's in there. And it comes pre loaded. That works. So, like with Hermiones, the best analogy I could think of was they needed a ton of books and they needed clothes, and when they needed that, Hermione said, oh, let me grab that. Let me just get that out of this bag here. And that's kind of how the kits work, too. You're 100% right. I remember that conversation now where it's, hey, you don't have to worry about it. We've already got it handled for you, and we're going to make it super easy for you to get that out of there.-------------------------------NOTESA Beginner's Guide to Counting MacrosThe Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie MartinAudio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon ProductionsStay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

SummaryIn this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with icon designers Jory Raphael and Noah Jacobus to discuss their experience at the Config conference. They share insights and highlights from the event, including their own talk on drawing icons in Figma. From keynote talks by industry leaders to the importance of collaboration and design-first approaches, this episode covers it all. Tune in to gain valuable insights into the world of design, tech, and business.  ----------------Timestamps[00:02:23] Figma's acquisition by Adobe.[00:06:06] Icelandic entrepreneur Halli Thorleifsson.[00:10:28] The awkwardness of speaking to an empty room.[00:14:14] The structured process for prepping for a conference talk.[00:17:25] Virtual presentations and audience feedback.[00:22:07] Variables in Figma.[00:24:18] Outro--------------------------------------------------------NotesThe Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie MartinAudio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions"Pixel Perfect" by Lesiakower"Legends" by Kim Lightyear "8-Bit-Space" by Purrsahfef"Retrorace" by WolfBeat"Victory Screen" by Lesiakower"Elixir of Life" by 23843807Interstitial music by Muzach Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Icon designers Jory Raphael and Noah Jacobus discuss the history and future of Font Awesome icons. Topics include designer crushes, creating a video for Kickstarter, designing niche icons, the power of icons, creativity with constraints, icon design tips, developing artistic taste, and constantly improving design quality.

Matt talks with Mike Wilkerson, lead programmer at Font Awesome, about his love for coding, the design tool used by Font Awesome's designers, and his fandom for the Marble Machine X music project. They also discuss the importance of appreciating good curves and circles, finding motivation in mundane work, and the virtuous cycle of nerdery in building community.

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, host Matt Johnson talks with Font Awesome founder Dave Gandy about the lessons learned from failing in business and life. They discuss Gandy's experience of flunking out of MIT twice and how it impacted his journey as an entrepreneur. They also delve into a story about the Font Awesome 5 Kickstarter campaign and the self-fulfilling prophecies that can shape our beliefs and reality. Gandy shares his insights into the startup world and the power of believing a lie long enough that it becomes the truth.-------------------TIME STAMPS 00:04:54 Failure is not final.00:07:30 Embrace reality and grow.00:10:06 Failure is an opportunity for growth.00:18:56 Nothing is ever truly failure.00:23:25 Find trustworthy partners for success.00:27:05 Trust your teammates.00:29:09 Try hard things and learn.------------------NOTESY CombinatorMITMake Some People Want: A Behind the Scenes Look at Font Awesome's 2017 KickstarterThe Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie MartinAudio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon ProductionsStay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Font Awesome founders, Dave Gandy and Travis Chase, discuss building a strong company culture through hiring the right people. They challenge the idea of hiring 'rock stars' or 'A players' and instead prioritize humility and character fit. The podcast explores the impact of the rock star mentality, flawed evaluation processes, and the importance of communication, dignity, and continuous learning in business.

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, host Matt Johnson interviews Trevor Chase, the technical support member of Font Awesome. Trevor opens up about his career change from a middle school principal to tech support, and also talks about his background in business administration and education. Listeners can also expect to hear about the most common tech support questions Trevor receives and the coffee roasting obsession that started by roasting coffee beans in a popcorn popper. ----------------------Time Stamps[00:01:03] Career change from education.[00:03:09] Learn new skills to pivot into new careers.[00:06:56] Licensing and Technical Support.[00:10:53] Coffee Roasting and favorite Icons.[00:13:33] Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony.[00:18:40] Working remotely and reconnecting with co-workers.-----------Show NotesThe Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie MartinAudio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon ProductionsMill City Roasters on YouTubeStay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Cory LaViska, founder of Shoelace, and the hosts discuss the partnership between Shoelace and Font Awesome, benefits of using web components, challenges of modern web standards, and the power of open source technology. They also touch on the importance of keeping up with industry trends and the joy of solving problems with technology.