Podcast Awesome

The first episode of Podcast Awesome features host Matt Johnson talking with Jory Raphael about what's coming up in 2023, and gives listeners a taste of what they can expect in the first season. Podcast Awesome will feature "Nerd Shows and Tells," in which members of Font Awesome's team discuss the work they've done in recent sprints (referred to as "splits" in FA speak), as well as the company culture that stems from their semiannual company meetup, affectionately known as "the Snuggle". After feeling nervous at first, Matt was encouraged to take on the role as host of Podcast Awesome by Travis Chase. Matt has enjoyed learning to use the technology to put the podcast together and is also responsible for the media, social media, blogs, and web copy. In addition, Matt and Jory talk about the aforementioned bi-annual Snuggle, an event where the team can connect and have fun together doing nerdy activities like playing Dungeons and Dragons, and watching sci-fi shows and movies together — all activities that build trust and goodwill among the team.In the last Snuggle, Mike Wilkerson and Ed Emanuel developed a prototype for the Icon Wizard (in beta release now). Often, conversations during the Snuggle spark new ideas and lots of great work has come from several Snuggle times.Jory and Matt also discuss the 2022 year in review, which includes: The Launch of Font Awesome 6! How to Blast Your Boredom by Playing Space Awesome!Classing Up Your Project With Font Awesome Sharp Icons Shoelace Joins Font Awesome How to Wield Near Infinite Icon Magic With the Icon Wizard And more! --------------------------------Timestamps0:00:09Conversation between Matt Johnson and Jory Rafael on the Inaugural Episode of Podcast Awesome0:03:57Review of Font Awesome's 2022 Accomplishments and Plans for 20230:05:54The Benefits of Team Building Activities at Font Awesome0:11:25Exploring Nerdy Interests with Mike0:13:03Exploring Dungeons & Dragons, Nerd Show & Tell, and Traditional European Martial Arts0:17:45Conversation on Enjoying Hobbies and Passions0:19:05 Discussing the 2022 Roundup and Plans for 20230:20:46Font Awesome 6 Launch and Space Awesome0:25:16Exploring Space Awesome: How Ed learned VueJs 0:27:15Exploring Font Awesome's Icon Sets and Recent Releases0:31:54The Origins of Font Awesome's Icon Wizard Feature (it was originally called, "F.A.R.T.S")0:33:44Collaboration between Font Awesome and the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to Create Humanitarian Icons----------------------------Links: Ronnie Martin composed the Font Awesome theme songZach Malm composed the 8-bit styled music segues Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

🎧 Exploring Sharp Icons, Retro Gaming & Design Rhythms with Noah JacobusIn the inaugural episode of Nerd Show and Tell, Matt Johnson chats with Font Awesome icon designer Noah Jacobus about the creative crossover between music, icon design, and visual rhythm.Noah shares how his background in music education unexpectedly shaped his approach to visual design, leading to his work designing the Font Awesome Sharp icon family — a bold reimagining of one of the web’s most iconic tools.They dive into:The design philosophy behind the Sharp icon aestheticHow musical hierarchy and rhythm translate to scalable iconographyThe behind-the-scenes grind of crafting over 20,000 iconsNoah’s obsession with retro handheld games (looking at you, Playdate 👾)Why design and game nostalgia often go hand-in-handWhether you're into SVG design, retro game consoles, or just love seeing how seemingly unrelated disciplines collide — this one’s for you.⏱️ Episode Timestamps00:08 – Designing the Font Awesome Sharp family02:59 – Music meets visual arts04:30 – Rhythm, hierarchy & design language10:07 – Joining the Font Awesome team12:32 – Sharp icon design challenges16:56 – Handheld retro gaming love19:47 – Pixel art, nostalgia, and iconography🔗 Links & Credits🎯 Add a Touch of Class with Font Awesome Sharp Icons 🎙️ Meet Noah Jacobus, Icon Designer Extraordinaire 🕹️ Playdate – retro-style handheld game 🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin 🎶 Music segues by Zach Malm 🎸 Outro track “Man is He Mega - GLBML” by Geoffrey Burch 🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions-------------------Highlights"It can only do some specific things very well. And so there's some very creative solutions for how to make interesting games for that. That's the same kind of thing that interests me a lot about iconography in that way is that emphasis on working within constraints. And I think that's kind of what drew me to retro gaming and kind of the resurrection of it as well and kind of the preservation of it, too, is like a kind of focus on that, working with what they had and really making cool stuff.""... The Playdate by Panic has been really cool to see in development and I was finally able to get one earlier this year. And kind of the emphasis that goes into especially when you're creating a new handheld like this. It's kind of inspired by the Game Boy and a lot of old things and kind of choosing which design constraints you want to embrace to kind of set it apart because the playdate is kind of a weird form factor and it has a black and white screen that doesn't have a backlight and it's got some very unique inputs on it. It has some of the stuff you might expect with buttons and stuff, but it also has an accelerometer in it and it has a crank on the side of it and other things like that that are really interesting of like these are some new innovative things. But there's still cool ways to foster creativity because it's not a little wonder handheld that can do everything."Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

In early 2023, the makers of Font Awesome are launching a brand new podcast unsurprisingly called — wait for it — Podcast Awesome! In this podcast, we’ll be talking about icons, naturally. We’ll talk about how we think building healthy and sustainable workplaces is possible. We’ll also dive deep into the tech of how we build things. And, of course, we’ll nerd out along the way. I’m your host, Matt Johnson, and on Podcast Awesome, we’ll be talking about icons, design, tech, business, nerdery, and more with the members of the Font Awesome team. Subscribe to Podcast Awesome wherever you get your podcasts. Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!