
Front and Center
Each week, award-winning graphic designer Alex Center and co-host Kevin Batory discuss branding, design, pop culture, and more. New episodes drop every Wednesday.
Latest episodes

Apr 30, 2025 • 45min
CULTURAL CAPITAL
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN! Alex is back from Coachella, and Kevin is back from Tulum. The bougie boys are bringing the heat as they talk about what’s going on. Alex recaps Coachella, and the fellas talk about 100 dudes vs 1 gorilla, the kerning on Pope Francis’ tomb, Fyre Fest 2, Khloé Kardashian’s Khloud Protein Popcorn, the Amazon rebrand, the Heinz grill, Sperm Racing, and more!

Apr 23, 2025 • 51min
A Series of Decisions: with Justin Thomas Kay
Today, we are thrilled to welcome Justin Thomas Kay to the program! Justin is a YouTuber, creative director, and graphic designer based in Brooklyn. You may have seen him on GQ Rebranded, an episodic series about sports branding— how it works, the history behind it, and how he would approach it. Justin was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he cut his teeth in designing posters, album art, and other stuff for his band Sincebyman. He then entered the editorial world and worked with like every cool magazine, Complex, Fader, New York Times Magazine, Mass Appeal, and Victory Journal, to name a few. Justin then moved to the brand side, working for Nike, Google, YouTube, Apple, and Red Bull. We are stoked to talk to him about his work on J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive and rebranding the Milwaukee Bucks. Justin is a legend. Enjoy!

Apr 16, 2025 • 51min
MEAT MAN: WITH PETE FREEMAN
We are thrilled to welcome Pete Freeman to the show! Pete, a willing 3rd, is a Center OG, the first employee. We are blessed with his presence this week as he’s in New York on business by way of sunny California! We talk about the rats of Erewhon, Alex is going to Coachella, Paul American, the Rizzler throwing out the first pitch at the Mets game, pool+, the subway footlong nachos, KFC toothpaste, Glen Powell’s Smash Kitchen, and more!

Apr 2, 2025 • 1h 6min
NOTHING IS STRONGER THAN FAMILY: with Diego Segura and Eliz Akgun
Diego Segura and Eliz Akgun are incredibly talented designers who reside in New York City. They caught Alex’s attention last year with their stunning work on the brand Leggs. Diego worked at COLLINS after dropping out of high school at 18; he runs a progressive studio called Family Office and has aspirations of business beyond branding. Eliz’s talent is boundless, as her artistic vision and learned hotkeys make her an exciting designer to watch for the future (big things to come). The duo joins the podcast this week to go back and forth with high energy, quick banter, lots of bits, and even more laughs. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did recording it. It’s a fun one!

Mar 26, 2025 • 56min
PERHAPS WE ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM
Alex and Kevin are back for a regular episode! The fellas discuss their favorite television shows, Ashton Hall and his morning routine, peak protein, funny baseball hats, Doordash x Klarna, Ordinary Eggs, Pepsi buying Poppi, and more!

Mar 19, 2025 • 1h 14min
No Stone Unturned: with Lisa Smith
Lisa Smith is the queen of the rebrand! She is renowned for her transformative work with some of the world's most cherished brands. Currently the Global Executive Creative Director at JKR, her strategic vision has played a pivotal role in the global rebrand efforts for clients such as Burger King, Nordstrom Rack, Impossible Food, and Manischewitz.Lisa, a listener of the pod, joins us to share about her life, her career, and her passion for the beach! We are excited to share this episode with you!

Mar 5, 2025 • 60min
EVERYTHING IS BACK
It’s been a while since since we’ve podded! We are so back! Back from vacations, back in the studio, back in your ears. We talk about our new favorite shows and their marketing promotions, the Oscars, Sweetgreen Fries, Duo Lingo dying and resurrecting, NikeSKIMS, Dove whole body deo, Dove x Crumbl, Graza Fizzle, Nathan’s canned water, Open AI rebrand, and more!

Feb 13, 2025 • 58min
THE SUPER BOWL OF LOVE: WITH JACKIE DEJESU CENTER
Happy Valentine's Day! We love love! We are happy to welcome Jackie DeJesu Center to the pod to break down the best and worst of the Super Bowl and Valentines Day! The brands are wildin out! We talk about Mountain Dew, Nike, Bud Light, Jesus, Coke, Totinos, Dunkin’, Liquid Death, Coca-Cola, Grillos, Skimms, Laneige, Sweethearts, MSCHF, Outback, Stonyfield, Denny’s Hormel, White Castle, and more!

Jan 29, 2025 • 1h 14min
DESIGN IS A LOT LIKE MAGIC: WITH GANDER
Take a Gander, and give it a listen! We've got Katie Levy and Mike McVicar in the house! Katie and Mike are the creative duo behind Gander, a design shop in Brooklyn that creates thoughtful experiences for humans and propels brands with soul and substance. They are the studio behind some of the hottest CPG brands like: Graza, Yellow Bird, Pop Up Grocer, Magic Spoon, Behave, Gotham Greens, Banza, June Wine Bar, and many other bangers! Katie and Mike bring the energy as they advocate for the 4 day work week, rally for studios to come together and charge the same amount for work, plead for designers to come and work on their case studies, and shock Alex and Kevin with an on-air Magic trick! Check out their new website, which conveniently coincides with the episode launch! TAKE A GANDER! WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT!

Jan 15, 2025 • 57min
NEW YEAR NEW ME
Happy New Year! We’re back, and we’re totally new and different! Nah, just kidding, we’re the same. We’ve got some goals, some things to improve, and a change to the show’s release schedule. We talk about our breaks, Brian Johnson, The Aaron Rodgers Doc, Ladder x Stavros, The Sandisk rebrand, the Walmart rebrand, RX Bar cutting out the BS, Halo Top Dry January flavor drop, Breaking News, The Pizza Hut Pizza Report, and more!