Front and Center

Allan Peters is in the house! Allan Peters is the Partner and Chief Creative Officer of Peters Design Company. At PDCo he has partnered with brands such as Nike, Amazon, and Patagonia. His work has been recognized internationally by numerous award shows and magazines including Clio, Communication Arts, and How Magazine. Allan’s book, Logos that Last just hit the shelves, and it’s an incredible read, highly recommended. Get it now!

GOBBLE GOBBLE IT'S TURKEY TIME! This week, Alex and Kevin recap some hot topics before going back for a heaping helping of Thanksgiving brand fodder. They talk about New Blue Sun, The Curse, Snoop Dogg giving up smoke, Stanley surviving a car fire with ice inside, LaMelo Ball's tattoo, Ocean Spray's cranberry sauce tees, Digorno's Thanksgiving Pizza, Baskin-Robins' Thanksgiving-themed desserts, and more! 

This week we are thrilled to have Cey Adams on the program.Cey Adams is a New York City native and visionary artist, who emerged from the downtown graffiti movement in the 80’s alongside fellow artists and friends Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Adams began his art career while still in his teens, tagging “Cey City” on subway cars and painting graffiti murals to showcase his artwork. He appeared in the historic PBS documentary Style Wars about subway graffiti in New York. In 1983, Cey Adams met The Beastie Boys. They developed a fast friendship with the band and designed their first logo, t-shirts and singles. The Beastie Boys and Adams would go on to be longtime collaborators including designing the album: “Hello Nasty”. Around the same time he met manager/music producer Russell Simmons where Adams designed logos and merch for his artists. A few years later Simmons along with music producer Rick Rubin founded Def Jam Recordings where Adams served as the founding Creative Director.In the late 80s Adams and his partner Steve Carr co-founded the Drawing Board, Def Jam’s in-house visual design firm overseeing the visual style of Def Jam’s artists. The firm was responsible for some of the most iconic album covers, logos and advertising campaigns for Run-DMC, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Public Enemy, The Notorious B.I.G., DMX, Jay-Z, Usher, Mary J. Blige, and many more.Adams has also collaborated with global brands including Levi’s, Mattel, The Recording Academy, Apple, Bacardi, IDEO, Foot Locker, Converse, YouTube, Google, and many more.These days he has returned back to his fine art roots. He exhibits, lectures, and teaches art workshops at leading institutions including: The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, MoMA , Brooklyn Museum, Museum of the City of New York, School of Visual Arts, and museums around the world. He currently has a solo exhibition, Combinations, opened on October 21st in Austin at the West Chelsea Contemporary. The show is on view until November 19th so you have like a week left to go see it. Cey also has a traveling retrospective exhibition called Departure: 40 Years of Art and Design. The show debuted last year at Boston University Stone Gallery and is currently on view at the College of Visual Arts & Design at University of North Texas Denton. It will travel to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami next year. 

Alex and Kevin are reunited in the studio this week to discuss the lite amount of spooky season stories, piss jugs, the destruction of another script logo, and more!

The McRib is back! And so are Alex and Kevin, here grilling up tender juicy takes slathered in BBQ sauce, served up on a bun with onions and pickles. Unlike the McRib, Front and Center will never go on a farewell tour. The fellas also talk about the Beckham doc, an update on the Taylor and Travis  saga, Julius Randle x Skechers, Adonis’ album cover, Crocs x2, Coca-Cola Spiced, and more!

Alex and Kevin are at it again discussing the most bussin design and branding stories with phenomenal rizz, including the Travis Kelce x Taylor Swift collab featuring that mid simp Ryan Reynolds. Kevin also shares an update on his Eat Pray Love type trip, as he is putting up wild numbers for tacos eaten in California. Find out more on the critically acclaimed podcast: Front and Center!

This week, Alex and Kevin talk to the bold and unafraid Michelle Poler! Michelle is a creative and passionate social entrepreneur, author, keynote speaker, fear-facer, and branding strategist. She is the Founder of Hello Fears, a social movement that has reached over 70 million people worldwide and empowered thousands to step outside their comfort zones and tap into their full potential. Michelle is the author of “Hello Fears: Crush Your Comfort Zone and Become Who You’re Meant To Be, " and also created the project 100 Days Without Fear. Her work has been featured on The TODAY Show, Forbes, CBS, CNN, Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and many more. We are beyond excited to share this inspiring episode with you! Enjoy!

Alex and Kevin are back it it with a solo dolo episode. Live from Brooklyn and Cincinnati (respectively) the two catch up on the freshest design stories, including; Mika the humanoid-robot CEO, Alien bodies revealed in Mexico, Subway’s new uniforms, Reneé Rapp x Sweetgreen, Coca-Cola Y3000, the new Johnson and Johnson word mark, and more!

We are thrilled to welcome the wonderful Debbie Millman on the podcast this week. Debbie is the host of Design Matters, which has over 500 episodes. You could say she invented Design Podcasting because she actually did. Debbie has written seven books, is the Co-Founder of the Masters in Branding Program at The School of Visual Arts, is Co-Owner and Editorial Director of PRINT magazine, was the President of Sterling Brands, and has won every award along the way! Debbie is a legend.