Published by Diana Varma
Join host, Diana Varma, as she explores the wonderful world of design and printing, typography and branding, books and publishing. Diana loves nothing more than getting creative with Creatives about all things creative. Ready to have some fun? Let's Talk Paper Scissors!
Listen on Apple PodcastsSend us Fan Mail Happy summer everyone! This marks the final episode of Talk Paper Scissors before I head on my summer/social media sabbatical until September. Today’s episode contains a compilation of voices from DesignThinkers Vancouver from May 2026. The theme of this year’s DesignThinkers conferences is ‘Out of Office’ and I asked conference attendees their favourite out off office reset, as well as their favourite places to disappear when they’re out of office. Voices featured in today’s episode include: Elana Rudick, James Nguyen, Joanne Chang, Rain Senra-Francois, Tessa Laity, Chelsea Bell Eady, Raph Maturine, Helena de Aguiar, Elyssa Schmid, Patrick Brown, and Hilary Ashworth. As I head Out of Office myself this summer season, I’ll be doing my best to reset with friends, family, and food, as well as intentionally focus on slowing down, doing one thing at a time, and sinking into contentment. Until we meet again in the fall… Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail We’re having conversations with magazine-makers— big and small, new and seasoned, independent and commercial—from all over the world, who are sharing what they do and how they do it. This year’s line up includes folks making magazines for kids, art and culture, as well as luxury lifestyle magazines, and a massive global publisher who covers all of this and more. There’s something for everyone in these 4 episodes. This episode features Nicola Ryan, Vice President of Product Design at Condé Nast. In this conversation, you’ll hear about Nicola’s career path into her current role at Condé Nast. Nicola shares how she thinks about designing for scale across so many publishing brands, including a toolkit that has drastically reduced the time it takes to reimagine visual design changes for brands like Wired and Architectural Digest, including how she helps brands balance consistent processes and experimentation. You’ll hear the specific ways Nicola and her team are thinking about and thoughtfully integrating AI in their creative workflow. We talk about boredom, critique, and the importance of trust building as a creative leader. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in DG 8111 Digital Publishing in the Master of Digital Media Program in Spring 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail We’re having conversations with magazine-makers— big and small, new and seasoned, independent and commercial—from all over the world, who are sharing what they do and how they do it. This year’s line up includes folks making magazines for kids, art and culture, as well as luxury lifestyle magazines, and a massive global publisher who covers all of this and more. There’s something for everyone in these 4 episodes. This episode features Ojus Jain, Founder of Esses , a new publication celebrating global culture and motorsports. In this conversation, you’ll hear how Esses fits into the media landscape for current and future F1 fans. In an expansive and fractured media landscape, you’ll hear how Ojus and his team decide the right balance of content, tools, and platforms that help support the brand, including why print is central to their strategy of building trust, including how they extend that trust into digital publishing. You’ll hear why building a strong team is critical, even in an age where tools allow us to do more of the process ourselves, and why job titles matter less than you might think in a start up. Ojus shares his insider take on what’s possible in independent publishing, how he’s thinking about AI, and how the Esses team is creating a financially-sustainable media brand through partnerships, events, and subscriptions. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in DG 8111 Digital Publishing in Spring 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Welcome Magazine Makers! We’re having conversations with magazine-makers— big and small, new and seasoned, independent and commercial—from all over the world, who are sharing what they do and how they do it. This year’s line up includes folks making magazines for kids, art and culture, as well as luxury lifestyle magazines, and a massive global publisher who covers all of this and more. There’s something for everyone in these 4 episodes. This episode features Krupa Patel, a Toronto and Ahmedabad-based independent magazine maker, founder and editor-in-chief of TURMERIC Magazine —an independent print publication documenting emerging artists, spatial practices, and contemporary culture through a lens of storytelling from the Indian subcontinent and it’s diaspora. With no formal graphic design or publishing education, you’ll hear how Krupa navigated editorial, design, printing, and global distribution steered by 3 words: fun, quirky, and contemporary. Krupa looks backward, sharing what she would do differently if she started again, as well as looks forward, sharing how she plans to evolve the magazine for issue 02 and beyond. Finally, you’ll hear why knowing your niche may be the key that unlocks your magazine making journey. This episode is action-packed with fantastic advice for all new magazine makers. TURMERIC Issue 01 launch party TONIGHT at Issues in Toronto! 📍 ISSUES Magazine Shop, 1489 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON M6K 1T6 🗓 Thursday, June 25 ⏰ 6–9 PM Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail It’s magazine time! Welcome to conversations with magazine-makers— big and small, new and seasoned, independent and commercial—from all over the world sharing what they do and how they do it. This year’s line up includes folks making magazines for kids, art and culture, as well as luxury lifestyle magazines, and a massive global publisher who covers all of this and more. There’s something for everyone in the next 4 episodes. This first episode features Caroline Versteeg, a Toronto based Art Director, Designer and Artist who brings content to life at Chickadee Magazine at Owl Kids. In this conversation you’ll hear the typical process from start to finish for Chickadee magazine, as well as specific design decisions Caroline considers for their audience of children, intentional typographic choices for early readers, and why print is still so important for kids. You’ll hear how the team at Owl Kids finds new contributors for their publications and Caroline shares great advice for students wanting to work in the world of children’s publishing. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Welcome, dear friends, to The Library Loiterers. Each episode finds Diana loitering in a library with a special guest in a library location of their choosing. We comb the stacks and have a chat about passions, practices, and possibilities—letting the story unfold as it will. You’re encouraged to read between the lines because it’s going to be a real page turner… This episode features local creative strategist, performer, and published poet, Izy Iannetta, as the duo explore the Toronto Zine Library. Each new zine shows the possibilities and boundless creativity in this delightful publishing format. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Design students and design educators — this episode is for YOU! We have Mitch Goldstein, educator and author of How to Be a Design Student (and How to Teach Them), here to share some powerful thoughts and actionable advice. In this conversation, you’ll hear Mitch’s approach to being “professionally curious” and the difference between “education” and “professional practice”. We dig into grading, what design education does well and what parts of the system needs improvement. We talk phones, distraction, and the power of working with materials and analog technologies in the context of digital media. We also dive into Mitch’s book How to Be a Design Student (and How to Teach Them), specifically what Mitch hopes everyone will learn about ownership and agency, critique, and engagement. Mitch also shares his artistic practice and all that entails. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Today’s conversation is out of this world with Thalia Patrinos who works at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. She is the Artemis Digital Lead within the Office of Communications. She leads and strategizes all digital communications about NASA’s Artemis missions to and around the Moon, including social media, video, audio, web presence, and digital engagements. In this conversation, you’ll hear Thalia talk about the years of work that goes into digital strategy for communicating a mission around the moon, balancing planning and flexibility to capture spontaneous moments of moon joy. She talks about the spreadsheets—the spreadsheets!—including how she uses technology to help with creative strategy. You’ll hear the ways that NASA prioritizes publishing factual information above all else, and get a better sense of who is behind the content and how these teams work together. Thalia takes us into her thinking when addressing multiple audiences across multiple platforms when the whole world is watching and what success looks like for a project of this magnitude. Finally, Thalia lets us in on her career backstory including how she ended up at NASA and the funny and relatable story about her first job interview. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in DG 8111 Digital Publishing in Spring 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. “Copy, Podcast joy.” Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Welcome, dear friends, to The Library Loiterers. Each episode finds Diana loitering in a library with a special guest in a library location of their choosing. We comb the stacks and have a chat about passions, practices, and possibilities—letting the story unfold as it will. You’re encouraged to read between the lines because it’s going to be a real page turner… This episode features type geek and delightful human, Carl Shura, as the duo explores the Toronto Reference Library. Each floor takes us into the past, present, and future of what it means to love type, the sharing economy, and community spaces. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Meet emerging typeface designers, Juliette Bifolchi and Jasmin Gulati! Juliette designed a typeface called Road Block and Jasmin designed a typeface called Invertia. In the following conversation, you'll get to hear about each typeface. You'll also hear their perfect type pairings, sensory descriptions of each (sight, smell, touch, sound and even taste), as well as what was easy and difficult about the process. Let the type geekery begin! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Today’s conversation is with Sara Soskolne, Executive Creative Director at Monotype, sharing her 20-year history of working on one of the world’s most recognizable typefaces: Gotham. In this conversation, Sara shares her recent contributions to Gotham, working directly with the Obama Foundation for the opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Centre in Chicago. She gets delightfully technical about Gotham’s letterforms, pulling back the curtain on the decisions made in the expansion of this iconic type family, including for the brand new Gotham variable font. Sara talks about how success is measured in a big project like this and how she knows when the work is done. Finally, Sara shares her advice about what current and future type designers can do to stay on top of the changing landscape. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in GCM 806 - Advanced Typography in Winter 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Today’s guest is Elliot Jay Stocks, designer and author, known in typographic circles for his work as the co-creator of Google Fonts Knowledge, founder of 8 Faces magazine, and creative director of Typekit (now known as Adobe Fonts). In this conversation, you’ll hear why Elliot wanted to make his new book (Fine Specimens) and what it contains. You’ll hear just how small the type design world actually is (Hi Jamie! Hi Mark!), as well as Elliot’s take on traditional type classification systems. He explains why he chose to integrate non-Latin typography throughout the book (versus it living in a separate section) and where type designers who want to expand into multiple new, unfamiliar scripts can start to think about collaborating with other foundries. Finally, Elliot shares his advice for designers creating specimens today—what to keep and what to consider reinventing. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail This is the third episode in a 4-part guest lecture series, speaking with an incredible range of design and typography pros from across North America! In this eye opening look into the history of typography, signage, protest, and histories, Tré Seals thoughtfully explains the ways in which type has caused a lot of harm to various communities, but the ways in which it’s also a hopeful gateway to make meaningful change. You’ll hear Tré’s origin story, back to his early childhood learning cursive and calligraphy, as well as the incredible family artifact that’s been translated into a font for broader audiences. You’ll hear how he uses historical references and deep research as the foundation of much of his work at Vocal Type. Tré shares examples of what “diversifying design” really means, as well as the systemic barriers that perpetuate in the type design world. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in GCM 806 - Advanced Typography in Winter 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail This is the second episode in a 4-part guest lecture series, speaking with an incredible range of design and typography pros from across North America! This episode features 2 of the 3 authors of the First Things First 2020 manifesto, Marc O’Brien and Benjamin Gaydos. (Namita Dharia couldn’t join us but we hope to catch her in conversation again soon!) In this conversation you’ll hear the tremendous global impact of the original First Things First manifesto in 1964 and what it means to each our guests. You’ll hear the way in which the First Things First 2020 manifesto is a collection of voices versus a single voice, and why this was so important to the team in the context of when it was created. You’ll also hear about the actionable ways that you can both work as a designer while staying aligned to your values even if your role isn’t directly in sustainability, climate design, or design for social good. Check out https://firstthingsfirst2020.org/ where you can add your name to the growing list of designers who aim to put this manifesto into practice. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in GCM 806 - Advanced Typography in Winter 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail This is the first episode in a 4-part guest lecture series, speaking with an incredible range of design and typography pros from across North America! This episode features type designer and founder of OH no Type Co., James Edmondson. In this conversation you’ll hear James’ typography origin story (he’s still an 8-year-old at heart!), how he uses “Pen Logic” to help construct systems of type, and how he knows when a typeface is complete. You’ll hear some great questions from students asking for all the juicy details about mistakes in his work, as well as what James hates about the process. This episode was recorded as part of a guest lecture series in GCM 806 - Advanced Typography in winter 2026 at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Welcome, dear friends, to The Library Loiterers. Each episode finds Diana loitering in a library with a special guest in a library location of their choosing. We comb the stacks and have a chat about passions, practices, and possibilities—letting the story unfold as it will. You’re encouraged to read between the lines because it’s going to be a real page turner… This episode features improv extraordinaire and Diana’s beloved high school drama teacher, Tim Miller, as the duo explores the University of Toronto’s Robarts Library. In the very place he once says he lost his love of reading, something unexpected happens: Tim begins to rediscover that he might still be a reader after all. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail It’s a high school experience like no other — Welcome to Oasis Skateboard Factory in Toronto, Canada where students make, design, and sell custom boards for real clients all while receiving high school credits. This alternative school flips the script on what it means to learn and teach in high school, removing artificial boundaries between “school” and “the outside world”. Themes of equity, access, and cultivating community connections are explored. Guest and teacher, Lauren Hortie, shares how she and her colleagues work to cultivate an environment of experimentation and risk taking, helping to sabotage self-sabotage. If you’re an educator, listen in, but this conversation is also for students and anyone who works in education systems of any kind. A quick disclaimer: the opinions and ideas expressed are solely that of this alternative school, Oasis Skateboard Factory, and not necessarily reflective or representative of the TDSB as a whole. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail Today’s guest is registered psychotherapist and author, Kate Robson, exploring her new book, Something to Hold Onto: Simple Images, Metaphors, and Practical Tools to Transform Your Life. Her book is an incredible resource where she shares her ideas about complex human problems through a therapeutic lens to help make challenging moments a little less challenging. You’ll hear about the power of metaphor, through metaphors, to get out of thought ruts. We explore ideas including: failure, happiness, metal flexibility, choice, avoidance, teamwork, identity, creativity, and connection. It’s deep, it’s gentle, it’s eye, mind and heart opening. This episode is co-hosted by Diana’s friend and colleague, Donna Cormier. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail From the middle ages to the Middle East, From Futura to Freight, join us on a journey across the type universe and go where no designer has gone before...Welcome to An Incomplete History of Type (Part 6!) This episode is guest hosted by Jordan Grey. Name: Clarendon Release Date: 1845 Designer: Robert Besley Classification: Slab Serif (Egyptian) Owned By: Today its multiple versions are owned by multiple foundries. Claim to Fame: This is the first first-ever registered and patented typeface. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)
Send us Fan Mail From the middle ages to the Middle East, From Futura to Freight, join us on a journey across the type universe and go where no designer has gone before...Welcome to An Incomplete History of Type (Part 6!) This episode is guest hosted by Sheilae Siagian. Name: San Francisco Release Date: 2014 Designer: Apple’s Team (based on Helvetica and FF DIN) Classification: Neo-Grotesque Sans Serif Owned By: Apple Claim to Fame: This is the first new typeface designed by Apple in nearly 20 years, it’s the UI font for Apple’s software. Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram . :)