Scratching The Surface

Maryam Fanni and Sara Kaaman, are two thirds of the design collective MMS, along with Matilda Flodmark, collaborating since 2012 on investigations and writings on visual culture, graphic design, and historiography from feminist perspectives. MMS recently published Natural Enemies of Books: A Messy History of Women in Printing and Typography. In this episode, Jarrett is joined by Maryam and Sara to talk about the book, the ideas behind MMS, and seeking a more expansive view of design history and practice. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/159-maryam-fanni-sara-kaaman.

Dr. Bon Ku is an emergency room physician, assistant dean for Health and Design and director of the Health Design Lab at Jefferson University. He’s also the co-author, with Ellen Lupton, of the new book Health Design Thinking. In this conversation, Jarrett and Bon talk about the intersection of design and healthcare, how COVID-19 exposes the faults in our healthcare system, and how medical school could be redesigned. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/158-bon-ku.

Eric Heiman is a designer, writer, and educator. He’s principal and co-founder of Volume, a San Francisco-based design studio, Associate Professor of Graphic Design at CCA, and has written for Emigre, Design Observer, Eye and other publications. In this conversation, Jarrett and Eric talk about how graphic design in San Francisco has changed, the gaps between education and practice, and the role of writing in his work. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/157-eric-heiman.

Deanna Van Buren is an architect, activist, and the design director and co-founder of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, an architecture and real estate development non-profit working to end mass incarceration by building infrastructure that attacks its root causes: poverty, racism, unequal access to resources, and the criminal justice system itself. In this conversation, Deanna and Jarrett talk about design as ideology, the relationships between architecture and criminal justice, and how a building can cause real change. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/156-deanna-van-buren.

Paul Thompson is the Vice-Chancellor of the Royal College of Art. Before this, he was the director of the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and the director of the Design Museum in London. In this conversation, Jarrett and Paul talk about his background in comparative literature and how that’s influenced his career in design and administration, learning on the job, and how expanding definitions of design are changing education and curation. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/155-paul-thompson.

Winka Dubbeldam is an architect and educator. She’s the principal of Archi-Tectonics, the research-based architecture firm she founded in 1994 and is the chair of the architecture program and a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania. In this conversation, Winka and Jarrett talk about her interest in philosophy, how research shapes her work as both a designer and teacher, and the importance of sharing knowledge. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/154-winka-dubbeldam.

Denise Gonzales Crisp is a graphic designer, educator, and writer. She’s a professor of Graphic Design and director of graduate programs for Graphic Design at North Carolina State University. Her writing has appeared in Eye, Emigre, Design Observer, Design and Culture, and Items Magazine. In this episode, Denise and Jarrett talk about the differences between her writing and design processes, designing with spreadsheets, and using improvisational methods in the classroom. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/153-denise-gonzales-crisp.

Perrin Drumm is a writer, editor, and publisher. She’s currently the head of publishing at A24 and is the co-founder and previous director of Eye on Design. In this episode, Perrin and Jarrett talk about studying creative writing and fine art, the origins and editorial direction of Eye on Design, and the role of criticism. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/152-perrin-drumm.

Rachel Berger is a designer, writer, and educator based in California. She’s currently the chair of Graphic Design at CCA and her writing as appeared in Design Observer, Significant Objects, and CLOG. Previously, she was a designer at SYPartners and Pentagram. In this episode, Rachel and Jarrett talk about her early interest in writing, how teaching has changed her practice, and why she takes graphic design so seriously. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/151-rachel-berger.

Susan Sellers is a founding partner and executive creative director at 2x4, a senior design critic at Yale School of Art, and from 2013 to 2016, was Head of Design for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In this episode. Jarrett and Susan talk about the changing definitions of design, putting ideas into the world, and the importance of craft and story. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/150-susan-sellers.

Margo Halverson is a designer, educator, photographer, and artist. She’s a professor of graphic design and Chair of the Graphic Design department at Maine College of Art and the co-founder of DesignInquiry, an amorphous collective centered around ideas of disciplinary discourse, expanded practice, and design research. In this episode, Jarrett and Margo talk about her journey from photography to design, the origins on DesignInquiry, and blending personal and professional work. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/149-margo-halverson.

Henry N. Cobb, who passed away yesterday at 93, was a founding partner of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the architecture firm he co-founded with I.M. Pei and Eason Leonard in 1955. From 1980-1985 he was the chair of the department of architecture at Harvard University and in 2018, published Henry N. Cobb: Words and Words 1948-2018 where he uses his career to trace what he calls ‘the predicament of architecture’. In this episode, Jarrett and Henry talk about the origins of the book, how writing and teaching influence his practice, and why architecture has sustained his interest for nearly seventy years. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/148-henry-cobb.

Leslie Roberts is an author, journalist, essayist, and educator. She’s the chair of the graduate writing program at California College of Arts in San Francisco and the author, most recently, of Here Is Where I Walk. At CCA, Leslie teaches courses on writing for designers and is the cofounder of Ecopoesis, a multidisciplinary group focusing on making and messaging around ecologies. In this episode, Jarrett and Leslie talk about her background as a journalist, teaching writing to designers, and finding new stories around how we talk about the environment.

Justin Davidson is the architecture and classical music critic at New York Magazine. He previously studied music at Harvard and Columbia and began his journalism career as a staff writer at Newsday. In this episode, Jarrett and Justin talk about the role of the critic, the similarities between writing about music and architecture, and what happened after he broke the story about The Met’s new logo. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/146-justin-davidson.

Martin Venezky is a graphic designer, photographer, artist, and educator. Since 1997, he's operated Appetite Engineers to produce books, installations, and illustrations and since 1993, he's been on the faculy of the California College of Art in San Francisco. A new book of his photography, What I Know About Photography was released last year by Jon Sueda on Kickstarter. In this conversation, Jarrett and Martin talk about his career and work, the value in image and form making, and why he's focusing so much of his work on photography these days. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/145-martin-venezky.

Rosanne Somerson is a furniture designer, educator, and President of Rhode Island School of Design. After studying industrial design at RISD and running her own practice, she returned to the school in 1985 to teach furniture design, and became the first leader of the new furniture design department. In 2015, she was appointed the 17th president of RISD. In this episode, Jarrett and Rosanne talk about her early career and how she started teaching, how she approaches her presidency like a designer, and what she sees for the future of design education. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/144-rosanne-somerson.

Reed Kroloff is a renowned educator, writer, critic, and consultant. He’s the newly appointed dean of the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture and previously served as the director of the Cranbrook Academy of Art and dean of the school of architecture at Tulane University. He was also the editor-in-chief of Architecture magazine and runs the consultancy Jones Kroloff. In this episode, Jarrett and Reed talk about his unease in becoming an architect, how he started writing, and how he thinks about running an architecture program. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/143-reed-kroloff

Mary Banas is a graphic designer and educator. Her independent creative practice, Yes, is More, spans research, teaching, and design. She also collaborates with Breanne Trammell and is on the faculty at California College of the Arts. In this episode, Jarrett and Mary talk about her roundabout journey into teaching, the value of an expanded practice, and how to set up better critiques in the classroom. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/142-mary-banas.

Josh Owen is an industrial designer and educator. He runs his own design studio, Josh Owen LLC, and is a Full Professor and the Chair of the Industrial Design Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he also works with the Vignelli Center for Design Studies. In this episode, Jarrett and Josh talk about spending his summers on archeological digs with his father and how that influenced his interests in history and culture, how he started teaching, and how his work as a designer and teacher influence each other. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/141-josh-owen.

Johanna Drucker is an author, book artist, visual theorist, and cultural critic. She's currently a professor in the Department of Information Studies at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. Her research and writing has focused on visual language and letterforms, typography, visual poetry, the history of books and digital aesthetics. In this episode, Jarrett and Johanna talk about her interest in making books as objects, her work on design history, and the being both an artist and academic. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/140-johanna-drucker.