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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 Sol Riquero.

Name: Verdana

Release Date: 1996

Designer: Matthew Carter and Thomas Rickner

Classification: Humanist Sans Serif

Owned By: Microsoft

Claim to Fame: A typeface that was designed not for print, but for the screen, changing the way digital text looked and felt.

Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)