Nikki Villagomez stopped through Omaha, Nebraska to give the opening day keynote at AAF Nebraska’s Meet the Pros—a fantastic student event that’s been going on for quite a while (like, well over 60 years now). She does a great talk about how culture affects the typography of a city—a talk that is adjusted to each market she’s given it in. We also talk about Manhole Cover Designs, and more.
Enjoy.
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Great design books are still being made, it just feels like you have to look a bit harder to find them. Snails & Monkey Tails : A Visual Guide to Punctuation & Symbols, by Michael Arndt is one of them. Michael stops by The Reflex Blue Show to discuss his book, and, well a lot of punctuation and symbol stuff … pretty sure 1/2 the marks I use may be inaccurate—but that’s why books like this are needed. Both a visually beautiful items, as well as an educational one.
Enjoy.
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Omaha designer and illustrator Amanda Walla stopped by The Reflex Blue Show to talk about what got her into lettering, and the 100 day challenge she did. Well, we do talk about this at first, but the real reason she stopped by was to talk about Star Wars. Amanda is part of the Duel of the Ranks podcast that, well, ranks all of the Star Wars media against itself. With The Book of Boba Fett halfway through airing, it’s obviously the right time to discuss all things Fett. Sure, waiting until the series is over makes more sense, but why would we want to let that get in the way of talking first and thinking second?
This does make me feel a bit old though…I have seen every live-action Star Wars movie in the theater, and in its original run. On the first though, I was too young to remember that viewing, but I do remember my Grandma taking me again when it was re-released before Empire, which is the best of them all, or at least in my rankings. Out of all of the original Star Wars toys I had (and by that, I mean 1977-1984ish), Boba Fett and Yoda are the only ones I never parted with. Not sure why Yoda made the cut, maybe he was too small and slipped through a purge? Boba Fett I kept, well, because he was cooler than all of the other figures combined.
Also, thanks goes out to Connor Strange, a soon to be graduating graphic designer from Lincoln, Nebraska for co-hosting this episode.
Enjoy.
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Tim Lapetino, stops by The Reflex Blue Show to discuss his upcoming book, Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon. And also, what a huge cultural phenomenon Pac-Man was / is.
We also discuss how his interest in journalism and design has led to his current career in working in pop-culture, his previous book, Art of Atari, and some of his current work doing some amazing packaging for Super7.
Enjoy.
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Archie Boston stopped by The Reflex Blue Show to discuss what it was that brought him into a career in Graphic Design and Advertising in the 1960s. We also discuss his book, Fly In The Buttermilk: Memoirs of an African American in Advertising, Design & Design Education, and how and why to self-publish a memoir about design.
Archie is one of the 2021 AIGA Medalists, and will be recognized with the professions most distinguished honor at the 2021 AIGA Design Conference next month.
We also talk about his more recent projects and more.
Enjoy.
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