Talk Paper Scissors

Hosted by Diana Varma

Business Arts Design

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Episodes

311

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

EN-CA

About the show

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 to episodes

60 recent

June 16, 2026Episode 31144 min

“Copy, Podcast joy”: NASA’s Artemis II Digital Strategy with Thalia Patrinos

Send us Fan MailToday’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. :)

June 10, 2026Episode 31043 min

The Library Loiterers - Vol. II: Compositions, Classification, and Card Catalogs with Carl Shura at Toronto Reference Library

Send us Fan MailWelcome, 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. :)

June 8, 2026Episode 30927 min

Emerging Typeface Designers: Juliette Bifolchi & Jasmin Gulati

Send us Fan MailMeet 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. :)

June 2, 2026Episode 30853 min

Evolving Gotham: Sara Soskolne of Monotype on Expanding One of the World’s Most Recognizable Typefaces

Send us Fan MailToday’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. :)

May 26, 2026Episode 30744 min

Fine Specimens with Elliot Jay Stocks of Adobe Fonts

Send us Fan MailToday’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. :)

May 19, 2026Episode 30645 min

Personal and Peoples Histories Held in Letterforms with Tré Seals of Vocal Type

Send us Fan MailThis 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. :)

May 12, 2026Episode 30549 min

First Things First 2020 with Marc O’Brien and Benjamin Gaydos

Send us Fan MailThis 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. :)

May 7, 2026Episode 30432 min

Designing Systems of Type (Mistakes and All!) with James Edmondson of OH no Type Co.

Send us Fan MailThis 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. :)

May 5, 2026Episode 30344 min

The Library Loiterers - Vol. I: Following the Fear with Tim Miller at Robarts Library

Send us Fan MailWelcome, 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. :)

April 28, 2026Episode 30241 min

Sabotaging Self-Sabotage with Lauren Hortie of Oasis Skateboard Factory

Send us Fan MailIt’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. :)