Emmi Salonen is a Finnish graphic designer and art director whose work spans editorial design, visual identity, publishing, and exhibition graphics. She often works with cultural and institutional clients, bringing a thoughtful, systems-driven approach to typography and structure—with just enough play to keep things interesting.

Beyond the systems and the structure, Emmi has long been thinking about something deeper: the conditions that allow creative work to be sustainable over time.

Her new book, The Creative Wellbeing Handbook, explores creativity not as a lightning strike or a productivity hack, but as an ecosystem: something that needs tending to.

In this conversation, we talk about burnout, systems, slowness, education, and what it really means to protect your creative energy in an industry that often demands constant output. We also talk about typography, control, joy, and the small signals we ignore when we’re pushing too hard.

This episode is for anyone who loves design—and wants to keep loving it.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Elizabeth Goodspeed. Elizabeth is an independent designer, art director, writer, and educator oscillating between Providence, Rhode Island and New York City. Her work riffs on history and visual culture in ways that feel both smart and weirdly intimate. She’s a devoted generalist: branding, packaging, book & editorial design. She’s also known for her sharp writing on the culture of design as the American editor-at-large for It’s Nice That.

In this conversation, Elizabeth shares how her fascination with archives and ephemera became a creative method. We talk about how you can use design history without getting stuck in nostalgia, why research can be a powerful tool for original thinking, and what it means to design when you think in words before images. We also explore her approach to teaching, the value of slow craft, and how paying closer attention to the visual world around us can change the way we work.

This episode is for anyone who wants to build more depth into their practice. Whether you’re trying to move beyond trends, develop a stronger point of view, or simply learn how to turn curiosity into compelling creative work.

Let’s get into it.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Pali Palavathanan, co-founder and creative director of Templo. Based in London, Templo is a purpose-led design studio known for bringing creativity and activism together—working with clients like the UN, Amnesty International, and GF Smith, alongside grassroots organizations fighting for justice around the world.

In this conversation, Pali shares how his own experiences as a refugee shaped his desire to build a different kind of studio. We talk about what it means to take on projects where the stakes are as high as arresting war criminals or tackling corruption. We also talk about how to balance activism with commercial work, the importance of instinct in choosing clients, and why he believes design is both a privilege and a responsibility.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever wondered how design can drive real change—whether you’re looking to make your practice more purposeful, thinking about the ethics of the clients you take on, or simply curious about what it looks like to build a studio where values lead the way.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Pablo Martin, Creative Director at MUBI. A legend in editorial design, Pablo has spent four decades shaping the visual language of publications and brands across Spain, the UK, and beyond. His journey has taken him from a work placement with Massimo Vignelli to co-founding the Barcelona-based studio Grafica and then Atlas, to leading major cultural projects for clients of all kinds, to now steering the global creative vision of MUBI.

At MUBI, Pablo oversees everything from brand identity to experimental publishing—including Notebook, the streaming platform’s print magazine that treats cinema as both cultural archive and design playground. In this conversation, we talk about his path through editorial design, why he’s always resisted specialization, what it means to run an in-house team that thinks like a studio, and how print still has the power to push boundaries in a digital-first world.

This episode is brought to you by MUBI, a curated streaming service for great cinema from around the globe. Try MUBI free for 30 days at mubi.com/designthinkers.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Debra Bishop—an award-winning creative director and one of editorial design’s most influential voices. Over the past four decades, Debra has shaped the look and feel of some of publishing’s most iconic titles—from her early days at Rolling Stone, to launching magazines at Martha Stewart, to serving as a design director at The New York Times.

For the last eight years, Debra brought her bold, playful vision to The New York Times for Kids, a monthly print-only section beloved for its inventive layouts, striking typography, and respect for young readers. The project published its final issue at the end of August, though Debra continues her work at the Times. This interview was recorded before the official announcement came out—so you won’t hear us talk about the closure, but you might sense a little mourning in the conversation.

What we do talk about in this episode are the joys and challenges of redesigning magazines, what Debra learned from design legends like Paula Scher, Fred Woodward, and Robert Priest, and how she has continued to expand the possibilities of what publications for kids, women, and niche audiences can look like. We also explore why she still believes in the enduring power of magazines—even as the industry continues to evolve.

Whether you’re a designer, editor, or simply someone who’s ever loved a great magazine, this episode is packed with insight, honesty, and a whole lot of design wisdom.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Nadia Tzuo—an Emmy Award–winning motion designer and director whose title sequences have become cultural touchstones.

Nadia’s work spans television, film, and streaming, with credits on The Last of Us, Shogun, American Horror Story, Pachinko, Star Trek Beyond, and Captain Marvel. Her sequences don’t just introduce a story—they set its mood, build its world, and often become iconic in their own right.

In this episode, Nadia shares how she approaches title design as both storytelling and branding, the deep research that fuels her process, and why she thinks in moods before visuals. We talk about the importance of cultural specificity, the role of collaboration, and how streaming has reshaped the way audiences engage with titles.

Whether you’re a designer curious about motion, a film lover fascinated by world-building, or someone interested in the intersection of story and design—this conversation is packed with insight and inspiration.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Stephen Gates—global design leader, keynote speaker, and host of The Crazy One podcast.

Stephen’s career has spanned more than 20 years leading creative teams at companies like Apple, Citi, InVision, and McCann, where he’s built award-winning work across branding, product design, and customer experience. Known for his candid, no-nonsense approach to leadership and creativity, Stephen now works with organizations and teams around the world—helping them unlock better ideas, build stronger cultures, and navigate the complex realities of design at scale.

In this episode, we get into what it really means to lead as a designer, how to break out of safe thinking, and why creativity and business have to speak the same language. Stephen shares hard-won lessons on building trust with executives, the traps teams fall into when chasing innovation, and the mindset shifts that can make the difference between a good career and a great one.

Whether you’re a design leader, an ambitious creative, or just curious about what it takes to make work that matters—this conversation is equal parts practical, inspiring, and refreshingly honest.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.

This week on the DesignThinkers podcast, I’m joined by Verònica Fuerte. Verònica is the founder and creative director of Hey Studio in Barcelona.

Since launching the studio in 2007, Verònica has built one of the most recognizable and beloved visual identities in contemporary design: known for bold color, geometric forms, and a relentlessly optimistic aesthetic. Hey’s work has spanned everything from brand systems and editorial design to public art and exhibitions, with clients like Apple, The New York Times, Monocle, and the city of Barcelona itself.

In this episode, Veronica shares how she built Hey from the ground up, starting as a solo designer with no clients, to now running a globally admired studio that’s remained intentionally small, collaborative, and independent. We talk about the importance of creative intuition, the realities of studio life, how to keep personal work at the center of your practice, and why she never wanted Hey to feel like an agency.

We also touch on making space for women in leadership, building visibility as a Spanish design studio on the international stage, and why sometimes the simplest ideas are the strongest.

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to run a studio with heart and vision—this episode is for you.

Follow us on Instagram @rgdcanada or visit us online at rgd.ca. Purchase tickets to the upcoming DesignThinkers conference at designthinkers.com.