Design Icons

Chris Piascik is an independent illustrator, author, and top Skillshare teacher best known for his 14-year public daily drawing project. His quirky, unmistakable work—rooted in punk, pop art, skate culture, and humor—has attracted major clients including Nike, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and McDonald’s.
In this episode, we discuss Chris’s unlikely path from being laid off to building a thriving independent illustration and design career—and how the simple practice of making and sharing personal work every day opened doors to some of his dream clients.
Chris talks about the moments he nearly gave up, how he built an audience online long before “personal branding” became career advice, and what thousands of daily drawings taught him about developing a creative voice.
We also dig into what it takes to stay visible without letting the internet take over your life, and why Chris believes the story, meaning, and person behind the work matter more than technical perfection.
Find Chris on Instagram at @chrispiascik or visit his website for more at chrispiascik.com

Christian Watson is the founder of the boutique branding agency 1924us and the creator of the mega viral animated character Mr. Skelly.
Rooted in the craftsmanship of the 1920s, all his work is entirely hand-drawn, using vintage techniques to create modern brand systems.
Through 1924us, Watson has helped brand more than 200 companies — from independent coffee shops to Fortune 500 brands — while also building an audience of over 7 million followers across social media platforms.
In this episode, we discuss Christian’s rise to fame, how he approaches social media today, why he’s not using any AI in his design process at all, and his advice for how to unlock more opportunities as a working creative.

In this episode, we speak with Phil Garnham and Damien Collot, both Executive Creative Directors at Monotype, the global leader of fonts including Helvetica, Futura, Ariel, and Gotham. Their collaborative work involves exploring how typography, font, and graphic design reflect our shifting culture and how type serves as a brand’s essential visual voice in real-life contexts.
Phil and Damien share what makes font and design culturally relevant, how designers impact and reflect social perception, and the ways design can make the world better. We also discuss Monotypte's new Peace and Conflict project—an open-source collection of icons created to provide a universal code for communicating hope, empathy, and humanity in times of increasing conflict, which is available to the public domain at Noun Project.

In this episode, we chat with Eric Wittman, CEO of VSCO, a platform that gives photographers the tools, community, and exposure they need to expand creatively and professionally. VSCO offers products to capture, edit, display, and share visual content with a global community of creatives and brands. Eric’s career has centered on building technology products that help people be more creative, and includes leadership roles at Adobe, Atlassian, and Figma.
Eric explains how AI is a paradigm shift that’s changing the entire creative process rather than simply introducing new tools like past photography disruptions. With AI capable of generating photorealistic imagery, we discuss the unique advantage of the human photographer and how soul, intention, and style cannot be replaced. Eric shares how photographers are using technology to speed up business tasks like invoicing, marketing, creative exploration, and post-production editing. He offers essential advice on the most valuable skillsets for photographers to double down on—storytelling, empathy, and relationship building.

In this episode, we chat with Khyati Trehan, an internationally awarded designer who currently works at Google Creative Lab developing visual systems and experimental tools. Khyati has built a career that illuminates the intersection of design, creativity, and technology. She's worked with major global brands, including Apple, Instagram, Snapchat, Adobe, Samsung, Vogue, and the Oscars.
Many creatives feel uncertain about the future of the industry, particularly concerning the impact of emerging technology like AI. Khyati shares an optimistic perspective on the bright side of these new tools, explaining that designers are essential for adding human value, empathy, and context to these systems. She explains how she is embracing new methods of creation, like vibe coding, which allows her design to become more malleable. Ultimately, Khyati reminds us that the key to preparing for the future is focusing on novelty over efficiency, and embracing play to make experiences that we couldn't before.