Podcast Awesome

Would you take a shot at something you cared about if your odds of success were 1.4%? Font Awesome founders Dave Gandy and Travis Chase did exactly that when they applied to Y Combinator back in 2014. And in the years since, Font Awesome has racked up plenty of failures right alongside the wins. 'Cos that's just what happens when you're building something awesome. In this episode, we go digging through Font Awesome's own flops (a product name that confused customers, a CDN experiment that converted exactly ONE person in three months) and line them up next to the real-life Museum of Failure. Which is hilariously an actual museum, started in Sweden in 2017, dedicated entirely to products that didn't make it. Expect Colgate's short-lived frozen dinners, a cologne no biker asked for, and the Nintendo Power Glove. We also go back to a 2023 conversation with Dave Gandy about flunking out of MIT (twice), what it means to have the freedom to fail, and how a completely unprepped first Y Combinator interview turned into a second shot years later. And the second shot at YC was built on meticulous prep, a childhood friend's help at the Mountain View Public Library, and an unexpected connection with a YC partner. The through-line: none of this looks like a success story on its own. But it's basically the only way Font Awesome got built. What We Cover Font Awesome's own quarterly product failures: Fort Awesome and the Font Awesome CDN How a "failed" CDN experiment quietly built the email list that powered a record-breaking Kickstarter Dave Gandy on flunking out of MIT, twice A tour through the real-life Museum of Failure: Colgate Kitchen (and the lasagna that probably never existed), Harley-Davidson Cologne, and the Nintendo Power Glove Dave's first Y Combinator interview (zero prep) versus his second (a lot of prep, a library, and some serious spreadsheet work) Why humility, not confidence, is the trait Font Awesome hires for Timestamps 00:00 — Would you take a 1.4% shot? Font Awesome's Y Combinator odds 00:03 — A quick tease: meet "Fort Awesome" 00:03 — Clip: Dave Gandy on startups, believing the lie, and finding your real limits 00:04 — The Fort Awesome experiment — and the name confusion that helped sink it 00:04 — Font Awesome CDN: a full quarter of work for one signup 00:05 — The quiet payoff: how that "failed" CDN built the email list behind the Kickstarter 00:06 — Dave on flunking out of MIT — twice 00:07 — Inside the Museum of Failure: Colgate Kitchen (and the lasagna that almost certainly never existed) 00:09 — Harley-Davidson Cologne: bikers said no thanks 00:10 — The Nintendo Power Glove — so bad it inspired a movie line, and still helped shape the Wii Remote 00:13 — Dave's first Y Combinator interview: no plan, no prep 00:13 — Round two: Ryan, the Mountain View Public Library, and the Adobe Typekit comps 00:15 — The Kevin Hale interview and finally clicking 00:17 — The real lesson: humility over hype 00:19 — Go make something awesome Credits Produced, hosted, and edited by Matt Johnson Featuring Dave Gandy and Travis Chase Theme song by Ronnie Martin Music interstitials by Zach Malm Video editing by Isaac Chase Links Font Awesome: https://fontawesome.com Podcast Awesome: https://www.podcastawesome.com When Failure Isn't Failure: Hard Lessons in Business and Life with Dave Gandy — Podcast Awesome (June 2023) Museum of Failure Museum of Failure — official site Colgate Kitchen Entrees — exhibit page Harley-Davidson Perfume — exhibit page Nintendo Power Glove — exhibit page Museum of Failure — Wikipedia (background, Samuel West, tour history) The "Colgate Lasagna" myth Ripley's Believe It or Not: The Truth Behind the "Failure" of Colgate Beef Lasagna Food Republic: Did Colgate Really Sell Frozen Lasagna in the '60s? Y Combinator Y Combinator — official site Apply to YC Adobe Typekit / Adobe Fonts Adobe Fonts — Wikipedia Typekit Blog: "Time for a change: Typekit has become Adobe Fonts" Power Glove background Power Glove — Wikipedia Smithsonian/Lemelson: "Success Born of Failure: The Nintendo Power Glove" #FontAwesome #PodcastAwesome #FailureIsData #StartupLessons #YCombinator #DesignAndDev #WebDesign #BuildInPublic Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness! 

Picture this serious, sterile scene: scientists in lab coats, pocket protectors, carrying clipboards, and nobody’s making eye contact. Nobody would guess that this backdrop would produce some of the best internet lore. In this episode, we dig into the myth that the 404 error page came from "Room 404" at CERN, track down what a co-creator of the web actually had to say about it, and land on the real, much more boring origin. Along the way we detour into the HTTP status code that was invented as an April Fools' joke, then defended by the developer community hard enough that it got its own RFC. We close it out with a tour of the internet's best 404 pages, including a deep dive into Font Awesome's own, with Jory Raphael. What We Cover The Room 404 myth: how it started, why it spread, and why Robert Cailliau, one of the actual creators of the web, wants nothing to do with it The real, much less exciting origin of the 404 status code Why HTTP works like a librarian with no short-term memory Larry Masinter's HTCPCP proposal and the accidental birth of the 418 "I'm a teapot" code How the dev community fought to save 418 when the IETF tried to reclaim it A tour of the internet's best 404 pages: GitHub, Pixar, Lego, and Figma Behind the scenes of Font Awesome's own 404 pages with Jory Raphael, including the Ghostbusters, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Star Wars, and Mario references hiding in them The Easter egg hiding on the Font Awesome icons page (and another one on Blog Awesome) Timestamps 00:00 – Cold open: if particle physics research is this serious, how did it produce such a goofy myth? 01:00 – Intro to the episode and the CERN backstory begins, where human "servers" fetched documents by hand 03:00 – How the Room 404 legend took hold, per Wired's reporting 04:00 – Robert Cailliau's one-word review of the myth: "Sigh" 05:00 – The actual, much more mundane origin of the 404 code, plus the DMV and librarian analogies 07:00 – Larry Masinter, RFC 2324, and the Hypertext Coffee Pot Control Protocol 08:00 – The community backlash when the IETF tried to reclaim status code 418 09:00 – Shane Brunswick's save418.com stand, then back to great 404 pages: GitHub's Octocat 10:00 – Pixar's Inside Out 2 tie-in 404 11:00 – Lego's "oh, bricks" 404 and Figma's interactive one 12:00 – Font Awesome's own 404 pages, including the Susan Kare bomb-icon origin story 13:00 – The Ghostbusters Easter egg 14:00 – The Planes, Trains and Automobiles reference and Brian's hidden hand-wave Easter egg 15:00 – Star Wars references and the FA-ndolorian 16:00 – The Mario reference, the icons page Easter egg, and the old Blog Awesome 404s, including "Where's my sandwich?" 17:00 – A shoutout to Brian, the mind behind Font Awesome's 404 copy, and the outro begins 18:00 – Closing credits and sign-off Credits Hosted by Matt Johnson Featuring Jory Raphael Produced and edited by Matt Johnson Theme song by Ronnie Martin Music interstitials by Zach Malm Video editing by Isaac Chase Links SmarterMSP: Tech Time Warp — The 411 on the 404 Page The History of the Web: Sorry Computer, You're Not a Teapot RFC 2324: Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol (HTCPCP/1.0) Save418.com Font Awesome #PodcastAwesome #404Error #WebHistory #InternetLore #TechTrivia #HTTPStatusCodes #FontAwesome #DesignPodcast Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness! 

What if software had a final season? Josh Williams is back for round two, and this conversation goes places the first one didn't. We get into designing as a generalist instead of a specialist, why some of the best products (RIP Gowalla, RIP Path) might have worked better as limited series instead of forever-apps, and what it actually feels like to use AI tools day to day — not the hot-take version, the real one, where the hardest part isn't the tech, it's knowing when to stop adding features. Josh also breaks down how the Mosaic icon pack came together, Jory reflects on why his dad's Vermont highway signs are a kind of legacy he thinks about often, and Josh shares his advice for those getting into icon design today. Spoiler: it involves not knowing the rules yet, and that's a good thing. What We Cover Why physical, tangible work sticks with you in a way digital work — which can vanish with a hard drive — never quite does. Jory's dad's landscape architecture and signage firm, and how that legacy is scattered across Vermont The Mosaic icon pack, and how Scott Riley's Mindful Design site used FA's Slab icon set in a way the team never expected Generalist vs. specialist: why Josh keeps circling back to brand work but can't stay in one lane The venture-capital pressure that pushes good products toward becoming "everything apps" Gowalla, Path, and the idea of software with a beginning, middle, and end — like a TV show's final season The early App Store era of one-off apps that just were what they were (RIP the beer-drinking app) Font Awesome's own internal AI experiment weekend, and what came out of it Taste and discernment as the new bottleneck now that building is fast and cheap Why "don't be obsequious" should now be a standing instruction in AI prompts Josh's advice for anyone starting out in icon design today What's next for the Uni calendar, and a wishlist for a fully custom, build-your-own version Timestamps 00:00 – Reaching the edge of current tools and processes  00:00 – Intro: what this episode covers 01:00 – The joy of physical, tangible design work  02:00 – Jory's father's legacy in Vermont signage  04:00 – How the Mosaic icon pack might get used and remixed  05:00 – Generalist vs. specialist: where Josh lands  07:00 – Bringing different people and disciplines together  08:00 – VC pressure and the "scale infinitely" mindset 09:00 – Software with a beginning, middle, and end  11:00 – Gowalla, Path, and products as a moment in time  13:00 – Building an intentional, sustainable studio model  14:00 – The early App Store's one-off apps  17:00 – Font Awesome's internal AI experiment weekend  19:00 – Taste and discernment as the new bottleneck  20:00 – Prompting AI to not be obsequious  21:00 – Advice for getting into icon design today  23:00 – Breaking the rules you don't know exist yet  – The Mosaic pack vs. the Uni calendar rules 24:00 – A wishlist: fully custom, build-your-own calendars  25:00 – Where to find Josh, and what's next for him Credits Featuring Josh Williams and Jory Raphael Hosted, Produced, and edited by Matt Johnson Theme song by Ronnie Martin Music interstitials by Zach Malm Video editing by Isaac Chase Links Font Awesome Mosaic icon pack Josh Williams: @JW on Instagram and Threads Hashtags #PodcastAwesome #IconDesign #FontAwesome #DesignPodcast #AIandDesign #ProductDesign #BrandDesign #TechPodcast #CreativeIndustry #DesignCareers Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness! 

Episode Summary What happens when you give a world-class icon designer a dream brief with almost no boundaries? A brief existential crisis, and eventually a beautiful type-inspired icon packs for Font Awesome 7. 😅 In this episode, Matt and Jory chat with icon designer Laura Bohill about the making of Chisel — the wonderfully chunky icon pack she designed for Font Awesome 7. They get into the weird magic of creative constraints, why icon design is really just tiny-illustration puzzle solving, and how type, branding, and metaphor all shape great icon systems. They also talk about freelance life, protecting your creative brain, why not every design problem should follow you into your evenings, and how sometimes the best ideas show up only after you’ve stepped away from the screen. It’s thoughtful, funny, nerdy, and full of delightful icon design rabbit trails.  What We Cover in This Episode  ✨ How Laura went from “dream project” to “I am spiritually untethered”   ✏️ How a book cover typeface sparked the visual idea behind the Chisel icon pack   🧩 Why icon design is basically a never-ending series of tiny, beautiful puzzles   🧠 Why creative boundaries and time away from work matter more than hustle culture admits   🖼️ How Laura balances clarity vs. creativity in icon design systems   🏰 Why designing icons for Historic England meant trading “upload” icons for castles and country houses   🛠️ Laura’s journey from Illustrator to Figma, with a little help from Noah   🌍 Why icon designers might secretly be some of the most-seen artists on the internet  Timestamps 00:00 — Dream project meets existential crisis 00:04:00 — How an open-ended brief led to Chisel’s distinctive style 00:09:30 — Why Laura doesn’t usually do self-directed design projects 00:12:00 — How she found icon design through illustration and freelance work 00:16:00 — Freelance life, boundaries, and protecting creative energy 00:20:00 — How type design influences icon systems 00:30:00 — Why icon design is really a puzzle-solving practice 00:36:00 — Balancing clarity and creativity in icon systems 00:40:30 — Historic England, castles, and designing beyond typical UI icons 00:45:00 — Laura’s Figma origin story and Noah’s helpful onboarding 00:48:00 — Why icon designers are quietly famous 00:50:00 — Find Laura online and final thoughts Links & Resources Laura Bohill / Laura Bee Find Laura Laura Bee online 😄  Font Awesome 7 Explore Font Awesome 7 and its small batch icon packs, including Chisel Chisel icon pack Laura’s custom icon pack for Font Awesome 7, inspired by stroke contrast in typography  YouTube version of this episode Watch the visual demo version to see the Chisel icons on screen while the team talks through the design  Credits Hosted by Matt Johnson Featuring: Laura Bohill, and Jory Raphael Produced and edited by Matt Johnson Theme song: Ronnie Martin Music interstitials:  Zach Malm Additional video editing: Isaac Chase Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness! 

Look Awesome: Solving Color Once and for All Locking in the color palette for your project is one of those things that seems simple until you're actually doing it. Pick the wrong shade and your text is unreadable. Pick the right shade and it only works in Figma, not in your codebase, not in Tailwind, not anywhere that matters. Dave Gandy — Font Awesome founder, Kickstarter legend, self-described Nantucket color enthusiast — has been quietly building a tool to fix this mess. It's called Look Awesome, and it tackles color from three angles at once: the technical side (WCAG contrast math), the artistic side (palettes that actually look good), and yes, the genetic side (turns out not everyone sees color the same way, and there's a 100-dot test to prove it). This episode is an audio cut of a live demo Dave gave during the Build Awesome Kickstarter stream. He walks through how Look Awesome works, why he built it in under three weeks using modern AI tooling, and why he thinks this might be the most fun thing he's ever made. You'll also hear about NASA's brand guidelines, the color laws of Nantucket, and a binary search algorithm that finds the exact one shade of blue that satisfies both dark and light text contrast requirements. Fair warning: this is a color tool, so if you want to actually see the thing, head over to the YouTube channel. The link is in the show notes. What We Cover What Look Awesome is and why it exists The three challenges of color: technical, artistic, and genetic The Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test and what it means for working with color How the palette-building math actually works (including that binary search) Theming once and getting it everywhere — Tailwind, Web Awesome, Claude's design.md, wherever How Look Awesome fits into the Build Awesome workflow Why Dave built this in under three weeks and what AI-assisted Build Week looked like The Nantucket color palette demo (10 seconds, one URL) Try It Look Awesome is live now at look.awesome.me. Dave wants to hear what's working — not just the bugs. Drop him a note at dave@awesome.me. Want to support the broader project? The Build Awesome Kickstarter is still running at build.awesome.me. Watch the full demo from the livestream! youtube.com/live/XBMSvupE7Bc?si=3Ow2B1I4pOAYnsb  Credits Hosted, produced and edited by Matt Johnson Featuring Dave Gandy and Zach (from the Build Awesome livestream) Theme song by Ronnie Martin Music interstitials by Zach Malm Video editing by Isaac Chase Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness! 

AI makes it easier to build almost anything. So why does that make the job harder? In this episode, Matt sits down with Font Awesome founder Dave Gandy and engineer Travis Chase to get past the hype and into the real day-to-day of building with AI. The conversation covers what's actually changing on the team, where AI falls short, and what human skills matter more now than they did before. If you're a designer, developer, or anyone trying to figure out where you fit in a world where your output can suddenly go 10x — this one's worth your time. Dave and Travis don't pretend the answers are simple. They also don't pretend the concerns aren't real. Fair warning: Dave also makes a case for revisiting waterfall development. It's more convincing than it has any right to be. What We Cover Why producing more means your quality bar has to get sharper, not looser The discernment problem — when you can build anything, how do you decide what's worth building? Why saying no is now a more important skill than ever The strongest AI concerns Dave and Travis actually take seriously (energy, training data ethics, governance) Why AI seems to help people become more of who they already are How to stay curious and useful during a major technology transition without chasing every squirrel Timestamps 0:00 Cold open — from low-level to strategy 0:38 Intro 1:30 Where AI falls short right now 2:00 Quality control when output explodes 2:30 Taste, responsibility, and Jory's point at the snuggle 3:00 The discernment problem and snacktivities 4:20 Simplicity means saying no more than yes 5:30 Chasing waterfalls — does waterfall development make a comeback? 6:00 The strongest anti-AI arguments worth taking seriously 6:45 Energy, ethics, and training data consent 8:00 Technology's evolution and the genie that's out of the bottle 9:00 The Industrial Revolution farmer analogy 9:45 Superheroes, supervillains, and hiring for character first 10:20 Two ditches: navigating between idealism and cynicism 11:10 Rev share and what the world should look like 11:45 Governance, compromise, and garbage design 13:30 Washing machines and making more clean water 14:00 Guiding principles for using AI internally 15:00 Company behaviors as an AI framework: curious, humble, adventurous 16:00 AI helps people become more of who they are 16:45 AI will ask people to operate at a higher level 18:00 Refusing to engage is the riskiest move of all 19:00 We need critical voices — and we need them in the room 20:00 Echo chambers, bad data, and the water story 21:30 The world is hopeful — spend your life in wonder 22:30 Home prices, colonizing planets, and the leap to the real world 23:00 Outro Credits Hosted by Matt Johnson Featuring Dave Gandy and Travis Chase Produced and edited by Matt Johnson Theme song by Ronnie Martin Music interstitials by Zach Malm Video editing by Isaac Chase 🔗 Font Awesome: https://fontawesome.com  🔗 Check out episode one of the conversation! https://www.podcastawesome.com/2092855/episodes/19065993-build-week-what-we-made-part-1-with-dave-travis 🔗 Podcast Awesome: https://podcastawesome.com #PodcastAwesome #FontAwesome #AI #DesignAndDevelopment #TechEthics #SoftwareDevelopment Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness! 

💻 AI side quests, but make it Snuggle. 🤖✨ In this episode, we’re fresh off the Snuggle (our company retreat) and talking about what happens when you give a curious team some time, space… and a bunch of AI tools. Travis and Dave join us to share how experimenting with tools like G-Stack, Spec-Kit, and Claude helped us explore ideas, prototype faster, and take on projects we normally wouldn’t have time for. We get into the practical side of it all—what worked, what didn’t, and where AI actually fits into a creative workflow (without the hype). It’s part experiment recap, part philosophy, and part “what if we just tried it?” Whether you're building products, designing systems, or just curious how AI can fit into your process, this one’s for you. 🎙️ What we cover in this episode: 🧑‍🚀 Why we dedicated Snuggle time to AI exploration 🧩 How tools like G-Stack, Spec-Kit, and Claude fit into real workflows 💻 Using AI to prototype and pressure-test ideas quickly ⚖️ The balance between human creativity and machine assistance 🧠 What surprised us (and what didn’t) ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Welcome & Intro 00:01:59 – What are Snacktivites? 00:02:57 – Company Behaviors Framework 00:04:16 – Build Week Explained 00:05:00 – Travis's Thoughts on AI Shift 00:08:05 – Ethics Over Slop 00:08:31 – Education and Intent 00:11:47 – Using AI as a Force Multiplier 00:14:50 – Skills Files and Standards 00:21:10 – Tooling Roundup: G-Stack, Spec-Kit, and more 00:25:46 – Color Awesome Finale 00:27:45 – Wrap Up ... To Be Continued in Part 2 🔗 Links & resources: Font Awesome: https://fontawesome.com/ Browse icons: https://fontawesome.com/icons Kits: https://fontawesome.com/kits Web Awesome: https://webawesome.com/ Credits: 🎵 Theme music by Ronnie Martin 🎶 Interstitials by Zach Malm Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness! 

Job interviews aren’t just about proving you’re a fit — they’re about figuring out whether the company deserves you, too. 👀 In this episode, Matt chats with Font Awesome founder Dave Gandy about why hiring is a two-way street. They unpack the red flags candidates should watch for, what healthy companies actually look like, and how the interview process can reveal way more than a polished mission statement ever will. Dave shares practical advice for job seekers on asking better questions, spotting dysfunctional hiring practices, and approaching the search with intention instead of desperation. They also dig into trust, team health, and why the best workplaces tend to value character just as much as capability. Whether you’re job hunting, hiring, or just trying to avoid ending up in a workplace that feels like a corporate escape room, this episode has plenty to chew on. 😅 What we cover: Why hiring should be a two-way evaluation The biggest red flags in interview processes What healthy organizations prioritize Why trust matters more than pure talent How to ask smarter interview questions Why job seekers need a strategy, not just a stack of resumes How to identify companies that are actually worth your time Timestamps: 00:00 – Why hiring is a two-way street 02:00 – HR screenings, weird assessments, and early red flags 05:10 – Desperation in job hunting and why standards still matter 07:00 – What healthy companies really look like 09:20 – How to flip the script and interview the company 12:00 – Big companies, bad filters, and missing great candidates 16:00 – Why knowing yourself matters before you start looking 19:00 – Why spray-and-pray applications usually fall flat 21:00 – The value of being “double T-shaped” in your career 24:00 – Why the best opportunities often come through side doors 25:00 – Building relationships before you need a job 27:00 – How companies communicate values in the hiring process 29:00 – The one thing a company needs to do differently 30:00 – Wrap-up and outro Credits: Hosted by Matt Johnson Featuring Dave Gandy Produced and edited by Matt Johnson Theme song by Ronnie Martin Music interstitials by Zach Malm Video editing by Isaac Chase #Hiring #InterviewTips #JobSearch #CareerAdvice #Leadership #CompanyCulture #WorkplaceCulture #TechCareers #PodcastAwesome #FontAwesome 🚀 Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness! 

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Ed and Francis to talk through three newly shipped Font Awesome features that are small, practical, and just the right amount of fun. They dig into individual PNG downloads, a new global color picker for previewing icons in brand colors, and the wonderfully playful User Blender, which lets you mix and match heads, bodies, and styles to create custom user icons for your kit. Along the way, they unpack the thinking behind each feature, how these updates connect to Icon Wizard and the broader Font Awesome 7.2 release, and why shaving off a few annoying workflow steps can make life noticeably better for designers and developers. There’s also an unexpected side quest into Ed’s cameo in his son’s YouTube channel, because apparently every product update deserves a B-plot. 🎬 If you want to actually see these features in action, there’s also an extended video version on YouTube with demos. But this audio-only episode still gives you the full behind-the-scenes story, the practical use cases, and all the delightful nerdery you’d expect from the Awesomeverse. What We Cover in This Episode 🎨 How the new global color picker makes previewing icon colors much easier 🖼️ Why individual PNG downloads are a handy addition for quick icon grabs 🧑‍🚀 How User Blender lets you create custom user icons with random and manual combinations 🧩 How these features build on ideas from Icon Wizard 💻 Why small workflow improvements can have a big impact for teams 🧪 How playful side projects sometimes turn into genuinely useful features 🎬 Ed’s surprise side quest into low-budget cinematic glory Timestamps 00:00 Welcome to Podcast Awesome  00:20 Introducing the episode and today’s guests  00:45 The three new features: PNG downloads, color picker, and User Blender  01:10 Francis makes a Podcast Awesome debut  01:40 Looking back at Ed’s previous appearances and Icon Wizard history  02:10 Why individual PNG downloads were added  03:00 When and why someone might want PNG instead of SVG  04:10 The idea behind the new global color picker  05:00 Previewing brand colors across icon search results  05:40 Using the color picker on category pages and kits  06:10 Duotone controls, secondary colors, opacity, reset, and swatches  07:10 Reusing Web Awesome tools inside Font Awesome  07:50 How color settings carry over across different areas  08:20 How the color picker affects code snippets and icon styling  08:55 Meet User Blender  09:20 How randomizing and mixing custom user icons works  10:00 Available styles and future expansion plans  10:40 Why User Blender is both useful and toy-like in the best possible way  11:15 How the feature grew out of a snuggle and Icon Wizard success  12:00 A call for community creations and creative icon mashups  12:40 How these features fit into the Font Awesome 7.2 release  13:10 Ed’s unexpected acting career and his son’s YouTube side quest  14:00 Wrap-up and where to share your creations YouTube episode with visual examples: https://youtu.be/NDsqZozkn3A  Font Awesome: https://fontawesome.com/ Browse Font Awesome Icons: https://fontawesome.com/icons Learn about Kits: https://fontawesome.com/kits Explore Web Awesome: https://webawesome.com/ Contact the team: hello@fontawesome.com Theme music by Ronnie Martin: https://ronniemartin.org/ Interstitial music by Zach Malm: https://muzach.bandcamp.com/ Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness! 

In this episode, Matt and Jory sit down with UK-based icon designer + illustrator Vic Bell to talk about the brand-new Font Awesome icon pack, Graphite — a loose, hand-drawn set that brings texture, depth, and a whole lot of human personality to iconography. If you’ve ever tried to balance clarity vs. creativity, or wondered how icons can feel more like typefaces with different “voices”, this one’s for you. 🎧 🗒️ What We Cover in This Episode 👋 How Vic and Jory connected ✏️ Designing Font Awesome Pro Plus packs and how “Small Batch” became a thing 🧠 Vic’s creative journey: trends, taste, and identity 🏠 Why icons are storytelling at micro-scale ⚖️ The tension between clarity and creativity 🧰 Illustrator vs. Figma for icon design 📲 Custom brushes and iPad sidecar workflows 🕒 Timestamps 0:00 - Introduction and Welcome 0:46 - How Vic and Jory Connected 2:48 - Font Awesome Icon Packs Overview 5:42 - Vic's Creative Journey and Evolution 7:45 - The Hand-Drawn "Graphite" Icon Style 10:17 - Reflections on Icon Design as a Career 13:41 - Childhood Influences and the Magic of Small Things 17:18 - Creative Process and Personalization 22:19 - Trusting the Creative Process 23:32 - Project Validation and Creative Freedom 25:15 - Technical Challenges and Implementation 26:23 - Future of Font Awesome Icon Packs 30:52 - Illustrator vs. Figma for Icon Design 31:28 - Creating Custom Brushes and Using iPad 38:38 - Balancing Clarity and Creativity in Icon Design 47:37 - Releasing Icon Packs and Delayed Gratification 🔗 Links & Resources Vic Bell: / vic_bell Font Awesome: https://fontawesome.com/ Web Awesome: https://webawesome.com/ Theme music by Ronnie Martin Interstitial music by Zach Malm Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Eleventy started as a side project. Now it’s a critical infrastructure for thousands of websites. TL;DR: Open source isn’t broken. But the way we fund it often is. Let’s talk about what actually works. In this episode, we sit down with Zach Leatherman, creator of Eleventy (11ty), to talk honestly about what happens after open source succeeds. From nap-time coding and nights-and-weekends maintenance to venture capital pressure, burnout risk, and the reality of funding long-lived developer tools, this conversation digs into the cultural and financial tradeoffs behind modern open source. We cover sustainability, community expectations, funding models that don’t rely on hockey-stick growth, and why “free forever” only works if the people behind the project can stay whole humans. 🎙️ What We Cover in This Episode 🧠 How Eleventy grew from a side project into a widely depended-on tool ⚖️ The maintainer’s dilemma: growth, responsibility, and personal sustainability 💸 Why venture capital and hockey-stick growth often fail dev tools 🔥 Burnout, boundaries, and being accountable to a global user base 🏡 Balancing family life with open source maintenance 🔁 Different funding models: donations, sponsorships, Pro tools, and tradeoffs 🌱 What sustainable open source can look like long-term 🔮 What’s ahead for Eleventy and its next chapter ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Introductions and why open source sustainability matters 01:47 – Eleventy’s early days and unexpected adoption 04:32 – When a “side project” becomes critical infrastructure 06:42 – Corporate usage, expectations, and hidden pressure 10:08 – Family life, burnout risk, and personal boundaries 14:17 – Funding models: donations vs. sustainability 18:45 – Venture capital, acquisitions, and hockey-stick growth myths 23:33 – Lessons from Gatsby, Astro, and the dev tools ecosystem 26:25 – Why sustainable open source must tie to real value 30:26 – A healthier path forward for maintainers and communities 33:20 – What’s next for Eleventy 🔗 Links & Resources Eleventy (11ty) Font Awesome Web Awesome 🎵 Theme music by Ronnie Martin 🎹 Interstitial music by Zach Malm 🎥 Video support by Isaac Chase Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Happy New Year from the Awesomeverse! In this episode, Matt and Jory kick off 2026 by recapping all the wild, weird, and wonderful things that happened across Font Awesome and Web Awesome in 2025. From the launch of FA7 and small-batch icon packs to a possum puppet mascot (yes, really), they reflect on the big (and small batch) wins, behind-the-scenes hilarity, and creative experiments that made the year unforgettable. Oh, and if you're wondering what it's like to direct a hot dog-eating scene at a Kickstarter video shoot? We’ve got that covered too. TL;DR: New icons, big upgrades, hilarious videos, brainy guests, possum puppets, and one heck of a year.  🧠 What We Cover in This Episode 🎉 Reflecting on FA7 upgrades 🧪 The rise of Pro Plus and its small batch icon packs (Etch! Jelly! Not Dog!) 🎥 Behind-the-scenes on the F.A.C.U. cinematic universe and the FA7 shoot (hot dog suit included) 🧩 How the newsletter icon puzzle took on a life of its own 🧰 The official Web Awesome launch and what’s next 🧠 Brainy takes on icon cognition from Dr. Brian Glenny 🐾 The birth of Awesome Possum, our unofficial but fully fabulous mascot 📦 Teasers for what’s coming in 2026: More icons, more components, and more fun ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Post-holiday haze & back in the podcast saddle 02:00 – FA7 highlights: Pro Plus packs + icon design overhaul 04:30 – Icon Pack breakdown: Etch, Jelly, Not Dog, and beyond 06:00 – Behind-the-scenes filming stories from the FA7 Kickstarter video 10:00 – Web Awesome officially launches! 12:30 – How the Awesome Possum was born 16:00 – The rise of the icon puzzle & newsletter hijinks 24:00 – Standout guests from the past season + the philosophy of icon design 28:00 – Accessibility icons, graffiti activism, and symbol cognition 30:00 – What’s coming in 2026: New icon packs, new components, and new surprises 32:00 – The Awesome Possum signs us off (kinda) 🔗 Links & Resources Check out the FA7 Launch Video Learn more about Pro Plus Build with Web Awesome Subscribe to our Newsletter (get the puzzle!) Jory’s Puzzle Book: “Goes Without Saying” Behind-the-scenes of the FA7 Shoot The Accessibility Icon Project  🎵 Theme music by Ronnie Martin 🎹 Interstitial music by Zach Malm 🎥 Video support by Isaac Chase Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

What is nerdery, really? 🤓 In this episode of Podcast Awesome, we dig into the heart of Font Awesome’s culture — inclusive nerdery. It's not about lone geniuses or command line gatekeepers. It’s about heart, curiosity, humility, and building awesome things with other people. 💛 👾 You'll hear from FA team members Dave and Travis, plus a few snippets from topics we've covered on our blog and internal convos, all woven together to show how we: 🎯 Hire for character over cleverness 🔍 Celebrate deep curiosity (hello, nutrition nerds and D&D geeks!) 🎉 Create space for serious play through our legendary team "Snuggles" 🧠 Foster creativity through snack-sized projects like the Icon Wizard and Space Awesome game This episode is for anyone building company culture, or just trying to figure out how to lead with humanity in a techy world. ✨ Icons may not change the world, but good people just might. 🔍 What You’ll Hear in This Episode: 00:00 – Welcome to Nerdery™ 02:00 – Defining what "nerd" means to us 04:00 – Why we hire adults, not rockstars 06:00 – Our 3-step hiring philosophy 08:00 – Why we host company “Snuggles” (not summits!) 10:00 – FARTS, the Icon Wizard & how fun leads to innovation 12:00 – Space Awesome: building games on company time (and learning VueJS to boot!) 14:00 – Why forced culture doesn’t work 16:00 – A culture that’s built to last 🔗 Mentioned in the Episode: 🧙‍♂️ Space Awesome – FA dev project https://spaceawesome.io/ 🛠 Our Hiring Philosophy https://blog.fontawesome.com/company-... ✨ The Icon Wizard https://blog.fontawesome.com/icon-wiz... 💼 More About FA Company Culture https://blog.fontawesome.com/nerdery/ 🎵 Theme music by Ronnie Martin 🎹 Interstitial music by Zach Malm 🎥 Video support by Isaac Chase Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

🎬 What do Star Wars, oil painting, and storytelling have in common?   Turns out: everything. In this curiosity-fueled episode, filmmaker and multi-hyphenate creative Andy Maier (Soon Agency) joins host Matt Johnson to talk about building a life powered by relentless learning, visual storytelling, and the kind of curiosity that launches careers 🚀. From working with Apple, SpaceX, and Microsoft to touring in his metal band Opponent and picking up oil painting during a creative pivot — Andy is the living embodiment of “just figure it out.” 💥🎨🧠 If you've ever felt like the underdog creative, this one’s for you. Andy drops storytelling gems faster than Yoda lifts an X-Wing. 🎸 Fun fact: Andy composed the metal version of the Font Awesome theme song in a single day. That’s some serious Jedi speed 🤘. 🎙️ What We Cover in This Episode 🤖 Why being curious is better than being talented 🎥 How oil painting made Andy a better compositor 🧱 The concept of “armature” and why your story collapses without one 🌱 Why telling the truth is the best brand strategy 🤝 The power of surrounding yourself with curious people ✨ Building "wells, not fences" in your creative career ⚔️ Star Wars, Iron Giant, and the real meaning of “The Force” ⏱️ Timestamps  00:00 – Welcome to Podcast Awesome  01:00 – Meet Andy Maier: Creative Jedi & Founder of Soon  02:30 – Early creative career and figuring it out on the fly  05:15 – The underestimated power of curiosity  08:20 – From DIY music videos to working with Apple and SpaceX  10:45 – Why storytelling is better than trends  13:30 – Building a creative life around community and friendships  16:00 – How oil painting made Andy better at... everything  19:00 – The merch moment: painting turned t-shirt design  22:00 – What’s real? How to build grounded storytelling  26:30 – Invisible Ink, Brian McDonald, and story armature 101  32:00 – Why Marvel’s Phase 4 struggles (and what X-Men got right)  34:00 – Star Wars, Joseph Campbell, and unlocking “the Force”  37:45 – Where to find Andy and his work  38:30 – Bonus: The origin of the metal FA theme song 🤘 🔗 Links & Resources  🔥 Andy’s work – https://www.soon.agency  🎶 Andy’s band Opponent – https://www.solidstaterecords.com/opponent  📖 Invisible Ink by Brian McDonald – https://shorturl.at/E9101  🖖 Font Awesome’s Heavy Metal Icon Episode – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FlsrtKCI1Y  🎧 More Podcast Awesome episodes – https://podcastawesome.com  #PodcastAwesome #StorytellingMatters #CreativeJedi #VisualStorytelling #FilmmakerLife #MotionGraphicsArtist #DesignNerds #FontAwesome #CuriosityWins #InvisibleInk #CreativeProcess #OilPaintingForDesigners #BuildWellsNotFences #NerdCulture #MetalVibesOnly #StarWarsStorytelling #MakeSomethingAwesome Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Episode Summary What does it really take to ship something as powerful, polished, and downright magical as Web Awesome? In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Lindsay and Cory, the dynamic duo behind the official launch of Web Awesome. Together, they peel back the curtain on how the team brought a customizable design system to life (without summoning any cursed CSS incantations). From the slick Theme Builder to the deeply thoughtful Figma integration, from production-ready patterns to future-forward prototyping dreams, this convo is packed with insights for devs, designers, and nerds of all kinds. Get the scoop on stretch goals, community feedback, and why starting with a “sh*tty first draft” is actually a power move. Oh! And they may or may not be plotting a future where we don’t even need Figma anymore. Gasp! What We Cover in This Episode: 🛠 The design magic behind the Theme Builder 🎨 Patterns and why you shouldn’t reinvent the checkout form 🧩 The current state of Figma files — and where they’re headed 🧪 Bridging the gap between prototyping and real code 🔮 A sneak peek at future stretch goal components (hello, toasts and video!) ⚡ How Web Awesome + Eleventy = your new dream dev stack 🗣 Why your newbie feedback matters more than you think Timestamps 00:00 – Welcome & introductions 01:45 – Life after launch: relief or revving up? 03:30 – Making the Theme Builder powerful and friendly 05:40 – Patterns that just work (and why that's a good thing) 07:30 – Balancing usability and delightful surprises 08:15 – Figma files, MVP vibes, and real feedback 10:20 – The future of theming via Figma plugins 12:00 – Stretch goal components: what’s shipped and what’s next 14:30 – Why prototyping with code might replace Figma 16:45 – Web Awesome meets Eleventy: the ultimate team-up 19:00 – Templates, page builders, and lowering the barrier to entry 20:30 – Why new users’ feedback is gold 22:00 – How to connect with the team & share your experience Links & Resources 🌐 [Web Awesome](https://webawesome.com) 📣 [Join the Community](https://webawesome.com/community) 🧵 [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/webawesome/webawesome/discussions) 📬 Email: [help@webawesome.com](mailto:help@webawesome.com) / [hello@webawesome.com](mailto:hello@webawesome.com) 💬 Join us on Discord – link on the community page! 🧠 Learn more about [Jacob’s Law](https://lawsofux.com/jakobs-law/) 🎁 Don’t forget: 20% off Web Awesome Pro until Nov 19th! Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Episode Summary: We're heading back to the basement — (sort of). In this episode, Matt catches up with Mike Wilkerson, the OG guest of Podcast Awesome, to unveil the biggest update yet to the official Font Awesome WordPress plugin. From block editor visual support to full-on SVG injection wizardry (yes, that’s a thing), this version is all about giving developers and designers more power, more precision, and fewer plugin conflicts. Whether you’re a WordPress purist or a page builder rebel, you’ll walk away knowing how to get your icons looking sharp, staying pro, and loading like a dream. 🧠 What We Cover in This Episode: 🔌 The origin story of the plugin (and the furnace that helped launch it) 🧱 Full block editor visual editing support (finally WYSIWYG!) 🛠️ SVG injection + self-hosting benefits 🛡️ How to squash plugin conflicts like a pro 🔍 Page builder struggles—and what might be coming next 🤝 How to send feedback to actual humans™ at Font Awesome ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 – Basement beginnings & podcast nostalgia  02:00 – WordPress + Font Awesome: how widespread is it?  04:00 – Why Version 5 is a game-changer  06:00 – How inline SVGs improve performance and reduce conflict  08:00 – Self-hosting benefits & advanced options  10:00 – When to load (or not load) your kit  12:00 – Compatibility tips for older content  14:00 – What’s next for FA + WordPress  16:00 – How to give feedback to actual humans™ 🔗 Links & Resources: Official Font Awesome WordPress Plugin Using Kits with WordPress Conflict Detection & Troubleshooting Email us: hello@fontawesome.com Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

🧠 What do LEGO logos, hand-puppet dreams, citrus gadgets, and naming things "Turbo" have in common? They're all part of Dan Cederholm’s design universe — and part of this wide-ranging, joy-filled second half of our conversation. In this episode, Dan returns to talk about:  • Embracing constraints as a creative fuel source • Naming fonts after misspelled words (because ... domains) • The delightful hellscape of naming anything in tech • Why imposter syndrome might actually be useful • And how a puppet changed everything at Font Awesome 🧡 🎧 It’s a show-and-tell episode full of unexpected design wisdom, warm fuzzies, and orange peelers. What We Cover in This Episode: • 🧠 Dan’s creative process: one font at a time • 🚫 Naming things is still the hardest problem in tech • 🐀 The birth of the Font Possum Puppet • 🧃 The power of a really good citrus squeezer • 🤖 Why AI can’t fake taste (yet) • 💌 Why Dan's newsletter works (and yours could too) • 😵‍💫 Making peace with imposter syndrome • 🧩 Why being weird is a superpower ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 01:15 – The creative process of typeface design 04:04 – Naming fonts is a nightmare 06:05 – The importance of naming & branding 12:25 – Imposter syndrome in the creative industry 18:15 – A puppet changed everything 22:31 – Why a newsletter is like old-school blogging 29:03 – Orange peelers, joy, and the power of small specificity 37:17 – The impact of creativity 38:14 – Building community through creativity 41:16 – Wrap up with Dan Cederholm 42:24 – Final Thoughts & Credits 📌 Links & Resources • Dan Cederholm → https://simplebits.com • Dan's newsletter → https://simplebits.com/newsletter • Turbo Typeface → https://simplebits.com/fonts • Font Possum cameo → [FontAwesome YouTube Channel] • BrickLink Studio (Lego design app) → https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Summary Designer, author, and co-founder of Dribbble, Dan Cederholm joins Podcast Awesome to chat with Matt Johnson and Jory Raphael about finding joy in creativity later in life, making fonts just for fun, and the art of embracing imperfection. From typefaces and merch to dice games and design detours, Dan shares how side projects, constraints, and a healthy dose of curiosity keep the creative spark alive. This two-part conversation is full of laughter, nostalgia, and lessons about learning new things just because they’re fun. You’ll walk away inspired to make something— anything — awesome. Key Takeaways Creativity thrives in curiosity: Dan reminds us that learning new things (even outside your job) can reignite your creative energy. Constraints fuel originality: Sometimes not knowing everything — or having limited tools — can sometimes help create the most human, interesting work. Merch can tell a story: From fonts to dice games, playful side projects become part of a designer’s personal brand. Imperfection = personality: The best designs often come with flaws that make them real, memorable, and relatable. Spend time not doing your job: Font Awesome’s team philosophy — creativity grows when you step outside your usual sandbox. Timestamps 00:00 — Introduction and catching up with Dan Cederholm 02:00 — Typefaces as creative puzzles 06:00 — The joy of passion projects 10:00 — The first font and lessons from “Chameleon” 18:00 — The lineage of icon design and learning from imperfection 26:00 — Failures, Field Notes, and finding the next fun thing 30:00 — Creative constraints and the beauty of not knowing everything 36:00 — Humor, joy, and “making stuff that makes you laugh” 38:00 — The icons that exist just because they’re funny 42:00 — Hidden glyphs, zombie hands, and bonus icons in fonts 44:00 — Wrap-up and where to find Dan online Related Links SimpleBits.com — Dan’s home for fonts, merch, and creative experiments Dan’s Newsletter  — The one Font Awesome staffers never skip Dribbble  — Co-founded by Dan, still inspiring designers everywhere Credits Produced and edited by Matt Johnson Video editing by Isaac Chase Theme music by Ronnie Martin Interstitial music by Zach Mom Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Build once, run everywhere. In this full-nerd, front-end-leaning episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Zach Leatherman (creator of Eleventy) and Konnor Rogers (Web Awesome developer) to chat about how a static site generator just might be the key to building some of the most powerful, performant documentation on the web. We dig deep into Eleventy’s evolution, Web Awesome’s hybrid architecture, and how a team of devs found a way to keep docs fast, flexible, and secure — without rewriting everything from scratch or giving up on open source values. Spoiler: they didn’t go full ExpressJS for fun. Whether you’re a seasoned dev or a newb, this one's packed with insight, edge-case explorations, and some seriously satisfying build-time nerdery. In this episode, we explore: ⚡️ Why Eleventy’s simplicity still scales  🧠 Making static sites feel dynamic (without a heavy JS framework)  🔐 How Web Awesome handles auth + private docs with minimal friction  🚫 Avoiding vendor lock-in and runtime gotchas  📦 The future of Eleventy in browsers, edge runtimes, and beyond Pull up your terminal. This one’s for you. 🔗 Links & Credits 🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin 🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns (Lemon Productions) 🎹 Interstitial music by Zach Malm 🎥 Video support by Isaac Chase 🔗 Eleventy 🔗 Web Awesome Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

Inside the UX lessons, internet lore, and surprising comeback of Clippy Love him or loathe him, you remember him. Clippy — the googly-eyed paperclip that lived inside Microsoft Word — has become a permanent fixture in internet culture. But how did a productivity tool become the patron saint of annoying-yet-adorable UI? In this episode of Podcast Awesome, we’re digging into the cult of Clippy with behind-the-scenes insights from Clippy's original creator Kevan Atteberry and Microsoft designer Sam Kundal. From meme fame to Microsoft Teams emoji, Clippy's legacy is more layered than you think. 📝 What We Cover in This Episode: 📎 Why Clippy was loved and hated 🧠 The psychology of nostalgic design 🔁 When Microsoft secretly brought Clippy back 🤖 What Clippy might teach us about the future of AI assistants ✍️ thoughts on reviving legacy designs the right way ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 – Welcome to the Cult of Clippy 02:00 – The origin story: from helpful to hated 04:30 – Nostalgia and annoyance: why we love to hate him 06:00 – Microsoft’s secret Clippy emoji comeback 08:00 – What makes emoji design "work"? 10:00 – Fun at work: why weirdness builds culture 14:00 – The creator's take: Kevan Atteberry on designing Clippy 20:00 – From embarrassment to pride: Clippy's redemption arc 24:00 – Clippy vs. Siri: The rise of personality-driven UI 26:00 – Final thoughts: where personality fits in UX 🔗 Links & Resources: Sam Kundal on Twitter Kevan Atteberry's books How to add a paperclip emoji to your UI Vote a favorite icon up the leaderboard 🎥 Podcast Awesome on YouTube 🎶 The Font Awesome Theme Song – Composed by Ronnie Martin 🎸 Music Interstitials by Zach Malm 🎬 Produced and edited by Matt Johnson with some extra help from Isaac Chase  Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!