Did I Do That?

Adam JK (AKA Adam J. Kurtz) sits down with Sean to talk about his design mistakes… as well as parking scams, bootleg Barts, and Advanced Macaroni. It’s the episode that will make you ask, “is this for the podcast?” over and over as someone tries and fails to describe the plot of Back to the Future to you (and somehow the answer remains yes).ABOUT THE GUEST: Adam J. Kurtz ("Adam JK") is a Toronto-born, Honolulu-based artist whose illustrative work is rooted in honesty, humor, and a little bit of darkness. His books and journals including Things Are What You Make of Them have sold over a million copies in twenty languages. Obsessed with aphorisms and ephemera, Kurtz's work seeks to craft new reminders from familiar sources, offering his brand of "back-handed optimism" as a token of encouragement and camaraderie for other creative, emotional, and deeply human people. In 2024, Kurtz and his husband opened a shop called SMALL KINE GIFT.You can find Adam’s latest journal, Now What: A Creative Companion for Whatever Comes Next, is available for preorder now from just about any bookseller, online or otherwise—including in a signed edition directly from his site.This episode was recorded Thursday, October 15, 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Port Authority Bus Terminal! Would you like a hot towel? AIGA Portland President and NBC ArtWorks Studio Creative Director Ventura Castro sits down with Sean to talk about his design mistakes… as well as Bleeding Cowboys, the many attractions of Secaucus, New Jersey, and Moby’s failed fact checking career.As Ventura mentioned, Portland Design Month is indeed happening now, and if you’re listening from the Portland area, you still have the rest of October to see all there is to see, including lectures tonight (as this goes out) at PSU with Spotify’s Tina Snow Le. Shout out to past guest Emy Su for doing the lovely graphics this year, and past co-host Gabe Bidney for serving as AIGA Portland’s new Programming Director, helping to pull the whole thing off! Check out our bi-weekly newsletter on Substack for a full guide of event recommendations from past guests and friends of the show!ABOUT THE GUEST: Equal parts executive producer and creative director, Ventura Castro has been a force behind the scenes of the motion graphics industry for the last 15+ years. As Creative Director for NBC ArtWorks Studio, he leads the in-house agency for brand and package design across all news/documentary properties for on-air and streaming platforms. An avid cinephile, Ventura has taught at the EPFC and given talks at SCAD, SVA, and NYU. He currently serves as President of AIGA Portland, where he leads the organization’s strategic direction and community initiatives, expanding cross-disciplinary programming — and positioning design as both cultural force and civic infrastructure.Ventura’s work can be seen (soon!) at his website, venturacastro.com, but until then, you can find it on Instagram, LinkedIn, or by watching NBC News or Telemundo’s upcoming coverage of the 2026 US midterm elections.This episode was recorded Sunday, October 4, 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Illustrator and artist Allie Yacina sits down with Sean to talk about her design mistakes… as well as Good Friends, ways to keep a cool head during a job interview, and summiting the Rockies in a Miata. It’s the episode that’ll make you do the shuffling-your-hands-back-and-forth dance that’s sweeping the nation, which is called the… uh…?Allie Yacina is an artist, illustrator, teacher and designer residing in Portland, OR since 2016. Her work explores color and sense of place through traditional and digital media. Her paintings have been shown in local galleries and her illustrations have been published in editorials as well as limited edition poster prints for clients such as the Portland Parks Foundation and the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership. Her work was selected for the Society of Illustrators 65th annual show in the editorial and book category. Allie teaches sketchbook classes at Ulna Studios and works full-time as an illustrator and designer for local mobile game developer Brainium Studios (PlayStudios). Allie currently lives in Portland, Oregon and spends her free-time working in her sketchbook, rock climbing, and exploring the incredible PNW.You can find Allie’s work on Instagram as @allie.yacina or on the web at allieyacina.com. You can follow Allie on Substack (allieyacina.substack.com) if you want to read more about the House Industries story we talked about or see some of her more recent writing. If you want to take Allie’s sketchbook class, go check out Ulna Art Studio at ulnastudio.com! As she mentioned, a new class is planned in January 2027 stretching out over six Saturdays and it’s a great way to leave the laptop behind and connect yourself back to the joy of drawing (even if you’ve never really done it).This episode was recorded Tuesday, September 22, 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is not Casual Encounters! We’re trying to do design here! The great Dave Pabellon (Assistant Professor of Design at University of Notre Dame) sits down with Sean to talk about his design mistakes… as well as the Costanza Maneuver, Scantron aesthetics, and the Rivers that run through it (it being multiple Chicago neighborhoods in very different parts of town).ABOUT THE GUEST: Dave Pabellon is a design educator, researcher, and practitioner under the moniker It Is Just Dave LLC, with over 25 years of experience. Pabellon’s studio work has been recognized by Sappi’s Ideas That Matter, the STA 100, the Chicago Design Archive, the Typeforce Annual, and Communication Arts. Pabellon’s research centers on the history and practice of graphic design labor as a means of building solidarity among communities of color and activist spaces. Specifically, he studies and researches how BIPOC designers have worked with and alongside liberation movements in the past and explores/experiments with contemporary models. In addition to his professional and academic practice, Pabellon is a Core Organizer for the Design As Protest (DAP) Collective, a Mobile Makers Chicago board member, and is an active member of the Dark Matter U. roster. You can find Dave’s work on the web (itisjustdave.com), Instagram (@it_is_just_dave), or by going to Notre Dame’s website (artdept.nd.edu/people/dave-pabellon).You can find the Anti-Racist Design Justice Index, a tool for architects, designers, planners, policymakers, and community activists committed to taking action towards identifying and dismantling systemic racism within our practices, organizations, academic institutions, and local governments, at dapcollective.com/index. If you want to get a copy of the newspaper, you can order a copy (or 50) at dapcollective.com/newspaper.This episode was recorded Saturday, August 8, 2026 during TypeCon 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did I Do That? is back with a new live show direct from the mainstage of Seattle Design Festival 2026! Listen as the great Colby Nichols (Art Director, Print Innovation for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast) and Sean Bucknam (Senior Designer at Starbucks) square off with their most regrettable past work to see whose is bad enough for Seattle's favorite mythical raccoon to want to fish it out of the dumpster.Want to see the slides (and work) we shared on stage? Check out all our images here as a slide deck, or see the full video on the SDF YouTube channel!Colby Nichols is a creative leader who dreams big, supports others, and brings a bright spark to teams and projects. His approach to work and creative management is heart-forward with a focus on collaboration. He spent the last 12 years co-running the collaboration-focused design and illustration studio, Jolby. During that time he co-founded an award-winning space of inclusivity, put to use his unique approach to leading projects and solving big problems, directed projects across multiple teams for global entertainment and consumer brands with a focus on storytelling, recruited, cultivated, and inspired creative teams, led artists in commissions including the creation of artwork, voice over, music, animation, design, writing, editing, and coding, maintained meaningful client and vendor partnerships, did the hard thing, shared the spotlight, and made people smile. Currently, Colby serves as Art Director, Print Innovation for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast.Sean Bucknam is a designer and maker of things working in the Seattle area. Los Angeles born and raised, PNW local by choice. He can see the bigger picture in any simple brief while concepting and creating designs that stand out from the crowd. He always aims to provide an elevated, imaginative, and fresh way of thinking through pictures rather than words. He has collected a wealth of knowledge while honing his design and art direction with companies like Amazon, Starbucks, Nike, REI, and Brooks Running. A problem solver at heart, Sean is skilled in Typography, Branding and Identity Design, Illustration, and Art Direction. Currently, Sean serves as a Senior Designer at Starbucks.Back to the Bottom of the Barrel was presented live on stage at Seattle Design Festival in Lake Union Park on Saturday, August 15, 2026. Thanks to our competitors Sean and Colby, to Seattle Design Festival for hosting us once again, and special thanks again to Adrian Pacheco and all our incredible SDF volunteers for helping to make this show happen once again! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did I Do That? doesn’t have a studio anymore!? Whatever! We don't need a studio, we need a tuxedo, because it might well be the last episode of season 8 as well!* Jack-of-all trades creative Scrappers sits down with Sean one last time in the Rat’s Nest to talk about his design mistakes… as well as professional papier-mâché, the Scarlett Pushpin, and knives: the perfect job interview gift. Grab a sandwich from your lifetime supply and settle in—this one is a wild ride!Justin “Scrappers” Morrison is a creative human pocketknife. He's capable of handling all sorts of work from art direction, illustration, copy writing, creative team assembling and making dreams come to life. He’s been handy at Wieden+Kennedy, the Portland Mercury, North, and Stay Wild Magazine. Scrappers is currently the Brand Creative Director at Danner boots in Portland, Oregon. He’s worn many hats, but now he wears many boots. See his art, read his stories, and learn more about his work at humanpocketknife.com. You can also follow Scrappers on Instagram at @scrappers.This episode was recorded Saturday, April 18, 2026 in the Rat’s Nest.* while I do hope that’s not the case, expect a bit of a programming gap either way while I get the move sorted out and take some much needed recovery time off. Sorry about that! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Legendary educator and detail-oriented designer for good Precious Bugarin sits down with Sean to talk about her design mistakes… as well as John Cage’s call-in show, clothing tags, and the challenges of “Illustrating” a 200-page book. Plus, help fund our smash-hit sequel to Backrooms: Creepy Hallway Is The Portal (To Creativity) (And Also There’s Tiny Locked Room In The Room That Has A Sink).Precious Burgarin comes from a family of immigrants, migrant farmers, veterans, journalists, artists and teachers. She’s a first generation Filipino American; born in San Francisco and raised in Stockton, California. Over the span of two decades, she’s been a designer and design educator. Her studio amplifies the work of nonprofits and helps businesses grow through thoughtful branding. She was a senior adjunct professor at Portland State University in the School of Art + Design (2003-2023), teaching students about type details and branding for social good. Previously, she was Art Director at Mercy Corps and currently serves as Graphic Design Manager at Toole Design Group.This episode was recorded Saturday, April 25, 4 A.R. (AKA 2026) in the Rat’s Nest.While this is our final episode recorded from the Rat’s Nest, it isn’t the last episode that will be published from it! Come back in two weeks for that last recording from the weekend before, and what might be our final episode of season 8 (unless I can figure out some interim recording space in the mean time—talk about a cliffhanger to end the season on!). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While I’m busy packing up the last bits of the Rat’s Nest and closing out a busy school year, I thought I’d share a feed drop from one of my favorite podcasts, Weird Medieval Guys! It’s a great time, and folks who like a heavy dose of silly alongside their design talk will definitely enjoy it.While it’s not normally a design-specific show, this episode covers a large swath of the evolution of western type history, starting way before the inception of modern western movable type and culminating in World War II—with ample Gothic distractions along the way. Olivia and Aran are excellent researchers and genuinely joyful to listen to. Fontroversy fans, I think you’re going to like this one!You can find more episodes of the Weird Medieval Guys Podcast and subscribe at: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Overcast / Castro / RSSSubscribe to the Weird Medieval Guys SubstackRead the Weird Medieval Guys book at: Bookshop.org / Amazon / WaterstonesCome back in two weeks for the continuation of Did I Do That? Season 8—see you there! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We can’t go too crazy, but we try to get close! Gianni Scarpino Candy (AIGA Portland Mentorship Program co-chair and Senior Visual Design Lead on the Player Experience Editorial and Loyalty Team for XBox) sits down with Sean to talk about her design mistakes… as well as cemetery parties, Shoemaker’s Lung, and Icy Hot for galas.Gianni Scarpino Candy is a visual design leader with a passion for exploring the intersections of design, communication, and culture. Throughout her career, she has had the pleasure of working with a diverse range of clients and industries. Her objective has always been to design experiences that are interesting, have aesthetic appeal, be easy to understand, and bring impact. Bonus points if she can wiggle in humor and delight.This episode was recorded on Saturday, April 11, 2026 in the Rat’s Nest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the confusingly-named conclusion to our first-ever two parter, Jelly Helm continues sitting down with Sean to talk about his design mistakes at Wieden+Kennedy and beyond… as well as the Season 6 cast of Saturday Night Live, Zip plus-fours, and bean basements. What can we say: it’s a freaky time and we’re feeling freaky!Miss part 1 with Jelly? This episode should be fairly self-contained, but if you want the full story on Jelly’s early career, go back and give part 1 a listen here.Jelly Helm is a creative director, brand advisor, and educator based in Portland, Oregon. As founder of Studio Jelly, he provides thoughtful creative leadership and trusted brand partnership to organizations seeking to powerfully express who they are and what they are about. Previously, Jelly served as Executive Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy, Group Creative Director at The Martin Agency, and Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam. He was also founding faculty at VCU Brandcenter and founder/director of Wieden+Kennedy 12, the agency’s experimental in-house school.CW: the latter part of this episode includes discussion around self-harm that some might find distressing.This episode was also recorded on Saturday, March 28, 2026 in the Rat’s Nest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.