North v South

Hello. Welcome to our first episode of 2023! We're the Didi and Gogo of podcasting. So while we wait for Godot come and rummage with us through the dustbin of design and pop culture detritus.

Rob has written to his MP and Ministers about AI art and the rights of illustrators. Jon remains wracked with self doubt and incertitude. Yes, it's another cheery episode of the podcast that is and isn't about design!

I'm sure that there have been more Prime Ministers this year than North v South episodes and it's all Rob's fault. But here we are again; talking about the state of Twitter and what the alternatives are, as well as the usual design news and things on our desks.

In which we bid farewell to a truly great illustrator Kim Jung Gi. We talk about how much daily graft do we put into our creative lives and are we satisfied by the output? Other news includes LEGO and D&D, Lucian Freud at the National, Bonnier Books logo, GDPR nightmare, Andy Budd's world of wisdom, followed by the ying and yang of pies.

In which Rob drinks beer and gets rather angry about tech boys. Jon, meanwhile, is worried about his dog.

After a brief (for us) hiatus of 84 days we return to blether on about, in no particular order: Branston pickle, vertical cities, AI art generators, Jessica Hische, Rings of Power, Design Principals, Awesome Merchandise, Tattly, LEGO Atari, and Fungus the Bogeyman.

This week in episode 108 Rob's been to Birmingham to find enlightenment. Jon's been ripping up carpets trying to find inspiration and comes to the conclusion that he left it in London about 10 years ago.

This week in the podcast with its fingers in the pies, we talk iconic film soundtracks while paying our respects to the genius of Vangelis. Also hello Elizabeth line and hopefully goodbye to boring branding (don't hold your breath).

Rob's just got back from iceland. He didn't bring a prawn ring back mind you. Just lots of pictures. Also he ate horse. Like a dirty dragon. We talk about his trip of a lifetime. We also geek out about notebooks, the ZX Spectrum, Etherington Brothers, PJ Harvey & Space Dwarfs.

Our two brave soldiers have clawed their way out of their fetid sickbeds to bring you the very latest in random stuff they've found on the internet. And design news. They peer into Jodrell Bank's new identity, wonder at Twitter's continued interference, peruse some new fonts and mull over designer labels?