Episode 13 - Founding Asoko - Kyle Morais

For Episode 14, we interview Aubrey Pohl. Aubrey “Alfonzo” Pohl is a designer, pseudo-digital artist, and lover of images. His practice has been molded by an admiration for art history, science, socially impactful design, birds, blues music, and flags. Above all, Aubrey aims to be human more than anything else, and create work that inspires positive change in our world. Currently, Aubrey is a Visiting Professor of Graphic Design at the Mississippi State University College of Art, Architecture, and Design, located in beautiful downtown Starkville, Mississippi.

Episode 13 we interview Kyle Morais, a serial entrepreneur & design generalist based in ATL & NYC. Serves as Founder & Chief Creative Officer for Asoko, a multidisciplinary design consultancy, transforming ideas into brands and partners into dynamic forces of communication. From strategy to live experience, they pride themselves on telling meaningful stories through a humanistic lens.

Our 12th episode features a wonderfully pensive, considered, and humorous conversation with Justin McElderry about what a wholistic art practice can become. Born in Birmingham, AL, and residing in Atlanta, GA, Justin McElderry is a designer and Master of Architecture candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He holds a degree in Economics from Morehouse College, and prior to enrolling at Harvard, Justin spent 5 years in Deloitte’s Global Innovation Studio. In 2019, Justin formed WorkStudy, a production and design practice specializing in environment, ephemera, object, and strategy. He also owns and operates an art school--Educated Guess--that helps interdisciplinary artists find creative and career freedom through their craft.

In this episode, we take over two hours to move beyond traditional understanding of our limitations as creatives with Branden Collins. Branden has a fascinating take on humanity, relationships, design and creativity, technology, and the inter-workings of our collective consciousness. Branden is the founder of The Young Never Sleep Studio, a platform for interdisciplinary creative collaboration. This platform has continued to evolve as a trans-disciplinary, research-driven practice, operating with the philosophy that art, science, culture and technology are intimately intertwined and nearly synonymous as valuable methods of human interrogation of ourselves and the world around us. My independent and collaborative creative work acts as a form of predictive analytics, using historical context, experimentation and design to transfrom data into futures insights.   His focus today is aimed at a comprehensive archive of this work, and the development of open-source digital & physical “living technologies”.

In episode 10, we catch up with multidisciplinary conceptual artist and designer, Andrew Herzog. We discuss Andrew's approach to making work that utilizes the ubiquitous language(s) for the potential of mass accessibility to his body of work. Andrew has made artworks that have occupied museums, galleries, and city streets. He was previously a co-founder and partner at HAWRAF - a design and technology studio, and is an alum of Google’s Creative Lab.  We hope you enjoy!

In episode 09, we interview Eric Doctor. Eric Doctor is a graphic and type designer and teacher in New York City working with and for good people. A dues-receiving member of The Unemployed Philosophers Guild since 2014, Eric also currently serves as Design Director for Aleda for Council and has taught at Miami Ad School, Parsons School of Design, and The Creative Circus. Eric lives in Brooklyn with his dog Vector, a very good boy. We get into the nitty gritty of his perspective surrounding his type design practice and why good type design is a benefit to everyone, including hopeful political candidates. 

For episode 08, we sit down with designer Mikey Kelly for his take on what makes a design practice extend beyond commercial boundaries. Mikey is a freelance graphic and motion designer currently based in LA. He is easily inspired and enjoys making personal work that draws interesting connections between the physical and digital world. Professionally, he has had the opportunity to work with some great studios, including Bureau Christopher Knowles, Sagmeister & Walsh, &Walsh, SOME DAYS, and Doubleday & Cartwright. Mikey has a passion for experimentation and loves learning new techniques and ways of thinking from his bosses and peers. We hope you enjoy learning what motivates his work!

For episode 07, we interview executive director Christopher Knowles in an extremely intimate, vulnerable and reflective discussion on moving from 2020 into 2021 as an organization. The conversation reveals some of the clarity we've gained as an organization over the past year, the struggles we've encountered, and the small victories we've accomplished. We set the stage for the rest of our year going forward and chat about the initiatives currently underway as an organization. This episode is for anyone interested in the design behind the design of things. An intersection of systems thinking, philosophy, strategy, planning, weathering unforeseen roadblocks and allowing them to act as a springboard to innovation and creative thinking.

In episode 06, we dive into the world of Katie Gwynn-Sackson. Katie is an emerging Atlanta designer with big vision and a fearless pursuit of what's possible. This episode covers topics about working in Atlanta, starched clothing, visual codes, and the power of pliable labels. We truly hope you enjoy!

In our 5th episode, we talk with designer and educator Moon Jung Jang about her practices of design teaching, speculative design, and client based work. We explore the impact of her cultural upbringing in Seoul on her work and how living in Athens, Georgia has given her tremendous appreciation for finding design inspiration in the most under considered places. We review some of her recent work integrating mathematics, space, surfaces, and borders in an experimental and progressive output. We hope you enjoy!