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This content is from my March 2022 Newsletter. If you’d like to sign up to receive my monthly(ish) newsletter, here’s the link. If you'd like to look at the archive, here’s the campaign URL.
Pictured above: Inside the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris in October 2021. View the full photo on Instagram
In this edition, I'm happy to share my first time as a podcast interview guest and various links that resonated with me this month including stories about fake design agencies and Al Roker's previous short stint as a cartoonist. Let's dig in.
Nowhere is Perfect: Guest on The Reset Podcast
Every February, my friend and colleague Laura Mignott does a 28 (or 29) Days of Magic podcast series where she interviews a different Black woman a day about their career paths to commemorate Black History Month. After 2 years of us wrangling schedules, we finally sat down last week to dish.
Listen in to my conversation with Laura Mignott on The Reset Podcast: #29DaysOfMagic. On it we explore my career journey and my path to design. I talk about my time living in and around Western Europe where I noticed when people realize that I'm an African American, they treat me much differently than before when thinking that I was just from Africa. Laura and I touch on my family escaping a coup in Nigeria, becoming an artist again, and we take a deeper dive into thoughts on inclusivity, empathy and much more.
Click below to listen or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Madbird: The Fake Design Agency
Madbird created an elaborate con that tricked dozens into working for a fake design agency.
Most of the 40 people on the all-hands Zoom call were fake with the exception of a few real employees. Fake LinkedIn profiles, company email addresses, everything. The whole thing was fake - the real employees had been "jobfished". The perpetrator and design agency “founder”, Ali Ayad, is an inspirational Instagram influencer.
The BBC spent a year investigating what happened.
Using Travel Posters to Tackle Anti-Asian Hate Crime
“Where are you really from?” I’m sure some of my readers have had that question asked of them or at least heard it in the ether. It sucks when people question your identity.
In order to address this, some folks in the AAPI community teamed up with the AA Federation, community members, and designers of Asian American backgrounds to create travel posters for the cities they’re really from. One of my favourites is for Seattle by Bianca Austria.
View all the posters and the campaign | Check out more of Bianca’s gorgeous illustration work
h/t Creative Review
Interview with Tetris' Creator
I remember playing Tetris for the first time maybe in early/mid 90s in 7th grade “Computer Class”. Mind you, this was after playing Oregon Trail at 6 years old in school with large 5” floppy disks. When did you first play Tetris?
In 1984 Tetris, one of the most popular computer games ever, was invented in Moscow by a bored research scientist who wasn't challenged enough in his job. In this 9 min interview, BBC reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou spoke to its creator, Alexey Pajitnov, and to Henk Rogers, an American businessman who helped bring Tetris to the world.
Did You Know Al Roker Was a Cartoonist for the Syracuse New Times?
How cool is that? Turns out America’s favourite weatherman had a short lived career as a cartoonist while finishing his degree at SUNY Oswego way back in the day. His comic strip called “Salt & Pepper” debuted in 1976 in the now defunct Syracuse New Times and featured a political Doonesbury-esque theme of taking jabs at local Syracuse politicians and community leaders.
Its main characters were two roommates Gregory Salt (a visual alter ego for Al Roker himself) and his White roommate McFarland W. Pepper. The strip only lasted 10 weeks before Roker got a job in a Washington DC TV station and properly launched his meteorology career.
Below is one of Roker’s very mid-70s comic strips including a Ralph Nader reference. Read the other comic strips if you want a hyperlocal politics flashback.
Another one in the bag, y'all.
Going forward, I'd love to share more links to interesting items I've found around the web. What did you think of this edition? Also, please share any cool newsletters you're subscribed to currently. Email newsletters and their design are something I'm geeking out on right now.
Also, just a quick note. There was a lot of wonderful response from January's email around the Writers' Hour. So many people reached out about it being a helpful tool and it passed it on to others. I'm so happy it was a useful resource for so many people.
Want to swap resources or team up on projects? Drop me a line. Schedule some time in my calendar for a quick chat.
Go find me around the web as well:
Website | LinkedIn | Medium | Twitter | Instagram
Have a good week y'all,
Tricia