In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt talks with Font Awesome's principal engineer, Rob Madole, about Font Awesome Pro. 

At Font Awesome, we're always saying that while icons aren't going to change the world, we want to make it seamless to use. It's all about the versatility of Font Awesome Kits, their role in offering project-specific solutions, and the balance they achieve between feature richness and user friendliness. 

In the conversation, the duo explains that Font Awesome Kits are sort of like a "bag of holding" or Hermione's magic handbag from Harry Potter. They emphasize the importance of having multiple Kits for agency work or varied internal projects. These Kits allow for segregated management and efficient resource distribution. Another thing to notice is the difference between Font Awesome Pro and free. Pro users enjoy a wealth of icons and advanced features that significantly elevate their creative capabilities.

Key Takeaways:

• Font Awesome Kits are pivotal for customizing icon sets, ensuring projects use only the necessary icons and minimizing site loading times.
• Pro users have access to a vast library of over 13,000 icons and advanced styles including solid, light, thin, duotone, and sharp.
• Kits offer the ability to add custom icons or modify existing ones using the platform’s tools, effectively catering to unique design needs.
• A Pro subscription not only unlocks premium icons but also includes a perpetual license, providing continued use of downloaded versions even after subscription cancellation.
• Font Awesome emphasizes real human support for technical issues, a service highly valued in the often impersonal tech realm.

Resources:

• Font Awesome: Font Awesome Website
• Twitter: @fontawesome
• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions

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Episode Summary:

In this  episode we chat with Font Awesome founders, Travis Chase and Dave Gandy. We delve into the intricacies of team dynamics and working relationships within the Font Awesome team. Using Patrick Lencioni's 6 Types of Working Genius framework, the episode dissects the leadership styles, strengths, weaknesses, and the collaborative fabric that help make Font Awesome successful.

Dave and Travis talk about how they navigate through frustrations in the workplace and strategies they've learned to capitalize on each other's strengths. Various aspects of the framework are highlighted, illustrating real-life examples where certain geniuses shine within the team's projects. 

Key Takeaways:

• Long-standing relationships between team members can lead to a deep understanding of each other's working styles and a healthier team environment.
• The Working Genius framework can be particularly useful in identifying and playing to the strengths of team members in various project phases.
• The 'Wonder' and 'Invention' geniuses play a pivotal role in the creative process, while 'Discernment' ensures ideas are viable.
• Understanding and accommodating for 'Working Frustrations' is crucial in team settings to avoid conflict and help productivity.
• Diversity in team geniuses is important not only to cover all areas of project development but also to foster unique perspectives to find solutions.

Notable Quotes:

• "One of the creators of WuFU was one of our mentors in YC, was in that interview. And I just remember there was a point in which they started not only talking about business, but design in business, and how design business and how a company grows, how important it is. And it was just like two wonder bombs going off." - Travis
• "The differences between people are how in our own deficiencies, that's how they get covered over. We work with other people that have those as geniuses instead of frustrations, and that's how we all together work better together." - Dave
• "There's an infinite amount you don't know, and that's not the daily assumption and how you act, then the world is a very weird place around what we don't know." - Travis
• "We are amazingly good at fooling ourselves, especially around our own capabilities, our own importance, and our own intelligence." - Dave

Show Notes: 

• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions
• The 6 Types of Working Genius 

**Timestamp
**0:00:08 | Introduction to the podcast and discussion of working dynamics
0:01:29 | Reflecting on working with Dave during the YC interview
0:04:31 | Travis's working frustrations with Dave's wonder
0:08:25 | Dave's working frustration with "E" (Enablement)
0:09:23 | Importance of having all 6 working geniuses on a leadership team
0:10:30 | Travis emphasizes the importance of not avoiding frustrations.
0:11:35 | Dave asks about discernment and its importance.
0:11:44 | Travis explains the working competencies of the team members.
0:12:30 | Dave discusses Lindsay's unique perspective as a designer.
0:13:32 | Travis and Dave discuss the critical role of discernment in design.
0:14:32 | Travis and Dave talk about Brian's genius in scriptwriting.
0:16:22 | Travis emphasizes the importance of collaboration and diverse perspectives.
0:18:02 | Dave highlights the benefits of teamwork and listening to each other.

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Maybe you've heard the news? The team at Font Awesome has recently rebranded Shoelace as "Web Awesome!" To celebrate the occasion, we launched a Kickstarter. And we couldn't kick off a rebrand without a new video. 

Check it out! 

If you've been around these parts for very long, you know Font Awesome has a history of creating zany content, such as the Font Awesome 5 Kickstarter video from 2017. And for the Web Awesome video, we collaborated with the creative studio Knox Avenue once again.

The Font Awesome promo videos have been a real source of pride for our team. They're not only a great marketing tool but the videos give us a chance to showcase the personality of the brand. 

As always, the actors involved in creating these videos were great to work with. We  were fortunate to get several of the characters you know and love — Rob, Milton and Albert — along with a few fresh faces too! 

All of the actors and the whole Knox Avenue team were great to work with as always and the actors and crew members went above and beyond to helped bring the vision of the scripts to life. 

Check out the video version of this podcast on the Kickstarter page! 

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In this episode we chat with Font Awesome founder Dave Gandy about the journey of finding a sustainable business model while staying true to the open source model. We discuss the origin of Font Awesome, the power of open source software, and the concept of "actualized open source." Dave shares insights into the success of Font Awesome and their approach to monetizing the project while continuing to provide value to the open source community. They also discuss the launch of their new project, Web Awesome, and their Kickstarter campaign. Tune in to learn more about the intersection of open source and business.

Key Takeaways:

• Font Awesome started as a solution to personal challenges with icons in web development and quickly turned into a global standard.
• The importance of Retina displays in driving the success of vector-based iconography, especially for Font Awesome.
• Balancing a profitable business model with the ethos of open source has resulted in continued improvement and distribution of free software.
• Actualized open source is not just about sustaining a project but enabling it to become everything it can be.
• Font Awesome maintains a commitment to not selling user data and providing a transparent business model based on value exchange.

Notable Quotes:

• "Never let your morals get in the way of doing the right thing."
• "Can we build a company full of people that can actually trust each other?"
• "Can the company and the open-source project be actualized? Can they be self-actualized?"
• "Software has this crazy thing about it that's different from the real world. The real world there is a natural scarcity... But with software, whatever we can provide in software, we can copy and distribute for almost free."
• "What if we could be a place where people could become more of who they were made to be, right, of what they know is good about them?"

**Timestamp
**0:01:23 | The origin of Font Awesome as a solution to icon frustrations
0:03:00 | Explanation of Retina displays and the significance for graphics
0:04:04 | Font Awesome's advantage of using vector graphics for scalable icons
0:06:00 | Decision to make Font Awesome an open source project
0:08:32 | Font Awesome's rapid growth and the importance of GitHub for distribution
0:09:19 | Realization of Font Awesome's potential and decision to seek funding
0:10:23 | Building Font Awesome as a company instead of relying on external funding
0:11:18 | Dave's preference to avoid fundraising and maintain control over the project
0:11:58 | Open source software should not be begging for money
0:13:15 | The challenge is to build a product that people will pay for
0:14:57 | Font Awesome found a way to make payroll & sustain open source
0:15:22 | Being a pro subscriber is similar to donating to open source
0:17:10 | Transparency and trust are important in the business model
0:20:15 | The goal is to achieve self-actualization in open source
0:23:23 | Company's mission is to fulfill employees in life and workplace
0:28:09 | Launching the web awesome Kickstarter for Shoelace (web awesome)
0:30:10 | The goal is to grow open source exponentially and provide more value
0:31:33 | Motivation should come from what's good enough about us, not what's not what's lacking.

Show Notes:

• https://fontawesome.com 
• Font Awesome YouTube channel
• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions

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**Episode Description
**
Have you ever wondered which unique genius you bring to the table at work? In this podcast we chat with Jory Raphael, Rob Madole, and Lindsay Miller, as we dissect Patrick Lencioni's "6 Types of Working Genius" framework. It's not just about identifying whether you're a genius of enablement or invention; it's recognizing how these strengths play out in the real world. We all share tales of energy spikes and drains, revealing how a deep understanding of our working styles help level up our professional experiences and collaborations.

Team chemistry is magical, isn't it? This episode peels back the curtain on the alchemy of team dynamics, celebrating moments when our diverse strengths lead to shared success. You'll hear about Travis, our team's unsung hero, whose knack for Galvanizing brings out the best in us, and how these discoveries about ourselves and each other can turn routine tasks into triumphs. It's about more than just completing projects; it's the shared victory dance when each team member's genius shines, transforming challenges into achievements.

We wrap up with a candid look at the ebbs and flows of creating a Figma plugin, where trust and adaptability are the heroes of our story. It's a testament to the power of balancing skill with empathy and understanding that the journey toward success is rarely a straight line.

--------------------------

Highlights:

0:01:54 - Exploring Working Geniuses and Competencies (80 Seconds)

0:04:53 - Working Genius (57 Seconds)

0:15:20 - Utilizing Working Geniuses in Leadership (66 Seconds)

0:21:30 - Navigating Project Workflow and Decision Making (98 Seconds)

0:24:42 - GDPR Cookie Consent Development Setback (96 Seconds)

-------------------------

Show notes:

• Check out last season's episode on Working Genius
• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions
• The 6 Types of Working Genius 

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Episode Summary:

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, we dive deep into the story of Font Awesome founders Dave Gandy and Travis Chase, as they reminisce about their remarkable journey through Y Combinator, the prestigious tech accelerator. The conversation offers listeners an exclusive look into the world of startups, challenges, and triumphs that come with being a part of such an intensive program.

Dave and Travis recount the rigorous application process, their moment of acceptance, and the invaluable lessons learned during their time at YC. This episode demystifies the accelerator experience and provides real-world advice to aspiring YC entrepreneurs.

Their tale is peppered with anecdotes, humor and hard-fought wisdom, drawing parallels from the TV series "Silicon Valley." Listeners will leave with a better understanding of what it takes to step into the ring of tech accelerators and come out with a clear direction.

Key Takeaways:

• Y Combinator's rigorous selection process emphasizes the potential of the founders rather than just the product idea.
• The importance of preparation for the YC interview, including potential questions and understanding the background and interests of the partners.
• Building and nurturing relationships is key to both business and personal development.

Notable Quotes:

• "All a startup is is something that's a lie that people believed long enough that it became the truth." - Dave
• "If you live your life doing what you think is right and working, when you see those chances arise, then there isn't really anything to regret." - Dave
• "The most recent round of YC just wrapped […] they had 20,000 applications and they accepted 1.4%." - Dave

Timestamp
0:02:15 | Importance of thinking big in startups
0:04:43 | Y Combinator as a business trade school
0:05:08 | Focus and community at Y Combinator
0:09:37 | Y Combinator's selection process and emphasis on team
0:10:41 | Y Combinator believes in betting on the right people, not just the idea.
0:11:46 | VCs advise each other to bet on people, but it doesn't always work in practice.
0:12:14 | YC focuses on betting on the people, even without a specific idea.
0:13:17 | The importance of leaving everything on the table during the YC interview.
0:16:07 | Craft a strong answer for how the you can become a billion-dollar company.
0:19:44 | YC educates startups on the venture capital business model.
0:22:24 | Feeling confident after the second interview
0:25:44 | Receiving the call that they got into Y Combinator
0:29:20 | Considering fundraising options: Kickstarter or venture capital
0:29:48 | Y Combinator provides guidance on raising money and crafting pitches.
0:33:43 | Decision to stay self-sufficient and profitable rather than raising series A.
0:36:13 | Preparation and research are key for a successful YC application.
0:40:27 | Identifying character through sacrifice and hard choices
0:41:16 | The extensive interview process at Y Combinator
0:42:02 | Building relationships with mentors and colleagues
0:42:24 | Advice for entrepreneurs: listen to customers and build something they want
0:43:18 | The core value of developing relationships with good people

Show Notes:

• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions
• Y Combinator

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About the Guest:

Dave Gandy is Font Awesome's Founder and an MIT alumnus who hails from Carl Junction, Missouri, and reflects on his experience transitioning from a small-town environment to the competitive halls of MIT. With a background rooted in both art and technology, Dave specialized in human-centric product design and has a strong belief in the interplay between creativity, empathy, and engineering. Detailing his educational journey, he conveys a profound understanding of personal growth through adversity, emphasizing how integral unique talents are to individual success.

Episode Summary:

In this profound discussion, Dave Gandy delves into the multifaceted experience of attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), providing a unique perspective that intertwines struggle, growth, and the eventual recognition of one's strengths. The conversation unveils the cultural nuances of MIT, the infamous acronym 'IHTFP', and the myriad emotions associated with the academic pressure cooker that is this renowned institution.

Dave candidly shares his journey from a small town to the rigorous academic world of MIT, including the realities of cultural shift and academic preparedness. He discusses the intensity of the coursework, MIT's famous hacking culture, and the pivotal moments that led to self-discovery and personal growth. Filled with engaging anecdotes, Dave also illustrates the communal encounters and extracurricular exploits that colored his time at the institute.

Key Takeaways:

• The acronym 'IHTFP' at MIT can stand for both 'I Hate This F***ing Place' and 'I Have Truly Found Paradise', reflecting the duality of the MIT experience.
• MIT pushes students to their limits, uncovering their limitations and potential, a crucial part of personal development that Dave attests can come with "good, healthy pain."
• Dave's unique combination of interests in art, technology, and human-centric design became his niche, setting him apart and allowing him to excel in areas beyond traditional academics.
• Experiences such as "roof and tunnel hacking" not only serve as a rite of passage but enforce creative problem-solving and ethical boundary-pushing among students.
• MIT's competitive atmosphere can induce significant stress and emotional upheaval, highlighting the importance of a solid personal identity and a supportive community.

Notable Quotes:

• "Any real significant personal growth will not be had in life without a good bit of healthy kind of pain."
• "A company is really nothing more than a lie that people believe long enough until it becomes the truth."
• "The real challenge in life, a lot of times is, yeah, but what can I do about it? What are the solutions?"

Timestamp
0:02:14 | MIT experiences involve pain and questioning if it's worth it.
0:05:10 | A teacher's encouragement made Dave consider MIT.
0:08:07 | MIT experiences include dangerous and fun activities.
0:11:31 | Hacking in relation to roof and tunnel hacking
0:15:44 | The practical problem-solving skills gained from hacking
0:19:52 | Dave reflects on discovering his own strengths and finding his sweet spot
0:22:26 | Dave reflects on his experience at MIT and how it shaped him
0:23:22 | The negative outcomes of being driven by emptiness
0:26:39 | Embrace the right kind of pain for growth
0:30:01 | Don't climb someone else's ladder of success
0:32:07 | Dave reflects on their personal growth and values during their time at MIT
0:34:07 | The brutal workload at MIT.

Show Notes:
The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions

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Designers + Developers: How Font Awesome Bridges the Creative-Tech Divide

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, we dive deep into the sometimes-harmonious, sometimes-hilariously-clashing worlds of design and development. Host Matt Johnson sits down with Cory LaViska (creator of Shoelace) and Font Awesome’s very own Jory Raphael and Noah Jacobus to unpack the nuanced dynamics between developers and designers. From figma files to file formats, these pros explore how collaboration, communication, and culture shape better digital products—and friendlier Slack channels.

Whether you’ve ever been handed an impossible mockup or spent hours coding around a whimsical curve, this episode gives you the real talk (and real laughs) about bridging the gap between right-brainers and left-brainers. Spoiler: empathy is the secret weapon. 🧠💥

💡 What We Cover in This Episode

• 💬 Why communication is key—and how to make it less awkward
• 🧪 The designer-developer pairing method we swear by
• 🎨 How design systems like Shoelace create common ground
• 🍰 Why working in “vertical slices” beats serving sheet cake
• 🛠️ Figma, code pens, and using design tools in weird-but-brilliant ways
• 🎭 Killing ego culture to create safe spaces for learning

⏱️ Timestamps

• [00:01:08] Devs & Designers: The classic tension explained
• [00:02:18] Communication: The MVP of collaboration
• [00:04:34] Design/dev balance in Font Awesome’s DNA
• [00:06:21] Why mutual understanding beats “just trust me”
• [00:10:56] Vertical slices vs. horizontal disasters
• [00:13:11] Shoelace as a sandbox for team creativity
• [00:18:47] The value of shared design vocabulary
• [00:20:59] Being design-led vs. adding polish last
• [00:22:57] Breaking down silos, and why size matters (in teams!)
• [00:27:12] Creating a safe space for “stupid” questions

🗣️ Notable Quotes

"Communication is key. I think that's number one." — Cory LaViska
A simple truth that sets the tone for the whole discussion.

"Designers ask for the impossible a lot more than might be necessary." — Jory Raphael
Said with love—and a deep understanding of pixel-perfect pain.

"We always have a dev and a designer paired together on a project." — Jory Raphael
A peek into the Font Awesome philosophy: build together, from the start.

"Shoelace provides a common ground for both designers and developers to work from." — Cory LaViska
The power of a shared design language, distilled.

"Not wanting to appear in your eyes stupid... is such a great way to not learn anything." — Cory LaViska
Wisdom bomb incoming. Vulnerability FTW.

"You end up with a sheet cake that doesn’t have any frosting on it." — Jory Raphael
An extremely delicious metaphor for bad workflows.

"Good culture means it’s safe to ask the 'stupid' questions." — Cory LaViska
The unsung hero of productivity: psychological safety.

🔗 Links & Resources

• Font Awesome Website
• Shoelace: A forward-thinking web component library
• Font Awesome YouTube Channel
• Figma Plugin for Font Awesome
• Theme music by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

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Sharp Edges, Big Wins & One Legendary PDF Mix-Up

In this season-opening episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Font Awesome’s own Jory Raphael and Rob Madole to reminisce about the many wins (and one epic PDF blunder) from 2023. From launching Font Awesome Sharp to unveiling a Figma plugin and improving the release process, the team breaks down everything they built — and the lessons they learned. Plus, they tease some exciting projects coming in 2024 (spoiler: Shoelace might be getting a glow-up), and there's even talk of sketch comedy and icon wizardry... and farts. Yep, farts.

🎙️ What We Cover in This Episode:

• 🔪 The sharp, edgy arrival of Font Awesome Sharp
• 🎧 The story behind launching Podcast Awesome
• 📺 Font Awesome’s YouTube channel and promo screencasts
• 🥾 Integrating with Shoelace (and teasing secret video projects)
• 🛠️ Big upgrades to Font Awesome Kits, subsetting and CSS-only kits
• 🧰 Release process automation: from pain to power tools
• 🧪 The Great PDF Mix-Up of 2023 and how fast fixes saved the day
• 🔌 Launch of a slick new Figma plugin
• 🎉 13,000 podcast downloads and what’s coming next for Season 2

⏱️ Timestamps:

• 0:00:29 – New Year, old Macs, and 2023 kickoff
• 0:04:00 – Launching Podcast Awesome and the DIY podcast hustle
• 0:07:36 – 🎉 Font Awesome Sharp and other 2023 releases
• 0:08:52 – Shoelace partnership and top-secret filming
• 0:10:26 – Behind-the-scenes at Figma Config
• 0:12:22 – Major upgrades to Kits (subsetting, CSS-only, downloads)
• 0:15:04 – Streamlined icon release process and automation
• 0:17:50 – 🎯 The accidental "File PDF → File PNG" snafu
• 0:20:38 – Launch of the Figma plugin + Kit integration
• 0:22:50 – The Snuggle that COVID stole (sad trombone)
• 0:27:02 – Future collabs with Shoelace + Podcast Awesome S2 plans
• 0:29:21 – Behind the Icon series and fun with Poo Storm
• 0:30:39 – 🧠 Y Combinator experiences, Pro benefits, and icon wizardry
• 0:31:13 – Reusable shapes a.k.a. F.A.R.T.S and stage-worthy sound effects
• 0:32:16 – Thanks for 13,000 downloads!

💬 Noteworthy Quotes:

“It was one of those features we've wanted for years. Subsetting Kits finally makes Font Awesome faster and more flexible for everyone.” – Rob Madole

“Font Awesome Sharp brings a whole new look. Edgy, clean, and totally sharp.” – Jory Raphael

“Let that be a lesson, folks. Test early and often… especially before a Snuggle.” – Matt Johnson

🔗 Links & Resources:

• Font Awesome Website
• Font Awesome YouTube Channel
• Font Awesome Figma Plugin
• Theme song by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

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Why Font Awesome Uses Shape Up: Ditching Backlogs and Shipping Better Software

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Font Awesome co-founder Travis Chase for a deep dive into the project management philosophy that keeps the FA ship sailing smoothly — Shape Up, the brainchild of 37signals (makers of Basecamp). If you're tired of bloated backlogs, eternal sprints, or shipping stress, this one’s for you.

They contrast Shape Up with traditional methodologies like Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, and Kanban, and unpack how Font Awesome’s flavor of Shape Up—built around six-week splits and two-week cooldowns — helps them actually ship meaningful features without burning out. They also talk about the power of constraints, creative freedom, and why abandoning some work is not a failure —it's strategy.

🤓 What We Cover in This Episode

• 🧠 Why Shape Up beats the backlog bloat
• 🛠️ The downside of building everything all at once
• 📦 How six-week splits & two-week cooldowns keep FA productive
• 🚀 Space Awesome and other cool-down creations
• 🔮 How creative constraints unlock innovation
• 💡 Tools like Haunt Forge & Icon Wizard born from autonomy
• 📚 37signals’ books that shaped Font Awesome's ethos

⏱️ Timestamps

• [00:00:09] Shape Up Method and How Font Awesome Uses It
• [00:02:41] Traditional Waterfall and Agile Methodologies
• [00:04:22] Agile and Kanban Methods in the Real World
• [00:07:51] Product Development Lifecycle with Shape Up
• [00:09:15] Six-Week Splits and Two-Week Cooldowns
• [00:11:18] Side Projects like “Space Awesome”
• [00:12:39] Shape Up Workflow Breakdown
• [00:15:39] Project Management Meets Business Philosophy
• [00:19:16] 40-Hour Work Weeks & Whole-Person Thinking
• [00:20:51] Autonomy & Creative Flow at Work
• [00:22:39] Behind the Scenes of Haunt Forge
• [00:23:56] Icon Wizard + the Magic of Constraints
• [00:27:35] Iterative Dev à la Basecamp
• [00:29:41] Wrapping Up: Software and Project Management Insights

🔗 Links & Resources

• 📘 Shape Up (Book) 
• 📗 Always Be Shipping (and On Time for Dinner): Why We Use Shape Up 
• 🧠 It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work
• ⚙️ Haunt Forge Font Engine
• 🧙‍♂️ Icon Wizard
• 🎵 The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• 🎧 Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions

🔖 Noteworthy Quotes

"One of the surprising things and sort of a takeaway I took from reading Shape Up is that it's okay — It might even be expected that certain work gets abandoned and that shipping really is the highest priority and that backlogs kill productivity. And that kind of goes along with the philosophy, too, of work, that you have to have constraints and limits to actually allow creativity to flow. And you can't do everything. So you do have to have constraints. You do have to be able to say no. "

"Dave and I take a lot of inspiration from the books that 37Signals put out like Rework and It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work. And trying to maybe do business differently, do our own spin on it, see what works for us based on all the places we've worked. And kind of how we would try to change things."

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Working Genius at Font Awesome: Dave Gandy on Building Stronger, Happier Teams

In this illuminating episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Font Awesome founder Dave Gandy to unpack the magic behind Patrick Lencioni’s “Six Types of Working Genius.” It's a deep dive into the power of knowing your work style, building better teams, and unlocking peak productivity—without all the corporate gobbledygook. Dave explains how Font Awesome embraced the Working Genius framework, why it matters, and how it's shaping everything from meetings to morale. If you're a startup nerd or workplace culture aficionado, this one’s for you.

🤓 What We Cover in This Episode

• 🧠 What are the Six Types of Working Genius (WIDGET!) and why they matter
• 🌍 Why remote work success hinges on IRL relationships
• 🛠️ How organizational health is a competitive edge
• 💥 The difference between work that energizes vs. drains you
• 👥 Why understanding how others work might be your secret weapon
• 🎯 The practical impact of knowing your team’s working geniuses
• 🔧 How better meetings = more efficiency, less money torching

🕰️ Timestamps

• [00:06:19] Six types of working genius
• [00:09:53] Remote work relationships
• [00:16:57] Wonder and innovation
• [00:19:12] Taking the time for work
• [00:23:09] Importance of being a domain expert
• [00:24:55] Tenacity in the workplace
• [00:27:58] Ideation process and meetings
• [00:30:43] Working geniuses and efficiency
• [00:33:59] Organizational health and satisfaction

🔥 Best Quotes

“Font Awesome is a company of nerds who like people. Not machines —people.” — Dave Gandy“

"Working genius isn’t about skills. It’s about energy — what lights you up and what drains you.” — Dave Gandy

"Just because you’re not a domain expert doesn’t mean you're better at managing. That’s a warm blanket of nonsense.” — Dave Gandy

"Understanding how work gets done is the first step to actually changing reality.” — _Dave Gandy
_

🔗 Links & Resources

• The Six Types of Working Genius
• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions

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🎸 Code, Kits, and Killer Guitar Riffs with Jason Otero

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Font Awesome software engineer Jason Otero to dive into the rhythms of code and chord progressions alike. Jason talks about what it’s like working on Font Awesome Kits, his experience with six-week splits (spoiler: better than two-week sprints), and why taking time to cool down after intense work sessions is chef’s kiss for productivity.

We also nerd out about loading Kits using only CSS, explore Jason’s thoughts on WebAssembly and Rust, and hear about his double life as a guitarist in two bands, one of which is Blister Soul. It’s an episode with strong tech, strong opinions, and strong guitar tones. Plug in and press play.

🎧 What We Cover in This Episode

• 🧪 Six-week splits: why they beat sprints
• 🎛️ Jason’s clever new way of loading Font Awesome Kits
• 💅 CSS-only web font Kits? You bet!
• 🧠 Embracing “cool down” time for better tech work
• 🛠️ Rust, WebAssembly, and Jason’s programming faves
• 🎸 His guitar gear rabbit hole (you know the one)
• 🤘 Life in not one but two bands

⏱️ Timestamps

• 00:00:36 — Six week splits vs two week sprints
• 00:05:57 — New method of loading Kits
• 00:07:18 — CSS-only web font Kits
• 00:09:47 — Project management methods
• 00:12:41 — Full benefits of 'cool down' time
• 00:18:33 — WebAssembly and Rust technology
• 00:19:09 — Programming language preferences
• 00:22:14 — Favorite icons and hobbies
• 00:26:33 — Guitar gear obsession
• 00:31:38 — Music and Band Promotion

🎙️ Notable Quotes 

• “That process of logical deduction that you have to do whenever you're troubleshooting something I think kind of helped lead me toward the development side of things.”
   (On how installing alarm systems shaped his dev skills)
• “For people that just don't really want to use a lot of JavaScript... we now are getting ready to release a new way of loading the kit that is only using CSS.”
   (Re: CSS-only Kits as a streamlined solution)
• “The cool down, they're nice for many things... it's a great time for fixing bugs, putting on polish, trying out new things.”
   (Explaining the value of Font Awesome’s Basecamp-style 6-week split + 2-week cooldown rhythm)
• “It was a little hazardous. I used like a big old mixer... and to clean it, they would literally set it on fire.”
   (Recalling his teenage glue-mixing job — the most pyro-nerdy flex ever!)
• “I haven't counted up recently the number of guitars I have, but it's probably in the range of 15 or so.”
   (Guitar gearhead status: confirmed)
• “We want to give customers cool stuff because it's cool to have customers like to use our stuff.”
   (Why he loves shipping features that solve problems)

🔗 Links & Resources

• Blister Soul (Jason's band – rock on 🎶)
• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

🎧 The Fine Art of Structure & Chaos — Inside Font Awesome’s Creative Process

What happens when you mix dinosaur icons, brain science, and a meticulous-yet-messy creative workflow? You get a peak behind the pixel curtain with icon maestros Jory Raphael and Noah Jacobus! In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt chats with the duo about their icon design process — equal parts strategy and serendipity.

From high-level sketches to final pixel perfection, Jory and Noah reveal how they balance structure with creative chaos using tools like Figma and a well-worn sketchpad. Along the way, we explore productivity hacks, the rhythm of creative flow, and yes — dinosaur design drama. 🦖💡

🎙️ What We Cover in This Episode:

• 🧠 Icon design as both art and science
• ✏️ Why sketching still matters in a digital world
• 🦕 The joy and struggle of designing dinosaur icons
• 🛠️ Why Figma makes their workflows less "rawr" and more "refined"
• 🧬 What brain science and music have to do with creativity
• 🗓️ Rebuilding your schedule to support creative energy
• 💥 How pressure impacts the design process—for better or worse

⏱️ Timestamps

• [00:01:23] Design process
• [00:05:01] High level sketching
• [00:07:45] Figma for interface design
• [00:10:39] Designing dinosaur icons
• [00:14:08] Messy creative process
• [00:17:13] Creative process and productivity
• [00:20:31] Brain science in music
• [00:23:38] Creating a new schedule
• [00:26:52] Creative process and pressure

🎯 Top Noteworthy Quotes from Jory & Noah on Design Process

On Messy Creativity:

“The creative process in general is so by its very nature, amorphous and all over the place.” — Jory Raphael

On Collaborating Across the Fence:

“Sometimes I will design something, take a kind of a first pass at it, kick it across the fence to Noah, and he'll go in and tweak it and add, improve it generally... it's kind of collaborative when it needs to be and isn't when it doesn't need to be.” — Jory Raphael

On Tool-Based Sketching:

“My sketching process is like digitally drawing right in the program itself.” — Noah Jacobus

On Dinosaur Design Woes:

“The Tyrannosaurus... it’s not done yet... you have to find a way. Like, you can bend, or is it squatting? Does it look like it's pooping instead of standing up?” — Jory Raphael

On Visual Rhythm in Workspaces:

“I often will put a movie or a TV show on my little side monitor... just something I can kind of pay half attention to... helps me just get into a zone where I can draw.” — Jory Raphael

On Brain Science and Structure:

“There’s got to be brain science to this stuff for sure.” — Matt Johnson
“We just draw small pictures, Matt.” — Jory Raphael

On Icon Design Pressure:

“We’re not on the hook to force anything to work. It can be much more freeform.” — Noah Jacobus

On Growing Process Needs:

“What works when there's a smaller group of people doesn't work necessarily as well when there are more... We put in as much process as we need to.” — Jory Raphael

🔗 Links & Resources

The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin

Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

🎧 Episode Summary: Design Systems, B-Grade Horror, and a Splash of Rum with Kelsey Jackson

In this episode of Nerd Show and Tell, Matt kicks back with Font Awesome’s (now a part of the Web Awesome team) Designer and Front-End Developer, Kelsey Jackson. If you’ve admired how snappy and stylish the Font Awesome site looks lately — yep, that’s Kelsey’s handiwork. From refining a slick internal design system to mixing tiki drinks and geeking out over B-horror classics, this convo serves up career insights and cult movie nerdery with a twist.

You'll hear how Kelsey conned "convinced" Dave Gandy to bring him onboard the FA crew, his high school art teacher’s pivotal advice, and why middle-shelf rum might just be the real MVP of mixology. Oh, and if you're into “Killer Klowns from Outer Space,” buckle up.

🔍 What We Cover in This Episode

🎨 Creating an internal design system that doesn’t suck
 🍿 Kelsey’s wishlist for horror-themed icons
 🧪 Drawing-to-design transitions and nerdy career pivots
 👟 Bourbon, sneakers, and the legend of the Snuggle swag
 🍔 Cooking inspo from The Bear and YouTube foodies
🍹 Why expensive rum is a scam (probably)

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00:16 – Creating an Internal Design System and More
00:02:43 – Kelsey’s Job at Waco Media as Developer/Designer
00:04:28 – Drawing vs. Design: The OG Connection
00:07:29 – Refining Font Awesome’s Design System
00:11:57 – Why Design System Consistency Matters
00:13:27 – Web Components, AI, and the Content Creation Game
00:15:34 – Horror Movie Icon Wishlist
00:17:32 – B-Horror and Bad Job Flashbacks
00:22:07 – Car Wash Reflections + Disaster Relief Vibes
00:27:49 – Bourbon at the Snuggle, Kicks, and Spirits
00:29:47 – Cooking Steak & Mixing Tiki Drinks
00:31:25 – Thoughts on The Bear
00:33:29 – Matty Matheson’s Culinary Comedy
00:35:18 – Resources for Building Design Systems

🎤 Noteworthy Quotes 

🎨 On Becoming a Designer

“If you want to sort of stay connected to the art world and not be broke, you might want to look into design.” — on advice from his high school art teacher

🤝 On Meeting Dave Gandy

“It's weird how people were just afraid to walk up to the man and introduce themselves, and I was one of the few that did that... I’ve kind of been working that angle up since I met the guy. I wanted to work at Font Awesome.”

🛠️ On Building a Design System

“A design system is a set of standards to help manage design at scale. It reduces redundancy and creates a shared visual language.”

📚 On Learning Design Systems

“I just jumped in... I landed on Brad Frost and his Atomic Design, and that helped me figure it out.”

🔗 Links & Resources

• Atomic Design by Brad Frost
• Nielsen Norman Group
• The Bear – Hulu
• Matty Matheson
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space – IMDB
• Sam the Cooking Guy – YouTube
• Babish Culinary Universe
• Joshua Weissman – YouTube

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Why Font Awesome Switched to Figma: Boolean Magic, Sharp Icons & Real-Time Design 🚀

In this fun and vector-loving episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt catches up with icon design duo Noah Jacobus and Jory Raphael to chat all things Figma. They unpack what makes Figma such a killer tool for collaborative design — hello, real-time editing and Boolean wizardry! We also peek into how it compares to Adobe Illustrator, get the scoop on Adobe’s acquisition of Figma, and daydream about a possible Font Awesome plugin in the future. Whether you're a vector nerd or just Fig-curious, there’s plenty to love here.

✨ What We Cover in This Episode

• 🌈 “Figma has rainbow magic.” (For real, it does.)
• 🤝 Real-time collab and why it rocks for icon design
• 🧮 Boolean operations and non-destructive editing, aka vector sorcery
• 🏢 Adobe's acquisition of Figma: friend or foe?
• 🧩 Plugins, problems, and finding fixes with the Figma community
• 💡 How Sharp icons + Figma = the dream team

⏱️ Timestamps

• 00:05:56 Tools don’t always matter (but sometimes they really do)
• 00:12:12 Adobe owns Figma now
• 00:12:31 Adobe acquisitions: the good, the bad, the ugly
• 00:24:22 Linking Font Awesome Pro accounts
• 00:27:09 Figma has rainbow magic 🌈✨

🔗 Links & Resources

• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions
• 10 Reasons We Switched to Figma for Icon Design

-------------------

**HIGHLIGHTS

**"So Figma has rainbow magic." (00:26:57-00:27:19)"Figma is a central place where we can both work in the same file at the same time. 

If I make a change, he sees it." (00:20:52-00:23:44)"Noah is entirely responsible for us moving to Figma." (00:00:00-00:03:29)

"And the ability to easily test things in the context of digital products is kind of where it found its place for me." (00:03:23-00:06:24)

"Being able to identify each of those, you know, every element of a stroke shape or path and make adjustments to it that way is pretty cool." (00:17:58-00:20:57)

"Boolean operations are one of the biggest ones... it's kind of a unique way of treating stroked objects like their actual shapes at the same time... that is something that it can't do. So it's a nice more unique feature." (00:15:08-00:18:08)

"I think that Figma is enough of a powerhouse kind of on its own that that's not going to happen with the employees there and the community, especially as such a huge force with a lot of momentum behind it that helps support the product and keeps it moving." (00:11:51-00:15:16)

"There are just tons of things that are out there that if you run into an issue, someone else likely has run into it already and there's probably a plugin that exists to fix it or address it, which is awesome." (00:23:38-00:27:07)

"But what started to become really appealing to me about Figma was, as Noah said, some of the, well, number one, the simplicity of collaboration, which is now super important because we have multiple icon designers at Fawn Awesome, but also some of their unique takes on doing things with vectors." (00:06:17-00:09:04)

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

🎧 Episode Summary: Finance Wizards & Fitness Quests with Joey Henson

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Joey Henson, Controller at Font Awesome and low-key wizard of spreadsheets, startup survival, and Hogwarts-worthy metaphors. Joey opens up about his journey through the high-pressure world of startup finance, what burnout looked like after becoming a parent, and how Font Awesome’s uniquely human work culture has helped him reclaim balance and joy in his career.

We dive into how Font Awesome’s values around work-life balance, empathy, and thoughtful leadership created space for Joey to rediscover what matters: family, fitness, and—yes—fandom. From conjuring Harry Potter analogies to explain how Kits work, to lobbying for a wizarding icon set, Joey brings humor and heart to everything he does. He also talks about his recent health transformation, the joys of counting macros, and his budding love affair with Ruby on Rails.

Whether you're a finance pro, a budding dev, or a wand-wielding D&D nerd, this episode’s got something magical for you.

✨ What We Cover in This Episode

• 💼 Burnout in the startup finance world
• 🧘 Work-life balance at Font Awesome
• 🧙 A Harry Potter metaphor for Kits (Hermione’s bag FTW!)
• 🧮 Learning SQL, Ruby, and Rails for fun
• 🍳 Why Joey counts macros and how it changed his life
• 🧙‍♂️ Dungeons & Dragons meets nutrition tracking

🕒 Timestamps

• 00:03:50 Reflection on the Challenges of Working Long Hours
• 00:05:27 Self-Development and Quality of Life at Font Awesome
• 00:08:43 Tech, Finance, and Harry Potter Icon Pack at Font Awesome
• 00:11:13 Exploring Harry Potter Lore to Explain Kits
• 00:18:34 Dungeons & Dragons and Nutrition Habits
• 00:20:20 Counting Macros for Optimal Health and Fitness

🔗 Links & Resources

• A Beginner's Guide to Counting Macros
• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

-----------------------

**HIGHLIGHTS
**
 In a previous Snuggle, we were talking about metaphors or some way to describe how a kit works. And I seem to remember an allusion to Harry Potter lore would maybe be a good way to explain it. I think we discovered that there was confusion among folks between whether a kit is populated like it's a container that's full of something, or if it's empty and you add to it. And what we came around to say was more accurate is that a kit comes fully loaded with everything you might want to use.

Yeah, it is. So Hermione, the beaded bag, it had an undetectable extension charm on it. They used that multiple times in the books and the movies. And it is it's kind of like the DND bag of holding where you can pull out a lot of stuff if you know what's in there. And it comes pre loaded. That works. So, like with Hermiones, the best analogy I could think of was they needed a ton of books and they needed clothes, and when they needed that, Hermione said, oh, let me grab that. Let me just get that out of this bag here. And that's kind of how the kits work, too. You're 100% right. I remember that conversation now where it's, hey, you don't have to worry about it. We've already got it handled for you, and we're going to make it super easy for you to get that out of there.

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Behind the Scenes at Config: Icon Design, Figma Variables, and Public Speaking Tips | Podcast Awesome

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, host Matt Johnson gets the post-Config download from Font Awesome’s resident icon heroes, Jory Raphael and Noah Jacobus. They dish on their experiences at the legendary Config design conference, spill the beans on what it’s like to speak in front of a crowd (or an empty room 😅), and reflect on the power of Figma’s tools—especially variables. They also talk about Adobe’s acquisition of Figma and why designer-led storytelling still reigns supreme. Whether you’re a Figma fanatic or just love a good nerdy confab, this one’s for you.

Spoiler: They also reveal the secret sauce behind prepping a slick design talk... and it’s not just coffee. ☕

💬 What We Cover in This Episode

• ✨ Figma’s future post-Adobe acquisition
• 🇮🇸 Insights from Halli Thorleifsson’s keynote (and that viral Elon moment)
• 🎤 What it’s really like to speak at Config
• 🧠 How structure helps defeat public speaking nerves
• 💻 Variables in Figma—big win or major whoa?
• 🎨 Icon design wisdom from the stage to your screen

⏱️ Timestamps

• 00:02:23 — Figma's acquisition by Adobe
• 00:06:06 — Keynote by Icelandic entrepreneur Halli Thorleifsson
• 00:10:28 — The awkwardness of speaking to an empty room
• 00:14:14 — Structuring a conference talk (with some serious prep tips)
• 00:17:25 — Virtual presentations & why feedback matters
• 00:22:07 — Exploring variables in Figma (🎉 design nerd gold!)
• 00:24:18 — Outro & reflection

🎤 Quotable Highlights from the Episode

On Conference Impressions

“It’s kind of poop-your-pants big.” – _Jory Raphael
_

On Speaking Prep

“We got a couple little tee-hees out of our stage manager… we’re hoping for some good guffaws and chortles when we actually get people in the room.” – Jory Raphael

On the Power of Good Talks

“The ability to explain these concepts… and make it understandable and clear and funny and silly and memorable… it lingers.” – Bonnie Kate Wolf

On Conference Support

“They gave us a designer advocate, Miggy, who was our support throughout the whole process… it made the process a lot less scary.” – Jory Raphael

On Audience Energy

“By the 10th time through it… you wonder if any of it still makes sense. Actually being able to receive that validation from the crowd… was amazing.” – Noah Jacobus

🔗 Links & Resources

• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions
• "Pixel Perfect" by Lesiakower
• "Legends" by Kim Lightyear 
• "8-Bit-Space" by Purrsahfef
• "Retrorace" by WolfBeat
• "Victory Screen" by Lesiakower
• "Elixir of Life" by 23843807
• Interstitial music by Muzach <

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Inside Icon Design: Jory Raphael & Noah Jacobus on Font Awesome’s Creative Evolution

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt sits down with Font Awesome’s pixel-pushing power duo, Jory Raphael and Noah Jacobus. It’s a deep dive into the art and nerdery of icon design, from the origins of Font Awesome to the philosophy behind its newest visual frontier: the Sharp family of styles.

Jory lets us in on how a longtime “designer crush” led to hiring Noah, and the two get real about what makes an icon actually, well...iconic. Along the way, they share design secrets, reminisce on the Kickstarter days, and explain how constraint is the mother of creativity.

Whether you're a seasoned designer or someone who just really likes a well-drawn pencil icon, this episode's got you covered with smart takes, strong opinions, and a whole lotta SVG love.

💬 What We Cover in This Episode

🎨 Designer Crush Confessions – how admiration turned into collaboration
💼 From Symbolset to Font Awesome – the acquisition that made sense
🎥 Kickstarter Chaos – behind the scenes of the big launch video
🧠 Designing for Clarity – what makes an icon communicate well
🖼️ Icons as Fine Art – yep, they're basically the cave paintings of the digital age
📏 Embracing Constraints – why limits fuel creativity
🔄 Font Awesome 6 Makeover – the redesign that refreshed the whole brand
🎯 Tips for Budding Designers – how to train your eye and your pencil tool

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00:39 – Designer Crushes
 00:05:57 – Font Awesome acquires Symbolset
 00:08:19 – Creating a video for Kickstarter
 00:11:20 – Designing niche icons
 00:12:10 – Design icons to convey meaning
 00:13:40 – The power of icons
 00:17:02 – Icons as a continuation of art
 00:18:12 – Creativity thrives with constraints
 00:23:36 – Font Awesome 6 redesign
 00:24:45 – Icon design tips
 00:28:49 – Developing artistic taste
 00:30:29 – Practice makes perfect
 00:33:00 – Constantly improving design quality

🔥 Top Noteworthy Quotes

🎨 On Creative Admiration and Hiring

"Noah for a while now has been one of my designer crushes." – Jory
 (Followed by:)
 "All the work he creates is beautiful and engaging and lovely. The way I got over my jealousy of Noah’s work was to hire him."

🕶️ On Good Design Being Invisible

"Good design is invisible, right? If we’re doing our jobs correctly, people aren’t noticing it." – Jory

🎯 On the Joy of Constraints

"I really like constraints. They engender creativity." – Noah
 "Knowing the box you’re trying to fill in lets you reroute your decisions in more creative ways."

💾 On the Real Impact of Their Work

"I love being able to say: oh yeah, that’s one of our icons right there. You’ve seen our stuff—you just didn’t know it." – Jory

💡 On Artistic Growth and Imperfection

🤯 On Self-Awareness (and Icon Designer Humor)

"I fooled you all and you’ll eventually discover I have no idea what I’m doing." – Noah

🔗 Links & Resources

• Font Awesome – Icons you love (and some you didn’t know you needed)
• Symbolset – The icon font predecessor acquired by FA
• 🎵 Theme song by Ronnie Martin
• 🎚️ Audio mastered by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

🧠 From Walmart to Wobbly Circles: Mike Wilkerson Talks Code, Creativity, and Curves

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, host Matt Johnson chats with Mike Wilkerson, lead programmer at Font Awesome, about the beautiful overlap of programming, design tools, and quirky obsessions like the Marble Machine X.

Mike walks us through his journey from an unexpected start in tech (thanks, Walmart!) to becoming the mastermind behind the internal tools our design team uses every day. Ever wonder what makes an icon wiggle just right? Mike’s got a thing for circles, curves, and SVG perfection — and he explains how even the simplest shapes require complex problem-solving.

🎧 What We Cover in This Episode

• 🛠️ The origin story of Font Awesome’s custom design tools
• 🔵 The mystery of SVG circles and their natural imperfections
• 🌀 Mike's obsession with getting the "wobble" just right
• 🧘 His approach to mindfulness and how it improves his work
• 🥁 Why Martin Molin’s Marble Machine X is his creative muse
• 💡 How loving your work can emerge from the mundane

⏱️ Timestamps

• 00:00:36 – Design Tools for Font Awesome’s Icon Team
• 00:07:24 – SVG Circles That Just Won’t Behave
• 00:07:48 – The Art of Perfecting Imperfections
• 00:12:12 – Mike’s Favorite Font Awesome Icons
• 00:16:57 – Meditation as a Developer Superpower
• 00:19:30 – Fanboying Over the Marble Machine X
• 00:23:40 – Finding Joy in the Everyday Tasks
• 00:26:17 – Loving Good Curves (In Code and Life)

Noteworthy Quotes

🎯 On Falling in Love with Code

“I didn’t really fall in love with computer programming until after college. I had to be at my desk at Walmart at 7:30 a.m. in a tie… so I’d wake up earlier just to get a couple hours of coding in for fun.”
 — Mike Wilkerson

🛠️ On Font Awesome’s Internal Design Tool (The Factory)

“The factory is what I worked on this past split… It's the tool that our icon designers use to import their designs and convert them into the right format. Everything from naming and unicodes to search tags — it all flows from there.”
 — Mike Wilkerson“

🔵 On Perfect Circles & SVG Wobble

“Some of the icons are supposed to be circles… but the design tool was approximating circles from the start. By the time they get to font glyphs, you end up with something that looks a little bit wobbly — if you look close enough.”
 — Mike Wilkerson“

🎼 On Marble Machine X & Creative Nerdiness

“It’s both art and engineering… music and engineering. And I’ve lived in both of those worlds. So seeing all that come together in one project — that’s pretty great.”
 — Mike Wilkerson“

💡 On What Makes Great Work

“That’s the thing about nerding out — it’s appreciating, caring, and loving what you do. That kind of love makes a better product… and it makes creating it more enjoyable.”
 — Mike Wilkerson

“Circles gotta be curvy.” — _Mike Wilkerson
_

🔗 Links & Resources

• 🎹 Marble Machine X by Martin Molin
• 🎶 The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• 🎧 Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

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🎙️ The Beautiful Catastrophe: Lessons from Failing Forward with Dave Gandy

What if failure wasn’t the end — but the beginning of something awesome?

In this introspective and surprisingly funny episode of Podcast Awesome, host Matt Johnson sits down with Font Awesome founder Dave Gandy to get real about the stumbles, scrapes, and hard-earned wisdom that came from flunking out of MIT — twice. Yep, twice.

From crashing through academia to launching one of the most successful tech Kickstarters of all time, Dave opens up about the not-so-straight path to building something meaningful, and the strange truth that sometimes... believing the lie is part of what makes it real.

This one’s a goldmine for startup dreamers, believers in second (and third) chances, and anyone who’s failed their way into something better.

🔹 What We Cover in This Episode

• 🎓 Dave’s two-time flunk from MIT and what it taught him
• 🔄 How failure can be rebranded as feedback
• 🚀 Behind-the-scenes chaos (and hope!) of the Font Awesome 5 Kickstarter
• 🔮 The psychology of self-fulfilling prophecies
• 🤝 Finding the right co-founders and learning to trust again
• 🧠 Why doing hard things is the ultimate learning machine

⏱️ Timestamps

• 00:04:54 Failure is not final.
• 00:07:30 Embrace reality and grow.
• 00:10:06 Failure is an opportunity for growth.
• 00:18:56 Nothing is ever truly failure.
• 00:23:25 Find trustworthy partners for success.
• 00:27:05 Trust your teammates.
• 00:29:09 Try hard things and learn.

🎙️ Noteworthy Quotes from Dave Gandy on Failure, Reality, and Resilience

• "A startup is nothing more than believing a lie long enough that it becomes the truth."
• "Failure is really nothing more than reality attempting to introduce itself to us."
• "Most companies don’t ever recognize that this will almost certainly not be the last place you ever work. Climbing somebody else’s ladder is always a form of failure."
• "The only real failure is giving up, giving in… not making a conscious choice."
• "Nothing is ever failure if you’ve done it the right way — the way you think is right and healthy."
• "If we're only ever succeeding in life, that means we're never trying anything hard enough that truly challenges us."
• "Humility is one of the things we look for most in people we hire."
• "I can always come up with a reason why something is somebody else's fault. That’s why humility is such a key component."
• "Try hard things and find the right person to do them alongside."
• "There are two kinds of successful failures: choosing to stop because it’s wise, and choosing to go on because it’s wise. The only truly awful one is stopping without making the choice."

📎 Links & Resources

• Y Combinator
• MIT
• Make Some People Want: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Font Awesome's 2017 Kickstarter
• The Font Awesome theme song was composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

Stay up to date on all the Font Awesomeness!

🎙️ Why We Hire for Humility (Over Skill) — Building a People-First Culture at Font Awesome

In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt, Dave Gandy, and Travis Chase get real about what makes a company culture thrive — and it starts with hiring the right humans. Not “rock stars.” Not “ninjas.” Not “10x devs.” Just humble, collaborative people who love to learn and do great work.

Dave and Travis share how they took inspiration from 37signals’ books and blog, decided to ditch the ego-heavy hiring tropes, and chose instead to build a people-first culture at Font Awesome. That meant rethinking how they assess new team members — with a focus on character over clout.

This episode unpacks lessons they've learned, mistakes they avoided, and what it means to work with folks you'd actually want to build things (and grab tacos) with.

⏱️ Timestamps

• 00:13 – Creating a Unique Work Culture
• 02:26 – Exploring the Possibilities of Entrepreneurship
• 04:07 – How Basecamp Found Success Through Dignity
• 05:32 – Hiring Practices That Actually Work
• 07:06 – The Rock Star Myth and Its Fallout
• 08:26 – Work Product vs. Character Fit
• 12:05 – Hiring for Humility and Growth
• 14:19 – Trust-Building and Healthy Disagreements
• 15:53 – Humility: The Culture Code

🔗 Links & Resources

• 37signals
• Company Culture: Why We Hire for Humility (Over Skill)
• Theme song composed by Ronnie Martin
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

—------------------------

Highlights

🎯 Culture & Vision

“Basecamp for me... most of what they write to me is sense: to look at the things that are obviously just nonsense and ask, what if you ran it a different way?” — Dave“

We really tried to talk the way humans talk... Does it sound like a human wrote it, or does it sound like a marketer wrote it?” — Dave“

Can we help bring dignity in some small way through software to what people make?” — Dave“We once described our company as engineers who like people.” — Dave

💼 Hiring & Team Fit

“Most companies will hire for skill or competency first and then fire for issues of character — and that’s completely backwards.” — Matt“

What if we hired adults and treated them that way?” — Dave“

So many of what other companies define as ‘rock stars’ are terrible employees. But so often the employees they deem ‘B or C players’ are actually just A players under bad management.” — _Dave
_
“We hire for character first. We believe most anything in software or design can be learned.” — Travis“

We want to spend some time working on a project with you... is this someone I want to build stuff with, and spend my life working with?” — _Dave
_

🧠 Growth & Humility

“To be someone who is a learner — that implicitly requires you to know: I don’t already know everything.” — Dave“

Character is when who you think you are, who you say you are, who you actually are, and who you want to be... become the same thing.” — Dave“

Maybe I don’t know everything. And maybe — for people like Travis, who are unfortunately right more often than they should be — to still have humility and say, ‘I don’t know.’” — Dave

 

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☕ From Junior High Principal to Pixels: Trevor “The Real Human Technical Support™ Guy” Chase Talks Career Pivots, Debugging Joy & Coffee Obsession

In this Podcast Awesome episode, host Matt Johnson chats with Trevor Chase, Font Awesome’s Real Human Technical Support™ Guy. Once a junior high assistant principal, Trevor made the leap from school hallways to tech tickets — and along the way, discovered a love for debugging... and roasting the perfect cup of Ethiopian coffee.

Trevor opens up about:

• How he transitioned from education into tech support
• The most common licensing and icon questions he fields daily
• Why learning new things is at the heart of his Font Awesome journey
• His grassroots coffee roasting business that started with a popcorn popper
• A once-in-a-lifetime Ethiopian coffee ceremony that sparked a lifelong obsession
• And what it means to reconnect with remote teammates at our beloved team Snuggles

This one’s got 🔧 troubleshooting tips, ☕ artisan-level coffee takes, and ❤️ all the warm fuzzies of working on a remote team that actually gets along.

⏱️ Timestamps

• 01:03 – Trevor's Career Shift from Education to Tech Support
• 03:39 – The Emotional Toll of Being an Assistant Principal
• 06:16 – Joining Font Awesome and Learning On-the-Go
• 06:19 – Most Common Tech Support and Licensing Questions
• 08:14 – Hands-On Learning and Font Awesome’s Education Culture
• 09:32 – Debugging and QA: The Joy of Finding Problems
• 10:53 – Trevor’s Coffee Roasting Journey (From Popcorn Popper to Pro Roaster)
• 13:33 – Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony: A Life-Changing Experience
• 17:10 – Remote Culture and the Importance of the Font Awesome “Snuggle”

🎙️ Highlights

"If I’m ever bored in this job, it’s my own fault — there’s always something to learn." – Trevor Chase“

I started roasting coffee in a popcorn popper... and now my dad and I have a little side business roasting beans from around the world.”

“You roast it over hot coals, and they serve you two shots of the strongest, best coffee you’ve ever had. That Ethiopian ceremony? Changed everything.”

“I love debugging. It’s kind of like putting out fires, which I weirdly enjoyed even as an assistant principal.”“Remote work can get isolating, so I really look forward to our team Snuggles. Getting to know everyone more deeply matters.”

🔗 Links & Credits

• 🔧 Font Awesome Support & Licensing
• 🎬 Mill City Roasters on YouTube
• 🎵 Theme song by Ronnie Martin
• 🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

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🧩 Shoelace & Web Components: Building Better UI with Cory LaViska

In this Nerd Show and Tell episode, we lace things up with Cory LaViska, creator of Shoelace — a modern component library that makes it stupid-easy to build snappy, accessible, mobile-first websites using CSS grids and Web Components.

Matt joins Travis Chase and Cory for a jam-packed convo on:

• How Shoelace + Font Awesome work together like peanut butter and SVGs 🍯
• Why Web Components are the future of design systems (and sanity)
• What it takes to stay sharp with modern web standards
• And, yes, why Travis still doesn’t have a Shoelace icon 😤

Cory also reveals his favorite culinary-themed icon, drops wisdom on open source generosity, and reminds us all why boring ol’ PHP was a gateway drug to building cool things on the web.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

• 05:04 – Customizing CSS with Shoelace
• 08:10 – Reusable Components & Brand Consistency
• 11:50 – Why Web Components Make Dev Easier
• 17:06 – Tooling Made Better by Web Standards
• 25:46 – Embracing Modern Tech in UI/UX
• 30:17 – Building Free, High-Quality Software
• 31:25 – Power of Open Source Collaboration
• 36:04 – The Humble Beginnings: PHP and Web Dev

🧠 Highlights

“Shoelace gives you fully accessible components with zero framework lock-in — it just works in the browser.”“Open source is how I give back. If it helps someone build something better, then it’s worth it.”“Weirdly, my favorite icon might be… the hamburger. The food one. Not the menu one.”

🔗 Links & Credits

• Explore Shoelace
  🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin
  🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

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🛸 Dungeons, Dragons, and the Oregon Trail… in Space?!

On this episode of Nerd Show and Tell, we beam up with Ed Emanuel, Senior Developer at Font Awesome, to chat about his lifelong nerdery, dev adventures, and a galactically nostalgic side project called Space Awesome — a text-based, icon-powered space game inspired by the Oregon Trail.

Ed shares how creating Space Awesome helped him learn Vue.js, how he mashed up 8-bit style game logic with Font Awesome’s space-themed icons, and why it’s a quick, secret-filled trip through the stars (no microtransactions, we promise).

We also talk 3D printing, Dungeons & Dragons, and the magic behind Icon Wizard, the tool Ed and fellow FA-er Mike Wilkerson built to help customize icons on the fly.

If you love dev rabbit holes, retro gaming, or rolling D20s, this ep's got your name on it.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

• 02:27 – Working with Dave and Travis at Font Awesome
• 04:07 – Creating Custom Icons with Font Awesome Pro
• 06:34 – 3D Printing and D&D Miniatures
• 10:31 – Exploring Icon Themes and Ed’s Faves
• 12:11 – Launching the Space Awesome Game
• 14:02 – Text-Based Games and Blockbuster Nostalgia
• 16:20 – Ed’s Dungeons & Dragons Origin Story
• 19:21 – The Rise of D&D and Role-Playing Games
• 21:51 – What Makes a Great Dungeon Master?

🧠 Highlights

“I designed Space Awesome to respect your time. You can sit down and play for 5–10 minutes. No timers. Just secrets to discover and paths to explore.”“We’ve got the sword, the wizard hat, the 20-sided die… But we could definitely use a slime monster. Maybe a gelatinous cube? Just… not called a beholder.”“We homebrewed our own D&D rules as kids. We didn’t have the books, but we had imagination.”

🔗 Links & Credits

• Play Space Awesome
• Check out Icon Wizard
  🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin
  🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

**
--------------------**

Highlights

Well, I think I can thank my brother in law for that one as well. When he started dating my sister, my older sister, they played DND and kind of introduced me and my other siblings to it. So I played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons back in the late eighty s a little bit. And then we didn't have any of the books. So we kind of homebrewed our own game for a while, just like everyone else. We kind of stepped away from it for a while and then, let's see, it's been five or six years ago actually.

It went well. We had lots of traffic the first couple of weeks. Not as much since then, but when I designed the game, I wanted to kind of respect people's time. It does not require a huge investment in your time. You can sit down and play it for five to ten minutes, and while there are a lot of secrets to discover and things that you probably won't encounter your first time through. There's no timers. There's no anything that requires that you come back and play it every day.

We have a 20 sided dice that belongs in there. We have some swords, axe, the wizards hats. We have a bunch of icons, the cloak, the skull, stuff like that. I think there's definitely a few icons we could add. Some more DnD themed things. Oh, we have a dragon icon already, but I think there's some other monsters that would be cool to add some kind of slime or gelatinous cube or a beholder, but I suppose we couldn't call it a beholder.
---------------------

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💥 How Font Awesome’s Kickstarter Became a Record-Breaking Success

What happens when a tiny team with an awesome idea turns to crowdfunding? You get the most-backed tech Kickstarter of all time. In this episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt and the Font Awesome team take you behind the scenes of their  2017 Kickstarter campaign for Font Awesome 5.

Hear how a failed campaign turned into a historic win, how a bakery became the perfect metaphor for icon design, and how humor (plus a 12-hour filming session) helped their story resonate with backers worldwide. Oh, and how it caught the attention of Y Combinator, too.

🚀 In this episode, we explore:

• How humor and storytelling powered a viral Kickstarter video
• Lessons learned from a past campaign misfire (RIP Font Awesome Black Tie)
• Why we set a modest goal — and obliterated it
• Behind-the-scenes of choosing a video partner (Knox Avenue FTW)
• The unexpected doors Y Combinator opened up for Font Awesome

If you're a designer, founder, or just love a good origin story, this episode is packed with laughs, lessons, and bakery metaphors you won’t forget.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

• 00:09 – Reflecting on the Success of Font Awesome's 2017 Kickstarter
• 02:14 – Was Y Combinator Worth It?
• 05:32 – Lessons Learned from the Crowdfunding Campaign
• 07:30 – Finding the Right Video Production Partner
• 09:03 – Why the Kickstarter Video Was a Huge Risk
• 13:10 – The 12-Hour Shoot That Made It Work
• 14:58 – The Campaign That Changed Everything

🔗 Links & Credits

 🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin
🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

• Font Awesome 5 Kickstarter Video 
• How Font Awesome became the most funded software project on Kickstarter  — and what we can learn from it 

-------------------------------
HIGHLIGHTS 

We have no idea how this is going to hit. But we think this is hysterical. We thought it was funny, so we launched the video. We did a few things right with it. We did a lot of things right. And we still got an article out there somewhere about all of the we think are good ways to run a Kickstarter. And it's a few years old, but most of it's going to be evergreen with that. And we set a goal for ourselves for $30,000.

If Brian hasn't shared his nerd about baking, that would yeah, we should do that. The parallel we come up with [for the video] is a bakery. Because a bakery is we think of Font Awesome as this intersection of art and technology. We think of it as how do we make these Awesome assets. You get your icons. How do you make these real? How do you get these where they need to be in the way people want to use them so that everything can be better? 

As a company, we like humor. This is actually a core piece of who the company has become. Is that we value this so much, and so we're like, okay, so humor seems a clear way that we can try to make this more interesting. But also, what if we have nothing overtly digital in this? What if we tell this in the real world? What if we tell the story of Font Awesome 5, what we want to build? What if we tell this story in the real world? And so what's the biggest parallel, right?
---------------------------------

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🛡️ Sword Fights, Security & Memes: Meet Alex “Yellow Dart” Poiry

In this wonderfully offbeat episode of Nerd Show and Tell,  Matt chats with Alex Poiry, Head of Security at Font Awesome. But don't let the job title fool you — this isn’t just firewalls and protocols.

Alex dives into how a background in history and German led him to a career in tech, how a classic Homestar Runner video gave him the nickname “Yellow Dart,” and how swinging a longsword in VR gave him tennis elbow.

Yep. It's that kind of episode.

🧠 In this episode, we explore:

• The role of a Head of Security at a globally used icon toolkit
• How analog circuit metaphors help explain digital concepts
• Why early 2000s memes still live rent-free in Alex’s brain
• Nerdy passions: from Klingon to Tolkien to longsword combat in virtual reality
• How storytelling shapes tech, marketing, and public trust

If you love cybersecurity, weird tech journeys, or just want to hear a security lead talk about Klingon, this one’s for you.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

• 00:08 – Meet Alex Poiry: Font Awesome’s Head of Security
• 03:44 – From liberal arts to lock-downs: how Alex got into tech
• 07:56 – What “security” actually means at Font Awesome
• 12:30 – Data privacy, metaphors, and teaching tech
• 18:42 – Klingon, Lord of the Rings, and meme nostalgia
• 23:26 – Geek Squad war stories & unexpected repairs
• 27:25 – HEMA swordplay and VR: a nerdery crossover
• 33:22 – How storytelling influences PR, security, and connection

🔗 Links & Credits

• Font Awesome Security Info
• Homestar Runner – Yellow Dart
   🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin
  🎶 Music segues by Zach Malm
  🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

**
----------------------
HIGHLIGHTS

"**At what point in time when you get to a certain age, how do you tell if it's you getting old or if some things actually are worse? Because there's a definitive period in American cinema that's not as good as some of the other periods.  There's a fantastic storytelling section of American cinema that starts in the 1970s and kind of goes into the it goes into the then you start to hit that era of the blockbuster.

The MCU is great. It's fun, and it's nice to see all this expansive stuff. But I wonder, are we going to look down the line in, like, 30 or 40 years and we're going to be like, these movies were fantastic storytelling, or if it's just going to just kind of be, like, fluffy." 

"What is your form like when it comes to historic European martial arts? And then you could do like a super hot thing where you just put a character up in front of it and just like whack him with a sword and he breaks and falls down or he blocks and you can try that stuff. So then you can actually work on your form without getting sword elbow."
-------------
NOTES

• Spintronics
• The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger (original narration by Randall) 
• G.I. Joe PSAs 

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☕ Poo Storms, Pixels & Perfect Curves: Designing Font Awesome 6 with Jory Raphael

In this iconic episode of Podcast Awesome, Matt is joined by Font Awesome’s Senior Icon Designer Jory Raphael and Co-founder Travis Chase to explore what made Font Awesome 6 not just a major update — but a major upgrade.

From adopting Figma as a design tool to refining styles across the entire icon set, Jory shares how a more cohesive design system (and a few poop jokes) helped shape the boldest, nerdiest, most delightful version of Font Awesome yet.

🎨 In this episode, we cover:

• How Font Awesome 6 broke from v5 with smarter, more consistent icon design
• Jory’s favorite (and weirdest) icons from the new sets
• The journey from Freelance Icon Jealousy™️ to hiring Noah Jacobus
• Collaborating with the United Nations on meaningful icons for humanitarian work
• Why the “Poo Storm” icon exists… and what that says about Font Awesome’s design culture

If you're a designer, icon enthusiast, or curious nerd who loves the blend of polish and playfulness, this one’s a must-listen.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

• 00:10 – Font Awesome 6: A new chapter in icon design
• 02:30 – Rebuilding icons with rules, rhythm, and range
• 04:01 – Designing with purpose across branding + UI
• 06:30 – How to keep icon design fun (and sharp)
• 13:39 – Meet Noah Jacobus: icon wizard, now full-time at FA
• 14:36 – Jory & Travis share their favorite weird and wonderful icons

🔗 Links & Credits

• Explore Font Awesome 6
• Why We Switched to Figma
• Font Awesome x UN OCHA: Humanitarian Icons
• Meet Noah Jacobus on Nerd Show and Tell
   🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin
  🎶 Music by Zach Malm
  🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions
• Font Awesome 6 Is Live! See the New Icons, Styles and Upgrade Without the Hassle
• 10 Reasons We Switched to Figma For Icon Design
• Font Awesome and OCHA Partner to Create Humanitarian Icons
• Nerd Show and Tell: Meet Noah Jacobus, Icon Designer Extraordinaire

**Highlights
** 
"..Noah Jacobus is one of those icon designers who his work just constantly has made me jealous. He posts things that I wish I had designed and his skill and detail and creativity I find amazing. We actually got him to work a little bit on some contract work for us a little while ago as kind of sneakily, get him excited working with us at Font. Awesome. He finally popped the question and he is here working with us. And I'm so excited because I'm excited because he's a better icon designer than I am. And so that means that our stuff is just going to get better, and it also means that I can focus on some other things as well at Font awesome."

"... Part of the core of Font Awesome is to have fun with things. It makes it so much more interesting to include an icon like the Poo storm icon. That was a joke. I was designing a set of weather icons and a cloud icon has some very similar curves to an icon of Poop. And I was designing a cloud icon and it had a little lightning bolt. And so I just took the Poop icon and added a lightning bolt and it's resonated with a lot more people than I thought it would."

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🧑‍💻 Reuniting Remote Teams with Heart, Humor, and Cookies: Inside Font Awesome’s Biannual Snuggle

In this wholesome (and slightly nerdy) episode of Podcast Awesome, host Matt Johnson is joined by Font Awesome co-founders and longtime team members — Dave Gandy, Travis Chase, Rob Madole, and Mike Wilkerson — to share the origin story and magic behind The Snuggle, Font Awesome’s biannual in-person team meetup.

Why does a fully remote company with async workflows and nerdy Slack threads still prioritize gathering face-to-face? Turns out, good software starts with great relationships — and a well-timed inside joke.

🧵 In this episode, we explore:

• How humor shaped the name “Snuggle” — and why the team leaned into it
• Real stories about what in-person time means for trust, collaboration, and morale
• How remote work challenges like isolation and “missing the water cooler” are countered with deliberate bonding
• What cookies, karaoke, and late-night debates reveal about team dynamics
• Why investing in remote-first culture isn’t just smart—it’s essential

If you’re building or working on a remote team, this one’s your cozy, cookie-filled blueprint for staying connected (no matter how async your GitHub repo is).

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

• 00:09 – The Snuggle: what it is and why it matters
• 02:31 – Rob Madole on remote work trade-offs
• 05:23 – Humor + connection: the glue for team culture
• 08:00 – Why in-person bonding is worth it
• 11:50 – Reuniting post-COVID
• 13:36 – Chocolate chip cookies and late-night hangouts
• 15:15 – Replacing the water cooler
• 16:52 – Remote vs. in-office productivity at Font Awesome

🔗 Links & Credits

🎯 Learn about Font Awesome’s culture
 🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin
🎶 Music segues by Zach Malm
🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

Remote Work: How We Snuggle Our Way to a Healthy Company Culture

Meet the Font Awesome Team Through Our Nerd Show and Tell 

**Highlights

**“So clearly, the Snuggle is about as serious as its name, and yet the effect is that it helps build goodwill and trust among the Font Awesome team so we can work together better. While the remote work versus in office work debate will likely continue, Font Awesome has found a way to make the best of both worlds. And once you start working remote, you may never want to go back to the office again.”

“ So people come in on Sunday. So Sunday is a travel day, and then they fly back out on Friday. That's a travel day. So we've got four days in the middle there for the actual Snuggle. Two of the nights we have where we expect everybody to be there hanging out two of the nights, and we've got two nights that are in some ways, kind of like recovery nights.”

“We make up for a lot of the water cooler stuff that we miss. We make up for those shared experiences on a daily basis. We try to make up for that a lot of that here and compare it. I'm so excited that we got together, that we got to get together right now.”

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🎧 Exploring Sharp Icons, Retro Gaming & Design Rhythms with Noah Jacobus

In the inaugural episode of Nerd Show and Tell, Matt Johnson chats with Font Awesome icon designer Noah Jacobus about the creative crossover between music, icon design, and visual rhythm.

Noah shares how his background in music education unexpectedly shaped his approach to visual design, leading to his work designing the Font Awesome Sharp icon family — a bold reimagining of one of the web’s most iconic tools.

They dive into:

• The design philosophy behind the Sharp icon aesthetic
• How musical hierarchy and rhythm translate to scalable iconography
• The behind-the-scenes grind of crafting over 20,000 icons
• Noah’s obsession with retro handheld games (looking at you, Playdate 👾)
• Why design and game nostalgia often go hand-in-hand

Whether you're into SVG design, retro game consoles, or just love seeing how seemingly unrelated disciplines collide — this one’s for you.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

• 00:08 – Designing the Font Awesome Sharp family
• 02:59 – Music meets visual arts
• 04:30 – Rhythm, hierarchy & design language
• 10:07 – Joining the Font Awesome team
• 12:32 – Sharp icon design challenges
• 16:56 – Handheld retro gaming love
• 19:47 – Pixel art, nostalgia, and iconography

🔗 Links & Credits

🎯 Add a Touch of Class with Font Awesome Sharp Icons
🎙️ Meet Noah Jacobus, Icon Designer Extraordinaire
🕹️ Playdate – retro-style handheld game
🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin
🎶 Music segues by Zach Malm
🎸 Outro track “Man is He Mega - GLBML” by Geoffrey Burch
🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

-------------------

Highlights

"It can only do some specific things very well. And so there's some very creative solutions for how to make interesting games for that. That's the same kind of thing that interests me a lot about iconography in that way is that emphasis on working within constraints. And I think that's kind of what drew me to retro gaming and kind of the resurrection of it as well and kind of the preservation of it, too, is like a kind of focus on that, working with what they had and really making cool stuff."

"... The Playdate by Panic has been really cool to see in development and I was finally able to get one earlier this year. And kind of the emphasis that goes into especially when you're creating a new handheld like this. It's kind of inspired by the Game Boy and a lot of old things and kind of choosing which design constraints you want to embrace to kind of set it apart because the playdate is kind of a weird form factor and it has a black and white screen that doesn't have a backlight and it's got some very unique inputs on it. It has some of the stuff you might expect with buttons and stuff, but it also has an accelerometer in it and it has a crank on the side of it and other things like that that are really interesting of like these are some new innovative things. But there's still cool ways to foster creativity because it's not a little wonder handheld that can do everything."

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The first episode of Podcast Awesome features host Matt Johnson talking with Jory Raphael about what's coming up in 2023, and gives listeners a taste of what they can expect in the first season. Podcast Awesome will feature "Nerd Shows and Tells," in which members of Font Awesome's team discuss the work they've done in recent sprints (referred to as "splits" in FA speak), as well as the company culture that stems from their semiannual company meetup, affectionately known as "the Snuggle". 

After feeling nervous at first, Matt was encouraged to take on the role as host of Podcast Awesome by Travis Chase. Matt has enjoyed learning to use the technology to put the podcast together and is also responsible for the media, social media, blogs, and web copy. 

In addition, Matt and Jory talk about the aforementioned bi-annual Snuggle, an event where the team can connect and have fun together doing nerdy activities like playing Dungeons and Dragons, and watching sci-fi shows and movies together — all activities that build trust and goodwill among the team.

In the last Snuggle, Mike Wilkerson and Ed Emanuel developed a prototype for the Icon Wizard (in beta release now). Often, conversations during the Snuggle spark new ideas and lots of great work has come from several Snuggle times.

Jory and Matt also discuss the 2022 year in review, which includes: 

• The Launch of Font Awesome 6! 
• How to Blast Your Boredom by Playing Space Awesome!
• Classing Up Your Project With Font Awesome Sharp Icons 
• Shoelace Joins Font Awesome 
• How to Wield Near Infinite Icon Magic With the Icon Wizard 
• And more! 

--------------------------------
**Timestamps
**

**0:00:09
**

Conversation between Matt Johnson and Jory Rafael on the Inaugural Episode of Podcast Awesome

**0:03:57
**

Review of Font Awesome's 2022 Accomplishments and Plans for 2023

**0:05:54
**

The Benefits of Team Building Activities at Font Awesome

**0:11:25
**

Exploring Nerdy Interests with Mike

**0:13:03
**

Exploring Dungeons & Dragons, Nerd Show & Tell, and Traditional European Martial Arts

**0:17:45
**

Conversation on Enjoying Hobbies and Passions

**0:19:05
**

 Discussing the 2022 Roundup and Plans for 2023

**0:20:46
**

Font Awesome 6 Launch and Space Awesome

**0:25:16
**

Exploring Space Awesome: How Ed learned VueJs 

**0:27:15
**

Exploring Font Awesome's Icon Sets and Recent Releases

**0:31:54
**

The Origins of Font Awesome's Icon Wizard Feature (it was originally called, "F.A.R.T.S")

**0:33:44
**

Collaboration between Font Awesome and the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to Create Humanitarian Icons

----------------------------
Links: 

• Ronnie Martin composed the Font Awesome theme song
• Zach Malm composed the 8-bit styled music segues 
• Audio mastering by Chris Enns and Lemon Productions 

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In early 2023, the makers of Font Awesome are launching a brand new podcast unsurprisingly called — wait for it — Podcast Awesome! 

In this podcast, we’ll be talking about icons, naturally. We’ll talk about how we think building healthy and sustainable workplaces is possible. We’ll also dive deep into the tech of how we build things. And, of course, we’ll nerd out along the way. 

I’m your host, Matt Johnson, and on Podcast Awesome, we’ll be talking about icons, design, tech, business, nerdery, and more with the members of the Font Awesome team. 

Subscribe to Podcast Awesome wherever you get your podcasts. 

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