71 episodes

“Did I Do That?” is a podcast about graphic designers—the ups and down they face in creative practice, because making design means making lots (and lots) mistakes. Every other Thursday, host Sean Schumacher (Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University) is joined by a guest from the world of design with a special story about their own mistakes starting out and how they ended up where they did. It’s very weird, pretty silly, and definitely not serious—but neither are designers.
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Did I Do That?: Making Graphic Design & Mistakes Sean Schumacher

    • Arts
    • 5.0 • 20 Ratings

“Did I Do That?” is a podcast about graphic designers—the ups and down they face in creative practice, because making design means making lots (and lots) mistakes. Every other Thursday, host Sean Schumacher (Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University) is joined by a guest from the world of design with a special story about their own mistakes starting out and how they ended up where they did. It’s very weird, pretty silly, and definitely not serious—but neither are designers.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Sometimes The Moment Needs Extra Mayo (with Kyle Letendre) [Rerun]

    Sometimes The Moment Needs Extra Mayo (with Kyle Letendre) [Rerun]

    Rerun summer continues with another past guest from way back in 2022—lettering designer extraordinaire and Portland flower fan Kyle Letendre joins Sean to talk Minnesota’s missing lakes, misguided entrepreneurial spirit, and rebrands that aren’t quite making the grade. We’re filling in the pixels in that JPEG manually in person while we get to the bottom of a question that’s been on everyone’s mind: what’s Sean’s favorite food color?
    Kyle most recently did artwork for TypeCon 2024's identity, which you can see on the TypeCon website.
    Not-so-coincidentally enough, the day this episode is re-released (Thursday, July 25, 2024) Fontroversy's Lena Hall and I will be appearing at TypeCon's Education Forum to present about the type education side of how Fontroversy came to be—it's going to be a real kick, and if you're going to be attending TypeCon, check out the EdForum schedule page on TypeCon's website for scheduling information. Stay tuned to the newsletter, too, Fontroversy friends, for more news on the show coming later this summer!
    Also the night this episode comes out, I'll be at Future Fonts & Friends holding our second ever Making Mistakes Confessional! That event is free, open to the public, packed with friends of the show, and is your chance to share any design foibles that have been haunting you with our design therapist-in-residence. Future Fonts & Friends is happening at Outlet (2500 NE Sandy Blvd. in Portland) from 6–9pm. Hope to hear you there!
    Stay tuned for more event news, including more information about our Seattle show, in the newsletter!

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    • 58 min
    It's Gotta Be Moo (with Lizy Gershenzon) [Rerun]

    It's Gotta Be Moo (with Lizy Gershenzon) [Rerun]

    Rerun summer continues! In this timely episode from way back in 2022, Future Fonts co-founder and all around rad person Lizy Gershenzon joined Sean to talk pieces of flair, the opposite of missed connections, and The Rainbow Passage. We’re going back to high school and making font magic in an episode that’s got milk—just not in an officially licensed form.
    Since this episode came out way back in early 2022, Lizy and Travis have launched the Vectro Type Foundry, home of favorites like the acclaimed Chartwell, Kicker, and Whoa, but also home to new fantastic faces like the incredible Kablammo—check them out and give them a download! Lizy and Travis, along with fellow co-founder James Edmundson of Ohno Type Co., co-founded Future Fonts, where you can get experimental typefaces while they're still in development and help support their creators through the process! It's one of the best places to find new and emerging type, and a great place to start for someone who's new to type and wanting to find out how fun it can be first hand. Check them out at futurefonts.xyz, or at the Future Fonts and Friends event!
    EVENT NEWS!Did I Do That? will be live in Seattle as part of the Seattle Design Festival's mainstage! The show is happening Saturday, August 17, 2024 from 4:15–5:15pm at Lake Union Park in Seattle. The show is free and open to the public, and I'd love to have you there in person, though it will also be streamed after the fact by Seattle Design Festival itself! To learn more, check out their site: seadesignfest.org!Fontroversy host Lena Hall and I will be presenting a talk as part of TypeCon on Thursday, July 25 about Fontroversy and teaching type through popular emerging media—it'll be fun, but unfortunately it's only open to TypeCon attendees. You can learn more and get tickets for TypeCon's Education Forum over at the TypeCon's website! (shout out to past guest Kyle Letendre, who made the TypeCon hero art this year!)If you missed it last year, Future Fonts and Friends' TypeCon party is back, and just like before is free and open to all! I'll be back with the Making Mistakes Confessional again, so if you missed it before, now's your chance to be a part of it! This year's party will be on Thursday, July 25 from 6–9pm at Outlet (2500 NE Sandy Blvd. in Portland). Bring your best design confessions and hope to see you there!



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    • 1 hr
    Agents of Chaos (with Kate Carter) [Rerun]

    Agents of Chaos (with Kate Carter) [Rerun]

    Summer break continues, and we've got big news: we're launching a newsletter! You can hear the latest about Did I Do That?—including some stuff coming later this summer that's still under wraps—first by going to dididothat.design/newsletter to subscribe.
    We're also turning back the clock to season 2 for one of Sean's favorite episodes! Kate Carter (founder and creative director of Saint Friend) joined Sean way back in October 2022 to talk about the heated rivalries between niche dog enthusiast magazines, the parts of the phone that art directors DON’T want you to see, and how to visit a mausoleum on hard mode.
    You can find Kate’s work with Saint Friend on the studio’s website, saintfriend.co, or on Instagram @saint_friend. Kate, Nick, and the whole team at Saint Friend do some of the best, most joyful branding work out there, and that team brimming with some of PSUGD’s best and brightest alums to boot. Check them out!
    This episode was recorded on Saturday, November 5, 2022 on the campus of Portland State University.

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    • 1 hr 10 min
    Summer Kick-Off!

    Summer Kick-Off!

    Season 4 has wrapped and season 5 is coming in September, so what's happening in the time between? We'll have a few fun "Whoopsies" in the form of experimental episodes to share, maybe hear from some past favorites, and even have some surprises on the horizon! It's going to be a treat, and hopefully this programming note can help tide us over until that schedule starts. Want to hear about the latest? Be sure you're subscribed to the feed on whatever platform you use to listen to podcasts (you can find links to all of them in the sidebar on the site), or follow us on Instagram @dididothat.design!
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    • 7 min
    Jazz It Up and Make It Pop! (with David DaCosta)

    Jazz It Up and Make It Pop! (with David DaCosta)

    Wake your partner up at 2 in the morning, because it’s all been building to this—our season 4 finale! David DaCosta (designer, illustrator, and writer of both Jokey Jokes: A Collection of Illustrated Dad Jokes and the new Jokier Jokes: Another Illustrated Collection of Dad Jokes) joins Sean to talk rock and roll accounting, the circular file, and Too Much Good(?) Stuff.
    You can find and order Jokey Jokes, the new Jokier Jokes, and all of the Jokey Jokes Merchy Merch (including the gorgeous Dad Jokes hat) at jokeyjokes.com! The books are gorgeous and the merch is great! Pick up one for a kid or a dad joke lover in your life!You can find David’s other work on the web at therealdacosta.com or on the ‘gram at @dacostadraws!If you’re intrigued by David’s work on Snack Watch, his vending machine news and reviews blog from his magazine days, good news! He was kind enough to share the final issue here—drop in some quarters and remember the days when Lay’s was courageous enough to think anyone at all wanted cheesy garlic bread flavored chips.This episode’s cold open included clips from our episodes with Kristin Rogers Brown and Emily Tate; you can hear the full conversations, which are chock full of more mascot chat, in our back catalog. That segment also featured the song “Action Strike,” written and performed by Rafael Krux and distributed under a CC0 license.
    This episode was recorded Saturday, April 27, 2024 in the Rat’s Nest, which I am beginning to think is less an office and more a locus at which the earth’s EM radiation is focused to a fine and impossible-to-filter point. Thanks, 1920s architects and 1950s electricians, for your fine work on this monument to buzzing. I only hope not too much of it made it to air, but if you can hear it, I apologize—I did my best!
    This episode was once again guest edited by the great Orion Cortez; I couldn’t have done this season without him!

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    • 1 hr 41 min
    Oh Crap, This Is What I Make It (with César Sierra)

    Oh Crap, This Is What I Make It (with César Sierra)

    Feeling like your week is lacking a dash of Did I Do That? You could add something—it’s just a suggestion! Freelance brand and identity designer César Sierra joins Sean to talk about gamifying Jiffy Mix, getting lost with Matt, and Busytown careers. Will Sean get rabies before the season is over? There’s only one way to find out!
    You can find César’s work on their website, cesarsierra.net! If you’re looking to hire César, connect with them on Linked in at linkedin.com/in/cesarvsierra!
    This episode was recorded Sunday, April 14, 2024, in the Rat’s Nest. Though I (again) forgot to shout him out in the outro, this episode was edited by the great Orion Cortez! Thanks, Orion!

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    • 1 hr 42 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
20 Ratings

20 Ratings

kristinb ,

Sean is the Cat’s Meow!

I had Sean for a teacher at PSU, and in this podcast his amazing personality, sense of humor, and design insights shine! I just found the podcast…ugh I’m a bit late! Hahaha. How did I miss this for so long?!? The first episode I listened to was the one with Jason Sturgill. OMG, I can just imagine the scene out in podunk Pullman in the snow, and wow! I had forgotten all about those flying toasters! Good times. Heh. I look forward to listening to more. 10 million stars!

Dreamonaut ,

Fun times, great vibes

Yes, there a many design podcasts but this one stands out. You can hear that his guests enjoy the conversation with Sean. His humour is captivating. Awesome to listen to!

piper_007 ,

Listening feels like hanging out with friends

This podcast may be about graphic design and the mistakes you make along the way to becoming a graphic designer, but the topics covered in those hilarious tangents make me laugh (and smile) so hard. Listening feels like hanging out with friends, and makes me want to go through my portfolios of the past. Hearing the guests is like meeting new friends and their stories and work make me want to dive into new projects. Solid podcast, casual listen.

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