Students of Design

Jacob Cummings – Collaboration, Typographic Deficiencies, and Type Design – Ep20

Episode Summary

Jacob is a Dingbat—MR. Dingbat to you—a designer and art director who runs a tiny graphic design studio in Austin, TX, also called Dingbat. His studio specializes in brand identity, packaging, illustration, and typography. Once upon a time, he worked at IBM and then Helms Workshop, and he's partnered with selected clients like Duolingo, Cratejoy, Emojibator, Kammok, and Fifty-Nine Parks. Did I mention he designs typefaces, too? Yeah, you can find them at Dingbat.xyz! Tune in for a talk about collaborating with other designers, tips for maintaining readability, and which typeface designer he would wipe from history. See more of Jake's work on Instagram and Dribbble, and browse his typefaces on Gumroad. Who knows, if you get into his inner circle, he might serve you a cortado from his coffee cart, Lil Dingus.

Episode Notes

Jacob is a Dingbat—MR. Dingbat to you—a designer and art director who runs a tiny graphic design studio in Austin, TX, also called Dingbat. His studio specializes in brand identity, packaging, illustration, and typography. Once upon a time, he worked at IBM and then Helms Workshop, and he's partnered with selected clients like Duolingo, Cratejoy, Emojibator, Kammok, and Fifty-Nine Parks. Did I mention he designs typefaces, too? Yeah, you can find them at Dingbat.xyz! Tune in for a talk about collaborating with other designers, tips for maintaining readability, and which typeface designer he would wipe from history. See more of Jake's work on Instagram and Dribbble, and browse his typefaces on Gumroad. Who knows, if you get into his inner circle, he might serve you a cortado from his coffee cart, Lil Dingus.

Questions for this interview.

• Do you typically collaborate with people you already have a relationship with?
• Do you actively look for opportunities to collaborate, or do you prefer to take them on whenever they fall into place on their own?
• What would you say to someone afraid to ask another designer to collaborate on a project?
• What did you realize you took for granted after leaving IBM?
• Since going independent, what do you miss about working with a team of people?
• Did you move to Austin for IBM, or were you already living in Austin when you started working there?
• What was your experience working at Helms Workshop like?
• Do you think an internship is worth the time and effort?
• What were your thoughts when you transitioned from using your name to using the word Dingbat?
• Are you happy you made that change?
• Were there any other names you seriously considered before settling on Dingbat?
• What's something you're into that isn't directly related to design?
• Has design ever ruined your passion for anything?
• If you had to teach a random person one thing about typography, what would you teach them?
• Which is worse? Poorly justified text or bad typographic hierarchy?
• Which is worse? A poor ragged edge or (slightly) misaligned text frames?
• Can you give us some tips for readability when working with body text?
• Are there any typographic treatments that get under your skin or you won't put up with?
• How often do your type designs start from a specific source of inspiration vs. a custom letterform you designed or a sketch?
• Was the name of your typeface, Marston, inspired by Red Dead Redemption?
• Which part of the type design process is the most complicated?
• If you had to choose Helvetica, Futura, Clarendon, or Garamond, which typeface would you erase from existence?
• If you had to choose Matthew Carter, Jonathan Hoefler, Adrian Frutiger, or Erik Spiekermann, who would you erase from history?