Today, I’ll be having a conversation with Ken Barber
Ken is a lettering artist, type designer, author, and educator. For 30 years, he's made distinctive logos for global brands and created dozens of fonts. He blames his obsession with letterforms on Don Martin comics, Santa Cruz skateboard graphics, and speed metal logos. Ken's work has been featured in a few fancy museums, including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. He’s an instructor at The Cooper Union in New York City, and teaches online lettering workshops with his wife, Lynn, to students around the globe. Currently, he's the type director and studio letterer at House Industries. Ken has written several books on design, including his award-winning Lettering Manual published in 2020.
Oh, this conversation with Ken was full of takeaways. Ken shared wise insights learned throughout his career of over 30 years making and teaching lettering, things like having mentors, putting your foot in the door as a lettering artist, developing your own voice, and navigating the ups and downs of a career. Ken spoke openly about the things that he did to become a master in his craft and go from amateur to pro, and the good news is that these are all actionable steps that you can follow to do that as well.
As a personal note, I have been wanting to interview Ken since day one, because I know how much value and insights he has to share. Now, after almost 100 podcasts under my belt, I dared to have him on the show and conduct the interview, which I dearly share with you today.
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Mentioned in This Episode
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See full show notes ➡️ https://www.martinaflor.com/podcast
Ken’s instagram ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/typelettering/
Ken's workshops ➡️ https://www.eventbrite.com/o/ken-barber-32145213327
Ken's website ➡️ www.typeandlettering.com