Designing the Void

When Ariel tells people she’s a graphic artist for TV and film, they usually don’t know what that means. It’s a lot more than the real world’s understanding of graphic design, that’s for sure. From her role in the art department, Ariel dreams up all the daily details of the story’s world. A character’s favorite pizza joint? Ariel designs the logo, the pizza box, the napkins. In this episode, Ariel talks about the joys of working on kids’ shows, why she thinks about Clearance procedures before any designs, and how her best work should blend right in.

Costume designer Whitney Anne Adams had a big break at a young age, thanks to her theater background and tenacious work ethic. She talks about her impressive career thus far, plus the depth of costume design, the value of shopping vintage, and the fun of planting easter eggs.

Prop Master Maria Sylvania has some real talk about creating character through a single prop, navigating stress in a tight-knit professional community, and the importance of unexpected, unglamorous skills ⁠— like plumbing.

Malgosia Turzanska, of Stranger Things talks about Costume Design, how she uses fabric modification as a major part of her design process, and the interesting tricks she's learned along the way.

Krystle Feher talks about how she became a professional makeup artist, her love of creature building, and the creative process behind building creature special effect makeup.

Hair Stylist, Shari Besanceney, talks about her journey into hair design, what she looks at, and the tricks she's learned along the way.

As the costumer designer for the Netflix series Frontier, Michael Ground builds kingdoms out of vintage furs, careful color choices, and a mixture of historical fact and fashionable fiction. He tells us all about it, with insight from his experience on episodic projects and getting the most out of a tight budget.

Host, Sarah Cogan, and guest, Annie Simon, talk about our responsibilities we have as storytellers.

Costume Designer Annie Simon talks about costume design as a storytelling tool and how she views her craft and the bodies she adorns.

Ashleigh Chavis Wolfe has over 20 years of film production experience. She talks about how she fell into make up design, little make up tweaks that change the whole perception of the character, and how important strong collaboration with the director of photography is is for makeup artists.

Emmy-Nominated Costume Designer, Jeanie Cheek dives into what inspires her as a costume designer, ways to think about costume design, and creative costume problem solving when on a tight budget.

Production Designer Loren Weeks talks about his creative process and how he keeps his mind open for everything that resonates with him on a given project and how integral strong communication is for him as a department head.

Costume Designer, Katie Irish, talks about what costume design means to her, how she approaches her work and the details she pays attention to as a designer.