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Talk Paper Scissors

Diana Varma
245 episodes   Last Updated: May 30, 25

Join host, Diana Varma, as she explores the wonderful world of design and printing, typography and branding, books and publishing. Diana loves nothing more than getting creative with Creatives about all things creative. Ready to have some fun? Let's Talk Paper Scissors!

Episodes

Send us a textToday’s conversation features Paige Deasley, photographer, storyteller, and creative strategist passionate about helping people reconnect with nature. In this conversation, you’ll hear about Paige’s life that exists at the intersection of nature and creativity. You’ll hear how she handles working remotely while immersing herself in nature, how she found her photographic voice, as well as what about the natural world inspires her and what it’s like to swim with an octopus. Finally, you’ll hear about Paige’s ideal vision of a life that allows her to explore creativity in the natural world.I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Send us a textToday we have the one, the only, Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., an American printer, book artist and papermaker who has been puttin’ ink on paper since 1949. He is a citizen printer, which you’ll hear much more about very soon.In this conversation, you’ll hear about Amos’ incredible book, Citizen Printer, including how it came to be, what it means to be a citizen and Amos’ vision for citizenship today and tomorrow. You’ll hear about activism, humanism, materialism, capitalism, environmentalism, and the need for a new system. And in the wise words of Amos, “participation changes the system”.I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Send us a textToday’s guest is internet artist, Nolen Royalty. He's interested in getting strangers to interact over the internet in unusual ways and in pushing mundane technology to its limits. Projects of his include stranger video (a website that shows you live, silent video of a stranger's face until one of you blinks), One Million Checkboxes (a website with a million global checkboxes), and games that run inside Google Calendar, MacOS Finder, and your unclosed browser tabs. And he’s also created a game called Talk Paper Scissors, which is how we—by happenstance—connected.In this conversation you’ll hear how Nolen brings strangers together for spontaneous joy on the Internet. You’ll better understand why Nolen prefers creating experiences that foster collaboration rather than competition, how building constraint facilitates participation, as well as the role multi-level storytelling plays in his work.Also, you’ll hear an epic rock paper scissors showdown of monumental proportions to decide the ultimate Talk Paper Scissors champion….I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Send us a textCould you collaborate to make an award-winning professional short film with a team from start to finish in just 48 hours? Our guest today has done just that! James Rowan is a technologist, educator, and researcher working at the intersection of film, television, and emerging technology.You’ll hear James talk about the ways in which both creativity drives technology and technology drives creativity. He provides advice about how to develop both creative thinking skills, paired with the technical skills necessary to make a vision come to life, and what’s needed to bridge the gap between these two states of being. We chat about the inventible failures that will occur in figuring things out as you go, and that failure is simply data. We talk about collaboration and the power of the hive mind; diverse individuals with different areas of expertise coming together to push innovation through experimentation.Here's the link to watch James and team's incredible 48-hour film project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPRe2bVe27o I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Send us a textElliot Jay Stocks is a designer and musician, known in typographic circles thanks to his time as Creative Director of Adobe Typekit, founder of typography magazine 8 Faces, and for his recent collaboration with Google that lead to the creation of Google Fonts Knowledge. In this conversation, you’ll hear about Elliot’s prolific career in type. We talk passion projects and opportunities to broaden skills sets and unique opportunities that can happen from following one’s genuine interests. Elliot also shares his process for writing and designing my very favourite typography textbook, as well as the entry point for students who are just beginning to formally explore the world of letterforms. A quick note that this episode isn’t sponsored — as always I’m just a curious human trying to connect with interesting, creative people and projects out in the world. I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
May 05, 2025
I Wrote a Book!
Send us a textWelcome to 250th episode of Talk Paper Scissors where I celebrate YOU the listeners, chat about podcasting milestones and share info about the upcoming release of my book called Brave Creative Human: Reframe imposter syndrome, embrace failure and be unapologetically you, with the foreword written by the one and only Drag Artist & Creativity Professor, Guy Anabella! Release date: September 28, 2025!Here’s to the celebrating the small successes that turn out to be not so little with time and consistency.*Note: The Book above is not my book; it’s a delightful read by author Keith Houston that’s “a cover-to-cover exploration of the most powerful object of our time”. I couldn't agree more! I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Send us a textFrom actionable leadership strategies to creative direction to AI, this episode is for all of the creative change makers! In this conversation, you’ll hear from creative leader, Vince Wanga, author of "The Art of Direction” with a distinguished two-decade career. He shares the benefits of long-term goal setting and he shares his next audacious goal. You’ll hear about his book and the important and deeply personal stories about creative leadership he shares in it.You’ll hear why creative leadership isn’t the only ‘path to success’, as well as what Vince believes are the most pressing challenges of our time as designers and creatives. Vince makes a compelling case for using AI ‘as a tool, not a crutch’ and the ways that he sees this technology integrating into creative processes.I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Send us a textHave you ever dressed up as a life-sized paper doll, used a typewriter in a public bathroom or traveled to multiple continents to learn more about sheep? Meet Kara Dunne, who has done all of the above and more in the name of art.In this conversation, you’ll learn more about why and how many artistic modalities are part of Kara’s artistic practice, as well as about her most challenging project to date: a book called ‘Shopping Cart Shepherds’ and all of the serendipity leading to its creation. You’ll hear about the importance of following the breadcrumbs in a creative project, no matter if you know where they’ll lead, as well as what Kara’s up to now and next.I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Send us a textToday’s guest is Rosie Meleady, Irish author and my first cousin once removed!  Rosie is currently having a fabulous midlife crisis in Italy, running women’s writing retreats in Italy twice a year, and hosting women solo travellers and creatives in her Umbrian villa guest house. She writes humorous living memoir and humorous fiction. Through this conversation, you’ll better understand Rosie’s journey as both an independent and traditionally published author, her process for writing ‘living memoir’ (or ‘reality TV in book form’, as she calls it), and the advice she has for new authors. You’ll also learn why your new favourite creative hobby could be eavesdropping. I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)
Send us a textThis 3 part mini-series features 3 designers who bring different kinds of magazines to life. In this third and final episode, we have Creative Director and magazine designer, Kyle Scrhuder.In this conversation, Kyle straddles the line between printed magazines and digital magazines. You’ll also hear about a project early in Kyle’s career that fundamentally changed the way he approached magazine design from that day forward. Kyle maps out a framework to balance readability and creativity, digging into actionable techniques to move through a magazine design process, including what magazine designers can learn from UX/UI designers.You can find visuals discussed in the show notes at talkpaperscissors.info.This episode is part of a guest lecture series in GCM 720 Magazine Production & Publishing at The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University.I'm all about interesting projects with interesting people! Let's Connect on the web or via Instagram. :)