Christian Solorzano [00:00]

Hello, you're listening to Underscore, a show by the Chicago Graphic Design Club. I am your host, Christian Solorzano. However, on today's episode, which is our 100th episode, I will not be the host because there is a special host that's going to be interviewing me today. And that host is my good friend, my collaborator, and my mentor, Rick Valicenti. And on this episode, he will be turning the mic in my direction.

To ask me questions about everything Chicago Graphic Design Club, everything this podcast, everything this community that we've been building for the last almost 6 years. And it's going to be a conversation with me reflecting on everything that we've been doing. I think today, despite all the ugliness that is happening in the world, community seems to be that antidote to a lot of the fear and isolation that a lot of us are facing.

And this platform for me has been a way of practicing attention, curiosity, and ways to build relationships with people that both I look up to and people that work alongside me as well. So I also really want to say thank you to you, the listener. Whether you've been listening to this podcast since the beginning or whether you're tuning in for the first time, none of this could be done without you. So thank you so much.

And as I look to the future of Underscore, I really hope to continue to bring rich conversations with guests across different disciplines and practices to shed light on the thing that drives us the thing that inspires us to get up every morning and create despite it all. And I guess that's all I have to say. Enjoy.

Rick Valicenti [01:58]

Good afternoon, Christian.

Christian Solorzano [02:00]

Hello, Rick.

Rick Valicenti [02:02]

How are you?

Christian Solorzano [02:03]

I'm doing good.

Rick Valicenti [02:06]

You said you were nervous just before we pushed play. Come on.

Christian Solorzano [02:09]

Yeah, and I never get nervous, but I'm a little nervous right now.

Rick Valicenti [02:13]

It's good. Well, thank you for giving me that privilege and opportunity to be your 100th podcast host and being the one to lead the conversation today. So the roles are reversed. No wonder you're just like a little out of sorts. Yeah, it's okay. Okay, so here we go. It is Friday, February 6th. It's about 3:38 Eastern Standard Time, and I'm conversing with you, my friend, from my studio here in Toronto. Are you in your studio in Oak Park?

Christian Solorzano [02:42]

I am in my studio in Oak Park. I'm on Lake Street, right across the street from the movie theater.

Rick Valicenti [02:46]

Yeah. Is it a new location?

Christian Solorzano [02:49]

It is a new location. I moved in here December 26th is when I got the keys. And I've been in— today is February 6th, so I've been here for over a month now.

Rick Valicenti [02:59]

Nice. Yeah, that's a good gift to self.

Christian Solorzano [03:02]

Yeah, it was my— it was my birthday gift, or not my birthday gift, my Christmas gift. And how I got the studio is interesting because my brother and I, we went to the movie theater across the street. And as we were leaving, we saw a sign that said for lease. And the person who manages a lot of these properties, his name is David King. And I called him maybe 8 times and he would not pick up.

Rick Valicenti [03:27]

And he's the king. Come on, the king of Oak Park.

Christian Solorzano [03:31]

And I, and I And I looked up his reviews online and he's notorious for not answering his phone. So just as I was—

Rick Valicenti [03:40]

Is he in the real estate business? How does that work?

Christian Solorzano [03:42]

He is, but he's just really busy. He's just one of those guys that's just extremely busy. And he's been doing this for, I think, for over 40 years. Oh, wow. And then he called me and he said, are you available to see the office in 20 minutes? And I was. And then I called my brother and I asked if he'd be willing to come with. And he was also like on the way to Oak Park. So everything worked out perfectly. And we saw the space.

We saw 2 spaces, one here and then one down the block. And we went with this one just because the windows, there's a lot of good lighting here.

Rick Valicenti [04:20]

So this keeps the home environment a little more open.

Christian Solorzano [04:23]

Yes, because I mean, I've been working from my house since the pandemic. And there is no, there is no curtain. It's just all— I wake up and I'm there and there's no separation. And I've been inviting people over to my house most Fridays to work there. And sometimes it just gets a little too crowded. And I don't, I don't, I don't want to be working in my kitchen with people.

Rick Valicenti [04:50]

So now you can take them to this space. Yeah. Does this have a name?

Christian Solorzano [04:56]

The name is OP/AL.

Rick Valicenti [05:00]

Nice. Why did you pick that name?

Christian Solorzano [05:03]

I think it looks good. I like the letter forms. I also like the meaning of opalescent and something that is shape-shifting and can take on different colors and different forms. And I mean, that's pretty much it. And I'm sure that the name will keep developing as time goes on and new meaning will be assigned to it. But for now, I just think it's a cool sounding word.

Rick Valicenti [05:30]

It is. Was it also a French car?

Christian Solorzano [05:35]

I'm not sure.

Rick Valicenti [05:37]

The Opel? Maybe it was O-P-O-L. I don't know. But it has a cool resonance to me. And from another decade, another century actually.

Christian Solorzano [05:46]

Yeah. And it feels to me, it feels really like timeless. Like it doesn't feel dated. It doesn't feel like something that will age. And there's something I like about that as well. When I hear that word, to me, it feels like something that demands respect, whatever that means.

Rick Valicenti [06:04]

Means respect. Yeah. Okay. So now, in respect to what you've been doing 99 times, I'm going to borrow a little bit of that. Okay. For this moment. Hi, Christian. Could you tell me your origin story?

Christian Solorzano [06:22]

My origin story?

Rick Valicenti [06:24]

How did you get here? Unless you've told this a zillion times, and I don't think you have, you've told parts of it. Yeah, but just give us a quick yeah, Claude version.

Christian Solorzano [06:36]

My origin story. I was born in Texas in 1991, September 4th. Dallas, Texas.

Rick Valicenti [06:45]

Dallas.

Christian Solorzano [06:47]

And it was—

Rick Valicenti [06:48]

And what year? Okay, I'm sorry.

Christian Solorzano [06:49]

September 14th, 1991. And I was born— I had a mom and a dad. I was the firstborn. And I lived in Texas up until I was maybe 5 years old. And then my parents separated. And then my mom and I, we moved to Chicago when I was I think it was like 1997, and I've been here ever since. And when I was, I think, 11 years old, my grandmother bought me my first computer, and it was a Sony Vaio. That was the name of the computer.

And for the first year or so, I had no internet. It was just like computer games and like Microsoft Paint. And then I remember experiencing my first encounter with a printer. And I remember I was making something, and I think it was probably Microsoft Word. And I remember hitting print and like seeing the thing come out of the printer that I had just seen on the screen. And to me, that was like so exhilarating.

And I feel like that's a feeling that I've been chasing ever since.

Rick Valicenti [07:57]

The buzz associated with that discovery. Oh, it went from my screen to a piece of paper.

Christian Solorzano [08:07]

And then, and when I was a teenager, I was very— I was a good student up until 6th grade. In 5th grade, I went to Mexico for the summer and I discovered rock and roll music. And like exactly after that, my grades just started to dip.

Rick Valicenti [08:26]

There was a correlation.

Christian Solorzano [08:32]

Yeah. And I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to think about anything besides music and arts and design. And at that time, there wasn't— there weren't too many people my age that were also into the same things that I was into. So I did have kind of an isolated teenage period, but I would meet a lot of people on the internet that would introduce me to a lot of things.

And I think for a few years, my mom was really concerned because she'd see me on the internet talking to all these older people. And they would send me like bootleg CDs in the mail. And they would just, they would just share with me a lot of music and DVDs and, things like that.

And I feel so bad for my mom because for her, from her point of view, she was probably thinking that I was talking to like a bunch of creeps online that were just like Sending me free things in the mail. But I think I turned out well. I think I turned out fine thus far.

Rick Valicenti [09:35]

How old are you?

Christian Solorzano [09:37]

I am 34.

Rick Valicenti [09:39]

Good. That kept us from doing the math on the date you were born. Yep. 34?

Christian Solorzano [09:44]

Yeah, 34.

Rick Valicenti [09:45]

Okay. Wise for your age. Seriously.

Christian Solorzano [09:49]

Thanks. I feel like 34 is like a very I have this light. I don't know, you can't see it on the camera, but I have this green light that's like this light strip on my wall. And I feel like 34 feels like a green number. And I feel like once I'm 35, it's gonna turn a little bit like orange.

Rick Valicenti [10:13]

Are we moving energy like through the chakras? Are you thinking of like— I'm just thinking racing lights on an Indy 500.

Christian Solorzano [10:22]

I don't know, I just think of like— I associate that color with those numbers. Yeah, there's no— there's no profound meaning behind it. It's just whenever I hear 34, I think of that.

Rick Valicenti [10:31]

So if it's a green year, yeah, and one might associate green with go, is that how it feels?

Christian Solorzano [10:37]

A little bit, yeah.

Rick Valicenti [10:40]

That's cool. Yeah. You've been doing this night job thing, is what I call it, related to the Chicago Graphic Design Club. For a while, right? I think it was a COVID experience or a result of COVID and everyone was locked down. Do you want to just like open that curtain a little bit?

Christian Solorzano [11:00]

Yeah, so it was it was late April or mid to late April, and I was living in Oak Park, actually down the street from where I'm at right now. And I remember I was complaining to my friends so much about the AIGA and the STA, because I felt like they turned their back on the community in Chicago. Because to me, the pandemic was the moment in time when community was most important and connection was most important and—

Rick Valicenti [11:33]

Necessary.

Christian Solorzano [11:35]

It was necessary.

Rick Valicenti [11:36]

Yeah, like vital.

Christian Solorzano [11:37]

And they weren't doing anything about it. And I mean, that's not— I'm not, I'm not trying to criticize them or anything, but I felt like to me, that was the opportunity for me to step up and do something. And that something was a book discussion. And it was—

Rick Valicenti [11:54]

First of all, before you go into that, I'm really curious about the spark. Is this a, thought that you're having ongoing and it's taking shape? Oh, we have to do something. Who's the we? The we is you. And the desire or the need is shared, though virtually. Across lots of territory and lots of people. I want to know how this all happened, or was it like, oh, I'm taking a shower, I'm having a big idea, I think I'm going to do a book reading?

Christian Solorzano [12:22]

No, it was something I tried doing various design clubs at my company that I work at, which I won't mention the name of. And every time I would try it, you would think that at such a big corporation they would appreciate an employee taking initiative to bring people together to talk about design. And I would get so much pushback. And every time I wanted to do some kind of program, they would come back to me with requests to come up with metrics of success.

Rick Valicenti [12:55]

Perfect.

Christian Solorzano [12:57]

So if I told them I want to get, once a month designers together in this company for 1 hour, optional, to talk about some technology or some tool. To me, that's a brilliant idea. It's like, who would not want that?

Rick Valicenti [13:12]

Yeah, it's R&D that's ready-made. And self-initiated.

Christian Solorzano [13:15]

But they wanted some tangible return on investment. Like they wanted me to quantify the results of what I could predict would happen. And it was, and it would, and every time I would do these things, they would come back with more questions to the point where anytime I made a request to do one of these things, at the end of the PowerPoint presentation, I would include an FAQ where I would address every single question they were going to ask me.

How are you planning on getting people to come to this?

Rick Valicenti [13:48]

Oh, that's right.

Christian Solorzano [13:49]

What are they going to bill it to? How long is it going to take? What are you going to talk about? Like all of these things. Is it going to be recorded? And it just became so frustrating. And I think I don't like hearing no when it comes to things like that. So I think there's a part of me that in the beginning, I was doing this kind of as a way to prove something. And I think I proved something.

Rick Valicenti [14:17]

Yes, we're going to get to that moment of success. But I do have to just dial this back just a bit here to the PowerPoint moments. Did that happen one time, or was that a recurring thing you would do for every PowerPoint you made, every sort of introductory presentation you were making? Were you answering the questions as well as presenting them? And did they ask you to do that, or was that you just being like bad boy?

Christian Solorzano [14:44]

That was me being bad boy because I just, I knew what they were going to ask. And I wanted to just deflect that before they even came to me with those questions. And it was funny because there was one period where I did one of these book discussions at the company. And that discussion went so well that it led to the firm creating a new offering that was widespread across our a library?

Rick Valicenti [15:19]

Is that what you're referring to?

Christian Solorzano [15:20]

It was an offering, an offering that we would sell to clients. And to me, that, to me, that just proves that sometimes, you don't need to have a plan before going into something. Like sometimes whatever is going to happen is going to happen. And I just, I get really upset and pissed off when people try to define things early on and are like not willing to be open to the magic of something wild showing up.

Rick Valicenti [15:51]

That's right. Yeah, that's exactly right. Because you really can't predict everything. It does have a life of its own. I'm sure you were not able to predict the fact that you would have done 99 conversations. And have posted and published them. And how often did you do them? It's every 2 weeks you do one?

Christian Solorzano [16:14]

Yeah, it's every 2 weeks. And I remember when I was at episode like 28 or something, I was thinking to myself, I'm like, this is so much, like 28 episodes. I can't believe I even know 28 people. And now it's 100, and I still can't believe that I know that many people.

Rick Valicenti [16:30]

Okay. Well, that was— I was gonna ask that question, how do you determine who's going to be, on your radar? What kind of curiosity do you have? What have they awakened in you that says, I'd love to talk to that person?

Christian Solorzano [16:48]

Yeah.

Rick Valicenti [16:48]

And what kind of constraints do you give that decision-making? Or do people call you and say, hey, I have something to say?

Christian Solorzano [16:56]

There's only been one time when someone came to me and they were, they were making repeated requests to be on the show. And I didn't like it. I didn't like that they were like, so eager to be interviewed.

Rick Valicenti [17:11]

Did you ever interview them?

Christian Solorzano [17:13]

I did. And it was, and it's like, I mean, I'll say it like it was, it's one of my least favorite episodes, just because it felt like I was doing it because someone was telling me to do it.

Rick Valicenti [17:27]

And maybe more to the point, you may have felt like you were doing something that had a commercial or promotional bent to it, when in yeah, it did. And in fact, the night job scene that we all subscribe to at various stages, if not all the time during our careers, is really sacred time.

I don't want anybody to sort of like tell me what to do or to sort of contaminate this blissful whatever I'm doing with the notion of metrics and commerce and how do you plan to return on investment. Please, the return on investment is a new kind of metric here for me. It's like, does it soothe my soul?

Christian Solorzano [18:09]

Yeah.

Rick Valicenti [18:10]

So yeah, I can, I can see you getting like a little bit unnerved by that. And so the energy that you brought into that conversation wasn't as generous or as spirited as it usually is, because I find you to be incredibly generous and you break down any barriers with those you're talking to. Within minutes, it's like oh best friends. I'm thinking like have they rehearsed this?

Christian Solorzano [18:37]

No, there's been no rehearsal. Sometimes the episodes, it's my first time ever speaking with that person in that moment. So you're witnessing, you're like hearing some two people connect for the first time ever.

Rick Valicenti [18:49]

Oh, that is so good. Yeah, that is so good.

Christian Solorzano [18:51]

And a lot of the a lot of the outreach I do through Instagram. Every now and then I'll, I don't like to send formal emails. I hate formal emails. I don't like the whole like, hello, my name is Christian. This is what—

Rick Valicenti [19:04]

To whom it may concern. Yes.

Christian Solorzano [19:06]

I don't like to do that. So my tactic, and it's been working well, and I hope it continues to work well, is I like to message people on Instagram. And all I do is I put a little waving emoji and that is it.

Rick Valicenti [19:24]

Is it the overscaled version of it?

Christian Solorzano [19:25]

It's just regular size. And I do that and then it just happens to work.

Rick Valicenti [19:37]

That's really good.

Christian Solorzano [19:40]

And I always show people that because I have students and I feel like, younger people are so they can be so timid when it comes to reaching out where they want to send every email with like, dear so-and-so, my name is— and then it's just it just feels too fabricated.

And I always share with them, little screenshots of how I reach out to people and I say, you can try this, but just know that it's not gonna— it's not guaranteed to work, but this is what works for me.

Rick Valicenti [20:11]

Okay, at the risk of turning this into a promotional venue, I'd like to announce right now to your listeners that the first 100 listeners who send a big waving emoji to Christian on Instagram will get a discount. On the next faculty that they purchase.

Christian Solorzano [20:35]

Okay, perfect.

Rick Valicenti [20:36]

The first 100 people. How's that?

Christian Solorzano [20:38]

Just a wavy emoji. Don't say—

Rick Valicenti [20:40]

No, I can't say a thing. That's right. And if you get a response back, you'll get a response back based on your number. I was number 45, and then they have to send their address, of course. And they have to promise to buy because they don't get to redeem this special bonus. Okay. Okay, that's good. A little promotion.

Christian Solorzano [21:01]

Thanks.

Rick Valicenti [21:01]

I'm curious, when you do get in contact with these folks, how much research do you do?

Christian Solorzano [21:08]

I used to do a lot of research, and I still do a lot of research. I used to when I, when I first did my few, let's say the first Maybe 50 episodes, I would spend a few days just doing research. And I, and when I look, when I listen back on some of those conversations, I kind of cringe a little bit because I'm, I feel like I sound as if I'm reading questions off a list.

And it just feels, I don't know, I don't, I don't like how I sound. I'm sure maybe other people won't. Don't see it or hear it. But today what I do is I'll spend, I don't know, maybe like a few hours just browsing the internet and finding as much as I can about them.

My favorite is when I go through their Facebook, and if their Facebook is public, I like to go back and go through like really old posts and bring them up mid-conversation as a way to kind of creep them out a little bit. So there was one guest once and I referenced one of the cars that he would drive 13 years ago. And he was like, how do you know this?

And then there was someone else where this person dropped out of high school and I brought that up and he's like, how'd you find that out?

Rick Valicenti [22:32]

Really?

Christian Solorzano [22:34]

And I'm like, I don't know, I just find things out. So. It's fun.

Rick Valicenti [22:38]

I really wish that the technology and the presence of you existed here like 1919. Let's talk to Oz Cooper. Yeah, or let's talk to R. Hunter Middleton, or even John Massey, all the, all the folks who've been here. Moholy-Nagy. Let's talk to Guguri Kapish. Let's have conversations with them. And it would have completely inflated the sort of relationship we have with these designers and these thinkers that have, walked the same streets.

Maybe even lived on the same block as us, but we don't have that access. So I think the gift that you're giving the Chicago design community is this archive of conversation. Right, and that researchers in the future, should there be researchers curious about this moment in Chicago design, will have a really fabulous primary source. So I think that's pretty fabulous because I know there's been talk about the history of design in Chicago book, and I think that has been jump-started a handful of times.

There's one that's sort of in the works now. I think it is a very difficult thing to do, but because most of the practitioners are not around or they've forgotten or their archives are lost. But I want to just give you like the big applause on having done 99 of them.

Christian Solorzano [24:18]

It's fun. And also sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night and I'll like, get up to drink water or something. And I, and I feel scared that I've that I've created this thing. And there's this element of, what did I get myself into?

Rick Valicenti [24:41]

Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [24:42]

And I, and I, and I feel so exposed, like I can't hide. And by that, I mean, there's, I feel like there's too much of Christian, my voice, my recordings like this, I just feel like I've cemented myself and it feels like I can't ever just disappear.

Rick Valicenti [25:09]

I can't hide. Yeah, that's right. But I would bet in a lineup, most designers in Chicago would be hard-pressed to pick you out of a lineup. I don't think— I don't think there's— they might, if it was an audio lineup, they would definitely recognize your pace and your pitch and the whole sound of your voice. But I do really love the fact that you've been able to take us into the Chicago graphic design community through your own lens, right? We see it through your filter.

And I find that to be really nice. And yes, if it was to pass on to somebody else, just like late-night TV passes from one person to another, the insights and entertainment, good use of one's time, changes. The complexion's different. Yeah, clearly. Well, I'm gonna— I'm just saying, I know that the answer to this question, if we distill it to one word, Has three characters in it. Do you feel the love among the club members?

Christian Solorzano [26:24]

I in one word.

Rick Valicenti [26:25]

Oh, in one word. Let's do it in one word. Boom! Three characters. Okay.

Christian Solorzano [26:32]

I was gonna say I do is also three characters.

Rick Valicenti [26:34]

I do. That's good, but that's two words. Okay. How would you describe this community?

Christian Solorzano [26:42]

I find it extremely generous, open. There's a sense of humility that I'm really inspired by. No one I ever come in contact with ever comes across as superior or holier. So I like to think that there's this notion of flattened hierarchy in Chicago. And that, and that could be true or not, but that's my attitude towards it. And that's kind of how I approach the people that I come into contact with. And to me, I feel like it's— it feels good, but also—

How do I put it? Yeah, I would say like generosity. There is humility, flattened hierarchy.

Rick Valicenti [27:40]

Yeah, I like that perception. I think that's a very fragile state of being too. It would be so easy for the awareness of the Chicago graphic design community to sort of go to the collective head and say, whoa, aren't we important? We're so visible.

And I'm— I've always noticed the same, that there would be accessible practitioners at all levels working in the city, proud to be working in the city. Yeah, even my dog is like barking. You're gonna have to be dismissed here. This is Winnie the Poodle, my trusted collaborator on most projects of late. However, she's getting a little anxious that I'm not talking to her. Instead talking to you.

Christian Solorzano [28:27]

Is there, is there with Winnie, is there inspiration in the name that comes from Winnie the Pooh?

Rick Valicenti [28:34]

Of course. Yeah. And now that the Olympics are coming up, Winnie is quite the athlete in the snow that I want to have a thing called the Poodle Olympics. That's right. Yeah. And she's going to win every gold medal because she's the only one competing. Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [28:53]

I've been— these last few days I've been listening to the audiobook called the Tao of Pooh. Are you familiar?

Rick Valicenti [29:02]

No, but as a dog owner, it sounds like something I should be familiar with.

Christian Solorzano [29:06]

It's about the philosophy of Winnie the Pooh. And it's a quick read and it's just so like Winnie the Pooh. I see myself a lot in Winnie the Pooh.

Rick Valicenti [29:17]

Oh, really?

Christian Solorzano [29:20]

And there's a story in the book about Winnie the Pooh. Had a— I think he was going to Eeyore's house and was gonna bring him a jar of honey. And on the way, Winnie the Pooh ate the honey. And midway, he got really stressed out and was like, what am I gonna do? I like ate his gift. And what Winnie the Pooh did is he just wrote on the jar happy birthday and gifted a jar instead of the jar with the honey.

And I feel like to me, that's like such a parallel comparison to creativity is that like we improvise and sometimes you might eat the honey and you might be the one that screws up, but there's ways around everything. And I just keep thinking about that.

Rick Valicenti [30:12]

I think the empty jar is also a pretty cool gift, right? Because it represents something that can be filled and put anything you want into it. Yeah, I appreciate the void that's inside. Yeah. We're at that stage now where on any given day, and for a few years, and now for years to come, we're going to be hearing about a future that, I don't know, we maybe didn't anticipate, or at least so vividly.

And we all know that this is going to have an impact on some level to every human being in every city, and it's going to trickle down to graphic designers somehow. Is the community that is the Chicago Graphic Design Club— do you feel that's a resilient community? Are they sort of like up for the challenge?

Christian Solorzano [31:09]

I think I want to say yes, but I don't want to be dishonest because I do feel like there is— I feel for the emerging designers, like the younger people that perhaps don't have the foresight to anticipate what may be coming. But to me, I think that there's great role models in this city. And I put it upon the role models to kind of serve as those beacons that can guide the next generation.

And I feel like the resilience is in those role models and in those people that are willing to give back and lead through example. Like I would put you in that category of someone that younger people today that maybe, were born in the year 2005. Like they're learning about you and through your work and through hearing you speak, they're learning about what's possible.

Rick Valicenti [32:18]

That's beautiful.

Christian Solorzano [32:19]

And they're just learning about possibility. And to me, that's the resilience is there. The resilience is in the few people that I think are carrying everyone across the shore. In whatever way that may be.

Rick Valicenti [32:37]

When I see images of communities like Minneapolis pouring onto the streets, and I just use them as that city as one example because it happened in Chicago, but from Toronto of late, it's been in Minneapolis. And you just know that not every one of those folks woke up a month ago and said, I am a political activist. But actually what they did was they sort of discovered how human they were.

And how much they needed one another and were willing to help one another, even if it was just in standing next to somebody.

And so I think the graphic design community, while we have been— and this is my editorial, not yours— but we have been as a group beyond just the boundaries of Chicago complicit in allowing messages that maybe never deserved to be told as if they were truth, look like they were truth. Right. And so we have some penance to serve. And we can all learn to forgive as long as we learn to do it better and to do it for all the right reasons.

And I think that's the value in having a club. On some level you go, well, it's the church, it's the religion. No, it's just a kind of gathering, virtual or real, for like-minded people. Of all ages, all genders, all levels of proficiency. I think that is so fantastic. And then to have their conversations shared so that one can revisit them more than once. And I have done that with some of your guests, and I'd be happy to tell you which—

Christian Solorzano [34:32]

No, I don't remember what numbers which numbers?

Rick Valicenti [34:36]

Which numbers? Hold me to it. Oh my God, that was the one who was the promotional person. Oh no. Yeah, so let me keep going. I did want to ask you a question here. I know we want to keep the name of your employer off of this tape, but when you started the club, were you working at the same Job?

Christian Solorzano [35:00]

Yep.

Rick Valicenti [35:01]

Okay. So you've been there a while?

Christian Solorzano [35:02]

I've been there a while. And I have— I think my advantage that I have with running this organization is that I have learned a lot through that company on how to just operate and how to do things. And like a lot of the strategy, a lot of the ways that we function as a community, as a club, are directly inspired by how I've seen my company run their teams. So there, so there is some influence that trickles across. Yeah.

Rick Valicenti [35:37]

Yeah, I don't think there's too much binary between day job and night job. I think it's really a gradient. Yeah, and you want that oscillation to go back and forth because that's the sweet spot, right, where you can be informed and learn from one activity and Move it into another. Yeah. So besides the social work, and is the social scene the primary scene of the club? Is that how you think it is sort of moved, or is it something different? You do lots of different programming.

Christian Solorzano [36:10]

Yeah, I think there's, there, there's a social aspect, but I also think that there's this professional— oh, I don't want to use that word.

Rick Valicenti [36:20]

Don't say professional.

Christian Solorzano [36:21]

There's this— there's an educational component of it as well. And I would say that a lot of— there's the club that's public-facing, but I think that a lot of it also is what happens behind the scenes. And that means how we work together, how we plan, how we collaborate, how we share ideas, how we grow as people. To me, that's also a very rich part of the experience.

So for example, like working with Cheryl for the last few years now, that's been one of the biggest highlights for me. Podcasts, like to me, 100 episodes is just as important as Working with Cheryl, or—

Rick Valicenti [37:13]

Cheryl, that is so sweet. Well, I think right now she's hugging her leopard pillow.

Christian Solorzano [37:18]

Yes. Or becoming friends with Barry, or—

Rick Valicenti [37:24]

Yeah, Barry Deck.

Christian Solorzano [37:25]

Or, I mean, even just being able to collaborate with you. It's like, to me, that's— if there's any metric of success, it's that I get a chance to say Rick Valicenti is one of my good friends. And I can text him and we can talk about anything. And it doesn't just have to be about design. I can come to him with my, with my drama and I'll get some—

Rick Valicenti [37:49]

You'll get a perspective. You'll get an ear. I think you're touching on something that's pretty fundamental. Good things happen when relationships hold people together. And those relationships, they cross over into all kinds of places, but certainly they help underscore what it is that we all share. And I know that you have, as the club, you have your social activities, which is so great. And I see pictures of these things going like, oh geez, I don't remember, like doing tracings or rubbings in the cemetery.

Ever when I was growing up. But what a cool thing to have done, or to hang out in a circle and Grant Park, whatever. So all of those things are pretty great. But lately you've started to push in some directions that I think are also equally admirable, besides the archive of all these conversations. And one of them, most recent, is this thing— have you announced it? The experimental type foundry called Point.

Christian Solorzano [38:54]

Yeah, Point.

Rick Valicenti [38:55]

You— have you announced that, or do we—

Christian Solorzano [38:57]

Yeah, we've shared that. We've talked about that. Yeah.

Rick Valicenti [38:59]

Okay, so that's pretty interesting, and I want to I want you to talk about that in a second, but I also want to just sort of like preview the other conversation. It's going to be focused on faculty, the journal, and then of course the cross-pollination between a curiosity about typography and a new journal.

So we're going to touch on those things. But first, tell me a little bit about Point. You're— I know you're working with Sean. Tell me about Sean. Tell me what's featured in this first publication, how many copies you made. Gimme the quick review.

Christian Solorzano [39:38]

So Sean is also another big milestone for— not milestone, but another big highlight of the club is that he's also become one of my best friends.

Rick Valicenti [39:48]

And you talk to him every day, don't you?

Christian Solorzano [39:50]

We talk most days. He calls me at 4:00 PM when he's driving home from work and we talk an hour or so until he gets home. And we talk about music, we talk about design, we talk about you, we talk about everything.

Rick Valicenti [40:05]

And— I had a friend in Tom Vack, and I would go to his studio every day on my way from downtown to Evanston, and he was in Rogers Park. And it was just like romance before that was a thing.

Christian Solorzano [40:20]

Yeah. And it's, and it's so cool. And I love when sometimes Sean will call me. This happens maybe once every couple of months. He'll be in his garage on a Friday night and he's been maybe like drinking a few beers.

And we just talk for like an hour, 2 hours. And we're talking about music videos. He's talking to me about the old days and him and I are years apart. And I learned, I feel like him and I both learned so much from each other and we just, I don't know. I just love the guy. He's one of— he's one of— he's like my brother.

Rick Valicenti [40:59]

And did that relationship come from the club?

Christian Solorzano [41:02]

It did. Yeah. Yeah. It was another one of those moments where he submitted a poster to our call for submissions a few years ago. And we just became— it was like instant friendship, like right away. Sometimes you meet someone and you just there's no— it's just instant chemistry. And that's— that was what it was like with me and Sean and continues to be like that. So point was, it was his idea. He wanted to— like, he's always making fonts all the time.

And I told him, well, wouldn't it be cool if the Chicago—

Rick Valicenti [41:42]

He has a type designing machine. I've watched.

Christian Solorzano [41:45]

Yeah. He could make fonts. He's— he works on so many and it really stresses me out. In the best of ways. But he told me that he wanted to sell fonts, or he told me about this project that he had many years ago called Points. And I said, well, let's create a type foundry from the club. Let's make it legit. Let's have an actual separate website that's just foundry. Let's focus exclusively on typefaces that are more experimental in nature.

And then let's promote the fonts through a journal, through a zine that we call Points as well. And we released our first issue late last year, and it features the work of a woman named Wendy Robles, who's been on the, on the episode here as well. And I think it's 12 pages, and it's just like a really candid interview with her. Where she talks about the work behind the fonts and she shares some of her research sketches and the magic behind the scenes. So that's that.

Rick Valicenti [42:55]

That's very nice. Yeah, that's a really lovely thing to do. Yeah, and you have it in small quantity, don't you?

Christian Solorzano [43:01]

It is. We only do 75 issues, or 70— 75 copies per issue. They're all numbered. And you can only get them in person because they're too expensive to ship because of the dimensions.

Rick Valicenti [43:21]

So that people can send Sean a waving hand, could you tell everybody his last name and maybe how to get him on Instagram?

Christian Solorzano [43:31]

Yeah, it's Sean Fermoyle, F-E-R-M-O-Y-L.

Rick Valicenti [43:39]

M-O-Y-L-E.

Christian Solorzano [43:39]

Yep, his name is on our website if you go to the About page, and they can find him on Instagram to send him that wavy hand.

Rick Valicenti [43:47]

All right, I think that's going to be a contagious thing. Everybody's going to be sending the wavy hand. You're gonna be seeing t-shirts from the Design Club with a waving hand.

Christian Solorzano [43:55]

Just—

Rick Valicenti [43:56]

Yeah, that'd be nice. So, the Point publication, though you're only making a handful of copies. It does— there is a tradition among type foundries out there to publish and to show off the work and make certain that the messages are typeset in their newest or latest font. And of course, there's Amigra and T26 at Carlos's studio, and Thirst Type at Thirst many moons ago, and there's so many others out there.

Christian Solorzano [44:27]

Yeah, but I think specifically, like, Chicago has a rich typographic history that spans decades, and it just seems so obvious to continue that legacy and to create a new container for newness.

Rick Valicenti [44:48]

Yeah, no, I think it's just right, and I was not discounting it at all by listing precedents. I was actually using it as a sort of platform to sort of just say something that's always on my mind. I love the art form of typography, though I'm, brutal at it, not good at all. But I love it as an art form because like few other art forms, like maybe fashion and music, typography captures and amplifies the moment in time.

You can just feel like, oh, that was early 20th century or early 21st century or in the '90s. You can just see it. You can hear sounds and smells and textures and colors all from letterforms. So I think there's a real place for it. And I love the fact that the letterforms— while you referred to them as sort of experimental in nature, I think it's just they're so fresh and idiosyncratic.

And that makes— that reminds us that they are made by humans. It's just that you can really feel like, oh, that's Sean, or that's Barry, or that's Wendy, or that's Betsy or whoever, is making those letterforms.

Christian Solorzano [45:58]

Yeah. And the idea is to pair them with stories, because to me, if you can, if you can use typography as a vehicle for storytelling, that's, to me, that's just, that's the sweet spot right there.

Rick Valicenti [46:12]

And do you imagine then that the— I know the answer to this question. I was gonna say, and I'll let you try it here, but I think I know my answer to this question. Is there a relationship then between the letterforms, the story, and the way that story is delivered?

Christian Solorzano [46:28]

I would say so, yes. And I think as we continue to develop more of these issues, that language will morph and it'll change and adapt. So I'm excited about that part. I was talking to Sean about this yesterday, and I was mentioning to him that I think Every one of these issues, no 2 issues should ever feel the same. There should always be some newness to them. There should be, obvious, the consistent masthead and all that stuff.

But I think, to me, the spark happens in that surprising factor, whatever that is.

Rick Valicenti [47:12]

Yeah, you're referring both to Point and to faculty. Yeah. I think the aliveness of that as a way of publishing is really special because everyone just signals its moment in time.

Christian Solorzano [47:27]

So good.

Rick Valicenti [47:28]

So you're working now, I know it because you and I are designing pages for Faculty 3, but I have a sort of like rapid-fire question here on faculty, okay? This is the 3rd issue. They come in at around 100 pages each. They're perfect bound. They get sent out. You make about 300 copies, right? They're digitally printed at M&G Printing. Yep. South side of Chicago on a jet press. Who funds Faculty?

Christian Solorzano [47:59]

I do.

Rick Valicenti [48:01]

Is it self-liquidating?

Christian Solorzano [48:03]

A little bit.

Rick Valicenti [48:04]

I love the inherent risk. In such a thing and that answer, right? It's like, I hope, I hope you could have said, I hope it's self-liquidating.

Christian Solorzano [48:16]

Yeah. See, that's the, that's the part. That's like the part about me is that like, I'm not a good business person. I don't care about any of those things, although they do matter and they're important. And, I should not be saying these things, but yeah, I'm just I want to produce something that I can be proud of.

Rick Valicenti [48:31]

Totally. It's okay to be cavalier on that. Because there's inherent risk in it, but if there's like great risk and, a well-dialed intent, the reward is going to come in so many ways.

So many ways. And you'll just— the first way will be that like great buzz that happens. It's like, oh my God, thank you. Yeah. So you're obviously excited about the new issue. Very excited. Yeah, like any creative person, oh, number 2 was the best we ever did. And it's like, what, number 2? We're on number 3 now. So number 3, tell us 2 cool things that you're really buzzed about that are happening for Faculty 3.

Christian Solorzano [49:18]

So 2 things. One, I love that Barry Deck is designing a custom font. For the publication. Sean kickstarted that font.

Rick Valicenti [49:32]

And who kickstarted the idea?

Christian Solorzano [49:35]

The idea was, I mean, you and I were talking about it. Yeah. And I feel like, a long time ago you shared this with me and you said that you're like a clown at a party that just keeps inflating the balloon and just keeps blowing it and blowing. It keeps getting bigger and bigger. Do you remember telling me that?

Rick Valicenti [49:55]

Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [49:55]

Yeah. And I feel like that's what I love about you is that you just, you take one thing and you just expand it and you just keep making it better and better. And I'm super excited about that. And I know earlier you had mentioned that you're brutal at type design, but the direction that you give and your eye and your taste, to me, it's like— It's next level.

Rick Valicenti [50:23]

Yo, next level.

Christian Solorzano [50:25]

And I just, I, there is one session when it was you, Barry, and I, and I was just listening. I wasn't talking. I was just listening and seeing you and him go back and forth on the little tiny details.

Rick Valicenti [50:41]

That's just, that was one of those like markers in life where you can use, yeah, if you can use a word like counter in a sentence, Next level. Right? Yeah, next level.

Christian Solorzano [50:56]

There you go.

Rick Valicenti [50:58]

So I appreciate that. I think the here's what I saw in that font. Sean was engaged early on. It's like, Sean, we're interested in a monospace font. Let's take a look at some of the better revivals. We're certainly going to look at Chris Sowersby's pitch and sort of the American Courier stuff and, I think IBM did a little monospace work, but then there's the classics like OCRA that have to be taken into account.

And Sean, I don't know what program he was working in, but he really got us looking at it saying, oh, this is pretty cool. But then it was time to put some more air in that balloon. We're going like, what if it was a variable font? And when it was like all these things, it's like, oh shit, I didn't like match those points just perfectly on the different weights. So then Barry steps in, he goes Sean, let me give you a quick tutorial on glyphs.

But then I think as some files got exchanged back and forth it landed on Barry's machine and it was like he started from scratch all over. And what we have as a result of that back and forth, I think, is just like a fantastic new thing, a new looking, a new look at the relationship between machine and humanity.

And that's what's really both in peril and at play socially, culturally at this moment in time, right? We can just feel it. And what Barry had brought to this direction really just crystallized that moment. And then he's got like a number of weights, but he's got some very interesting glyphs and Most interesting is this device that he created for the underscore. Yes, I was saying, "Oh, we need some underscore device," and I'm thinking like, "Oh, we ought to build into the font some redaction keystrokes.

Cap R option, da da, and everything gets redacted." But he did something even better. Yeah, and I've never seen anything as interesting as that. And with all of the kind of point pushing and detail work embedded in this family. It's a burden because we're the ones setting it for the first time, you and I, to sort of not only run it around the block, see what it can do, how's it look set this way, that way, what are the logical sizes, leading, tracking, whatever.

Yeah, we get to the point where it's like we should be as precise in our use of this font as Barry was in the rendering of this font, to just enlarge the sort of moment to introduce itself to the world. There will be those who use it in ways nobody can imagine, and maybe far more reckless than what you and I have been doing.

But I think in this first issue of Faculty, we're going to demonstrate— a kind of full breadth of what it can do, and at the same time be like super tight and perfect and— Rigid. And I think we have together, you and I, have found these moments where we're waiting for the physicality of a good idea, the buzz that comes from under the tingle, to make itself clear when we're working on Zoom. And when we do find it, we go, yes, so good, so good.

Christian Solorzano [54:32]

And yeah, it's real.

Rick Valicenti [54:34]

It's really fun process.

Christian Solorzano [54:35]

Yeah. And I also just want to mention how awesome it is to be able to say that Barry Deck, the guy who worked on Ray Gun Magazine, is now creating a custom type for this publication. That I came up with years ago, and then I'm working on it with Rick. That is just— it's like, how did I—

Rick Valicenti [54:59]

Next level.

Christian Solorzano [55:00]

How did I sandwich myself, between, these giants?

Rick Valicenti [55:05]

Well, Barry's tall. I'm pretty short, but my age-old girth is it's weighing in. It's good. Okay, so now let's get to the good part. First of all, if that wasn't the best pitch for a publication, you will have that thing self-liquidated in no time. Okay, just no time at all. It'll be great. Yeah, you just know that, right?

Christian Solorzano [55:32]

All right, you, you— all right, never mind.

Rick Valicenti [55:34]

Okay, rapid fire, here we go. Okay, most people don't know, but this is like the interstitial before we get to the good part of our conversation. Rumor has it you are a black belt in martial arts.

Christian Solorzano [55:45]

I am.

Rick Valicenti [55:47]

Yes. What is the martial art you practice?

Christian Solorzano [55:50]

Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Rick Valicenti [55:51]

And is there a special dojo you go to in Oak Park?

Christian Solorzano [55:55]

I go to the same place that I, that I started training at August 21st, 2015. That was my first class. And the academy is called Uflacker Academy. My teacher's name is also Christian Uflacker, and he is Brazilian. He came to Chicago when he was young, he came here with no money. He did not speak English. And he just— he's one of the, one of the best jiu-jitsu instructors. And his lineage is not that far from the founders of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

So being his student is like— I mean, he's the equivalent of like a Rick Valicenti in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world.

Rick Valicenti [56:46]

I feel sorry for him. He probably gets his ass kicked everywhere. I wouldn't want to be that. You got to give him something better, like do the Michael Bay route or do somebody else who's like way up there. No, he—

Christian Solorzano [57:02]

And I— and it's like something that I've— I mean, it sounds cliché to say, but it's one of those practices that have transformed my life.

Rick Valicenti [57:13]

I bet. How often do you do it?

Christian Solorzano [57:15]

Right now I do it twice a week at most, because that's all that my schedule allows me to do. But I still train every single week.

Rick Valicenti [57:24]

Yeah. Okay, so to just add more things to your schedule, are you teaching?

Christian Solorzano [57:30]

I am teaching.

Rick Valicenti [57:32]

Yep. Where do you teach?

Christian Solorzano [57:33]

I teach a class on— I teach at DePaul University, and I— and right now I'm teaching a class On web design, and you're a practicing Buddhist. I do practice Zen Buddhism.

Rick Valicenti [57:48]

Yes. Do you sleep?

Christian Solorzano [57:52]

I do sleep. Yeah, I love sleep.

Rick Valicenti [57:56]

You love that?

Christian Solorzano [57:58]

I love sleeping.

Rick Valicenti [57:59]

Yeah, it's amazing with all that you have on your plate and you keep a day job. You're so balanced and centered. Yeah, I think it's a cool thing. So you told me where you grew up. Do you speak only one language?

Christian Solorzano [58:10]

I speak Spanish as well.

Rick Valicenti [58:12]

Fluently?

Christian Solorzano [58:13]

Yep.

Rick Valicenti [58:13]

Are you the only child? No, you're not. You have a brother, you said?

Christian Solorzano [58:16]

I have a brother.

Rick Valicenti [58:17]

Yep. Yeah. Do you have a pet?

Christian Solorzano [58:18]

I do. I have a border collie. His name is Moo.

Rick Valicenti [58:22]

Moo?

Christian Solorzano [58:24]

M-O-O? M-U.

Rick Valicenti [58:25]

M-U. What does that mean?

Christian Solorzano [58:27]

The name means nothing.

Rick Valicenti [58:30]

Does it mean nothing?

Christian Solorzano [58:32]

Yeah, it means nothing, or it means emptiness.

Rick Valicenti [58:34]

Oh, nice. It's like that peanut butter jar or the honey jar. We know where you live. We know where you teach. We know that you sleep. Thank you. That was the rapid-fire part.

Christian Solorzano [58:46]

I also eat.

Rick Valicenti [58:48]

You eat? Oh my God. Do you cook?

Christian Solorzano [58:50]

I do.

Rick Valicenti [58:51]

Are you a vegan?

Christian Solorzano [58:54]

I am a vegan. Although I feel like—

Rick Valicenti [59:00]

Do you ever cheat?

Christian Solorzano [59:01]

Huh?

Rick Valicenti [59:02]

Do you ever cheat? I'm gonna do a little pescatarian night?

Christian Solorzano [59:05]

Never. I've been vegan since— it was my New Year's resolution 2011.

Rick Valicenti [59:10]

Was it for health?

Christian Solorzano [59:14]

I think it was. I was vegetarian before then for since the 7th grade, and pretty much the only thing that was holding me back from being vegan was not eating things that had like milk ingredients. So I just cut that off and I'm like, all right, well, now I'm vegan. And for it, and it was not, it was, it's never been for health reasons. To me, it's always been like one for the animals.

And then also when I first became a vegetarian, I did it to piss off my family.

Rick Valicenti [59:48]

So they couldn't serve you anything?

Christian Solorzano [59:53]

Well, I just, I just thought that how cool would it be to me it was like the ultimate form of protest is like, I am not gonna eat meat.

Rick Valicenti [60:03]

I don't either, so I can relate. Yeah. So I want to just say now, just take a breath. We've talked about the club, we've talked about the publication, we've talked about Underscore. We've got all that stuff sort of done. And we know that you work about 3 jobs. Everything I asked you so far was kind of a softball question. It was like it could have run in People magazine or something, right? Here, today's conversation with Christian, People magazine. But take another deep breath.

I'm— I want to just sort of get to the relationship you have with your own creative process.

It's something that maybe you don't even think about. I don't know. Maybe you don't know that you're holding close to you your personal muse. But I know for myself, I'm kind of aware of my creative process, both at the pragmatic level, like how can I make it work and how do I know when to stop and how do I know how to jumpstart it, or when do I take a rest?

But I'm also aware that it's a special part of me, and I kind of like enjoy it when I can have conversation, whether I'm walking the dogs or whatever. And but so I'm just curious, what is your relationship with the creative process? And have you seen it— I mean, I could list like all kinds of adjectives you can touch on. Is it rocky? Is that Upsetting? Is it rewarding? Is it thrilling, right? Is it sacred?

Christian Solorzano [61:44]

Yeah.

Rick Valicenti [61:47]

Just give it some thought and riff.

Christian Solorzano [61:48]

Yeah, to me it seems very ordinary. I don't, I don't spend too much time thinking about it. I just know that I am a very I'm very stubborn and I'm extremely persistent. And I think a lot of it is just I like to do things. I like to be busy. And I like to think of— to me, creativity is humanity's breath. It's our proof of life.

And if there was, if when we all pass, the one thing that we leave behind is the things that we created, the moments, the experiences, the conversations, the artifacts, all of that to me is so precious.

And I think it's why we exist. I think that's our purpose in life is to make things. And to me, when I— whatever it is that I create, whether it's I'm creating a podcast episode or I'm creating a page with you for faculty or I'm serving Moo his dog food, to me, all of that is it's like a fingerprint. And I just, I don't, I don't think too much about it. I just know that it's necessary. And when I don't do it, something feels off.

Rick Valicenti [63:18]

So it is a driving force for you.

Christian Solorzano [63:20]

It is a driving force.

Rick Valicenti [63:21]

Yeah. I can see that in my work with you. I also just want to underscore this fingerprint and this evidence of a breath of life. It's why we have museums, right? That they like house the muse. And those are the things that are left behind by brushstroke or by whatever pixel. That's pretty fantastic. And I think you're well on your way of in helping create forum For other members of the community to leave their fingerprint in the publications, in the audio oral history.

That's all pretty fabulous. Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [64:05]

Yeah. I also think, I also think of creativity as a form of resistance or resilience against everything that says otherwise. I feel like there's so many forces, whether it's our childhood or society or any sort of conditioning that we all experience that tries to push us away from making meaning. And I do feel like it's extremely— To me, it feels Almost anti-authority to say, I'm gonna make something because I can, and you can't.

Rick Valicenti [64:52]

Yeah, it really underscores the individuality of that. Yeah, because no matter what it is you're being asked to make and no matter what medium you've been assigned, everybody will do it differently. Yeah, everyone will do it differently. That's the beauty of it. That's what's so fantastic. The fact that you were underscoring the act of creation. I used to have a shorthand that I used, which was, the opposite of creation is destruction. The choice is easy for me.

And along the way, I may want to destroy some of my preconceptions about what something should be, but I assure you, my resurrection of that Whatever was left behind, it's gonna be much faster than the East Wing.

The you shared with me on one Saturday we were working and we sort of diverted into a personal conversation, and you were telling me about a conversation you had with a friend, and the friend was sort of like looking for. Some justification around the notion that they don't need to do something because they can't see it working out. And you took a pause and you reflected that that's actually the opposite of the kind of relationships you want to foster.

You want to foster those relationships, and this one can be between people, between your creative process, between your collaborators, where you don't really know where it's going, but you trust that the journey—

Is going to be pretty fantastic along the way, even if it's not great on one particular day. It's the full spectrum. I thought that was incredibly enlightened. You said it way better than I did, but I think that was a pretty cool way to look at, 2 people in a condition, in a situation, and how they can learn to share the trajectory of their time together.

Christian Solorzano [67:05]

I think there is a lot of wisdom and intelligence in not knowing, and I feel like it's such a— it feels mature. And I think as I've been Developing my relationships with people these last six or so years, like I feel lucky that I get a chance to learn from people that are older than me and wiser. And I and I find that the way that wisdom and intelligence seems to manifest for a lot of the people that I look up to is that they're.

They're okay with not knowing and that they're okay with the that empty space of whatever may be there. And I think as people, we're— I mean, society pushes this on us all the time, is like this need to have an answer for everything.

Rick Valicenti [68:20]

Yeah, I know. It's okay not to know. Give yourself permission not to know. And just discover.

Christian Solorzano [68:25]

And that, and to me, that's the creative process is like, that's my relationship with it is like this mutual ignorance of, I don't know what I'm getting into, but something's gonna happen. And yeah, it could be good or bad, but regardless, like it's gonna be something.

Rick Valicenti [68:45]

Thanks for connecting the dot on— Creative process with that. You brought that full circle. That was really good. I want to just unfold something else that occurred to me, and I've had the privilege not only of talking to you now but also in collaborating with you on these faculty moments. And this new issue, I think we've done what, like 12 pages or something out of it?

Christian Solorzano [69:15]

I don't want to think about it, but there's—

Rick Valicenti [69:18]

I know, we'll be done in 2028 at this pace. But the way it's been working is a couple of different ways in which we approach it. It's like just look at the text that's been brought in and quickly put it in one of the 3 or 4 sizes that we've given in the hierarchy for this typeface, which is being called what? Sidepiece?

Christian Solorzano [69:40]

Sidepiece.

Rick Valicenti [69:41]

Yeah. Can you tell me why it's called Sidepiece?

Christian Solorzano [69:44]

Sidepiece. So there's, so there's 3 meanings. There's 2 meanings, but there's a 3rd meaning that I've added to it. So a sidepiece is the person that you're cheating with.

Rick Valicenti [70:02]

Yo.

Christian Solorzano [70:05]

That's a side piece. A side piece is also a gun. And then the other definition— this typeface is the voice of the things that perhaps you don't feel comfortable saying. I think, I think in everyday life, Maybe most of us speak in Marriott Pro or Arial or some default font. And to me, side piece is that superhero cape. Yep. So that's what I think of side piece. So it could be the person you're cheating with, a gun, or your superhero cape.

Rick Valicenti [70:49]

I'm going superhero cape.

Christian Solorzano [70:51]

Yep. Superhero cape. And then instead of doing traditional boring Weights like light, regular, medium, bold.

Rick Valicenti [71:00]

Semi-bold. Like semi-bold.

Christian Solorzano [71:04]

We're doing honey drip, honey butter, honey pie, honey cake, honey glob, and honey nuggets. So when we're working together, instead of saying, can you make that bold? You would say, can you make that a little— can you make that cake?

Rick Valicenti [71:25]

Yo, make that pie.

Christian Solorzano [71:27]

And to me, that's—

Rick Valicenti [71:28]

I like having the word honey in front of it. Could you bring me some honey pie? Yeah, these words need some honey pie.

Christian Solorzano [71:34]

Yeah. And to me, that injects humanity into typography. And I noticed that when we— when Barry and I, we shared this with you and Sean, we were also looking through the Thirst Type catalog and there is a font that you created many years ago where your weights were a cup and B cup.

Rick Valicenti [71:57]

What the hell? Was this a midlife crisis moment? I couldn't get out. I'm still in that one.

Christian Solorzano [72:06]

And I told Bear, I'm like Rick's probably looking at this like, oh, I've been there, done that.

Rick Valicenti [72:17]

Well, I think, yeah, I do find it from time to time looking at stuff going, really, do we need that convention? Does it have to stick? That's sedimentation we need to get away from, otherwise we're locked in it forever and ever. Yeah, so I like honeypot and honey cake. And do you have Honey Bunch?

Christian Solorzano [72:35]

We don't have Honey Bunch.

Rick Valicenti [72:36]

Yeah, that could be the next version.

Christian Solorzano [72:39]

Yeah, that could be—

Rick Valicenti [72:40]

Yeah, a bunch of glyphs. Honey Bunch.

Christian Solorzano [72:43]

Yeah, Honey Bunch.

Rick Valicenti [72:44]

And did you know that was going to have something to do with the Tao Book of Honey? Is that what you're reading?

Christian Solorzano [72:50]

No, we didn't know that. We were actually inspired by that naming convention came from a person that both Barry and I like on Instagram, and she calls everyone Honey Pie, or Honey Butter. And we were just why not call it Honey? Why not just have Honey as a prefix to all these?

Rick Valicenti [73:12]

That's great. Yeah, I like it when I go into diners and the waitress will call me hon. Yeah, what can I get for you, hon?

Christian Solorzano [73:19]

Yeah, it feels good.

Rick Valicenti [73:21]

Yeah, it feels good. So with that, let's bring this long-winded conversation to an end and let people get on with their lives. Okay, in the event that anybody arrived at this moment, how long have we been talking? Can you see?

Christian Solorzano [73:34]

I can't see.

Rick Valicenti [73:35]

You can't see? Okay, it's been a long time. Okay. We've done all of the promotional hype that we needed to do, even though that was not the intent. Is there anything you want to say here on the close of the 100th episode? Express gratitude, paint the future. Is there anything you want to do?

Christian Solorzano [73:56]

Well, I do want to say thanks, but that's boring. But I'll do it anyways. I'm thankful for all the episodes that I've done. I love when people text me. So one of the things about this podcast is that I don't obsess about the metrics, like how many people are listening to this episode. I don't care about any of that stuff.

I do look at it just because anytime I upload a new episode, like I have to, I have to walk through the analytics dashboard that tells me how the podcast is performing.

And I know that in order for any podcast to be super successful, you need to promote the crap out of it. And I don't do that enough, but I am working with some new people on our team that are going to be helping promote the podcast more on social media. So hopefully that expands our reach.

But I'm saying this because to me, the most special form of appreciation that I receive is when someone texts me and says that they've listened to an episode and that they enjoyed it. So I want to thank the people that do that text me and just say like, hey Christian, that was a cool conversation that you had. And then I also want to thank all the loyal listeners that I know listen to every single episode as soon as it comes out. That's also cool.

It also kind of makes me feel uncomfortable when people tell me that they listen, because I don't know, it just, it feels weird. It's like they, it's like they've seen me shower.

Rick Valicenti [75:37]

No, I don't think I ever had that image. But for those of you out there who have had that image, please send Christian a waving hand. With a bar of soap in it right there.

Christian Solorzano [75:53]

But I am super thankful, and I just want to give a special shout out to the Chicago Graphic Design Club team. Yeah, I specifically wanted to thank Cheryl for being my other half, and I saw her this morning, and I feel like she's just, so much of this stuff could not be done without her. She's just such a great Amazing person that makes everything that we do a million times better. So I want to shout her out.

I also want to shout out Sean for being such a great friend, collaborator. Every time him and I talk on the phone, we always leave the conversation with more things on our plate. And that, to me, that's a sign of a good relationship. That's a good friendship. And then I also want to thank Barry Deck for being a person that I see myself in. I think the other cool thing about this podcast is that it has enabled me to see myself in other people.

And to me, those conversations give me permission to be more me. And I super thankful for that. And then I also want to thank another good friend of mine, Carlos Segura, who I talk to almost on a daily basis.

Rick Valicenti [77:20]

You call him Los?

Christian Solorzano [77:22]

I just call him Carlos. Yeah. And he's just another person that I just can go to with any question. And we sometimes we don't even talk about design. We just make stupid jokes and we share inappropriate memes on Instagram and we just laugh and just, it's just a fun friendship. And then I also want to thank you, Rick.

Rick Valicenti [77:48]

Oh, thank you. You're welcome.

Christian Solorzano [77:50]

For just, for being Rick and just for letting me into your world and showing me so much and being such a great teacher and friend and collaborator. And it's funny because sometimes people ask me questions like, what is Rick like? What is it like to work with him? They almost talk about you as if you're some unicorn that, that's like frolicking in a field. And I always tell them, he's just like a cool, fun guy, like approachable.

Don't— if you want to talk to him, just reach out to him. He's not intimidating. He's not like a person that's going to talk down, and he's just a really cool, approachable guy. And I think that's what I wish more people knew in the community, is that you should just reach out to your heroes because most likely they'll want to talk with you.

Rick Valicenti [78:52]

So. I can say that our conversation today doesn't feel— and I'm just basing it on the physical sensations that I'm having, it doesn't feel any different than the conversations we have when we're working. Yeah. Or planning something. So I think that's the sign of at least the podcast I hope we would make would be just a revealing one. Yeah. So you've revealed yourself in such a crystal clear way. Crystal clear. So anyone who's ever curious about Christian, just watch episode 100 over and over.

Christian Solorzano [79:31]

Watch it in slow, slow-mo, half speed.

Rick Valicenti [79:34]

Okay, first you have to tell me, what is that graphic on your container, your liquid container?

Christian Solorzano [79:49]

So this is a sticker Yes. That was given to me by Jackson, and it says Humanist Sans Serif.

Rick Valicenti [80:00]

Nice. Is that a new— is it a new typeface that he's designed?

Christian Solorzano [80:05]

No, this is, this is not a new typeface. This is a sticker that was designed by my former boss named Brian Morris. He's the one in that in Faculty 2 did the Mona Lisa illustration.

Rick Valicenti [80:18]

Oh yeah, great. That's a really nice sticker. I was looking at that one when it flashed earlier.

Christian Solorzano [80:23]

And then this here says Baisan, and Baisan is my name that was given to me by my Zen community, and it means plum mountain. And then this is a rose that's upside down.

Rick Valicenti [80:38]

Nice. Yep. Okay, with that, we shall sign off. And I forget how you always close your podcast, but I think it's up to you now to close this podcast with your Normal thing.

Christian Solorzano [80:56]

All right. Well, thank you all for listening. And to learn more about us, visit www.chicagographicdesign.club. If you enjoy conversations like these, leave us a rating wherever you listen. It helps expand our reach. Thank you. And we'll talk to you soon.

Rick Valicenti [81:16]

Here, I thought you were always reading those things. At what number did you know you had it memorized?

Christian Solorzano [81:24]

Probably just now.

Rick Valicenti [81:27]

Good. That's what we want to say. We want to end on the notion of now. Thank you, Christian. Goodbye. Have a lovely evening.

Christian Solorzano [81:38]

See ya.

Rick Valicenti [81:38]

Bye.