
Podcast Awesome
On Podcast Awesome we talk to members of the Font Awesome team about icons, design, tech, business, and of course, nerdery.
ποΈ Podcast Awesome is your all-access pass into the creative engine behind Font Awesome β the webβs favorite icon toolkit. Join host Matt Johnson and the Font Awesome crew (and friends) for deep dives into icon design, front-end engineering, software development, healthy business culture, and a whole lot of lovingly-rendered nerdery.
From technical explorations of our open-source tooling, chats with web builders, icon designers, and content creators, with the occasional gleeful rants about early internet meme culture, we bring you stories and strategies from the trenches of building modern web software β with a healthy dose of 80s references and tech dad jokes.
π§ Perfect for:
- Icon design and content-first thinking
- Creative process and collaborative design
- Work-life balance in tech
- Remote team culture and async collaboration
- Internet history, meme archaeology, and other nerd ephemera
π§ Come for the design wisdom, stay for the deep meme cuts and beautifully crafted icons.
Podcast Awesome
ποΈ Podcast Awesome: Nerd Show & Tell with Isaac Chase
π¬ Summary
In this Nerd Show & Tell episode of Podcast Awesome, we finally catch up with the one and only Isaac Chase β the wizard behind our ever-growing library of video content at Font Awesome. From his early dreams of making it in film and television to becoming a full-time creator on our team, Isaac shares about the challenges of starting in the film industry during the COVID era, storytelling in marketing, and more.
We chat about his background in film and marketing, his favorite movies (slow burns, unite!), creative influences, and how his love for storytelling finds a home even in screencasts and product walkthroughs. Plus, Isaac drops his hot take on the next big icon pack idea (we're looking at you, Severance fans π).
π§ Key Takeaways
π College Grad, Creative Dad Connection
Isaac studied digital film and TV production at Missouri State University and joined Font Awesome part-time during the industry-wide writer/actor strikes β eventually going full-time thanks to a well-timed offer (shoutout to Travis Chase, a.k.a. Isaacβs real-life dad).
π₯ From Film Sets to Screencasts
His deep love for film β especially slow-paced, thoughtful stories like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Past Lives, and Arrival β translates into his thoughtful, user-focused approach to content creation at FA.
πΌ Video, Video, Video!
Isaac helped launch our video podcast format and has been leading the charge on screencasts, animations, and behind-the-scenes storytelling (more to come on that, soon!) π¬
π» Learning on the Job = Built-in Bonus
Despite not having a dev or design background, Isaac's learned loads about accessibility, UI, and component-based design just by working on educational content β and he's loving every minute of it.
π§ Favorite Icon?
The cup-to-go β icon has a special place in his heart (because coffee + nostalgia), and heβs got a soft spot for our teleportation icon too. β¨
π¨ Design Nerd in the Making
Outside work, Isaacβs nerding out on graphic design, especially in music merch and poster art. Heβs diving into the visual side of music culture β and working with musician friends on their branding.
β±οΈ Chapter Markers
π‘ 00:00 β Introduction to Podcast Awesome
π₯ 01:13 β Isaacβs role at FA and current projects
π 03:21 β Isaacβs background in film, college, and the writer's strike
π οΈ 09:12 β From film school to corporate creativity
πΏ 11:22 β Favorite movies and the magic of slow storytelling
ποΈ 16:46 β How filmmaking skills shape his current work
πΊ 22:55 β Screencasts, branding, and learning to teach
π¨ 29:43 β Nerding out on design, music merch, and FA icons
π¦ 32:33 β Isaacβs icon wish list (hello, Severance pack!)
π 44:00 β Wrap-up and thank-yous
Produced and edited by Matt Johnson
Edited by Isaac Chase
Theme Music by Ronnie Martin
Interstitials by Zach Malm
Mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions π
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