He grew up in Salamanca. Spent 20 years as an art director in Amsterdam. His father died. He boarded a plane to Japan for a sabbatical — and 14 years later, he's still there.

Luis Mendo is a Spanish illustrator and the founder of Mundo Mendo — a personal membership project built on illustrated stories, shipped directly to readers with no algorithm in between. This is a conversation about finding your value, choosing happiness, and refusing to make salami for Zuckerberg.

What we cover:

• His father's death and why it led him to Japan
• 20 years in Amsterdam — and why he finally chose to leave
• Almost Perfect — six years of welcoming artists into his Tokyo home
• Why social media is dry disgusting bread — and the salami analogy
• Building Mundo Mendo on Ghost, the anti-Substack platform
• Biking numbered, signed books to the post office himself
• Why he's building something that survives him
• Finding the value in your work — advice for young illustrators
• Japan's exploding independent print and zine scene
• AI is for laundry — and what he actually uses it for
• What he wrote in a letter to his daughter growing up in Japan

Connect with Luis Mendo:

Website: https://www.luismendo.com/

Mundo Mendo: https://www.mundomendo.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luismendo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luismendo/

Listen and subscribe:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5

More from Captn OffScript:

Website: https://captnoffscript.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript

Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter

If you liked this episode, listen to: Elliot Jay Stocks (S02/E25) — on building a direct relationship with your audience through newsletters, why human connection matters more than algorithms, and creating work that lasts.

If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. 🙏

He wakes up at 4:30am. Two kids under two. Three hours of work before the house comes alive. This is how one of the most sought-after artists in America currently operates.

Temi Coker is a Nigerian-American artist and creative director based in Dallas, Texas. His work has appeared in campaigns for Adobe, Apple, ESPN, AT&T, and the Oscars. He launched a home collection with Walmart in 2025. And he will tell you, clearly and without drama, that none of it happened by accident — it happened because he kept making the work he wanted to be hired for, long before anyone asked him to.

What we cover:

• Growing up in Lagos — limitations, bottle-cap football, and a love of colour
• Moving to Canada and then Texas at 12, navigating two Black identities at once
• Leaving biomedical engineering to pursue design — and why he doesn't regret either
• Seven years of head-down work before the Adobe Creative Residency changed everything
• How a pillow he made for fun led to the Walmart home collection
• Apple said no four or five times — he now has 20+ collaborations with them
• Financial literacy for creatives — the conversation nobody is having
• Running a photography studio, a clothing brand, and raising two kids under two
• Learning to actually accept a compliment

Connect with Temi Coker:

Website: https://temicoker.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/temi.coker

Listen and subscribe:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5

More from Captn OffScript:

Website: https://captnoffscript.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript

Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter

She chose graphic design over photography because she couldn't afford a camera. She chose it over philosophy because her teacher said get work first, study ideas later. Now she runs a studio of exactly three people, plays guitar in an all-women punk band with no expectations, writes articles on the bus, and has just started her philosophy degree.

Ingrid Picanyol is a Catalan graphic designer based in Barcelona — and one of the most quietly profound conversations of the season.

What we cover:

• Growing up in the "Catalan Liverpool" — small town, punk band, leaving home at 16
• $12 a day in New York, sleeping on couches, investing in a career
• Why she keeps her studio to exactly three people — and why that matters
• How a developer noticed her design process is basically poetry
• Writing articles on the bus — and the Set Margins book coming from it
• Why design can't satisfy every creative need — and what to do about it
• Sending voice messages to ChatGPT asking what Plato thinks about difficult clients
• Studying philosophy in her forties — and why now is finally the right moment
• What she'd say to her 8-year-old self, who always felt like a stranger

Connect with Ingrid Picanyol:

Website: https://ingridpicanyol.com/

Instagram (personal): https://www.instagram.com/ingridpicanyol

Instagram (studio): https://www.instagram.com/ingridpicanyolstudio/

Listen and subscribe:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5

More from Captn OffScript:

Website: https://captnoffscript.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript

Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter

If you liked this episode, listen to: Marta Cerdà Alimbau (S02/E26) — another deeply personal conversation with a Catalan designer about creative identity, surviving the hard years, and why the work is worth fighting for.

She designed a Vogue cover during COVID while riding her motorcycle through Barcelona without a helmet. She made over 300 logos before landing on the one for a Nike Haaland campaign. She survived a pandemic across two countries paying two rents simultaneously — and ended up in a farmhouse with bats, eagles, and rats for four months.

Marta Cerdà Alimbau is a Catalan graphic designer, AGI member, and author of Surviving Design. This is one of the most honest, funny, and deeply personal conversations of the season.

What we cover:

• Studying psychology before design — and what it gave her
• The Vogue Spain cover created from chaos and a deep need for resilience
• Designing Barcelona's Christmas street lights from the iconic panot tile
• Over 300 logos for a Nike Haaland campaign — and the hidden arrow
• COVID across two countries, two rents, and four months in a farmhouse with bats
• Surviving Design — what the book is really about and why it's actually optimistic
• Comic Sans, context, and what Vincent Connare taught her in 2004
• The tobacco brief, karma, and the projects she wishes she hadn't taken
• What she'd say to her 10-year-old self

Connect with Marta Cerdà Alimbau:

Website: https://martacerda.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martacerda/

Listen and subscribe:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5

More from Captn OffScript:

Website: https://captnoffscript.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript

Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter

If you liked this episode, listen to: Sophia Yeshi (S02/E22) — another deeply personal conversation about identity, building a creative career against the odds, and staying true to yourself through everything.

He's back. And this time we accidentally planned a Madrid book event live on air.

Elliot Jay Stocks is a designer, writer, editor, and the person behind Fine Specimens — a brand new book showcasing contemporary type design from 69 foundries, including three of mine. We talked about the book, the five-stop tour, joining Adobe after 18.5 years of freelancing, the love-hate relationship with Instagram every creative recognises, and why newsletters and human connection might be the most important things a creative can invest in right now.

What we cover:

• Fine Specimens — from failed Kickstarter to published book with 69 foundries
• How typefaces were curated and the challenge of classifying type
• The love-hate relationship with Instagram and why the algorithm is broken for creators
• Why he prefers newsletters — and the pop-up newsletter concept you need to know about
• Joining Adobe full-time after 18.5 years of freelancing
• The 5-stop book tour — and the accidental Madrid plan that happened live on air
• Music on hold, guitar is back, and a new book idea on the horizon
• Why human connection in creative industries matters more now than ever

Connect with Elliot Jay Stocks:

Website: https://elliotjaystocks.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elliotjaystocks/

Newsletter: https://elliotjaystocks.com/newsletter

Fine Specimens: https://elliotjaystocks.com/books#fine-specimens

Listen and subscribe:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5

More from Captn OffScript:

Website: https://captnoffscript.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript

Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter

If you liked this episode, listen to: Jessica Hische (S02/E21) — on serial entrepreneurship, creative reinvention, and building a life entirely on your own terms.

Cover photo by Norman Posselt: https://normanposselt.com/

He started with die cuts and packaging catalogues at a print agency. He co-authored typography books with Slanted. He moved to Istanbul on a creative whim. And now he's the lead designer at Kittl — one of Europe's fastest-growing AI-powered design platforms. The through-line? A deep belief that no tool matters if you don't have the fundamentals first.

Philipp Louven on the journey from print to AI-first, what's actually changing in the design industry, and why the shift from execution to direction might be the most important move a designer can make right now.

What we cover:

• Starting in print — die cuts, packaging, catalogues, and editorial books with Slanted
• Moving to Istanbul just out of curiosity — and what it taught him about pace and creativity
• The hard switch to AI-first design at Kittl and how he worked through it
• Why fundamentals in composition, layout and typography matter more with AI, not less
• Typography trends in 2026 — human, imperfect, bold and loud
• Whether AI can ever be more creative than a human
• What Kittl does that no other design tool does
• Advice for young designers entering a shifting industry

Connect with Philipp Louven:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipp-louven-8a1251192/

Kittl: https://kittl.com

Listen and subscribe:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5

More from Captn OffScript:

Website: https://captnoffscript.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript

Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter

If you liked this episode, listen to: Sergio del Puerto (S02/E23) — on AI, creative reinvention, and finding a new way of working after decades in the industry.

He founded Serial Cut in Madrid in 1999. For nearly 30 years it became one of the most recognised creative studios in the world. And then he let it go — not because he failed, but because something new had already taken hold of him completely.

Sergio del Puerto is an art director, image maker, and one of the most influential creatives in the Spanish design industry. This is the story of Serial Cut, ZAGALE, AI, and what it feels like to be 30 years into a career and wake up genuinely excited again.

What we cover:

• Growing up in Toledo and arriving in Madrid as a club kid in 1999
• Building Serial Cut across five techniques over nearly three decades
• Why he dissolved the studio — and why it felt liberating
• Training custom AI models on his own work with LORA
• ZAGALE — the new alter ego, the covered face, and the custom helmet
• Why AI is the best creative companion when you feel stuck
• Action figures, composition, and why his childhood is always in his work
• His advice for young designers on portfolios and exploring new mediums

Connect with Sergio del Puerto:

Instagram (ZAGALE): https://www.instagram.com/_zagale_/

Serial Cut: https://serialcut.com

Listen and subscribe:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5

More from Captn OffScript:

Website: https://captnoffscript.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript

nstagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript

Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter

If you liked this episode, listen to: Jessica Hische (S02/E21) — on serial entrepreneurship, creative reinvention, and building a life entirely on your own terms.

She learned Photoshop at 12 on multiple 30-day trials. She got into five art schools and couldn't afford a single one. She moved to New York with no job, no safety net, and no plan B. And then her artwork went around the world on a UPS box.

Sophia Yeshi is a New York-based illustrator whose bold, colourful, inclusive work has appeared in campaigns for Google, Spotify, Adobe, Instagram, and UPS. But this conversation is about the person behind all of it — the mixed-race kid from Baltimore who grew up too fast, taught herself everything, and built a career entirely on her own terms.

What we cover:

• Growing up across multiple identities and being othered from birth
• Teaching herself Photoshop at 12 on repeated 30-day free trials
• Getting into five art schools and not being able to afford any of them
• Moving to New York with no freelance safety net — and figuring it out anyway
• The UPS box campaign that went around the world
• Why she's calling this year "rejection therapy"
• Advice for young illustrators in a shifting industry
• What she'd write in a letter to her eight-year-old self

Connect with Sophia Yeshi:

Website: https://www.yeshidesigns.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiayeshi/

Listen and subscribe:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5

More from Captn OffScript:

Website: https://captnoffscript.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript

Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter