Happy New Year from the Awesomeverse! In this episode, Matt and Jory kick off 2026 by recapping all the wild, weird, and wonderful things that happened across Font Awesome and Web Awesome in 2025. From the launch of FA7 and small-batch icon packs to a possum puppet mascot (yes, really), they reflect on the big (and small batch) wins, behind-the-scenes hilarity, and creative experiments that made the year unforgettable. Oh, and if you're wondering what it's like to direct a hot dog-eating scene at a Kickstarter video shoot? We’ve got that covered too.

TL;DR: New icons, big upgrades, hilarious videos, brainy guests, possum puppets, and one heck of a year.

🧠 What We Cover in This Episode

• 🎉 Reflecting on FA7 upgrades
• 🧪 The rise of Pro Plus and its small batch icon packs (Etch! Jelly! Not Dog!)
• 🎥 Behind-the-scenes on the F.A.C.U. cinematic universe and the FA7 shoot (hot dog suit included)
• 🧩 How the newsletter icon puzzle took on a life of its own
• 🧰 The official Web Awesome launch and what’s next
• 🧠 Brainy takes on icon cognition from Dr. Brian Glenny
• 🐾 The birth of Awesome Possum, our unofficial but fully fabulous mascot
• 📦 Teasers for what’s coming in 2026: More icons, more components, and more fun

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 – Post-holiday haze & back in the podcast saddle
02:00 – FA7 highlights: Pro Plus packs + icon design overhaul
04:30 – Icon Pack breakdown: Etch, Jelly, Not Dog, and beyond
06:00 – Behind-the-scenes filming stories from the FA7 Kickstarter video
10:00 – Web Awesome officially launches!
12:30 – How the Awesome Possum was born
16:00 – The rise of the icon puzzle & newsletter hijinks
24:00 – Standout guests from the past season + the philosophy of icon design
28:00 – Accessibility icons, graffiti activism, and symbol cognition
30:00 – What’s coming in 2026: New icon packs, new components, and new surprises
32:00 – The Awesome Possum signs us off (kinda)

🔗 Links & Resources

• Check out the FA7 Launch Video
• Learn more about Pro Plus
• Build with Web Awesome
• Subscribe to our Newsletter (get the puzzle!)
• Jory’s Puzzle Book: “Goes Without Saying”
• Behind-the-scenes of the FA7 Shoot
• The Accessibility Icon Project

🎵 Theme music by Ronnie Martin
🎹 Interstitial music by Zach Malm
🎥 Video support by Isaac Chase

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What is nerdery, really? 🤓 In this episode of Podcast Awesome, we dig into the heart of Font Awesome’s culture — inclusive nerdery. It's not about lone geniuses or command line gatekeepers. It’s about heart, curiosity, humility, and building awesome things with other people. 💛

👾 You'll hear from FA team members Dave and Travis, plus a few snippets from topics we've covered on our blog and internal convos, all woven together to show how we:

🎯 Hire for character over cleverness
🔍 Celebrate deep curiosity (hello, nutrition nerds and D&D geeks!)
🎉 Create space for serious play through our legendary team "Snuggles"
🧠 Foster creativity through snack-sized projects like the Icon Wizard and Space Awesome game

This episode is for anyone building company culture, or just trying to figure out how to lead with humanity in a techy world.

✨ Icons may not change the world, but good people just might.

🔍 What You’ll Hear in This Episode:
00:00 – Welcome to Nerdery™
02:00 – Defining what "nerd" means to us
04:00 – Why we hire adults, not rockstars
06:00 – Our 3-step hiring philosophy
08:00 – Why we host company “Snuggles” (not summits!)
10:00 – FARTS, the Icon Wizard & how fun leads to innovation
12:00 – Space Awesome: building games on company time (and learning VueJS to boot!)
14:00 – Why forced culture doesn’t work
16:00 – A culture that’s built to last

🔗 Mentioned in the Episode:
🧙‍♂️ Space Awesome – FA dev project
https://spaceawesome.io/
🛠 Our Hiring Philosophy
https://blog.fontawesome.com/company-...
✨ The Icon Wizard
https://blog.fontawesome.com/icon-wiz...
💼 More About FA Company Culture
https://blog.fontawesome.com/nerdery/

🎵 Theme music by Ronnie Martin
🎹 Interstitial music by Zach Malm
🎥 Video support by Isaac Chase

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🎬 What do Star Wars, oil painting, and storytelling have in common?

Turns out: everything. In this curiosity-fueled episode, filmmaker and multi-hyphenate creative Andy Maier (Soon Agency) joins host Matt Johnson to talk about building a life powered by relentless learning, visual storytelling, and the kind of curiosity that launches careers 🚀.

From working with Apple, SpaceX, and Microsoft to touring in his metal band Opponent and picking up oil painting during a creative pivot — Andy is the living embodiment of “just figure it out.” 💥🎨🧠
If you've ever felt like the underdog creative, this one’s for you. Andy drops storytelling gems faster than Yoda lifts an X-Wing.

🎸 Fun fact: Andy composed the metal version of the Font Awesome theme song in a single day. That’s some serious Jedi speed 🤘.

🎙️ What We Cover in This Episode
🤖 Why being curious is better than being talented
🎥 How oil painting made Andy a better compositor
🧱 The concept of “armature” and why your story collapses without one
🌱 Why telling the truth is the best brand strategy
🤝 The power of surrounding yourself with curious people
✨ Building "wells, not fences" in your creative career
⚔️ Star Wars, Iron Giant, and the real meaning of “The Force”

⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Welcome to Podcast Awesome
01:00 – Meet Andy Maier: Creative Jedi & Founder of Soon
02:30 – Early creative career and figuring it out on the fly
05:15 – The underestimated power of curiosity
08:20 – From DIY music videos to working with Apple and SpaceX
10:45 – Why storytelling is better than trends
13:30 – Building a creative life around community and friendships
16:00 – How oil painting made Andy better at... everything
19:00 – The merch moment: painting turned t-shirt design
22:00 – What’s real? How to build grounded storytelling
26:30 – Invisible Ink, Brian McDonald, and story armature 101
32:00 – Why Marvel’s Phase 4 struggles (and what X-Men got right)
34:00 – Star Wars, Joseph Campbell, and unlocking “the Force”
37:45 – Where to find Andy and his work
38:30 – Bonus: The origin of the metal FA theme song 🤘

🔗 Links & Resources
🔥 Andy’s work – https://www.soon.agency
🎶 Andy’s band Opponent – https://www.solidstaterecords.com/opponent
📖 Invisible Ink by Brian McDonald – https://shorturl.at/E9101
🖖 Font Awesome’s Heavy Metal Icon Episode – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FlsrtKCI1Y
🎧 More Podcast Awesome episodes – https://podcastawesome.com

#PodcastAwesome #StorytellingMatters #CreativeJedi #VisualStorytelling #FilmmakerLife #MotionGraphicsArtist #DesignNerds #FontAwesome #CuriosityWins #InvisibleInk #CreativeProcess #OilPaintingForDesigners #BuildWellsNotFences #NerdCulture #MetalVibesOnly #StarWarsStorytelling #MakeSomethingAwesome

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