Stranger NO Danger


SCOPE
Create a collaborative publication featuring interviews with multiple designers we admire. 

ROLEPattern / Typography / Illustration / System Making

DETAILSJanuary–March 2025

“Stranger NO Danger” is a collaborative publication featuring interviews with multiple designers we admire. Presented through editorial spreads. 

For this issue, I interviewed Ryan Smallman via email about the process of making posters and illustrations, framing the conversation as a type making guide for college students who are beginning type design. The text embedded in the cover logo is taken from the first email he sent.


COLLABORATION WITH Kathy Nam
GUIDANCE BY
Brooke Irish and Armando Martinez-Celis














:: Table of Content Icon System ::



Behind the Scenes

THE FIRST EMAILGood afternoon Ryan Smallman,


I hope you’re doing well! My name is Maria Garsa, and I’m currently a BFA Graphic Design student in my third year at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). I’m currently working on a design project that gathers works from designers we admire for a class publication. I would be honored to feature your work! I am super interested in learning more about your design process and your opinions about the relationship between typography and illustration! I love your illustration style and how you treat type like an image (like your illustration for the podcast Distractible). If you’re open, I’d greatly appreciate the opportunity to interview you. Please let me know if you’d be open to this, and we can discuss the details further! Thank you so much for your time and for considering my request. I hope to hear from you soon!


Thank you,

Maria Garsa


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©2026  MARIA GARSA