RDInsights

Mike Dempsey is in conversation with the legendary graphic designer  Ivan Chermayeff, Honorary RDI (1932 - 2017). Born in Britain, the son of the notable Russian architect Serge Chermayeff, Ivan made his career in the United States, creating many iconic logos, visual identities and design projects around the world. His legacy lies not just in the well-known logos and visual identities we see every day, but in the idea of design as “clear thinking made visible”, elegant, functional, and enriched with intelligence and joy. I was very fortunate to have had this conversation with him. I hope you enjoy it. Archive recording date: 21 Aug 2007.

This is an RDInsights Archive recording from 2021 with the writer and illustrator Marion Deuchars RDI, who believes that everyone would benefit from living a creative life. In the interview, Marion talks about her childhood, her work, and what it was like to live and work under lockdown. Her creative activity books have sold worldwide, inspiring people to discover their own inner creative potential. Mike Dempsey RDI recently caught up with Marion again to see what she’s been up to since that original 2021 interview, and you can hear their new conversation immediately after the archive recording.

This is an RDInsights Archive recording from 2009 with the textile designer Georgina von Etzdorf RDI, whose work is celebrated for its wonderful use of colour and its unique mastery of design. Mike Dempsey RDI recorded this conversation 16 years ago, up in the hills of Málaga, Spain, where Georgina still escapes our dark, cold UK winters and spends much of her time painting.

Mike Dempsey RDI is joined by Teucer Wilson, one of the UK’s leading stone carvers and letter cutters.  After studying stonemasonry and carving at Weymouth College, Teucer completed a five-year apprenticeship with the distinguished stone cutter Richard Kindersley, cutting tens of thousands of letters and immersing himself in a tradition tracing back through David Kindersley.  Since establishing his Norfolk workshop in 2000, he has created memorials, public artworks, sculptures, and commissions for hospitals, gardens, and civic spaces.  His work combines the rigour of craft with a deep sensitivity to form, texture, and material, always mindful of how stone holds memory and meaning.

Mike Dempsey RDI is in conversation with furniture designer, maker and environmentalist, Sebastian Cox. He is renowned for his nature-first approach to making, his championing of British woodlands, and his ability to weave centuries-old traditions into contemporary design. His studio in Margate, Kent, is not just a workshop, but a statement: of zero-waste, carbon-awareness, and regeneration. We follow Sebastian’s path from growing up in the Kent countryside to shaping a design philosophy that looks to nature as the ultimate collaborator.

This is an RDInsights Archive recording from 2010, when I spoke at length with the distinguished illustrator and graphic designer David Gentleman RDI, then celebrating his 80th year. It remains a rich and in-depth conversation, full of insight into his remarkable career and outlook. Now, fifteen years on, and with David at the age of 95, I caught up with him once again. This time our conversation was briefer, but no less engaging, as I asked what he had been up to in the intervening years. That new recording has now been added directly after the original 2010 interview, creating a fascinating pairing across time.