Cold Style

We are back with our third Cold Style of the year—to explore typography and design, and celebrate our community in an intimate setting with a range of featured designers who will be sharing their processes and work.

Alicia Márquez is a letter artist who works with letters, words, and text to explore different ways of expressing ideas and feelings. She studied graphic design at the University of Buenos Aires, where she also taught typography, and later worked as an art director in design studios and agencies in Buenos Aires, Miami, and Chicago.

She’s been practicing calligraphy, lettering, and letter carving for over 10 years. Alicia sees herself as a curious observer and a lifelong learner. For her, the creative process is more important than the final result, and she always appreciates different points of view and honest feedback. As a designer, she likes things to be clear and simple. As an artist, she trusts her intuition. These two sides of her come together in every project—and most of the time, they get along just fine.

Raven Mo is a New York-based identity designer driven by the enduring journey of typographic excellence. As an advocate for multi-script design accessibility and representation, she is deeply invested in the intricate social relations and infrastructures built by type.

Barry Deck is a Chicago‑based graphic designer and typographer celebrated for creating Template Gothic—a seminal typeface of the 1990s—and for serving as the final art director of Ray Gun magazine. Barry earned an MFA at CalArts under the mentorship of legendary typographer Ed Fella, laying the foundation for his experimental, vernacular‑inspired approach.

Barry has worked across print, television, packaging, digital media, type design, and branding. His practice includes, typefaces, logos, brand identity systems, websites, and packaging systems. His work is represented in graphic design history books, held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and at the Cooper‑Hewitt National Design Museum. He has lectured and taught internationally.

In conversation on the Underscore podcast with the Chicago Graphic Design Club, Barry speaks candidly about how meditation and yoga shape his creative process—nurturing confidence, living with imposter syndrome, and cultivating what he calls his “easy knowingness.” He also discusses the role of authenticity, and the value of embracing imperfection as essential to meaningful creative work.

Barry’s design philosophy is rooted in blending vernacular materials and intuitive craftsmanship with thoughtful typography and identity systems. He believes true innovation emerges when designers challenge convention, follow curiosity, and favor lived, human character over perfection.

Matt Avery has worked under the studio name Monograph since 2018. Previously he was Principal Designer at the University of Chicago Press where he worked for 14 years. His work has been recognized by the Type Director’s Club, 50 Books / 50 covers, Communication Arts, Print, STA, among others. In his free time Matt enjoys making art (some days), volunteering with Openlands as a TreeKeeper, (fewer days), and running (most days). He lives in the Logan Square neighborhood with his family.

Juju Stojanovic is a designer exploring type, code, and graphic design through the intersection of her backgrounds as a professional ballet dancer and math student. She has worked in identities, type, and exhibition design in New York and Berlin, and is currently studying at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP).

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Special thanks to Someoddpilot for the space and hospitality.

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Host or Publisher Christian Solorzano