Andy Bell

Andy Bell

In this episode of the beyond tellerrand podcast, Marc sits down with Andy Bell, the founder of Piccalilli and the design and development agency Set Studio. The two caught up live in Berlin back in November 2025 and this time they go deep into what it actually takes to build something independent and principled in an industry that feels increasingly uncertain. Andy explains how Piccalilli grew from his personal blog into a small, four-person team (alongside Leanne, Jason and Vicky) producing high-quality, pragmatic education that’s rooted in real client work at Set Studio. He talks about spotting a gap in the education space – somewhere between framework crash-courses and genuine, transferable craft – and why his courses teach things like planning and communicating with designers, not just syntax. There’s a lot here on the philosophy behind the courses: keeping them affordable (the £249 ceiling, “anything above that and the boss has to buy it for you”), building their own publishing platform to give each author their own space, and the editorial process behind working with guest authors like Scott Riley and Mat Marquis. The conversation then turns to AI, where Andy doesn’t hold back. He lays out why he’s been against the technology from the start – models trained on stolen content, the environmental cost, the harmful material it can produce, and the more-than-a-trillion-dollars of investment chasing a product whose output he considers poor. He makes a financial case for why he believes a bubble deflation is coming, why he turned down a wave of AI-startup branding work over brand risk, and offers some blunt advice: if your employer is mandating AI use, “unionise — they’re not mandating you to use AI for fun”. He and Marc also reflect on what this means for web standards, why taking progressive enhancement and accessibility seriously has always meant swimming against the current, and why keeping standards high matters more than ever. To close, things get more personal: Andy’s record collection and his goal to be off streaming services entirely by year’s end, his heavier-and-hip-hop leanings, his background as a drummer who “wanted to be in music, not tech” and fell into the industry by accident and his open, in-progress rebuild of his own website. A reminder that owning your own corner of the web is one of the best things you can do for yourself. A different viewpoint, honestly shared and well worth a listen. Links: * Andy Bell's website [https://bell.bz/] * Piccalilli [https://piccalil.li/] * Set Studio [https://set.studio/] * Complete CSS (Andy's course) [https://piccalil.li/complete-css/] * Mindful Design by Scott Riley [https://piccalil.li/mindful-design/] * JavaScript for Everyone by Mat Marquis [https://piccalil.li/javascript-for-everyone/] * The Index (Piccalilli newsletter) [https://piccalil.li/the-index/] * Every Layout (co-authored by Andy) [https://every-layout.dev/] * CUBE CSS [https://cube.fyi/] * Learn CSS on web.dev (co-authored by Andy) [https://web.dev/learn/css/] * Build Excellent Websites [https://buildexcellentwebsit.es/] * Piccalilli's principles on AI [https://piccalil.li/blog/our-principles-on-ai/] Episode Partner: * mittwald (episode partner) [https://mittwald.de/]

Elliot Jay Stocks

Marc catches up with longtime friend and typographic obsessive Elliot Jay Stocks – designer, author, former Creative Director of Adobe Fonts, and founder of the legendary *8 Faces* magazine. They talk about Elliot’s new book *Fine Specimens: A Showcase of Contemporary Type Design*, which collects specimen graphics from independent and established type foundries around the world, preserving work that would otherwise be lost to the scroll. The conversation covers the book’s unlikely journey from a failed Kickstarter to a Quarto publication, the challenge of multi-script type design, Elliot’s return to Adobe Fonts as a full employee after 18+ years freelancing, and the joy of making music with no commercial agenda whatsoever. Elliot also shares details of his book launch tour, including a stop at beyond tellerrand Düsseldorf in April. Links: * Fine Specimens: A Showcase of Contemporary Type Design by Elliot Jay Stocks [https://geni.us/FineSpecimens] * Elliot’s newsletter: Typographic & Sporadic [https://elliotjaystocks.com/newsletter] * Elliot’s music as Otherform [https://www.instagram.com/otherformuk/] * 8 Faces magazine [https://8faces.com] * beyond tellerrand Düsseldorf [https://beyondtellerrand.com/events/dusseldorf-2026] * Book launch event at beyond tellerrand Düsseldorf [https://beyondtellerrand.com/events/dusseldorf-2026/side-events/fine-specimens-launch] * Oliver's Pimp My Type Newsletter [https://pimpmytype.com/] * Emma's Newsletter [https://typographictreats.substack.com/?r=2sgmop&utm_campaign=pub-share-checklist]

On Events, Community, and Doing This Anyway – Jeremy Keith

I sat down with Jeremy Keith to talk about why we run events, from small niche meetups to full conferences. We discuss the joy of connecting people, exploring ideas across disciplines, and the challenges of today’s event world: ticket sales, sponsorship, and reaching new audiences. Jeremy’s upcoming Web Day Out [https://webdayout.com/] in Brighton shows how one-day events can inspire, educate, and bring the community together. * Web Day Out in Brighton [https://webdayout.com/] * Jeremy's Website [https://adactio.com/] * Clearleft [https://clearleft.com/]

Behind the Scenes – Keir Whitaker

In this unscripted episode Keir Whitaker and I are talking about feedback – giving feedback, listening to feedback and using feedback. Furthermore I asked Keir how important it is these days to have a website, especially if you run an event. Surely we also had a conversation about social media and how it changed over the last 10 years and the role it plays for an event organiser today. * Website of Keir Whitaker [https://keirwhitaker.com/] * Craft & Work Events [https://craftandwork.com/]

Behind the Scenes – Gavin Strange

* Full transcription [https://beyondtellerrand.com/blog/bts-gavin-strange-and-the-dusseldorf-2025-design] * Website of Gavin Strange [https://www.jam-factory.com/] * Gavin's blog post with all the background [https://blog.jam-factory.com/behind-the-scenes-beyond-tellerrand-2025-title-sequence/?ref=beyondtellerrand] * Opening Titles Düsseldorf 2025 [https://youtu.be/0N7k-8Vsngc?si=NRtqXpuyjTQ1CgL6] * Event pages for Düsseldorf 2025 [https://beyondtellerrand.com/events/dusseldorf-2025]