Lizy Gershenzon and Travis Kochel share their journey navigating the niche world of type design — from co-founding Future Fonts (@futurefonts), a community-driven marketplace for experimental, in-progress typefaces, to learning how to grow individually while building something together. In this conversation, they reflect on nearly two decades of collaboration, offering two distinct perspectives on how they’ve defined their roles, stayed creatively aligned, and sustained a long-term partnership.

Future Fonts & Vectro are led by Lizy Gershenzon and Travis Kochel. This duo have been partners for nearly two decades. They are also known for the innovative fonts Chartwell (a font that makes charts using OpenType) and Kablammo (a variable font for Google that explores technology and animation). They specialize in type design, digital product design, and branding.

Lizy has worked with GitHub, Headspace, Instrument, Nike, and Google, adding in-house and agency design and management experience to the team. Travis taught Type Design at Portland State for over 10 years and brings deep expertise in typeface design and development.

Together, they previously founded Scribble Tone, creatingplatforms and custom typefaces for Design Portland, XOXO Festival, and Marmoset Music. Both served as adjunct professors at Portland State University, and teach type and marketing workshops.

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Ways Into Practice is a podcast about design by @bielkeyang

Featuring in-depth interviews with established professionals sharing their personal journeys into the field. Aiming to provide a holistic understanding of the design industry and empower aspiring designers to make informed decisions about their own professional paths.

Photo by Sage Brown (@sagebrown)