Our guest is Craighton Berman, a designer, illustrator, and founder of Manual, a company that makes objects for slow living. He has been based in Chicago since 2002.
In this episode, Craighton speaks with host Christian Solorzano from his new studio at Workshop 4200 in Belmont Cragin, a space he laid out as a map of how he thinks. He traces his path from the Virginia suburbs of DC to Chicago: studying engineering because that’s what he thought you did, then hearing from a teacher that his drawings were what industrial designers do, and finding the industrial design program at Virginia Tech. He also shares how The Far Side and Mad Magazine shaped him, and why he still reads those Mad issues with his kids.
Craighton talks openly about a hard couple of years: tariffs stalling Manual, giving up a studio, and finding his way back through teaching senior thesis research at UIC and making new work. He explains Manual as a reaction to making everything friction-free, and why he values the ritual and craft of doing things by hand.
The conversation also takes on the future of design. Craighton worries about AI pulling the ladder up on junior designers, describes what his son asked him about whether there would be a place for him in design, and admits to holding two ideas at once: he critiques the technology and also uses it. He closes with what’s bringing him joy, from Theaster Gates’ Land School to NTS Radio.
Craighton’s work is also featured in our new magazine, Faculty, available now for pre-order.
Music by the band Eighties Slang.