Today’s guest is Robin Goffman, a brand thinker and design strategist whose work spans brand development, visual identity, and book design. Through her practice, Studio RBG, Robin helps organizations bring clarity and intention to their brand expression across print and digital touchpoints. She’s also the creative director of Alina Wheeler’s Designing Brand Identity, sixth edition, and worked on the fifth edition when she was still a student at Temple. Robin and I met when Alina asked me to co-author the sixth edition with her.

I wanted to have Robin on the show for two big reasons. First, she has a unique perspective on building a career in design—one shaped by both formal education and hands-on mentorship. Second, she’s one of the few designers I know who truly understands the craft and complexity of book design, especially design for reference-heavy, large-format books like Designing Brand Identity (which we often abbreviate to “DBI”). Working with her over the past two years was a masterclass in layout, structure, and the discipline required to make a 300-page book feel cohesive.

In our conversation, Robin shares how she first got into design—a story that starts with a magazine her sister created in high school and a weekly tutoring session that introduced her to Adobe’s Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. She talks about studying art direction at Temple University, meeting professor Kathy Mueller, and the pivotal moment when Kathy connected her with Alina Wheeler. That introduction led to Robin joining the DBI team as a student and, ultimately, becoming a key member of the design team on two editions of the book.

We also get into what book design actually requires: the grid, the rhythm of the spreads, the balance of negative space, and the sometimes-grueling realities of file organization and image permissions. Robin explains how designing a book is less about creating one big visual idea and more about orchestrating hundreds of small, thoughtful decisions that add up to a seamless reading experience. As she puts it, it’s “more about the accumulation of all of the small and very thoughtful details that went into it to create that overall seamless experience.”

One of my favorite parts of the discussion is when Robin reflects on what she learned from Alina, both professionally and personally. Alina had a gift for making people believe in ideas, in each other, and in the work of design and branding professionals. Robin talks about how that contagious passion shaped the way she approaches projects today.

[Alina Wheeler] made people believe in things without really an agenda, without trying … She made you believe in just the idea of being passionate about things … not just being passionate but wanting to be passionate about things.”

—Robin Goffman

Click above to listen to the episode, and be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. To learn more about Robin and her work, visit robingoffman.com.

If you’d like to learn more about Designing Brand Identity, visit dbibook.com or find the book wherever you buy books.