Curious Findings
An exploration of curiosity—and its role in design
Jason Pamental (@jpamental) | Principal Designer @ Chewy.com
beyond tellerrand düsseldorf, 5 May 2025
curiosity
[ kyoor-ee-os-i-tee ]
latin: periergia
a strong desire to know about something
an unusual and interesting thing
set the stage
a word that has been part of my consciousness and identity all my life
My uncle Karl played the guitar, and dad wanted to learn so he could play with him
He wanted to make things, so he taught himself woodworking
He taught many things, but on a trip to Japan to study corporate management styles he discovered a love for the people and the culture.
As he learned more about the role of women in Japanese society he developed courses about it and those classes were constantly filled
This transformation came in the last years of decades behind a lectern
Driven by his curiosity
Teaches philosophy at University of Tennessee
One of the core Philosophical Virtues related to beginning inquiry
Virtues are akin to habits: teaching yourself how to do something
So a virtue then is an excellence or a skill
Curiosity is something a little more, a little different: it's a wondering
You could even say an emotion
But can you teach it?
It felt to me like it was a tool for the course, not the subject
So what is curiosity?
I started to poke around
The more I read, the less I knew
“our innate love of learning”
Cicero—Roman philosopher
first century BCE
a Renaissance man, before its time
“the impulse towards better cognition”
William James—Philosopher and psychologist
Late 19th century
Father of American psychology
“the propensity to be dissatisfied with one’s lack of understanding, but not discouraged by it”
Justin Weinberg—Philosophy professor
Teaches today at the University of South Carolina in the US
or one of my favorites
“a kind of aimless, witless tendency to pry into things that didn’t concern us”
Aristotle—according to British writer Philip Ball
From his 2013 book 'Curiosity : how science became interested in everything'
Or we could talk about KINDS of curiosity
intellectual curiosity
is there such thing as too much Linotype material?
Ask Doug about it sometime (but clear your calendar first)
idle curiosity
how much can I eat?
perhaps a rhetorical question
morbid curiosity
how many is too many?
but these are all just descriptions
“Despite its pervasiveness, we lack even the most basic integrative theory of the basis, mechanisms, and purpose of curiosity”
Celeste Kidd & Benjamin Y. Hayden, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester
From their 2015 manuscript 'The psychology and neuroscience of curiosity'
So then, really—what is it?
A trait or habit to be formed, practiced, nurtured, and fanned
And what about in design?
I asked some folks
Brian Goldberg
Teacher, design critic, cyclist, raconteur
I met Brian while on a bike ride about 10 years ago
My 'Storytime with Goldberg' ride titles on Strava have developed a bit of a reputation
There is never an instance when something is mentioned in passing that doesn't spark an anecdote
Apparently this includes something about armed border patrols in the Netherlands—will find out more on Thursday when we ride there
“how do we distinguish it from whatever click-bait, scrolling, algorithmic wanderlust seems to consume us today?”
musing while walking with Li Jun
“curiosity is ‘shallow’; depth comes from rigor, discipline, and working with structured forms of knowledge
Not sure I believe my own argument, but there it is, for now”
this from an architect, designer, polymath, and most recently, a potter
not sure I believe his argument either
Erik Spiekermann
Typeface designer, typographer, cyclist, tinkerer
'Stop Stealing Sheep' was the first book on typography I ever bought
Met Erik for the first time when speaking at Typo Berlin
Am always impressed with his energy and creativity
“When I’m asked about my foremost characteristic, I always say ‘curiosity’—in German ‘Neugier’ which literally means the Greed for the New”
In his words:
It always made me query everything, learn as much of as much as I could and never take No for an answer.
It also meant that I never finished a proper education
years at University studying English, History of Art, Architecture without graduating
doing an apprenticeship as a typesetter/compositor in the afternoon while at High School in the morning, without getting the certificate after 3 years.
“the best people I have worked with have always been naturally curious”
it's gets on people's nerves because you, you dig deeper and, you can't avoid gathering knowledge
So curiosity is totally my main motivator
And I think it's a prerequisite for being a designer
“If you have a natural curiosity, you come by all sorts of things that you weren’t supposed to know about”
on learning from your clients and their customers
you have to get to know your clients—they're the ones who know their business
embedded with a bank in Frankfurt in 79 or 80 for weeks
talking to people in the lift, in the canteen
you make connections they never would, just by talking and asking questions
“Why doesn’t anybody make beautiful books that are affordable?”
so we figured it out
Built a laser to make 50x70cm polymer plates - big enough for an 8 page signature
Figured out how to bring high-tech and Heidelberg together
Still figuring out all the applications (including LP covers for a label in Japan)
David Jonathan Ross
Typeface designer, teacher, speaker
I met him at ATypI Warsaw in 2016
He was one of the early explorers of the world of variable fonts, so we partnered a lot
He's been successfully designing typefaces for many years,
he wanted something to consistently push him to experiment—and a way to gauge interest in new typeface ideas early on. So he created the Font of the Month club
“I’m not intentionally being curious”
but I have intentionally set up my design practice in a way that allows me to [explore]
What I loved about our conversation was how clearly his curiosity comes through without his ever consciously focusing on it
On Warbler
the typeface you’re reading right now
I had a lot of pieces of the family from my Font of the Month Club subscription
But I wanted the whole family as a variable font to use for this talk so I bought a license
The whole is _definitely_ more than the parts
“There were periods where I was regenerating a new version every five minutes or so, just to see how my small changes would play out at the target size”
but he’s not being curious
On client work
talking about UI fonts for clients and the club
“How far can you stretch a design before it stops feeling like that design? And conversely, how much personality can you get away with in a font made for small sizes?”
but he’s not being curious—really
“I wonder…”
ironically enough, Philip Ball writes that it is a far more acceptable concept
David may not consciously use the word curiosity, but he does say this a lot
“Wonder was far more significant, the true root of enquiry”
Aristotle, according to Philip Ball
This was something my brother talked about too
Curiosity's role as one of the Virtues is that of instigator
But I had one more conversation on Friday I had to share
Doug Wilson
Designer, film-maker, cyclist, author
I first met Doug when I reached out about arranging a screening of his then-newly released Linotype Film in Providence
We hit it off pretty immediately, and have worked together on a few things for Monotype over the years
Just generally someone I try to spend time with whenever I get the chance (NYC, Boston, Brisbane)
“I don’t think questioning or curiosity was strongly encouraged, which I think is strange”
maybe that’s part of where mine came from
On growing up in a religious Midwestern family in the US
“I have learned to follow this curiosity and trust that it will lead me somewhere”
The Linotype Film came out in 2012
The book will come next
He's not done learning yet
“I will die not reading every book that I want to read, and learning everything that I want to learn—and that kind of bums me out”
I relate to this so much it almost hurts
And what do I think?
Prior to my role at Chewy, I spent 20 years running teams and hiring designers and developers. The number one thing informing my hiring decisions? Curiosity.
It drives what you’ll know tomorrow—that you don’t know today
when I was seven, one day I didn't know how to take apart my bike—but the next day I did
when I was 31, I didn't know how to restore an old car—but by 32 I did
when I was 37, I wasn't an expert in web typography—until I was
all of this stemmed from an effort to understand something I as yet did not
practice that effort
And THAT is what will ensure you'll continue to grow as a designer
curiosity has no gate
everyone can be curious
start with asking one question
then maybe one more
questions get you thinking about answers and underlying reasons
that sparks ideation
that sparks creativity
curiosity isn’t little or big
it doesn't have to be on a grand scale
I've tried writing something every week (web typography newsletter)
I've tried reading something every day (mostly succeed)
I've tried to make a small piece of art every day for the last 15+ years
curiosity isn’t bad or good
you can be a good designer and not be curious
you can be curious and still be an ineffective designer
but if you _practice_ curiosity, you will always be able to grow
with growth comes potential for _better_
curiosity is yours
curiosity is a continuum
it permeates everything in your life
by asking the question 'could I understand this better?' you open yourself to growth
with growth comes agency—in your work and in your life
to borrow from our wonderful host, 'stay curious'
curiosity is ours
How does it impact critique?
For the critic: coming from a desire for understanding
For the presenter: fresh perspective, questioned assumptions
Curiosity as a driver of innovation
Can you do something? Why not? How else might you?
"The art of looking sideways" by Alan Fletcher
Seeing oblique connections and making novel associations
curiosity is ours
So when is it 'done'?
For some, when the knowledge gap is filled
For me, what occurred to me recently is it never truly is
I'll never know everything about making a perfect cup of coffee
But as I learn more about the process, our mornings improve
I may never know how to typeset the perfect page for every text, every reader, every context
But I can know more tomorrow—and share it
I may never give the perfect conference talk
But this one will be better tomorrow—because I gave it today
thank you
slides: noti.st/jpamental/9vbzNq
“The best way to be interesting is to be interested”
Dale Carnegie, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”
