Students of Design

Lauren is a lettering artist, muralist, food stylist, and trained chef based in New York City. Throughout her career, she's worked with clients including Airbnb, Target, Vans, Mailchimp, Adobe, White Claw, and many more. Lauren has also done an incredible job of monetizing passion projects like Daily Dishonesty, Ex Boyfriend Tears, and Will Letter for Lunch. In fact, landing a book deal worth 25K for Daily Dishonesty was a big reason she was able to leave her advertising job and pursue a career as a lettering artist. It all makes sense after you realize she made money in middle school from customizing her classmate's sneakers with bubble letters, and sold thrifted clothes from her parents' front lawn while she was in high school. Total entrepreneur at heart! Lauren was also a mathelete, grew up watching her grandmother clip coupons, she makes a mean apple pie, and found her prom dress at a flea market. She even landed a client while dressed like a hamburger at a Halloween party she almost didn't go to, but that's a story for another day. Despite all her success, she's not immune to imposter syndrome, is still working to separate her self-worth from her income, and spent time working as a dog walker in Brooklyn after she left her full-time advertising job. But that didn't stop her from traveling the world, going to culinary school, or getting the phrase, "Work Hard. Snack Often." tattooed on her arm when she was 23. Tune in for a conversation about how time is an essential ingredient for cooking and creativity, why raw ravioli is a part of her origin story, and how she earned $69,000 in a single week by teaching online. Follow Lauren on Instagram @homsweethom , and check out her portfolio of work on her website: homsweethom.com . Questions for this interview. How have you changed as a person since graduating from culinary school? Have you nerded out that hardcore about anything since you nerded out about off-grid hydroponics? Can you draw a parallel between time's relationship to cooking and to creativity? Why did a pack of cold ravioli hit you with the cold, hard truth on your kitchen floor at 3 am? Can you tell us about Trash Alley and highlight your grandmother's biggest concern for your Flour Crown passion project? Can you explain your Passion to Paid digital course, and also tell us how you felt when you woke up the morning after launching it for the first time? Can you share your perspective on how to separate your self-worth from your income? Where do you draw the line on how much you care what other people think of you? Can you think of any advice you would share specifically with women that you don't typically share with men, but would be helpful for men to hear? Who do you think is an absolute wizard of creativity and has a career you can't even comprehend? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Colby is a designer, illustrator, dungeon master for hire, and Art Director of Print Innovation for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast. So, besides my partner Meg, Colby is the closest thing to a Wizard I've ever met. lol. Anyway, before joining Wizards, he was a Creative Director and Co-Founder of Jolby, a design and illustration studio he started with his best friend Josh Kenyon. After 12 long years at Jolby, he decided to step away to rediscover his "why" and realized he was spending most of his time writing and playing tabletop games, which convinced him to pursue a role at Wizards. However, long before becoming a professional dork, Colby drew characters from Nintendo Power Magazine like Link from The Legend of Zelda, popped his first pack of Magic cards in 1995, and wanted to be a Sunday morning comic strip artist when he was a kid. Fast-forward through hundreds of D&D sessions, therapeutic Post-It notes, and video games, and Colby has partnered with Nike, Pixar, Nickelodeon, Google, and many other impressive clients throughout his career. He lives by the "Rule of Cool," knows how to "Ride the Weird," and self-published his own light-hearted gothic "Karma Crawl" called Chadwick and the Southern Scourge. Tune in for a talk about following his passion for storytelling and tabletop games, why he stepped away from a design studio he co-founded, and how playing D&D can help you become a better creative professional. Worst case, you get to hear us be reasonably cool-sounding dorks! Follow Colby on Instagram @colbynichols , and check out more of his work on his website: colbyhichols.com . “You’re gonna need good people way more than you’re gonna need good talent.” Questions for this interview. What are your Top 3 The Legend of Zelda games? Can you tell us the story behind the Post-It note that became your lighthouse, and what you wrote on it? After leaving Jolby, how were you feeling about the industry when you started looking for a new job? Did you have trouble re-entering the job market? How are you handling the transition from working with so many different clients at Jolby to working in-house at Wizards, where a single brand identity is your focus? How do you balance emphasizing Secret Lair cards with special finishes and the complexity of the artwork itself? Can you give us the background on Mood Swings and tell us about your involvement? Why was working on that game a dream come true for you? Where can you improve as a creative leader? Are there any weaknesses you’ve been working on? Which creative hill do you hope designers are still dying on a hundred years from today? How does playing or writing about D&D fuel your creativity, and how do you think D&D can help someone become a better creative professional? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Tyler is a creative leader, art director, and illustrator born "in the sticks" of South Carolina and now based in Los Angeles. You might be familiar with his personal brand, The Creative Pain, an outlet that he uses to process the hurdles, burnout, and doubt that come with the creative journey. Luckily, Tyler grew up with his cousin, Darby, and they competitively pushed each other's creativity. Obsessed with skateboarding culture, Tyler collected graphics and stickers, and even made his own skateboarding wax without burning the house down. Lol. Like most creative professionals, he studied design in college, Francis Marion University in his case, and he's taken risks throughout his career, like leaving a full-time agency job to move across the country and become a full-time freelancer. His work is full of illustrations of donuts, 90s cartoon characters, and his dog, Iggy, and he's partnered with Adobe, Wacom, POSCA, and StickerApp. Tyler has also created artwork for The Black Keys, Jack White, and Paul McCartney, and he's no stranger to the corporate design world, having worked as an art director on Nickelodeon's consumer products team. At Nickelodeon, he created product guides for some of the network's biggest IPs, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Tune in for a talk about growing up in a town of 750 people, learning to look at design through a consumer-product lens, corporate design misconceptions, and the difference between isometric, dimetric, and trimetric perspectives. Follow Tyler on Instagram @thecreativepain , and check out more of his work on his website: thecreativepain.com . “There is no design without discipline. There is no discipline without intelligence.” Questions for this interview. How do you think your workshop at Crop Conference went? How did the reaction make you feel? As someone with over 160 thousand Instagram followers and who has worked with some of Nickelodeon’s most recognizable IPs, how does a conference like Crop inspire you, and what kind of value do you get from it? What’s your favorite thing to teach people that isn’t related to illustration and design? Do you ever think about how much different your career would be if you had grown up in a city instead of a small town with fewer opportunities? What steps did you take before leaving your full-time agency job, and how much money did you save beforehand? How did you feel when you found out Nickelodeon wanted YOU? Did you notice a change in your confidence? Can you break down how Chris Groll taught you to look at design through a consumer-product lens, and explain why that’s still helpful today? Can you think of any misconceptions or opinions you had about working in corporate design that turned out to be false? How long did it take you to learn when to stop adding texture to your illustrations, and how do you know when an illustration is complete? Can you explain the difference between isometric, dimetric, and trimetric, and then talk about how you create perspective with a custom grid? If you could only keep one, would you keep the ability to create mood boards or the free transform tool in Adobe Illustrator? What are you seeing enough of in the creative industry, and what would you like to see more of? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Blake is a designer and art director in Minneapolis with over 10 years of experience working at the intersection of brand strategy and identity. He's the most heavily tattooed person I've interviewed, and he literally traveled across the world to Australia to get tattooed by one of his tattoo heroes—RESPECT. After growing up with computer games, doing kickflips, and helping his grandfather tap trees for maple syrup, he studied graphic design at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. After college, he found himself working in corporate packaging design, and a year later, he took a calculated risk by leaving his full-time job for a design internship at Sussner, a branding firm in Minneapolis. Like us, Blake's been through burnout, low-paying gigs, and he's sacrificed more of himself along the way than he realized. Thankfully, he has a portfolio of strategic design work that helps offset those sacrifices. Blake's stepfather is a tattoo artist, so tattoos have always been a part of his life, and they are quite literally THE reason he pursued graphic design—more on that in the interview. Tune in for a talk about Crop Conference, the benefits of using Framer vs. Squarespace to build your portfolio, takeaways from designing brand identities for private clubs and golf courses, and the story behind a logo he designed for a former mobster. Follow Blake on Instagram @blakespiegel and check out his Framer website spiegeldesign.co . "Deep down, we're all just a bunch of bones. What really makes us different is what we do with them." Questions for this interview. Have you ever been to a design conference? What're you hoping Crop Conference will be like, and what do you want to get out of the experience? Which National Park was the highlight of the 4,000-mile road trip a few years ago? During your junior year of high school, your dad said something that changed your career path. Can you tell us what your dad said that day, why you trusted his advice, and why you haven't regretted it since? Why do you look up to Sam Clark? Then, can you share the story of meeting him, and tell us what you made for him? You made the jump from Squarespace to Framer. Can you talk about the learning curve, why you made the switch, and the advantages of using Framer over Squarespace? What is visual rhyming? Can you explain what you mean by that? Looking back, how did you grow beyond low-paying gigs, and what advice would you give someone experiencing that right now? Can you give us an overview of your role at Sussner and talk about what you enjoyed most about working in the private club industry?\ I read that the strategy and design for Thunderbird Country Club took 3 months. What did you do during those three months, and how did you balance honoring the club's past while creating its future? In general, what are some of your biggest takeaways from working at Sussner? Did you learn anything from Derek that you'll remember throughout the rest of your career? What do you wish you had learned in college that was missing, and what would you add to the program if you had that ability? You designed a logo for a former mobster, George "Cowboy" Martorano. What's the origin of that relationship? How did you get involved, and what can you tell us about George's story? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Dora is the Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director of Hybrid Design in San Francisco, and the Co-Founder of Super7. Over the past 25 years, her studio has worked with some of the most recognizable brands on the planet, including Nike, Apple, Google, YouTube, LEGO, Amazon, TED Conference, The North Face, and many more. Interesting, it all almost didn't happen because she originally chose to study film instead of design at The University of North Texas. Luckily, she met her husband Brian, was exposed to the world of graphic design, and switched her major. I'm glad she did, or else I wouldn't be holding a copy of her studio's monograph, Hybrid: Curiosity in All Things. It's an absolutely beautiful book, filled with amazing work, insights, behind-the-scenes content, and the purpose and inspiration behind everything they do. It's so packed with thoughtful material that it made the interview prep MORE difficult, not easier, because there's SO much amazing work to discuss. Dora has many influences, like Charles and Ray Eames, punk rock, Swiss design, Star Wars, and so much more. Hell, she even listens to Slayer while driving her kids to school, lol. However, one of my favorite things about Dora is that her approach to creativity and her work sits at the intersection of design, content, and culture, guided by the belief that curiosity and play are essential tools for solving real business problems. Tune in for a talk about collecting junk mail, why curiosity is an organizing principle for Hybrid, grid "mathemagic", and why working for Nike in the mid-90s was such a special time in her career. Follow Hybrid Design on IG @hybriddesignsf , and check out more of their work on their website hybrid-design.com , and buy a copy of Hybrid: Curiosity in All Things from victionary or your local bookstore. "All projects change. All projects are fluid. All problems are different. Asking questions is the only way forward." Questions for this interview. Can you tell us the story about saving all your junk mail before meeting with the CEO of The North Face for the first time? Can you shed some light on the planning process for The North Face printed catalogs and discuss some of the considerations your team had to make before stepping onto a photoshoot set? Why is curiosity an organizing principle for Hybrid Design, and how does curiosity show up in your studio and the work you do? What were Hybrid's internal conversations like about the destructive nature of the perforated pull-tab on the front cover of the Mohawk Maker Quarterly #13? Do you struggle with feeling like every new thing you make has to be better than the last thing you made? If so, how do you manage those feelings and keep them from becoming a distraction? Can you explain "Grid Mathemagic" and give us your best PSA for grid systems? Can you tell us what Object Quality means, and explain why we would do better to think of our print work as object design? Why was your time at Nike so special, and how did working there during that specific time shape the creative person you've become? What's the difference between a campaign that simply solves a problem and one that stops us in our tracks? How can we connect inspiration to our work, and how do we leverage it to strengthen it? What happens if we loosen our grip and share creativity instead of trying to own it? Which aspect of the business of design were you awful at 24 years ago, but great at today? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Martina Flor is an award-winning lettering artist, author, and educator living in Berlin. She also hosts the Open Studio podcast with over 200 episodes, and she's spoken at over 70 conferences across the globe, including TEDx, Adobe MAX, TypeCon, and many others. She's a lettering POWERHOUSE and has helped thousands of creative entrepreneurs become lettering artists and take their creative businesses to the next level. However, she wasn't always the super-confident person she is today, and it's taken her over a decade to fine-tune her creative business. Way before specializing in lettering, she was a creative director, but eventually hit a breaking point and needed a change in her life. So, she moved to the Netherlands to study type design at the Royal Academy of Art, and moved to Berlin after graduating. There, she started calling herself a lettering artist, joined a group of typographic aficionados, opened her lettering studio, and hasn't looked back since. Martina's an avid reader; in fact, she's written many of her own books, like The Golden Secrets of Lettering , The Big Leap , and Make It ! Her favorite letter to draw is "M," and she can tell you all about the 3 main groups of letters: rectangular, rounded, and triangular. Like so many of us, she thrives within constraints and believes that no brief is the worst brief . Tune in for a talk about why an email list is the most powerful asset for a creative business, how trying to become Ken Barber helped her discover herself, and why printing a set of new business cards changed her life. Follow Martina on Instagram @martinaflor, download free lettering resources on her website: martinaflor.com , and sign up for her FREE annual workshop series, The Lettering Design Roadmap , at martinaflor.com/masterclass . "If not now, then when?" Questions for this interview. Can you tell us about your Free Live Workshop Series, The Lettering Design Roadmap, and talk about how that series is different from your signature course, The Lettering Seminar? How can someone who considers themselves a graphic design generalist benefit from learning how to draw letterforms? Can you give us a better understanding of your revenue streams and, if possible, a rough percentage breakdown of the overall income they each contribute? Will you explain the importance of an email list and talk about how you use your list to support your business? So, considering lettering didn’t have the following and support it has today, how much pressure did you feel to create lettering that met the typographic community's standards in Berlin? Why did Ken Barber's workshop make such an impact on you, and what can you remember about his visit? Where does your confidence and positivity come from? You saw your mom become a successful teacher and school principal. How does it feel knowing your kids have a similar opportunity because they can see you’ve built a successful lettering business? How can someone use the four cardinal directions to improve the balance of their lettering compositions? Where does readability fall on your priority list when you’re lettering or drawing letterforms? How did something as simple as printing a new set of business cards change the way you felt about yourself? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Deja is the Founder and Creative Director of Dejamakes Creative Studio in Chicago. Her focus is on the brand and web design, and she primarily works with small business owners and founders who've DIY'd themselves into oblivion and have realized they're ready for a brand experience that combines strategy and storytelling. But before starting her career in sports advertising and eventually working for her dream company, Twitter, Deja played D1 basketball for the University of Pennsylvania, so she's a hooper, y'all, don't get it twisted. Since evolving from an athlete to a designer and saying "peace out" to Elon and Twitter, she binged-watched everything on Bravo (shoutout to Dorinda Medley lol) and is out there making things happen on her own. Between lattes and walks with her dog, Goose, she's crafting thoughtful brand identity systems, wedding invitations, and short-form content to help you get to the next level. Tune in for a talk about how a "fork in the road" led to her decision to leave the corporate girly life behind, how saying yes to design changed everything, and how she measures progress and success for her design studio. Follow Deja on Instagram @dejamakes , and check out more of her work on her website: dejamakes.com . Remember. Quality over quantity, and the numbers don't lie. Questions for this interview. Can you tell us about the kind of small business owners and founders you typically work with? Who's the GOAT between Jordan, Kobe, and LeBron? If you look back on your time playing basketball at UPenn through a professional lens, how has being part of an organized, competitive team helped you run your design studio today? Thinking back, what convinced you that you could make it on your own? Had you already done something to prove to yourself that you could? Can you tell us about the time you tried selling merch featuring famous people and got a cease-and-desist? How do your live mood board sessions work? Do you do that with all of your brand identity clients? Can you walk us through your approach to writing your website copy? What do you feel is the most important thing to communicate to potential clients visiting your site? Why do you limit the number of projects you take on? Do those decisions have anything to do with quality over quantity? You also design wedding invitations, but don't advertise it. Did you intentionally bury that information on your site? Why is that information so hard to find? How has your intake and onboarding process changed over the past 4 years, and how has it improved? Can you tell us about your shift to a "Numbers Don't Lie" mindset and what that means? Which aspect of the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business program do you feel best aligns with an area of your business where you find yourself struggling, and how do you think you'll benefit from participating? Can you share information for a few women of color we should be following and paying attention to? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Tad is an illustrator, designer, author, and self-proclaimed BBQ snob from Kansas City. He co-runs a design and branding studio with his wife Jessica called Carpenter Collective. Their team has worked with companies like Macy's, Publix, Adobe, Hallmark, Coca-Cola, and MTV, among others. You've likely seen some of the illustrations from his SUNday Suns series, and if you've heard his Midwest vernacular, you might know the meaning of "Ope," "Alrighty, well," and "All good, no worries." His father, a Creative Director at Hallmark International for 41.5 years, is his biggest inspiration, and his mother is also an artist who works with fiber, so it's safe to say Tad would probably have been thrown out of the family if he hadn't pursued a creative career, lol. On a lighter note, he loves photos and videos of dogs driving cars; he believes the sausage biscuit is one of the most fantastic fast-food items ever created, and he won a drawing contest for season tickets to the Kansas City Chiefs when he was in the 3rd grade. Tune in for a talk about Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que, why he thinks you should work for someone before working for yourself, his studio's ping-pong approach to design, and the gigantic hole left behind after completing his SUNday Suns series. Follow Tad on Instagram @tadcarpenter and @carpentercollective , and buy his book, SUNday Suns, art prints, and gig posters on his website carpentercollective.com . "Happiness is not a function of what you achieve. It's a function of how you spend your time." Questions for this interview. What was your best or favorite piece of advice to give students on the first day of the semester? Why do you think it's essential for recent grads to work for someone before they work for themselves? How do you and your wife, who is also your business partner, manage client work between the two of you? Do y'all work on everything together, or do you each direct your own projects? What do you say to a client, or what do you ask to find out if they are willing to take risks? Can you tell us about your Two Pizza Rule and explain why it's important to you? You once said, "Complacency breeds death. I want that fire, I want the pressure, I never want to stop climbing." Do you still feel that way? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Ram, aka Oversettext, is a graphic designer and content creator in Fresno, California. Shoutout: Lucena. He's probably best known for his 365 project; he designed one poster a day for an entire year. However, I discovered him through his "You know what font that is?" videos on Instagram. He loves Futura Condensed Bold, like LOVES, and he's an advocate for our rights to use Comic Sans without career-ending judgment. Fun Fact: Way before Ram designed vinyl album packaging for Kings of Leon, he worked for a newspaper called The RAMpage. Shoutout: Dympna and FCC. I know, it sounds made up, but it's true. It's as true as his recommendation to start listening to Alan Watts's lectures, and his current beef with illustrations of characters with rubberhose arms and legs. It's even as true as the fact that Ram will be a presenter at Crop in 2026. Get your ticket at cropcons.com . But, fr. What I respect most about Ram's work is the messaging behind it. The best way to experience it is to scroll through all 365 of the posters he designed from 2021 to 2022. You'll find an Air link to all 365 posters in his linktree. Some of my favorites are No. 204, 254, 263, 296, 302, 336, 349. UGH, there are too many to list. Seriously, go check them out. Tune in for a talk about how much "fixing" other people's designs sucks, what he learned from his 365 project, and the weight of responsibility from over 250,000 social media followers. Follow Ram on Instagram @oversettext , watch his videos on YouTube , and buy a shirt on oversettext.com . Fun Fact: Photoshop doesn't crash if you're pure of heart. Questions for this interview. Is there something happening in the design industry right now that’s lingering on your mind or getting under your skin? Feel free to destroy a design hot take if you want. What do you want to say to the people who think you’re trash at playing Fortnite? How did your technical skills as a designer improve, and in contrast, how do you think you grew as a person by completing your 365 project? Why did you almost quit 11 days into the project? Why was your design for poster No.27 specifically the one that made you stop and think, “WOW, now THIS is ME?” Was it difficult for you to come up with a design for the final poster, number 365? Do you think they’re just lazy, or do you think they’re scared? Why do you think they’re holding themselves back? What’s a legitimate regret you’re living with or something you’d do differently because it haunts you to this day? What kind of gravity or responsibility do you feel as someone on the internet with over 250,000 followers? Does the thought of that many people consuming your content affect what you choose to say? Is it nitch or niche? Where do you rank the “I Can Has Cheezburger” meme on the list of greatest designs of all time? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Jen is a Nashville-based independent type designer and resource creator for creative business owners. You might be familiar with some of her best-selling typefaces, like Perfectly Nineties, Editor's Note, and Founder's Hand. However, long before her formal education in type design from Type@Cooper, Jen got her start on Creative Market. She created and uploaded font after font, even though she didn't know the rules and guidelines of type design. The best part is IT WORKED, because people bought and used her fonts, and that was enough to inspire her to keep doing it. Surprisingly, Jen only wanted to make enough money to pay her water bill and eat at Chipotle once a week. But now, brands like Sprouts, Victoria's Secret, Kohl's, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Sweetgreen are using her typefaces. She's come a long way from wanting to be an orthopedic surgeon in Colorado; her love for type design has gone from hobby to career, and she's LITERALLY sold a digital product every single day of this year. Tune in for a talk about getting started on Creative Market, her struggles with tying her self-worth to her income, and finding the balance between making type that's accessible for everyone and becoming a world-class type foundry. Follow Jen on Instagram @jenwagnertype , and explore her typefaces on her website jenwagner.co . If you sign up for her email list, you'll get 20% off your first order! Questions for this interview. Which of these options do you think affects readability more: a combination of font size, leading, and line length, OR a combination of color, weight, and stroke contrast? Jen, who the hell do you think you are, thinking you could get accepted by Type@Cooper with no formal education in graphic design or typography? So, if you compare your designs from a few months before and after attending Type@Cooper, how did they change, and how are they better? Can you think of something you learned from being a type designer that you wouldn’t have learned otherwise, that is also something you believe every regular-ass graphic designer should know? How bad were the first 25 fonts you made and uploaded to Creative Market? If you knew just a little more about type design when you were getting started, do you think you would have gotten in your own way and held yourself back from releasing your first 25 fonts? What changed with Creative Market around 2021, and why did you feel it was the right time to explore different options? How many of the last 30 days would you say someone licensed a typeface or purchased any kind of digital product from you? You've struggled with your self-worth. Have you gained enough experience and confidence to grow out of that way of thinking, or do you still find yourself struggling with that perception of yourself? How difficult is it to balance making type that’s accessible for independent designers with a desire to be known as a world-class type foundry? How often do you design a typeface and think, “This is it,” this one’s gonna be my new best-seller, only to realize, nope, no one’s interested in buying it? Can you identify your typefaces immediately when you encounter them in the world? Have you ever come across a typeface you thought was yours but turned out to be someone else’s? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

James is an author, type designer, and the founder of OHno Type Company, a digital type foundry based in San Jose, California. You might license some of his wildly imaginative fonts, including Beastly, Ohno Fatface, Degular, Polymath, Regrets, Obviously, and Hobeaux. Before he got his start in the bowels of graphic design, James studied design at California College of the Arts. Then he learned how to cast typographic spells while attending the Hogwarts of type design, AKA Type Media at the Royal Academy of the Arts in The Hague, Netherlands. James is also an educator and a podcaster—check out his podcast, Ohno Radio —and swears that Canson marker paper is holy in the world of sketching. If you geek out over naming, you'll be excited to learn that James almost named his foundry "The Spaghetti Factory" or "The American International Type Company." I don't know how to make those options make sense, but hey, man, back OFF, Life's a Thrill, and Fonts Are Chill. Tune in for a talk about James's number one rule of letterspacing, his father's love for toasters, and the dominance of low-contrast sans-serif typefaces. Follow James on Instagram @ohnotypeco , purchase his fonts on his website ohnotype.co , or add them on Adobe Fonts , and read this blog post if you want to get started in type design. THEN, read his book, The Ohno Book: A Serious Guide to Irreverent Type Design , to level up even more. Questions for this interview. Why do you design a specific set of characters before others, and how does that make you more efficient as a type designer? Can you explain the “Counterspace Equals Letterspace Technique,” also known as your “Rule #1 of Spacing?” Another technique is something you call “Three at a time.” Why three, and what do you mean by that? Which of these do you think is less important? Spacing or drawing good vectors? Why shouldn’t someone digitize their letterform sketches in Adobe Illustrator, and what makes applications like RoboFont and Glyphs so much better? Can you tell us what you learned from Jesse Ragan and his process for vectorizing a typeface called Showcard Stunt? Your father was an English teacher for 40 years. What did he say he should have been instead? Do you think you’re following your passion in the way your father didn’t follow his? What you do as a type designer is very specialized. Have you ever felt like you backed yourself into a corner or regretted not becoming a more well-rounded designer? Selling fonts on your website generates around 50% of Ohno's revenue, and Adobe Fonts accounts for another 40%. Is this still accurate? Can you explain how Adobe tracks sales and how that works? Why wouldn’t a type foundry choose to distribute with Adobe Fonts? How do you decide which ideas to pursue and actually turn into digital fonts? You recently released a book called The Ohno Book: A Serious Guide to Irreverent Type Design. Who’s it for? What’s inside it? What are we gonna learn by reading it? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Maya is an author and multi-hyphenate creative leader based in the San Fransico Bay Area, specializing in art direction, brand design, and illustration. Today, she's a Brand Design Lead at Yahoo, but she also worked at Lyft, Asana, and Square. WAY before working at any of those places, she spent the weekends at her grandmother's playing Sonic the Hedgehog and drawing Powerpuff Girls and Sailor Moon. She's also obsessed with 80s, 90s, and early 2000s pop culture, and has an affinity for hard edges, shapes, color blocks, and vibrancy. Recently, and in response to the murder of George Floyd, Maya spent three years writing and illustrating her book called The Anti-Racist Vocab Guide: An Illustrated Introduction to Dismantling Anti-Blackness. An excellent resource to learn more about terms like assimilation, blackface, privilege, tokenism, and white supremacy. Tune in for a talk about her career as an in-house designer in the tech industry, showcasing culture in your work, how writing grounds and influences her visual directions, and the salad bowl theory. Follow Maya on Instagram @mayaealey , find brand design on her website mayaealey.com , and buy her book, The Anti-Racist Vocab Guide: An Illustrated Introduction to Dismantling Anti-Blackness , online. Questions for this interview. In general, how were you able to string together such a solid list of companies to work for? (And) Looking back, is there anything that you believe you did (really) well that helped you get those jobs? What would you say to a college student who’s hesitant to take an in-house job or a mid-career designer considering a transition from agency life? What’s waiting for them in the in-house world? If you had to start looking for a job tomorrow, what signs would you look for that tell you a company truly cares about creativity and design? You often start your process with words and emphasize writing over visuals. Why do you do that, and can you explain how that approach helps you shape your visual direction? What about the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s still speaks to you emotionally or visually? What advice would you give someone who wants to showcase culture in their work but doesn’t quite know how to incorporate it? Your mother emphasized the importance of your education and self-sufficiency. How have those ideas influenced your creative career over time? Can you give us some context behind why your book exists, what it’s a response to, and what you hope people take away from reading it? How did you balance clarity with depth, especially when simplifying terms that carry so much history and weight? Can you help us understand the difference between the salad bowl and melting pot theories? Suppose someone’s in the middle of an interview process and they’re concerned about a company's commitment to diversity. What can they do to figure out how important diversity is to the company they’re interviewing with? Or what would you do? What have the most inclusive environments done well to make you feel seen and supported? Are you still holding yourself back? Are you still on the journey to authenticity? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Olga is a Ukrainian-born and New Jersey-based muralist and lettering artist. Thanks to her godfather, she began painting at the age of six and has been an artist ever since. She has created artwork for notable clients, including Crayola, Snapchat, Tillamook, Coca-Cola, Trader Joe's, and others. Olga spent nearly a decade working in the magazine industry, and she reviewed a lot of resumes during that time. One time, someone's father called Olga to ask why she hadn't hired his daughter for a job opening. YIKES! After branching out on her own, and after hundreds of murals and lettering projects, she has a basement full of paint and way too many pens and pencils to know what to do with them. She's also a firm believer that Alphacolor makes the most buttery and saturated chalk you will ever find. Some of her book recommendations are "In Progress" by Jessica Hische, "The Lettering Manual" by House Industries, "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg, and "The Body" by Bill Bryson. Once upon a time, she was afraid of dogs and highways, but has replaced those fears with a love for bunnies, hiking, and typography. Tune in for a talk about fundraising to support those affected by the invasion of Ukraine, how to use toothpicks, tweezers, and paintbrushes to refine food lettering compositions, and what to do when a client tells you to create whatever you want instead of giving you any type of direction. Follow Olga on Instagram @olgamuzician , and check out more of her work on her website: olgamuzician.com . If you're interested in learning how to make art with food and objects, you should take her tactile lettering class on Skillshare! Questions for this interview. Did you ever think lawn signs would help lead you to such a meaningful mural in your career? Regarding the invasion of Ukraine. How're you doing? How're you holding up overall? Can you share some of your feelings about what's happening over there? How did it feel to see your work take on that kind of public and emotional significance? Can you explain what tactile lettering is for anyone hearing that term for the first time? What's the most surprisingly cooperative food you've worked with, and which one made you want to quit halfway through? Can you walk us through how tools like tweezers, toothpicks, and a paintbrush help you refine food lettering compositions? How often do the foods you want to work with influence the words within a design? Or do you usually come up with the messaging first and then select the most appropriate foods to match those words? What went wrong when you tried to add the finishing coat to your hand-painted skateboard? You painted a challenging set of murals for HoneyStash. Could you elaborate on the challenges of that project and explain how the viewer's vantage point made it difficult to paint those murals? What questions do you think we should ask ourselves before agreeing to a project with a low budget? Or, in other words, how do you decide if it's worth it? Is your mural minimum still $3,500? How do you handle a client who doesn't have a clue what they actually want and just tells you to do whatever you want to do? What made you feel successful, or what would make you feel that way? Is it a particular income amount? Is it a specific type of work or a specific client? Is it something else? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Kory is the Creative Director and Founder of Park St Studio, a design studio based in Phoenix, Arizona. His wife, Kasey, is also his business partner, and she played a significant role in establishing the processes and practices that streamline the studio's operations. They have a great story of how they met, and together, they've worked with apparel brands, breweries, coffee shops, and the Phoenix Suns, among others. Their focus is on branding, packaging, merchandise, and custom illustrations, and Kory's come a long way since his childhood days of spray painting on particle board in his backyard. He's a fan of DKNG, David Walker, Benny Gold, I Am Sloth, and Wacom products, and he would love to have dinner with Ellen DeGeneres because he thinks she's hilarious. Here's his favorite quote: "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." Tune in for a talk about taking your design business to the next level with a CRM, learn precisely when he talks to his clients about how much money they should pay him, and he breaks down how he handles discouraging feedback without losing his confidence. Follow Kory on Instagram @korymiller and his studio @parkststudio . You'll find more of his work on his website: parkststudio.com . Party on! Questions for this interview. Can you explain what Kasey does for the studio, talk about her expertise, and describe how her skills complement yours? Eventually, Kasey stepped away from her job to devote all of her energy to Park St Studio. What was that transition like for both of you? Was it stressful, exciting? How do you remember feeling? How do you interact with clients so they feel like you're a part of their team, rather than just a person they've hired to create something for them? How did you feel when you realized you weren't the only person who didn't have it all figured out? What is it about the way you approach those conversations, and why do you think clients feel comfortable with the thought of working with you? How quickly and at which point in the process do you start discussing money if the client doesn't bring it up first? What advice would you give to someone trying to determine the value of their work? Is there a process, a technique, or an approach you've picked up from another studio or agency that has helped you run your business more efficiently and better overall? So, when a client lets you know you've missed the mark, how do you process discouraging feedback without letting it shake your confidence? You painted a mural in the middle of an active construction site. What was that experience like, and what was your biggest takeaway from it? Can you explain how your use of Instagram has evolved, and also touch on how you've used the search feature, hashtags, and other accounts to help you find new people to work with? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Nathan is a seasoned Illustrator, Artist, and Designer living in Austin, TX, and surprisingly, we never crossed paths while I was living in Austin. But I bet we were in the same place at the same time and never even realized it. His artwork draws inspiration from urban culture, graffiti, street fashion, and sports. At the same time, his use of texture and exaggerated character features adds a gritty New York City vibe to his illustrations. Nathan's list of clients includes the NBA, NFL, New Balance, Under Armour, Nike, Timberland, and other well-known brands. Besides reminiscing about cartoons from the '80s and '90s or classic G.I. Joe packaging, he enjoys sitting down for a meal at Jeffrey's Grocery. He's also the only person I know who has participated in a 4-hour design competition on YouTube for a chance to win $10,000. Tune in for a talk about why he was afraid to label himself as an illustrator early on in his career, why a part of him belongs to New York City, and how he almost derailed a design competition by asking to use the restroom, lol. Follow Nathan on Instagram @atpcdesign and check out more of his work on his website: alltheprettycolors.com . Also, "Don't Never Not Give Up". Questions for this interview. Do you think most people have the perception that you're only an illustrator, and do you feel like the rest of your skills are underrecognized? Having lived in Dallas for a bit, is any part of you a Dallas Cowboys fan? You've created artwork for the Dallas Mavericks. Can you explain how you got your foot in the door with the Mavs and describe what you made for them? When illustrating basketball players, how do you decide which details to emphasize to make a player recognizable? How do you break down movements like a crossover or a reverse layup into something static yet still dynamic in your illustrations? What is it about New York City that captures your attention, and how does the city influence you? Could you explain the concept behind the Trio of Time series, and then tell us about the inspiration behind the idea for your timepiece? Did that project teach you anything new, and what challenges did you encounter when designing for such a small mechanical footprint? You were on a design competition show called Card Stars. What did you know and what didn't you know about the competition before it started? Was the competition the first time you've ever sat down to create within such a strict, uninterrupted block of time? How stressful was the experience of working within a strict time limit on your slow-ass laptop, with cameras rolling, people shuffling around, and the weight of trying to do your best work for a chance to win 10,000 dollars? Making your family proud was essential to you. Do you feel like you did that? Which collaboration felt the most like a true reflection of your own voice as an artist, and why? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Adam is the Principal and Creative Director of Vicarel Studios, an artful branding and graphic design studio in Denver, Colorado. He loves avocados, even though he was willing to cut them (and feta) out of his diet early on in his career to be more frugal. RESPECT. Adam has worked with notable clients like NBC, lululemon, New Belgium Brewing, SYFY, and Native Roots Cannabis Co., and he believes "If you're thinking about doing a thing, you probably should have already done it." We hung out in Austin earlier this year, had some drinks, I told him about the biological father I can't find, and then he snuck off to the restroom to take a sip of whiskey from his flask—frugal. I'm kidding, the flask part didn't happen, but it's 100% believable. One of my favorite questions I asked him in this interview was about how our work expands to fill the available time we allot it. Tune in for a talk about four near-death experiences in four years, why he rebranded and repositioned his studio in 2020, and the most significant amount of money he billed for a single project. Follow Adam on Instagram @adamvicarel , connect with him on LinkedIn , and subscribe to his almost weekly newsletter at vicarelstudios.com/newsletter . Yeah, dawgie! Questions for this interview. Can you tell us why someone held you up at gunpoint and how you felt in that moment? You were involved in a car wreck. How would you rate the safety of your 2019 Kia? Could you explain Parkinson's Law and share your thoughts on it? There was a time you described your work as an artful implementation of strategic design. Why did you decide that wasn't working, and how have you refined the way you talk about your studio since then? Can you share why you felt the need to rebrand in the first place and what your objectives were in trying to reposition yourself? Which templates or practices would you implement sooner if you could go back in time? If you think back on your life and your career, what are some of the reasons you were resistant to taking action? What's the budget or dollar range you hope a majority of the projects you accept fall within? How fearful have you been that you'll present finished ideas to a client and they respond in a way that makes you believe they feel like they're not getting their money's worth? Will you share the most money you've made on a single project? What does the phrase "chasing the fog" mean to you? Why do you view perfectionism as a form of procrastination and ultimately an excuse that many creatives use? Can you think of a time when giving first (without expectations) came back to you in an unexpected way? Can you tell the story of how you fucked up on The Real Housewives of Dallas, and talk about what you wanted to do on the show, but you didn't do? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Brooks is a SoCal-born and Colorado-raised Independent Designer and Illustrator based in Denver. For the past 10(ish) years, he's been the driving force behind Nowhere Land, an outdoor and adventure-inspired apparel brand and design shop. You can recognize his work by its bold colors and stylized landscapes that transform into the shapes of animals. I met Brooks this year (2025) at Crop Conference in Austin, TX, while we were reviewing student portfolios, and we almost got into a fender bender on our way to Via 313 for lunch. Luckily, the other driver recognized Brooks as the Skatepark Gremlin, and everyone calmed the hell down. Lol, I made that part up. We didn't talk about this, but I love how the compositions of his designs remind me of tattoos. However, something we DID discuss was what it was like for him to live and work out of his RV full-time. Tune in for a talk about reaching milestones by setting smaller goals, how he shifts his perspective when he realizes he's complaining about working for himself, and some insight into his process for making color palettes. Follow Brooks on Instagram @nowherelandsupply and consider sketching in the color pink, because Brooks does, and because it works. Questions for this interview. You're great at many things. What do you think you don't do so well? What was it like working for yourself full-time out of an RV? I'm pretty sure Starlink wasn't around in 2016, so how did you access the internet when you needed it? You thought you would work for The Duck Company forever. Why did you think that, and why didn't you stay there forever? You said you would rather struggle working for yourself than for somebody else. Five years later, do you still feel the same way in 2025? Can you explain what the phrase "short steps, long vision" means to you? When you find yourself complaining about working independently, what perspective or mindset helps you step back and appreciate the freedom that working for yourself offers? Baseball was your life until 19 or 20—how did the shift away from pursuing pro baseball open the door to art and design for you? What kind of inspiration and techniques have you pulled from different designers and illustrators? Do you still use a combination of Photoshop and Illustrator for your illustrations? If so, how do you split the work between those two applications for a typical project? How often do you lose work because of Photoshop or Illustrator crashing? Is it easy for you to remember to save frequently, or do you still get caught off guard? How much direction from a client do you need to feel comfortable getting started, and how do you push back when a client says "do whatever you want"? Can you walk us through where you like to sample colors from, or where you look for inspiration? How have the compositions of your illustrations improved over the years? The 10th anniversary of Nowhere Land is in 2026. What does that mean for you, and how does it make you feel? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Andrew is an Independent Designer in Colorado Springs who runs a studio called Impossibly Awesome Design Co. He specializes in logo and brand identity design, packaging, and illustration. Many of you know him from attending Crop Conference, and if you've been to The Springs within the past few years and had a beer at Bristol Brewing, you probably came across his work. I met Drew on October 15, 2022. Trust me, I found the calendar invite for our very first coffee hangout shortly after I moved to Colorado, and he's a big reason I was able to get involved in the local design community so quickly. Drew was also on my original shortlist of potential guests for this podcast, so interviewing him has been a long time coming. If you hang out with him long enough, you'll start to learn things about competitive volleyball, bourbon, the Rubik's Cube, and The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. One of the most fascinating things about Drew's creative journey is that he's completely self-taught. He didn't attend school for design, but he does hold degrees in marketing and finance. Finance? Yeah, finance. Tune in for a talk about the pros and cons of being a self-taught graphic designer, curating his (own) design curriculum, cherry-picking the best ideas from the people he admires, and tips for getting started on a project when starting doesn't feel impossibly awesome. Follow Drew on Instagram @impossiblyawesomedesign , and check out his portfolio website: impossiblyawesome.design . Questions for this interview. Why was the Bristol Brewing project the one that helped you feel like a true professional? You asked Nick Longo for help on that project. What kind of help were you looking for, and what advice did Nick give you? What kind of impact has Colin Christie made on your design career? What gaps or challenges have you encountered as a self-taught designer that you think could have been addressed in design school? How has being self-taught helped you as a designer? In other words, what are the advantages of being self-taught? Were there times when you seriously considered enrolling in a formal design program? What ultimately kept you on the self-taught track? How do you like to invest in yourself, and what are some examples of things you've spent money on to help you level up? Have you ever purchased a design course or a resource and felt like you didn't get your money's worth? Did you do anything differently this year in preparation for the Crop Conference or during the event compared to previous years? Do you remember which presentation at Crop was your favorite? Do you find it challenging to stay creative and consistently generate great ideas? Do you think working in-house or at an agency full-time would make it easier to stay creatively locked in, or do you think it would be even more challenging? When did it finally sink in for you that you can say no to the projects you're not super excited about? Do you have any tips for getting started on a project when you're feeling overwhelmed? Why is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield worth reading, and how can it help us break through creative barriers? Since getting married recently, is there a possibility that combining your incomes could expedite your decision to leave your day job and focus on Impossibly Awesome Design Co. full-time? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Marisa is a Chicana woman and the Creative Director behind If Only Creative, a Bay Area creative studio she founded in 2022. Her studio offers brand identity and packaging design, social media strategy and management, content creation, and trend-setting commercial photography. After serving ice cream, burgers, and coffee, and changing her major three times in college, Marisa attended the University of Huddersfield—which she claims is an amazing place, but I don't believe her—and earned a degree in Marketing. After living in England for seven years, holding roles at creative agencies and breweries, and spending thousands of hours listening to Miley Cyrus, she moved back to sunny California to focus on working with women- and POC-owned businesses that are impact-driven. Along the way, Marisa turned her frustrations surrounding the way people celebrate Cinco de Mayo into a special dinner series highlighting and honoring the ingredients and flavors found in Puebla, Mexico, called El Otro Lado. Tune in for a talk about her connection to the food and beverage industry, the effects of defining your core values, and how forming an advisory board of creative people she trusts has helped her grow her business. Follow Marisa on Instagram @ifonlycreative , and check out the delicious-looking work on her website: ifonly-creative.com . Questions for this interview. First things first. Have you met Miley Cyrus yet? What was your childhood like, and what can you tell us about how you grew up? Why did you pivot away from saying "Latina-owned" and start saying "Chicana-owned," and can you talk about the nuances of that decision? IF you consider your career, are you finally doing what your heart tells you you should be doing? Why does the food & beverage industry have such a firm grip on you, and why does your passion thrive in that industry? How did defining your core values provide clarity and direction for your creative work and your business goals? How do you check yourself to ensure that your approach to a client project is grounded in authenticity for both you and your client? How can you quickly tell if a client is more interested in the community or the competition? What does the phrase "impact-driven" mean to you, and can you give us an example of an impact-driven client you've worked with and how they make an impact in the world? Could you explain what El Otro Lado is and provide a better understanding of what frustrated you when you came up with the concept? What is your ultimate goal for the event, and what do you hope people who attend one of the dinners will take away from the experience? What are you looking for, and what are some essential qualities a designer needs to showcase when you're searching for someone to partner with on a project? Why did you create an advisory board, and how does it help you grow as a business owner? How did you discover you were charging at least four times less than the amount you should have been charging for your services? What can you do differently that you believe would make you a better leader? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com

Nicholas—Nick—is a Graphic Designer and founder of Miner Design Co., located near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He specializes in identity design, illustration, and packaging design, and works with restaurants, food and beverage companies, hospitality, and retail clients. Embracing discomfort has been a recurring theme throughout Nick's life, and much of his work ethic stems from his experiences living with his grandfather. He's a firm believer in "People Over Projects," and building relationships with his clients is more important than the dollar amount tied to each project. But, don't get it twisted, Nick's just like us. When he was younger, he wanted to build things with K'NEX for a living. He has a bookshelf full of design books that he doesn't reference often enough, he sent a job to print with a watermarked Shutterstock image in the layout, and he worries about where his next client will come from. Tune in for a talk about running his business, screwing up his taxes, and good old fashioned printed self-promotion pieces. Follow Nick on Instagram @minderdesignco , connect with him on LinkedIn, and see award-winning work on his website: minerdesignco.com . Questions for this interview. What does the phrase "People Over Projects" mean to you? Have you ever had a client demand a refund during a project? What conversation do you have with yourself, and how do you reframe rejection when a pitch or one of your proposals gets turned down or maybe even ignored? Would you recommend a troublesome client to a close design friend? How would you handle that situation? Is it something you've run into before? Your grandfather once said, "There may be men out there stronger or smarter than me, but nobody is going to outwork me." How do these words shape you and Miner Design Co.? Do you struggle to find balance between honoring that work ethic and knowing when to step back? Can you tell us the story of how your grandmother helped you redefine how you were marketing yourself and how she helped you get a job after graduation from LSU? You had a rough and uncomfortable childhood, and you moved seven times in high school. How did that volatility shape your ability to adapt and persevere in your career today? Surprisingly, you left your full-time agency job when your daughter was born. Why did you make that decision, and how did you and Katie prepare financially and emotionally for that transition? Have you ever made a mistake with your taxes? What was your biggest "aha" moment in your first year after going all in on Miner Design Co.? What part of the business still intimidates you in 2025? You recently posted a video on Instagram about your latest self-promotion piece. Can you talk about how it works, who you're sending it to, its versatility, and the cost of producing each one? --- If you LIKE what you hear, please subscribe and keep listening. Sharing this episode with someone is the best way to support the podcast. If you LOVE what you hear and want to help me keep the interviews coming—consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi . Also, I'm always looking for questions from listeners. If there's a burning question you want to hear answered on the podcast, please email it to me at studentsofdesignpod@gmail.com . Follow @studentsofdesignpod on Instagram for updates, episode drops, and behind-the-scenes content. The music you hear on the podcast is Accident by Timothy Infinite and PUSH !T by Nbhd Nick. studentsofdesign.simplecast.com