Evolution of GitHub's Octocats and Intellectual Property Insights

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Exploring the journey of GitHub's iconic octocats, from personal designs to a team effort, and discussions on intellectual property rights in creative work. Delving into the speaker's experience with parody stickers and the cautionary tale of receiving a cease and desist letter, highlighting the complexities of legal actions and creative freedoms.

Wes and Scott welcome Cameron McEfee, a seasoned creative director whose journey spans GitHub, Sentry.io, and the innovative realm of JavaScript plugins with his creation, GuideGuide. Cameron explores plugin building, iterating on the iconic Octocat for GitHub, and shedding light on the multifaceted roles of a creative director.

Show Notes

00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
01:06 Who is Cameron McEfee?
03:00 What does a Creative Director do?
09:47 In a creative and collaborative field, how do you deal with hurt feelings?
12:32 Experiences at GitHub (404/500 pages).
15:35 Who is responsible for all the Octocat variations?
GitHub Octodex
17:18 Did you ever get in trouble for using famous IP?
21:07 Working at Sentry.io.
25:08 What is your illustration process?
27:04 What is GuideGuide?
GuideGuide
Moo Tokenizer/Lexer
33:13 Grid Notation.
36:10 Can ‘good colors’ be calculated, can good design be math’d?
40:46 What was the process of building your own plugin?
43:37 Adding guides with JavaScript APIs.
44:44 Recreating application UIs within plugins.
GoodHertz
50:22 How are you architecting these plugins?
52:44 Sick Picks & Shameless Plugs.