Delusional Optimism, Ignorant Confidence (with James Junk)

Fast X your seatbelts! The only graphic designer in Los Angeles, Andrei Dominiq (better known as James Junk), sits down with Sean to talk about his design mistakes… as well as inspirational Photoshop tools, getting trapped in a box of your own creation, and Los Angeles’ angels and demons.

You can find Andrei’s work all over Instagram, where the James Junk account originated, at @jamesjunk.co. The James Junk account started with writing about mental health, and I was particularly taken with Andrei’s recent visual essay from early September, “Is It Too Late to Reclaim the Internet?”—give it a read here if you want to read more about the complications of making stuff that doesn’t happen to have the algorithm in mind. You can also see his larger portfolio of work, and get linked out to some of the other stuff he does online, from his website jamesjunk.co!

If you want to follow Westin Luca, you can follow them on Instagram as @westinthemascot. Though the Meatball Man is always seeking out followers, it is imperative that you resist his siren call.

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles, California, during AIGA Design Conference 2025. Special thanks to Lee-Sean Huang and AIGA for inviting me to attend, and to all the new folks I met there. An even more special thanks to Andrei for being generous enough to host me at his home for this recording—this literally wouldn’t have been possible without you!

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