Better: The Brand Designer Podcast
Jen Davis
Better: The Brand Designer Podcast, founded by Giselle Field of Wander Design Co. and Jen Davis, was founded on the belief that designers need community. We find that the branding world often feels secretive, competitive, and sometimes just plain old confusing. When we realized that our honest, soul-chat-level convos could potentially help other designers, we realized a podcast was only natural! Better: The Brand Designer Podcast was officially born.Giselle passed away during a climbing trip in Peru in summer of 2020. We encourage all listeners of our podcast to listen to our two Celebrating Giselle episodes. Giselle's adventurous, kind, funny, and supportive presence is missed every day—each and every episode that we record is dedicated to her legacy and her vision for this podcast. It is our honor to continue recording episodes in Giselle's memory and we know that she is with us every time we sit down to record.In winter of 2022, we welcomed Esther Knox-Dekoning from Sereth Design as a new co-host. Esther brought an incredible and fresh perspective to the pod—her transition from agency to design studio as well as her love for web design, sustainability, and world change brought new guests, ideas, and amazing episodes to our listeners. She departed the pod in spring 2023 to dedicate more time to her studio's growth, and will be greatly missed!Now, Jen runs the podcast solo and is beyond excited to continue interviewing guests, having interesting conversations, and sharing the behind-the-scenes of running her design studio.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 25, 2020 • 49min
S2 E4: Strategically Diversifying Your Income with Alex Cottles from The Routine Creative
Relying on one source of income as an independent design studio owner an be a slippery slope - Alex Cottles of The Routine Creative and Brand Mentor chats with us about why it's important to diversify your income, and how he achieves that in his own studio via multiple types of design clients and passive income like digital products and courses. Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Feb 18, 2020 • 40min
S2 E3: Typography, Typography, Typography!
Typography is one of the most fun (if not challenging) parts of our jobs as brand designers. We go over the vocab, resources, and chat about our favorite foundries and fonts.Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resourcesLinks Mentioned:Giselle’s favorite font books:Thinking with Type* The Elements of Typographic Style*Just My Type* Our favorite foundries:Hoodzpah Design: https://hoodzpahdesign.com/fonts/Pizza Typefaces: https://typefaces.pizza/VJ Type: https://vj-type.com/Type resources:Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80057883 TypeWolf: https://www.typewolf.com/Find my Font: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/find-my-font/id1224842785Myfonts: https://www.myfonts.com/What the Font tool: https://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/What Font Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/whatfont/jabopobgcpjmedljpbcaablpmlmfcogm?hl=enRightFont organizer: https://rightfontapp.com/*Affiliate links: using our link helps support our podcast at no cost to you
Feb 11, 2020 • 48min
S2 E2: Building Your Design Team with Kathy Luong from MADE BY WMN
Kathy Luong from the full-service creative studio MADE BY WMN chats with us about how to level-up your studio through hiring an amazing team, stepping into a leadership role, and attracting higher-paying clients.Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resourcesLinks Mentioned:MADE BY WMN: madebywmn.coMADE BY WMN shop: www.madebywmn.shop
Feb 4, 2020 • 46min
S2 E1: Setting Healthy Boundaries in Your Design Business
Owning a branding studio is fun - but being overwhelmed with the wrong type of work or getting burned out is not. We discuss how best to set boundaries for others and for yourself.Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Dec 3, 2019 • 51min
S1 E12: Answering Your Inbox Questions
We cannot believe the season one finale is HERE. We had a great time in this episode answering a lot of inbox questions from our Facebook group! Thank you all so much for your support not only for this podcast, but for everyone else in our group. If you haven't joined us in there yet, find the party here!Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resourcesLinks Mentioned:6 Figure Freelancer Episode Mentioned: https://avanimiriyala.com/affirmations-future-pacing/Scramble Book Mentioned: https://www.amazon.com/Scramble-agile-strategy-brands-record-ebook/dp/B07GZ81ZLN
Nov 26, 2019 • 51min
S1 E11: Attracting Dream Clients and Building Your Design Business with Abbey McGrew
We are excited to have Abbey from Wayfarer Design Studio on the podcast! Abbey is a master at attracting dream projects and spills all her secrets to us on how she does it. She also tells us her design studio's origin story, what she's learned, and how she's up-leveling to the next best version of her studio. Join us!Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resourcesLinks Mentioned:Abbey's Design Shop: https://thedesigneressentialskit.com/Wayfarer Design Studio: http://www.wayfarerdesignstudio.com/Wayfarer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wayfarerdesignstudio/
Nov 19, 2019 • 38min
S1 E10: How to Identify Good Clients and Avoid Red Flag Clients
We have a juicy episode for you today! Jen and Giselle share the top traits they learned to spot that their ideal clients share, as well as the ones they learned to avoid. You don't want to miss this one!Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Nov 12, 2019 • 34min
S1 E9: Our Favorite Time Management & Productivity Tips
Many of us brand designers work from home, so the distractions are everywhere. Whether you're a productivity wiz, or you simply can't keep yourself focused, we hope this episode motivates you to get those tasks done! How do we stay on track with timelines, juggle multiple projects and clients, and steer clear of distractions? Tune in to hear Jen and Giselle's tried and true productivity tips! Then share your best tips with us in the Better Brand Designer Podcast Facebook group.Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Nov 5, 2019 • 35min
S1 E8: Day in the Life of a Brand Design Studio Owner
This highly requested episode is here! What's it like to run a design studio, and in Jen and Giselle's case, at home? Tune in to hear about what a typical workday is like and how we accommodate our work life to better fit our lifestyles. Then join us in the Better Podcast facebook group to share what your typical workday is like!Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Oct 29, 2019 • 41min
S1 E7: Presenting Concepts to Clients
How do you present brand concepts to your client? Do you share three, seven, ten? Or just one? In this episode, Jen and Giselle discuss the Once Concept Method (more like, rave about it) and get a little deep about the psychology behind this method and why they've gotten great results from it.Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/Website: https://www.bettebranddesigner.com/Better Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
