The Quickie - Conversations with Designers

Today's guest is Josh Ashton, a Digital Creative Director from Atlanta GA. Mr. Ashton, Josh's dad was an artist so he grew up around art and painting. During this interview, we talk about leading teams and creative processes. Not just your own, but as a creative leader, managing and cultivating the processes of designers you are working with. He also shares with us a story that we can all relate to. Noticing red flags at the beginning of a project, yet choosing to downplay them. Josh tells us about the project that he is the most proud of also. It involves a fabric company and the US Olympic Sailing Team. yeah...

Part 2: Today's guests are Todd Berger & Lucian Föhr from Berger & Föhr in Boulder CO. If you haven't listened to Part 1 of this interview, you don't want to miss that. Head back to that one first and hear all the stories leading up to this. During this episode, we talk about the start-up they were a part of called Ello. They share the struggles they experienced with that and the strain that it put on their relationship. It has recently sold and they have started the studio back up again which has its own struggles that they share with us. Todd and Lucian share with us the branding project for the state of Colorado they were a part of that did not go well. Surprisingly, that same project is also the one they are the most proud of and they tell us about that. I also ask them about partnership disagreements and that is when we talk about micro fights.

Part 1: Today's guests are Todd and Lucian from Berger & Föhr in Boulder CO. They are 50/50 partners and their studio is 50/50 art and design. They are fresh off of launching a new art exhibit of their work in CO so I'm stoked they could spare some time to be on the show. During this episode, they each tell us how they got into design and some of the initial struggles with starting their studio. Todd and Lucian share what it was like to have a relationship with their design Idol that started completely out of the blue. They share a bit about their process for new projects and the 1 logo concept comes up again. So much packed into this! 

Today's guest is Todd Demulling, Illustrator and Design Director at Ultra Creative in Minneapolis MN. Todd has been the guy behind Trix Rabbit, Lucky Charms, and some of your favorite cereal box characters for the last 20+ years. We talk about his love for comic books that he actually kept a secret when he was younger, and how comic books are still an inspiration to him today. Todd also tells us about a fairly recent project where he got to turn his regular cereal box characters into Star Wars characters for a recent movie promotion. Think Trixess Leia, Honey Bee Darth Vader. This is also the project that Todd is the most proud of.

Today's guest is Lauren Griffin, a freelance graphic designer with a passion for illustration, typography, and tacos, under the name Typogriff. She originally was going to get into studying surgery and the medical field but ended up following her heart to design. Lauren tells us about how vintage books, and specifically, books on type are a huge inspiration to her. She tells us about having structure as a freelancer and the importance of getting dressed! Just get dressed like you are going into an office. We also talk about her participation in Eureka! A California Graphic Design Story with the Hoods and Friends being the project she is the most proud of. 

Today's guest is Jordan Sondler, an Illustrator, dog owner, and gummy candy lover in Brooklyn NY. In this episode, we talk about her new book called "Feel it Out" and the challenges that came along with creating it. Jordan shares a with us the moment she was able to meet her design idol and what that was like. She also talks about a series that she started doing through her Instagram stories for mental health month, but has become a huge way for her to be open, honest and connect with her audience through illustration. 

Today's guest is Chris Sauvé, a Creative Director in Los Angeles CA. Chris was actually born in Vancouver and attended Emily Carr University. He also lived in New York for a number of years and shares stories with us about freelancing through the recession in NY, and some incredible non-traditional fashion shows he and his friends put on. Chris has a love for books and goes back to them often for project inspiration. We talk about his time at AdBusters when he was doing work for Art Galleries and Artists such as Banksy and how it was his entrance into the art scene. Chris then shares a story about the highs of having one of his t-shirt designs picked up by a Canadian retailer, only then to wake up one morning to huge controversy about that shirt, and it getting axed from the retailer. Wild Story!

Today's guest is Connor Fowler, logo and brand designer from London EN. Connor tells us around the age of 9 or 10 he was the only kid in art class getting briefs from his teachers before projects. We also talk about the dance metal band Connor was in and how his entrance to design was through creating merch for that band. He tells us about the influence that Aaron Draplin has had on his design career and why he is drawn to him and his work. We talk about Connor's One Logo concept and gives his reason why he doesn't give the client options or different versions to choose from. The story he shares about a challenging project from his career is one that will resonate with lots of designers too and learning how to spot the red flags. 

Today's guest is Daphna Sebbane, a Graphic Designer from Austin TX. Daphna is a big part of the AIGA community in Austin, she tells us all about the design scene there. We talk about how Daphna was brought up around astrology and tarot and how they influence her designs today. She also tells us about the first time she really started noticing design was on CD album cover art. We talk about the project she is most proud of being a recent one for the Parks Project. They raise funds to support projects in National Parks across the US. Daphna also loves hiking and has a goal to hike in all the National Parks across the US. 

Today's guest is Craig Valentino, a freelance designer from TGIM, Thank God Its Monday in New York. Craig has a huge passion for design and his energy really comes through in this episode. We talk about the lessons he learned with his first few design jobs as well as a bit about his process. He tells us about how he always wanted to do design for a brewery, so he created designs for his own "homebrew" which got him attention and the brewery gig he wanted! Craig also talks about one of his early inspirations being the Lipton Brisk collector artist series cans. Lots in this one! I also love his ask-it-forward question at the end. It made me think about my desire to sometimes get back on press and print something!