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Hand-Lettering & Illustration
48:21 with Mary Kate McDevittMary Kate McDevitt, a hand-lettering illustrator, talks about how she bridged the gap between graphic design and illustration.
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[SOUND] Okay, yeah.
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Thank you so much.
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Thank you guys so much for being here.
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Thank you Creative South for putting together
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this amazing event and just general awesomeness and.
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Thankfulness and pleasure to be here.
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So, my name is Mary Kate McDevitt.
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I'm an illustrator and a letterer.
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And I like to say illustrator and letterer because
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while most of my work is lettering based, it's
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easier to say illustrator and letterer because it kind
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of gives you an insight of what I do.
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I illustrate letters.
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I live and work in Brooklyn, New York.
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And I share a studio with my boyfriend who is a screen printer.
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And he's been my printer since 2005.
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And he's been printing all my work.
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Even in my, even in college, my college projects.
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So I'm not a typographer.
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I don't make fonts.
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At least not yet.
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I've kind of dabbled in it, but it's
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very difficult making hand lettered fonts because hand lettering
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is something that is completely custom, something that you
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make all by hand, very project specific based projects.
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And fonts, it's like you have to have.
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It has to have like a more basic feel, so.
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I have cr, attempted some fonts, and they're not good.
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And it'll be years until I release something like that.
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I just use letters as the main subject for my illustration work.
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I do everything from book covers, editorial work.
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Chalkboard illustrations, greeting
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cards, covers of journals ad campaigns.
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This is something I've finished recently for Smart Ones.
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I did, these are all just stills of.
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These animated billboards I did that were in Times Square.
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And you can see on the right it's a, that's a billboard in Times Square.
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And
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here's a little animation.
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It's really, it was really fun seeing my lettering kind of jump around.
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And there's no sound because it was just in Times Square running.
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And I actually didn't do the illustration, I didn't do
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the potato chips another illustrator came in and did that.
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And this really goofy animation of a hand erasing everything.
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But it was really fun and it is amazing
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to see how lettering can work in different venues, and
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Everything like that.
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More ad campaigns, something I did for Nintendo.
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Sugar ad campaigns, because you need to know what kind of sugar to use.
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And a lot of personal work.
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I love coffee, so that's something I always go
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to when I need a topic for new work.
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And weird phrases I pick up from television shows.
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I am obsessed with News Radio.
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I've probably watched all seasons back to back so many times.
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This is just something weird that Bill McNeal
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said and it was around Halloween and I
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was like that's kinda spooky I'm just gonna
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make this illustration and it's something I just did.
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You know, in one night or something.
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And these are the tools I use.
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I keep it pretty basic.
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I don't really explore too much with different kind of brush
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pens or calligraphy opens because everything I do is drawn, not really.
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With like strokes, so, using a pencil to get my
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sketch down and I just used the uniball vision pen.
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I like it, it has a nice dark line
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and sometimes I use different fine, fine weight markers.
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But, that's pretty much it.
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And this is probably the closest thing I'll
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get to using a Syntec or Wacom tablet.
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This is my light table.
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It's real, it's a, if you're looking to get a light pad, this is the one to get.
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It has really perfect light.
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And it's nice and even.
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And it's not super bulky like a lot of them.
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But I like to keep my process pretty low tech even when
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I use Illlustrator and Photoshop, which I do for my coloring and texture,
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it's, I stick to the very basic tools, like I use, I don't
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use a pen tool to create any lettering, everything is done by hand.
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When it into Illustrator to really just to like
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pick colors quickly and kind of get everything down.
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And see the layout come to fruition.
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This is my favorite tool of all time.
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The good old number two Dixon Ticonderoga pencil.
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It's by my side at all times.
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My worst ideas, my best ideas and I always have 20 freshly sharpened
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pencils next to me because I think that's really important and I love them.
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A new pencil means better drawings.
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While this is completely not true, nerding out on new tools can make you better
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because when you get new tools, you're like okay, I need to do some drawings.
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I need to like practice.
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I need to see what this pencil, how this pencil looks.
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And that's something that will make you better.
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The more you draw, the better you get.
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And that is the only way to get better.
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So I did this drawing when I got a new pencil, and I was pretty psyched about it.
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Kind of like a fancier mechanical pencil.
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Still using my number two, but every once in a while, it's good to try new tools.
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So I've been freelancing for the past five years now.
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I started teaching some skill share classes, and I just
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published a lettering journal with
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Chronicle Books called The Hand-Lettering Ledger.
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And coming to talks like this, it's kinda forced me to
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look back at my process, how I've gotten to where I am.
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And one thing that stuck out to me most is that my unexpectations have worked for me.
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If expectations are a strong belief that something will happen in the future.
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Then unexpectations are a strong belief that nothing will
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happen in the future unless you make it happen now.
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Expectations sound good, but if you apply them
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to your life goals, it's scary as shit.
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I mean it's like when you have this
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extra pressure, it makes it difficult to continue.
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When I decided to go to art school.
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I didn't really know where I would end up, I didn't know what design was.
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I was just pretty good at drawing so I figured I would go to art school.
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When I decided to switch to freelance, I didn't know
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how I would be able to pay my bills, how
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I would spend my days, get clients, but it didn't
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matter because I knew that's where I was meant to be.
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Expectations can limit you.
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When you're expected to have this specific outcome, it's just that added pressure.
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But unexpectations are freeing.
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I come from the school of thought
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that things will work out, eventually, hopefully.
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And I know that if you work hard, to be
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doing what you wanna be doing, it will work out.
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That's why this quote by Conan O'Brien really inspired me.
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The full quote is Nobody in life gets
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exactly what they thought they were going to get.
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But if you work really hard and are kind, amazing things will happen.
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Don't let the fear of the future keep you from doing what you feel is right for you.
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That means saying yes to projects even if it
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doesn't pay well, even if the deadline is crazy short.
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Acting on inspiration, having an idea and just going for
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it and just being excited for something you want to create.
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And just being thankful this is what we get to do,
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even when someone is trying to suck out all of the fun.
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Even if it's 3 a.m.
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and you're working on a deadline while everyone else is out for drinks.
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We're all just basically winging it with confidence.
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Anyone who has gone to art school, became a
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designer, became a freelancer or just started a crazy
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project from this small idea, is familiar with this
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idea that the unexpected is better than the expected.
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Because this path is not cut and dried.
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We're not accountants, sorry accountants, I feel like every time
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I use an example that's the opposite of designers it's accountants.
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We need you we love you accountants but it's a different path.
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Where you work for X amount of dollars for X amount
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of years you get this kind of promotion and this kind of.
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Pay raise.
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There is no formula.
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With this field, you find your calling, go for it.
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Work your ass off.
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And reach your own idea of success.
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Many of us has been at a, many of us at one point in time have been
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in a position where you're worried about doing the
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work you feel like you're supposed to be doing.
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And not focusing on the work you could be doing now.
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The work that you actually love to do.
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And I kind of align this idea with any romantic comedy from the
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90s, or a Jane Austin novel if you want to be fancy about it.
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Where the main character has such a specific type of person she thinks she is
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meant to be with, she doesn't realize love was in front of her all along.
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So, in this case, Cher's the designer.
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Ty is the project.
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The objective is to make Ty fit in, find
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her a popular boyfriend, and give her a makeover.
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Cher's influence was from Mr. Hall.
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Because when she got a bad grade in class, led
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to her first project setting him up with Ms. Geist.
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Cher's inspiration was Josh, because he
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was teasing her about being so self-centered.
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She set out to do more good deeds.
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The conventional expectation is Elton, [LAUGH] the rich, popular boy
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who claimed he would never fit in with Ty anyway.
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And the unexpectation was Travis, the loadie who generally hangs
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out on the grassy knoll that no respectable girl ever dates.
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After it was official Elton was never going to date Tai, she was crushed,
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but she never even liked Tai to begin, I mean Elton to begin with.
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It made no sense.
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So this is the final revised version of Tai, a cross between
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inspiration and influence, a more polished version of her skater-girl style.
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Who.
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Ended up happily ever after with Travis.
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Who turned out to be good at skateboarding.
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And like had all these interest outside of drugs, which he quit at the end.
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Which is like kind of important for that to wrap up.
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And of course, and of course Cher ended
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up with an unexpectation as well, her stepbrother Josh.
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But they had to make it clear that.
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They were only for real step brother and sister for like a week.
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So, cuz in the original Jane Austen novel,
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I think they're like more official step, siblings.
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So if we all had a group of cheer high schoolers cheering, be yourself!
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You're too good for him!
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We might be better off but for now we have to step back and cheer for ourselves.
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Put the focus on small tasks to make progress towards your goal and you
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will expe, exceed your expectations, rather than
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putting the focus on the finished product.
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If you set expectations for yourself, especially when someone else does it for
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you, like Cher did to Ty, it's
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limiting, potentially disappointing, and just not fun.
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When you set unexpectations, anything feels possible.
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When I started lettering, perfection wasn't my goal.
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While I live design, I felt like I was attempting styles that didn't mean
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anything to me, because I thought that was what I was supposed to be doing.
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Working with slick styles and fonts and.
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Gilt fans, I don't know, that's how my design brain worked back in the day.
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I quickly found out that I should work how I like
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to work, using illustrations and textures, and that's how I started lettering.
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I just wanted to create unified designs.
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I had no idea lettering was like a thing, I
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just wanted to draw the letters so it matched my designs.
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So I was blending my illustration style and design taste with the letter.
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I wanted it to have a very of the
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moment feel and keep that inspiration apparent in my lettering.
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These are a couple spreads from a
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children's book I redesigned in art school.
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The book is [UNKNOWN] which was one of my favorite children's book growing
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up, If you have kids or not you should pick up that book.
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It's so magical.
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These are mini curls chalkboards which were my
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first personal project outside of school in 2008.
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At the time shortly after I graduated school
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in 2007 I was working at a design studio.
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I wasn't creatively fulfilled.
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I felt like I didn't have enough time to really do
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the things I wanted to do outside of, outside of work.
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Because at work I was more of a production designer
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doing e-blasts and skews and doing these layouts of flooring samples.
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And it was really not my cup of tea.
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So, I came up with the, this idea outside of
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work that I would just do two things in one day.
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Because nine to five jobs, they really can suck all the fun out of it.
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So I would just kind of write on a notepad
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or I had this big vintage chalk board in my apartment.
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And I would write two things i was gonna do, even if it was just grocery shopping.
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And working on a painting, going for a walk, going out to dinner
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with friends and just doing something that made me feel accomplished and special as
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little and minuet as they were and I kind of came up with
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this idea to make a product out of it I decided to make chalkboards.
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I love the vintage feel of these slate chalkboards I found.
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And I was increasingly interested in lettering and hand
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painted styles, so I decided to bring those ideas together.
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It didn't matter that I wasn't making a lot of money, or that it was
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a small start, but I loved making them and I was psyched about the idea.
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The chalkboards ended up on some of my favorite design blogs.
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That ultimately led me to my relationship with Chronicle Books who
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published the Mini Goals Notepad which was based off my chalkboards.
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This is a screenshot of the Mini Goals Notepad in 2010.
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The website doesn't look like this anymore, but I like
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to keep this screenshot because the website layout is so wonky.
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It's hilarious.
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The [UNKNOWN] notepad was sold at Urban Outfitters,
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so my younger cousins thought I was the shit.
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[LAUGH] It was also sold at Staples, so my
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Mom was like, okay you're legit now, it's at Staples.
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She's been collecting Staples coupons for like the past 20 years.
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I swear.
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So it put that thought in my head that
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I can perhaps quit my design job and start freelance.
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Even though I didn't really have a ton of projects
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lined up, I knew I was motivated to make more work.
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And I figured, Chronicle Books is a pretty good first
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client, so surely I'll be able to get some others.
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But I was able to save enough money.
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And I moved to Portland.
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And, I just decided if I'm going to go freelance, I'm just going to make it work.
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Move to Portland, where young people go to retire.
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I figured it was very fitting.
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And it was the perfect city for me at the time.
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Really affordable, such a fertile commun, a creative community.
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And.
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I really loved it.
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I continued to work with Carnival Books with my line of notepads and
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journals, all based on the theme of
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motivation and even celebrating the smallest accomplishments.
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This is the Carpe Diem journal and it kinda
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just pokes fun about doing your day to day tasks.
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Feels good to get some stuff done.
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I like some stuff.
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It's less pressure.
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It's like, if you do one thing today, that's awesome.
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Go-getters are sexy, because they absolutely are.
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If today goes well, you may go you out for ice cream.
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I'm thinking of doing an update like,.
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30 and up version, because I don't have as much ice cream as I used to.
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Can't, you gotta cut down on the sugar, you know?
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So I found lettering very freeing.
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Not only was it something I could obsess over in the
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world of design, the subject is already there, letters, words, quotes, whatever.
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And it's my job to illustrate the letters,
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and convey their message on a more conceptual level.
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I love to take the information I'm given, and
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present it back to the audience in a new way.
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New beautiful hand drawn way.
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Over time with hours of practice, exposure
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to more resources and reference material, and
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just more type in general, my lettering has gotten tighter than it used to be.
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But I still try to not take it too seriously.
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Sometimes I'll reference my older work just to like be reminded that
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you can, it doesn't have to have so much decoration or something.
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Or it can just be one hand-drawn letter.
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It doesn't have to be over the top.
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Which kind of reminds me of this, Picasso quote.
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Every child is an artist.
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The problem is remaining an artist once we grow up.
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And the problem is remaining an artist, being
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true to your style, from that initial inspiration.
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I've always been drawn to the naïve style.
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Folk art, and just the hand drawn style of handwritten notes and what have you.
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While I don't think exposure to new references hurt my work.
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I find myself wanting to let a line waver, a letter be crooked and off.
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Because, that is what I was initially inspired by, and I don't wanna lose that.
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[BLANK_AUDIO]
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[INAUDIBLE] That's one of the reason's I was, I'm
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drawn to chalk, the immediate nature of the material.
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I started getting lettering projects when I
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was posting them on [UNKNOWN] chalkboard online.
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I was getting emails like oh I saw your chalkboard
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online so do you do chalkboard lettering we have this project.
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And I'm like yeah, of course.
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So I was doing a lot of local jobs for
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like Portland Mercury and little jobs that had like chalk.
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Feel to it.
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Rachel Ray, Oprah Magazine.
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These illustrations were created for a [UNKNOWN] series by Puffin Books.
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Every year or so they do a new series inspired by specific medium.
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Tattoos, embroidery, and I was really happy to be brought on to do these series.
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So this is Black Beauty.
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A Christmas Carol.
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[COUGH] These were created on large chalkboards with colored chalk, which is a
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pain to work with because the pigment, doesn't erase like the white chalk does.
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Especially working in layers and having this very illustrative feeling.
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I wanted to have the titles work within the illustrations.
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I created this series with the emphasis on a
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background and middle ground foreground, to make it really cohesive.
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But I wanted to mix classic styles and illustrations, so it had a playful
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look, not too stuffy, since these are for Puffin, the young book reader division.
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And I really liked how these came out; I felt
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like they were really playful and had a lot of character.
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Here's some in progress, that is, that's my hand.
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The rest of the photos are just so terrible, I was not good
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about documenting this process, but I was able to get a couple of these.
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Something I've grown to differentiate in my
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career is the difference between inspiration and influence.
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Inspiration is a sudden moment of brilliance.
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Influence is what you reference that affects your work.
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Walking around surrounded by things you love, there are
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no expectations on how to create, live your live.
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But if you're browsing Pinterest, there are lots
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of expectations of how your work should look.
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How you should dress.
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Wear your makeup.
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Your kids, how to dress your kids, raise your kids.
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Your workout schedule.
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And while it can be helpful for reference and just get kind of unstuck.
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It's really important to find balance.
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When you start out you know what you like.
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You have specific taste and different designers and artist that you
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admire that kind of work in a similar style to you.
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But too much influence leads to comparison, envy,
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stress, which results in copying, quitting and insincere work.
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Let your taste drive you and inspiration lead your style and discoveries.
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This is just a screenshot of a Google search for
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fruit crate labels, and I kind of think this is a
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good way of kind of gathering specific reference material for
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a certain topic because you're not looking at one single image.
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You're looking at an array of images and
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fruit crate labels is kind of a good Google
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search because like the first five pages, there's like
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no images of porn or anything crazy or weird.
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[LAUGH] Like it's all just like beautiful fruit crate
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labels so it's kind of fun doing that search.
-
20:53
Looking at this, there's a wide array of images and right away
-
20:57
you have, you get an idea for color palates,layouts and style without focusing
-
21:02
on just one image and, kind of like referencing that completely so it
-
21:06
allows you to create your own work with your special spin on it.
-
21:09
This is another, Google search for a style called, I'm, this, Buenos
-
21:15
Aires term so I'm gonna butcher how it sounds, but it's, filatato, and it's this
-
21:22
beautiful style of sign painting that I'm just obsessed with, and there is
-
21:27
some weird images in this Google search, so I wouldn't go ten pages in.
-
21:33
This is a screenshot of my Instagram.
-
21:34
The images are collected from a wide spectrum of situations.
-
21:38
A lot of my cat, some of my work weekend activities and just random inspiration.
-
21:44
It shows complexity, my interests and tastes and
-
21:47
the things I care about which inspire me most.
-
21:49
And these are just some objects I have collected
-
21:52
around my studio that drive my inspiration and influence.
-
21:56
Collecting objects and being surrounded by things I love are helpful when
-
21:59
I want to step away and focus on something else to create.
-
22:02
Also taking walks around your favorite block in this city is really
-
22:08
helpful, too.
-
22:09
The most common advice I hear given, and that
-
22:12
I give, is that you have to work hard.
-
22:15
You have to work a lot of hours.
-
22:17
You have to work on gaining confidence in your work.
-
22:19
You have to work on making meaningful work.
-
22:23
There's a poster by Anthony Burrill that's been
-
22:25
hanging in my studio for the past six years.
-
22:28
It's work hard, be nice to people.
-
22:30
It has such a simple, to the point, I just love, I need it,
-
22:34
motivation and inspiration around me at all times, so I find that very important.
-
22:41
I make a lot of work around the idea of working hard and motivation.
-
22:45
It's been a consistent theme throughout my work and personal projects.
-
22:48
This kind of advice isn't life changing, but it's there
-
22:51
for a good kick in the pants when you need it.
-
22:54
Making this kind of work has been more for myself.
-
22:57
When I started freelancing and making
-
22:59
personal work, I struggled with not knowing
-
23:01
where to start so my motivation was
-
23:04
motivation for making my motivation poster work.
-
23:08
[LAUGH] And just being in a constant making frenzy.
-
23:14
Because it feels good.
-
23:14
I mean, why do we work hard as designers?
-
23:17
Is it money?
-
23:18
I wouldn't say many of us thought we would
-
23:20
be making bank being a designer or an artist.
-
23:23
And it can't be fame or success because you know, I think there's like
-
23:28
a saying that being a famous designer is a lot like being a famous dentist.
-
23:31
Like, no one outside of this room is gonna care about what we do very much.
-
23:38
Happiness?
-
23:39
That would be my best bet.
-
23:42
If you didn't make money and you lost all your Twitter followers tomorrow, we
-
23:46
would still be doing what we do because if I'm not making, I'm pretty miserable.
-
23:51
Because having an idea feels fucking awesome.
-
23:54
Because finishing something that was your idea feels like success to me.
-
23:59
When I'm in a creative rut or a life rut I think of this poster, feels good
-
24:02
to get some stuff done and I can usually
-
24:04
pull myself out with creative activities or life activities.
-
24:08
Sometimes, like, I have this in my apartment and I keep
-
24:12
it in the living room and it's like, eye shot with, uh.,dishes
-
24:17
so if I'm like sitting on the couch and there's dishes, and
-
24:19
I Iook at this poster I'm like, I should do the dishes.
-
24:22
It's just like, it's helpful for all situations.
-
24:26
So you're ready to work.
-
24:27
You're ready to work hard.
-
24:28
You have this idea and you're ready to get started and you look around on
-
24:35
Twitter, all right, your studio, and you see
-
24:37
everyone hard at work but you're feeling stuck.
-
24:40
Where do you start?
-
24:42
Chances are, you have all these possibilities in your
-
24:45
head about where this idea can go but nothing will
-
24:48
happen if you don't figure out your objectives and start
-
24:50
taking small steps to really let this project take off.
-
24:55
When do you start?
-
24:56
Immediately, if not sooner.
-
24:58
If I let an idea linger too long, it
-
25:00
gets passed down the to-do list and easier to ignore.
-
25:04
You're aren't rushing into anything if you're starting with the small steps
-
25:07
and if you're feeling overwhelmed, break it down into even smaller steps.
-
25:10
More manageable steps.
-
25:13
How do you work hard?
-
25:14
Getting started is half the battle but be passionate about it.
-
25:18
Make this idea important to you.
-
25:20
If you don't give a shit about it, maybe it's not something worth pursuing.
-
25:24
Move on to a new and better idea.
-
25:26
The harder you work in the moment, the less you worry in the future.
-
25:32
So I get asked a lot about how I learned lettering.
-
25:35
I did the cover of this book Little Book of Lettering which was fun and amazing.
-
25:42
Basically having a background in design and then understanding
-
25:45
of type has been very helpful and also, like my
-
25:49
interest in illustration, I feel like lettering can sometimes be
-
25:52
a good design and illustration, think, you know, working together.
-
25:58
But I've always had a fascination with historical
-
26:01
references which is something I use in my work.
-
26:03
I used to pretend, when I was little, that the space under
-
26:07
my stairs in the basement was my little house on the prairie.
-
26:10
To this day, you'll find inscribed on the
-
26:13
wall, the Ingalls and you'll also find TLC forever.
-
26:19
So, I don't know, it's always been a constant battle about what era is best.
-
26:23
Living as Laura Ingalls or a world without knowing not to go chase waterfalls?
-
26:29
[LAUGH] I'm a collector of ephemera, goer to flea markets, I love old books.
-
26:34
Anything with interesting type on it I would pick it up.
-
26:38
I had, when I started out I found this book
-
26:41
called, Advertising Tins and it's just filled with interesting goodies.
-
26:45
It's basically a book for antique collectors, to kind of find the value of
-
26:51
their advertising tin or, what Alan Peters would call i,t anything with badges on it.
-
26:57
Actually when I was, I moved into an apartment in Portland and in the basement
-
27:03
I found this old condom tin, and I looked it up in the book, it's worth $100.
-
27:09
[LAUGH] Found it in the basement, such a good find.
-
27:13
The best way to start to learn something is to really give it a go.
-
27:17
The first attempts are gonna be ugly.
-
27:19
Maybe in a good way.
-
27:21
Maybe in a way that you need to keep going.
-
27:24
But the first, even the first thousand attempts may
-
27:27
be a little off and maybe worth looking over again.
-
27:30
[BLANK_AUDIO]
-
27:32
My process allows me to keep things fresh, and room for new ideas.
-
27:36
It's not rocket science, but I find it helpful
-
27:39
to follow a process, especially when i'm feeling particularly uninspired.
-
27:43
So the first step is doodling and these are some, this is like a random page in
-
27:48
my sketchbook for the poster I did with design
-
27:52
for cancer and I started out writing words cause
-
27:57
I was trying to come up with some copy writing to do and I ended up just choosing
-
28:02
hope, strength, courage, because those are the three words
-
28:05
that kind of, stood out to me most and
-
28:08
it's kinda hard to see on this, projection but, there's
-
28:12
just some like sloppy sketches, some quick ideas, some, like,
-
28:15
little, like, flourishes that I think could work and it
-
28:20
basically just starts in this like doodling slash thumbnail phase.
-
28:24
And sometimes I'll just take the hope and I would just letter
-
28:27
it over and over and over again, its like a little warmup.
-
28:30
And this is the sketch I ended up doing.
-
28:32
I try and do as tight sketches as possible so
-
28:35
when I get to inking, I'm making as little decisions
-
28:38
as possible and I'm focusing on creating consistent line weights
-
28:42
and really just getting a good tight ink drawing down.
-
28:46
And this is the final.
-
28:49
But being more methodical in my process allows me to keep
-
28:51
from stipping, skipping steps just to get to the end result.
-
28:55
It can be tempting to just ink it up and start adding color and
-
28:58
texture but it may result in a
-
29:00
poorly drawn illustration without an emphasis on concept.
-
29:04
Following these steps, especially when I was getting started has, allowed
-
29:09
me to get better by spending more time with my illustrations.
-
29:13
I do sometimes have projects that are more spontaneous
-
29:15
when I have a clear vision of what I want.
-
29:17
Similar to that, eyes are the,
-
29:22
window to the skull.
-
29:24
I forgot what the heck it was.
-
29:26
When I have a clear vision of what I want.
-
29:28
But it never hurts to do more exploration.
-
29:32
So this is my recently published Hand Lettering Ledger with Chronicle Books.
-
29:36
It's a helpful journal to anyone interested in lettering,
-
29:40
to practice and guide creating your own hand drawn style.
-
29:45
I go over the tools I use.
-
29:47
Basically, I keep it pretty simple.
-
29:49
The, some of the terminology that you use,
-
29:52
I think like, when I'm doing lettering, I keep
-
29:55
it very like, do-dads here and random squiggle
-
29:59
here and it's good to have some better, terminology.
-
30:03
When I'm working with clients they don't really know that
-
30:06
terminology, so squiggles and do-dads is kinda what we use
-
30:09
but I do sometimes drop some knowledge and say like,
-
30:14
oh the dot of an eye is called a tittle.
-
30:16
Did you know that?
-
30:19
And I have a bunch of examples and processed images in
-
30:23
the book, I created like 100 custom illustration for this job.
-
30:28
And, while the copy writing is pretty
-
30:34
random and nonsensical, I really like, I love getting projects where I
-
30:39
get to do some copy writing, because, as a
-
30:40
letterer, it's surprising how little I actually get to do.
-
30:44
I'm usually told what to letter.
-
30:47
So, a lot, there's a lot of references.
-
30:49
And does anyone know Mr Show?
-
30:52
Sketch comedy.
-
30:54
Scams and Flams is from that.
-
30:55
Just like random things like that.
-
30:58
For the sign painter style, more than just a steady hand.
-
31:02
Just something I kinda came up with that was fun.
-
31:06
And there's also tips throughout the, books.
-
31:10
So you can explore different serif styles, different ways to draw drop shadows.
-
31:17
So, in my Skill Share class, I emphasize trying
-
31:20
new styles to fit what works best for your concept.
-
31:24
So, this is the warmup I did for my Skill Share class.
-
31:27
In my quote, it was, I had the word, electric.
-
31:30
So, I basically just went with the lightning bolt theme.
-
31:34
It's a good exercise for beginners.
-
31:36
When I'm starting out a new project, I'll often
-
31:38
explore as many styles as possible and I kind
-
31:41
of have, like, ten go to styles that you
-
31:43
can work on and find reference material pretty easily.
-
31:46
Refine sketches.
-
31:49
Ink drying.
-
31:52
And then the final image.
-
31:54
And when I do color, I bring everything into Illustrator, kind
-
31:58
of rearrange, tighten up anything that needs to be tightened up.
-
32:02
Sometimes when you scan in your image, it looks different when it's on the screen
-
32:07
stark black and white rather than the warm, cozy sketch in your sketchbook.
-
32:13
So I like to print out I, I'm re-drawing and
-
32:16
drawing, over and over again, for a lot of my projects.
-
32:22
This is how I like to think about learning lettering, because
-
32:26
drawing horses from memory is much more fun than tracing them.
-
32:31
If you traced a photo of a horse, it would look unoriginal.
-
32:35
It wouldn't have that life that drawing from real reference might have.
-
32:39
Even if you're drawing reference from a horse in a pasture or a
-
32:43
horse like in a photo or several photos, like the Google search idea.
-
32:48
If you traced a horse you might think, oh, like that's
-
32:51
how a horse's head is shaped, and you learn it right away.
-
32:56
But if you draw a horse from memory, or draw it when it's standing out in
-
32:59
the pasture, you'll make one awesome drawing of
-
33:02
a horse no one has ever seen before.
-
33:04
I think the same for letters.
-
33:06
If you trace letters, you might be able to understand proportions
-
33:09
quicker but you miss out on creating your own original work.
-
33:13
I can spot letterers who have learn this
-
33:15
way because it's hard to shake that stiff look.
-
33:18
Blocking con positions and kind of unimaginative, layouts and concepts.
-
33:22
I love looking at letters.
-
33:26
I love observing them out in the pasture, flea markets, old signs.
-
33:31
Anywhere I can pick it up, I look at it, observe it and
-
33:35
I kind of go back to my sketchbook alone and work with those ideas.
-
33:41
This method won't make you an instant beautiful
-
33:43
letterer but it will lead to more original work.
-
33:47
Because creativity is magical, not magic.
-
33:51
This is a quote by Charles Lynn, who did this really great TED
-
33:54
Talk about scientific studies of the brain and listening to and composing music.
-
33:59
He's a scientist and a musician, so it's pretty great.
-
34:03
People don't want to learn.
-
34:05
They want to be good at something the first time they try it.
-
34:08
Cause everyone sucks at first.
-
34:10
But they should.
-
34:11
That it takes time to discover your style till the switch goes off.
-
34:14
Cause there are no short cuts, there is no singular
-
34:17
piece of advice that will make you better at anything.
-
34:22
Show your work.
-
34:23
Share your enthusiasm.
-
34:25
Show the work you wanna be hired for.
-
34:28
Art directors are looking for a body of work they can rely on.
-
34:31
Share your enthusiasm you have for the project.
-
34:34
Someone who is really passionate about what they
-
34:36
do, someone who will be pleasant to work with.
-
34:40
With clients, you want to show you best ideas and
-
34:43
share their enthusiasm for the project because they're bringing you on
-
34:48
to have their idea come to fruition and they're counting
-
34:52
on you to care about it as much as they do.
-
34:55
And that's something that is really important to,
-
34:57
kind of, have great calient, client relationships because when
-
35:00
you discover that your, your level of enthusiasm
-
35:03
is way lower than theirs, that's a bad relationship.
-
35:09
Being asked to be a part of other people's passion projects
-
35:12
is one of the great ways to learn this way of working.
-
35:17
Allen Peters mentioned ARTCRANK yesterday and I'm gonna do that as
-
35:20
well, because Art Crank is awesome, I love bikes, I love posters.
-
35:25
When I moved to Portland, that's when I discovered ARTCRANK,
-
35:28
and I went to every show and it was amazing.
-
35:32
It's great to be able to feed off the energy someone has for their project and
-
35:37
you want to create something really great to match their level of enthusiasm.
-
35:43
So when I was invited to be a part of ARTCRANK, I got,
-
35:47
I, I was, I was feeding off the passion Charles had for ARTCRANK.
-
35:51
And I was siked to make something amazing for
-
35:53
this project cause a ton of people show up.
-
35:56
Everyone's just like devouring posters, and beer, and
-
35:59
bikes, and it's just a really great show.
-
36:03
So, when I discovered, like, having this energy towards this project,
-
36:09
I realized that's something I should do on all my client work.
-
36:12
It shouldn't be like grunt work.
-
36:13
You should be excited about any project.
-
36:16
Whether it's like a weird editorial piece or some
-
36:19
ad campaign, you should really be excited about working with.
-
36:25
One way I keep my level of enthusiasm in my work is coming up with new projects.
-
36:30
New personal projects.
-
36:33
This is something that I just started very recently.
-
36:38
You might recognize this phrase.
-
36:39
This is from the Simpsons.
-
36:42
And it's a project I started where I'm, I decided to
-
36:46
design the book covers that kinda show up in the Simpson's jokes.
-
36:49
So this is the big book of British Smiles and it's supposed to
-
36:52
scare Lisa about getting braces because you don't wanna have a British smile.
-
36:58
Big crooked teeth, and it's hilarious.
-
37:02
A Child's Garden of Cons by Griffty McGrift aka Abe Simpson.
-
37:07
So I'm calling this, and these are the only two, covers I've finished so far.
-
37:12
I'm [INAUDIBLE] they're not even posted.
-
37:14
I think I actually posted a little preview of this but,
-
37:17
I'm calling it the Springfield book repository because I like the Simpsons.
-
37:21
I like book covers.
-
37:23
I want to design more book covers and I want to watch more Simpsons.
-
37:27
I can explore different styles, concepts, and can be a little goofy.
-
37:31
It's really just for me.
-
37:33
Like, this is my version of Bart Simpson and Santa's Little Helper.
-
37:38
And incorporating more illustration in my work is something that I want to do.
-
37:43
This is a project I recently finished for
-
37:45
Heartwork, which is an art benefit for Target House.
-
37:49
I was really excited to be brought on to
-
37:51
the project and the theme of the show is hope.
-
37:56
There's no art direction behind it.
-
37:58
In the past, they had this theme of elephants because elephants stand for
-
38:01
hope and I was like, well, this is the perfect opportunity to draw elephants.
-
38:06
Elephants knees and toenails, I love.
-
38:09
[LAUGH] I just can't get over, like, when
-
38:11
I draw their little toenails, I get so excited.
-
38:15
So it was geared towards children, so I was
-
38:17
like that is the perfect opportunity to really have some
-
38:19
fun with illustration, and different kind of colors and
-
38:23
a different color palette than I may be used to.
-
38:27
And I've discovered doing work for kids is
-
38:29
just a delight because it is a little different.
-
38:32
You can be as goofy with it as possible.
-
38:36
These are some projects I did for Sesame Street, where
-
38:39
I was asked to create several quotes, by the characters.
-
38:44
And I really like to capture the essence of the
-
38:47
character in the lettering, and
-
38:49
incorporating it around their illustrations.
-
38:53
So personal work is a great way to promote the work you wanna do.
-
38:56
New styles, new mediums, allows you to try new things.
-
39:01
Helps avoid creative ruts.
-
39:03
I created this sketch on a particularly
-
39:05
hot day in Portland,which, honestly, was probably
-
39:08
just reaching 90 degrees,so, not really hot
-
39:11
in any kind of southern terms for sure.
-
39:15
I was dreaming of popsicles kinda taunting
-
39:17
me, in my sweaty non air-conditioned studio.
-
39:20
So I kinda just did this doodle.
-
39:22
It's seriously like two inches by two inches big, which is
-
39:25
why it looks so blurry and you can barely see it.
-
39:30
The next day when I was feeling a little bit cooled
-
39:33
off, I decided to take my little sketch and finish the illustration.
-
39:38
I posted the illustration online, made it downloadable as a desktop.
-
39:42
Just wanted to share some work I did recently.
-
39:45
And I ended up getting, good, feedback.
-
39:49
I mean, I mean, kind of popsicle that has like
-
39:52
a, this nice lean going on and, and curse words.
-
39:56
It's like people go crazy about that.
-
39:57
[LAUGH] So I got an email from an agency wanting to take this essence of this
-
40:04
character for some packaging that they were pitching
-
40:08
to this frozen food company called Wicked Kitchen.
-
40:15
So they had me design these characters that had like, some attitude, and.
-
40:22
some, and paired with some expressive hand lettering.
-
40:26
I created several characters to go with the different flavors.
-
40:29
These are just some of my favorites.
-
40:30
And while they actually didn't go forward with this concept, they actually
-
40:35
used it on their food truck, which is like traveling cross country.
-
40:40
Kind of giving out samples and stuff, so that's fun, but
-
40:43
they didn't get it on the packaging which is kind of disappointing.
-
40:46
Because this shrimp is just one of the favorite things that I've ever drawn.
-
40:50
>> [LAUGH] >> His little boots just kill me-
-
40:53
>> [LAUGH]
-
40:54
>> I just [SOUND] I pinch him, he's such a cutie.
-
40:59
So this is the food truck that is you know, super colorful.
-
41:04
The character is kind of all over it.
-
41:07
And what is even more hilarious, is the pissed off chicken.
-
41:11
He's going like that?
-
41:13
They created him into a mascot.
-
41:15
Like, someone created this outfit and I couldn't get a good picture.
-
41:19
Because they just have like, I just only saw like,
-
41:21
Instagrams, like, this is like on a oil stained parking lot.
-
41:26
They have no good pictures of this truck, which is disappointing.
-
41:29
But this mascot is so creepy.
-
41:31
It's hilarious.
-
41:32
Because the illustration sort of has this folk
-
41:35
art slash Beavis and Butthead style to it.
-
41:38
Kind of like more apparent in the mascot, and I love that.
-
41:42
[INAUDIBLE]
-
41:44
This is a Christmas card I made for my dad in 2011.
-
41:49
My dad is a financial advisor.
-
41:51
And every Christmas, I do his Christmas cards so he can send it to his clients.
-
41:57
And in 2011, I was approached by Target to make it into a gift card.
-
42:01
And, I told my dad, I was, like, Dad, you're.
-
42:04
Your Christmas card might be made into a Target gift card.
-
42:07
These are the sketches I sent off with some reiteration to
-
42:11
the original design, some other sketches that had a similar feel.
-
42:15
And they ended up going with this one.
-
42:17
And my mom called me every time someone
-
42:20
from her work gave it to her for Christmas.
-
42:22
She was like, my daughter made that.
-
42:24
I love.
-
42:25
Impressing mom is so important, you know.
-
42:28
Got to keep mom happy.
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42:32
So basically you want to keep busy, until your busy.
-
42:35
Anytime I have some down time in the studio I
-
42:38
feel like I'm making another project, working on something new.
-
42:42
You wont have clients magically just emailing
-
42:46
you, coming asking you to do work.
-
42:48
You will be broke, taking on jobs that pay very little.
-
42:52
So you need to make work, you need
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42:53
to satisfy your creativity because creative blocks are bullshit.
-
42:58
The best way out of a mental block is to ignore it and make it.
-
43:02
Keeping a sketchbook is good for this reason.
-
43:04
You know, we're designers.
-
43:05
That's why we keep these sketchbooks around.
-
43:07
They're not just to like put on our shelves and not fill up.
-
43:11
You, we should be doodling, thinking, writing, reading.
-
43:15
ideas should be flowing.
-
43:16
They don't have to be good.
-
43:17
Just put them down there.
-
43:21
To stay enthusiastic.
-
43:24
I like to create products.
-
43:25
Be an entrepreneur.
-
43:28
We all have the right skills as
-
43:29
designers to do this, creative thinking, smart design,
-
43:33
and the tools and resources and just
-
43:35
general wanting to make stuff with our hands.
-
43:38
So don't be afraid to make your ideas come to fruition.
-
43:40
I started a collection of handmade goods
-
43:42
with my boyfriend, called Winter Cabin Collection.
-
43:45
It all started by this idea of crafting a window
-
43:49
display for my friend's shop in Portland called Wonder Lust.
-
43:53
So we were discussing this window display over drinks.
-
43:57
And the second whiskey in, this project just got bigger than we had anticipated.
-
44:02
We started talking about creating products.
-
44:05
And rather than just cutting out some snowflakes
-
44:08
and doing some signage for the window display,
-
44:09
we were like, why not create a line of products around the theme of Winter cabin?
-
44:14
It was September when we had this discussion, and we set
-
44:18
the date for the display to be installed, and for Thanksgiving.
-
44:21
We made blankets, banners, wooden arrows, satchels, boxes, totes, bandanas.
-
44:30
A crazy amount of products.
-
44:31
They were all limited edition, of course, but it was so amazing to really
-
44:35
like, print these wooden boxes that, I'm
-
44:38
just obsessed with collecting vintage boxes like that.
-
44:43
And kind of put your own spin on it,
-
44:45
provisions, stow what you need, prepare for the best.
-
44:50
And kind of like, you know, nailing these boxes
-
44:53
together like, like they did back in the day.
-
44:57
So these are some of the products we made in the win, in the window display.
-
45:02
This is us.
-
45:03
Well this is me this past winter at Renegade Brooklyn.
-
45:10
We decided to continue making products because
-
45:13
we felt like it was pretty successful.
-
45:15
We kept the name Winter Cabin because it's catchy.
-
45:18
And even though I don't have a cabin of my own, I do want one so it makes sense.
-
45:23
I don't know what Winter Cabin will lead to.
-
45:25
But for now, I just like making things.
-
45:28
Things that are handmade, hand sewn, hand printed, hand cut, hand lettered,
-
45:34
It satisfies my craftiness, because I do spend a lot of time on the computer.
-
45:38
Even though a lot of my stuff is all drawn by hand.
-
45:41
I am obsessed with making things by hand.
-
45:45
Projects like this remind me that there's never a dull moment in freelance.
-
45:50
I like this cover.
-
45:51
It's, you know, fun and fine.
-
45:53
But, the reason I'm showing this today is
-
45:55
because I got an email from my art director.
-
45:58
It was the final cover meeting, with all
-
46:00
the editors and the execs of the publishing company.
-
46:03
They almost wanted to change the title of the book, which would
-
46:07
change the design and the direction, and therefore this idea would be trashed.
-
46:13
At the end of what seemed like a long meeting, my
-
46:16
art director told me all of this whole story in an email.
-
46:20
The exact quote was,
-
46:24
the, an, an executive stood up and said, if
-
46:26
you change this cover, I will kill you all.
-
46:29
>> [LAUGH]
-
46:35
>> No one was murdered in the making of this book cover, I can assure you.
-
46:39
They decided to stay in this direction.
-
46:42
That meeting, I wish I was there.
-
46:44
How intense.
-
46:46
I love design that inspires murder.
-
46:50
[LAUGH] >> [LAUGH]
-
46:53
>> So you know, it's always exciting.
-
46:57
These are some labels I did for.
-
47:00
Cocktails for miama, Miami Cocktail Company.
-
47:04
And it was an emphasis on natural ingredients.
-
47:08
And, again, I thought, I love this, how this project came together.
-
47:12
But what was really great about this project is how
-
47:15
much we obsessed over the listing the ingredients on the bottle.
-
47:20
Because, I, each, like they wanted to like scrap
-
47:24
the label and actually like only have the ingredients,
-
47:28
which I thought would have been great, but we
-
47:29
spent a lot of time finessing this, these ingredients.
-
47:33
There's little illustrations.
-
47:35
Each word is like slightly different, and I really love when
-
47:39
people notice those kinds of details because it's so important to me.
-
47:44
So every project is an opportunity for a potential job
-
47:49
or career path, but one project doesn't necessarily dictate your career.
-
47:55
Don't let expectations pressure you into
-
47:57
approaching a project with pre-conceived notions.
-
48:00
Let your inspiration create a spark that
-
48:02
develops something it just, something complete new.
-
48:07
Leave room for play, stay honest, keep creating the
-
48:11
way you create and things will work out, eventually,
-
48:17
hopefully.
-
48:21
Thank you.
-
48:21
[SOUND]
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