[MUSIC] 0:00 I love you. 0:04 >> Thank you guys. 0:05 I appreciate it. 0:06 I don't know how I live up to that, whatever that was, but 0:07 I can't thank you guys enough for being here. 0:11 It means the world. 0:13 First and foremost I I can't thank Mike and 0:15 all the guys involved in, in getting this thing put together. 0:18 To be here with all these great folks that are involved, 0:22 I know it means the world to me. 0:25 And I'm truly honored and humbled just to, 0:26 to be here in this amazing theater with very bright lights in my face. 0:28 But it's it's awesome to be here I can't thank you guys enough for all that. 0:31 Kinda going into it I started doing some research just about Columbia in general I, 0:36 you know, probably like you guys I didn't know a whole lot about it. 0:39 So I learned, I tried to, tried to, learn a little more about it and 0:42 what I learned was that, Aflac's from here. 0:45 Which is pretty awesome. 0:48 We all love the duck, right? 0:49 But also the amazing improv comedian, Wayne Brady is from here and 0:51 he was born here which is pretty awesome. 0:55 But above all that, I think what I'm most stoked for 0:57 is all the great public art that our city, this city has. 1:00 >> [APPLAUSE] >> Like I don't think this 1:03 city knows how lucky we have it with all this amazing public art. 1:08 [NOISE] it's top notch you know, I mean, they really erect some good shit so. 1:12 >> [LAUGH] >> So, 1:19 I know a lot of us like to live tweet and I, I encourage you. 1:21 I thought I'd get us started with a few hashtags we should start with. 1:24 Obviously, #creativesouth is a good one we should use. 1:27 It's been a long day, I know I'm hungry, you know, #iDratherbesnacking than 1:31 listening to this asshole talk is probably a good one as well. 1:35 Um,#ithoughthedbealotbetterlooking, that's probably true also. 1:38 #whotheeffiswaynebrady, which is a callback to my previous slide, 1:44 which is probably also accurate. 1:48 And most importantly, 1:50 #canwillgaycomebackandtalkdisneysummore- plz? 1:51 Cuz that's probably gonna be very important here momentarily when I start 1:54 putting you to sleep. 1:57 So, I always like to kinda start off with a quote, and 1:58 it's my favorite quote out there. 2:01 And it's the harder I work, 2:04 [MUSIC] The luckier I get. 2:05 And that's the story of my life. 2:07 And its by Buck Owens, this is really an excuse to play honky tonk with Buck Owens, 2:08 which is my favorite edition. 2:13 But it's true, the harder I work, the luckier I get, and the my career is 2:15 kinda built on that as you start to kinda move through and share some ideas here. 2:19 My studio is Tad Carpenter Creative and 2:23 it's completely equal parts graphic design and illustration. 2:26 I couldn't do graphic design without illustration and 2:30 I sure as shit couldn't do illustration without graphic design. 2:32 But in the core of everything, I like to make, I live to make, 2:35 and I think that's probably why you guys are here too. 2:39 You love to make. 2:41 You wake up everyday wanting to make things and 2:42 that's what we do at our studio. 2:45 We don't discriminate really on what we like to make. 2:46 We like to do all kinds of things from brand identity work. 2:48 We do a lot of restaurants and brand identities. 2:51 This is a diner that we redid in downtown Kansas City. 2:54 We obviously do a lot of logo and and just lockups in general for clients. 2:58 We do a lot of starting to do a lot more apparel and dimensional objects. 3:02 Kidrobot was a client for, for years and we did a lot of dunnies\g and 3:06 apparel for them. 3:09 And then getting out, getting into more dimensional objects like snowboards. 3:11 So this is Zion, which is a Canadian snowboard company. 3:14 And and we've been doing a lot of boards for them over the years. 3:17 Which is totally like one of those, like, bucket lists kind of projects that you do, 3:20 you know? 3:23 We've been doing boards with them. 3:25 And, and I remember getting an email from a guy. 3:26 Just really cool to see how dimensional objects can go into the world and 3:28 do things that you never expected. 3:31 So, you know, doing this project with Zion and I get an email from a guy out of 3:32 Tampa, Florida telling me how much he loves this snow board, you know? 3:36 And I'm like, wow that's awesome. 3:39 There is no snow in Tampa, Florida man. 3:41 Like, why the hell did you buy this snowboard, right. 3:43 And, and I email them that, I'm like, dude, what the, you know? 3:46 And he told me, he's like, no man, I've never snowboarded in my life! 3:49 But I hang it on my wall as an art piece and that's what it is to me. 3:53 And that's cool that we get to create things, throw them out in the world, and 3:57 you don't know what happens with them. 3:59 So, so you know, creating snowboards and stuff, and 4:00 just dimensional objects in general, kind of a cool bucket list kinda project. 4:03 And of course we do a lot of editorial work, spot illustration and 4:07 then now starting to do more and more picture books and 4:10 children's books and true storytelling. 4:12 And and it's, it's one of those things that I always get asked a lot like, 4:14 why did you start doing children's books? 4:17 You know, you do gig posters and brand identities and things like that. 4:19 And for me, if we all think back, 4:21 like, what was that first experience we had with art, or with design? 4:23 And that was probably when you were a kid looking and 4:28 reading a picture book, you know? 4:31 And the fact that I can contribute, even in the smallest way 4:32 to maybe inspiring a kid to wanna be a graphic designer like all of us, or 4:35 an illustrator, or just art in general is a cool thing. 4:38 It's a lot of responsibility to carry but I love that. 4:41 It's a really cool thing. 4:43 To maybe that first kind of, kind of peek inside of our world for 4:44 a new designer hopefully. 4:47 So as Justin mentioned, I'm from Kansas City, 4:50 Missouri, right smack dab in the middle of the Midwest. 4:52 I love the Midwest very very much. 4:55 It shaped the way I think, the way I feel, the way I design. 4:57 There's something very Midwest just about my approach and just the way I work. 5:00 And then all those things in the Midwest really start to shape kind of who I am. 5:05 One of my biggest influences in this life is Mr. George Brett. 5:09 He was an amazing baseball player in the eh, 70s, 80s and 90s. 5:12 And, and, what's cool about George is 5:15 he was never the most athletic guy in the, on the field. 5:18 Yeah, he was handsome as shit. 5:20 I mean, look at this guy. 5:22 >> [LAUGH] >> But, but, you know, news flash. 5:22 He wasn't Bo Jackson, you know? 5:24 He wasn't like, this dude that'd show up and make it work. 5:26 Dude had to bust his tail. 5:28 And there's something innately Midwestern about that, that I'm gonna grit my nails, 5:30 I'm gonna tear it up, because I'm gonna make it work. 5:34 And he would do that he would just tear it up just based on, on want to, and there 5:36 was something very Kansas City about this, something very Midwestern about that. 5:40 And even something very Southern about that, Midwest and 5:44 South have a lot of kind of similar, kind of, you know, kind of core, 5:46 kind of, kind of thoughts in their in their overall process. 5:49 And George Brett was that for me he was my everything, you know? 5:51 He was, he was a, kind of the underdog, and I liked that, 5:54 you know, being from Kansas City even our food is kind of a rough around the edges. 5:56 Kind of like the South, right? 6:01 It's. 6:02 it's not fancy $70 steak, it's a six dollar gas station barbecued meal, 6:02 you know, but it's the best damn thing you'll ever eat, you know? 6:07 One of our, one of our kinda new residents in Kansas City is Anthony Bourdain. 6:10 He comes to our city all the time, specifically for 6:14 the barbecue, why wouldn't he, you know? 6:16 And and he, you know, about a couple of years ago he came out with his top 6:17 ten restaurants you have to eat before you die. 6:21 And of course it's like, you know, eating sushi off some girl's navel in Tokyo, 6:23 you know, but then one of them was Joe's Kansas City Barbecue 6:28 in the back of a gas station in Kansas City. 6:32 You know what I mean? 6:34 And that's who we are. 6:35 That is our shit, you know? 6:36 It's like, it's we, we roll our sleeves up, we get barbecue sauce all over us, and 6:37 we don't care. 6:41 It's the best meal you'll ever have for $8. 6:41 There's value to that. 6:44 I mean shit, Bill liked it too, you know? 6:46 >> [LAUGH] >> So it's like. 6:47 So innately being from Kansas City, 6:49 being from the Mid es, Midwest, we aren't showy people. 6:50 I think we, we act kind, and we, we realize that talent is never enough. 6:53 And I think those are good attributes, good qualities that we can kinda take as 6:57 designers and just as people in general, you know, on, on working with other folks. 7:01 Being from Kansas City there's also a lot of people just recently that have made 7:06 a big statement that are all from Kansas City. 7:10 I mean, shit, you know, Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet I mean, 7:12 shit, even Anchorman's Champ Kind is from Kansas City you, know what I mean? 7:16 Even this asshole is from Kansas City. 7:20 >> [LAUGH] >> But the people I'm more interested in 7:21 talking about is creatively some of the people that are from Kansas City. 7:24 Cuz those are the people that, again, really helped mold and, and, and 7:27 start to, to create like, what I am into and what I like culturally. 7:30 I mean, you got Charlie Parker back in the 30s started to create what we know as 7:34 jazz now in Kansas City. 7:37 Some of my favorite painters, Robert Rauschenberg, 7:39 John Steuart Curry, all attended the Kansas City Art Institute. 7:41 One of my favorite painters of all time is Thomas Hart Benton. 7:44 His studio's still in KC, he taught at the art institute. 7:46 Just an amazing, amazing human being. 7:50 And even more recently someone like Kate Spade sold her first book, or first book, 7:52 her first bag at Halls in Kansas City at a department store and 7:57 then obviously has gone on to create this huge brand. 8:01 And then the man, the myth, the legend himself, Walt Disney, 8:04 is from the state of Missouri. 8:07 He started taking drawing classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. 8:09 He, he, later got a job at the Kansas City Star. 8:12 He was later fired 8:15 from the Kansas City Star because he didn't have enough imagination. 8:16 That worked out well. 8:18 >> [LAUGH] >> And then a, a, and then he a, 8:19 he started his first animation studio in Kansas City, called Laugh-O-Gram Films. 8:21 The rumor is he taught a mouse to eat out of his bare hands at that studio which 8:25 would then go to inspire, you know, something, I don't know what. 8:30 So it's all these amazing things that are coming out of Kansas City and, and I like 8:33 that, I like the people that came from here and their stories and what they have. 8:38 And I think it's important to realize kind of, be you. 8:42 You are, who you are. 8:46 And there's something about that from Kansas City. 8:47 And it's like, you know, and I, I, I promise guys, 8:49 I ain't just gonna talk about Kansas City for 45 minutes, you know. 8:51 But, but, I like, I like where I'm from and 8:53 think that's what I like about coming to these conferences, you know. 8:56 Getting to meet all you guys today, and just like throughout the week, 8:58 it's like, just learning where you're from, 9:00 what's your story, what's unique about where you're from, you know? 9:01 And, and that's what I always like about Kansas City and 9:04 going on these speaking engagements. 9:06 And, and I go around and I would talk to different AOJ chapters or 9:07 universities and everyone, 9:10 well first off, you know, I, I don't know what your impression of Kansas City is. 9:11 Probably nothing, to be honest, which is, you know, probably, that's fine. 9:15 And but like, people would instantly think I was either from San Francisco or, or, or 9:17 maybe Cal, or New York or something like that and I was like, no. 9:21 Kansas City's awesome and this is why. 9:24 And I would kind of talk about it. 9:26 And I would always wish that there was something out there that could kind of 9:27 promote that a little more or g, get that out there just a little bit more. 9:30 So, when I would come back from s, 9:33 speaking engagements, I would talk to my wife. 9:34 And, I said, gosh, I really do wish there was something that kind of highlighted 9:36 some of the things that are going on right now in Kansas City. 9:40 And, and so we started to develop this kind of idea and 9:42 it's called Made In The Middle and it's something we launched a few month ago. 9:45 I guess we launch it in December, and it's totally just a little passion project we 9:49 started, which I, I'll talk about momentarily more. 9:52 But it's, it's a website we developed that showcases all the great people and 9:54 designers and artists and illustrators and fashion designers And 9:58 all kinds of people making really, really cool things in Kansas City. 10:02 And it's purely something we just do because we wanna do it. 10:06 And, and I think there's a lot of really interesting stories and talents. 10:09 And I think it parallels a lot of things that you guys are doing all 10:12 over the country, too. 10:14 They, they have the same struggles, the same success that everyone has. 10:15 And it's cool to see some of the things they're doing. 10:18 We do different featurettes every, every week or so highlighting, this is 10:21 Matthew Huff who does just unreal modern architecture throughout the Midwest. 10:24 I think he does some of the, you know, most beautiful, beautiful stuff out there. 10:29 So we do these great little featurettes. 10:32 Then of course there's swag upon swag upon swag. 10:34 So we have all kind of fun, fun jazz that kind of share as far as that is concerned. 10:38 But again, it's because I, I love where I'm from. 10:42 It's, it's, it's made me who I am and I, and 10:44 I want to kind of continue to promote that. 10:46 And then, and then, ultimately, one of my favorite parts about the site, 10:49 if anybody ever wants to take and look at it, it's it' s we created a timeline. 10:51 And the timeline goes back to when Kansas City was founded in 1838 all the way up 10:55 until today. 10:59 Highlighting like really, really interesting, 11:00 creative moments for our city. 11:02 You know, again, like ca, 11:03 like Walt Disney going to the Kansas City Art Institute as a child. 11:05 The inception of the Kansas Jayhawk mascot and logo countless things. 11:09 Walt Disney getting fired from the Kansas City Star and 11:13 then Hallmark cards getting founded in Kansas City over 100 years ago. 11:16 And that's ultimately what makes Kansas City really special is what this man did, 11:20 JC Hall from Hallmark Cards. 11:25 And Hallmark Cards is a greeting card company. 11:27 And for, I know we're a little bit of a younger audience, 11:29 and greeting card is a piece of paper that folds in half, and 11:31 you write a sentiment in the middle and you mail it. 11:34 Yeah, greeting cards aren't doing so hot anymore, you know. 11:36 But what's special about it is that Hallmark Cards hires artists, 11:39 designers, stylists, photographers from all over the world. 11:42 They moved to Kansas City. 11:45 They see Kansas City. 11:47 They fall in love with Kansas City. 11:48 They don't leave Kansas City. 11:49 And cool things start popping up everywhere. 11:50 It's a special, unique little place. 11:52 And why I'm telling you about Hallmark? 11:54 I've never worked for Hallmark before. 11:55 I've done some freelancing with them over the years but never, 11:56 never really worked for them. 11:58 But why I tell you about him is, in 1975, Hallmark Cards hired this beautiful 11:59 strapping man, who I'm almost wearing the exact same shirt as him. 12:03 In, in 1975 my fa, my father was hired by Hallmark Cards, so 12:07 that's why I live in Kansas City. 12:10 My father was hired then and 12:12 to this day, today, as we speak, he is still an employee of Hallmark Cards. 12:14 He'll be celebrating his 40th anniversary with Hallmark Cards this June 12:18 which is a very rare thing in our world, you know? 12:22 Which is cool, yeah. 12:25 [APPLAUSE] Give it up for pops, man. 12:26 So on top of working for Hallmark for all of those years and, and now, 12:28 he's a creative director of the international division, so 12:31 he really spends most of his time outside of North America. 12:34 But he, he illustrated a lot of books, he did a lot of work. 12:37 Here's some examples of some of his books he's done over the years. 12:40 He done, gosh, nearly probably 40 children's books in his life. 12:42 So, I got to grow up with an illustrator and an author in my house, 12:45 seeing, wow, this is what you do? 12:48 It can be great, and it can also be horrible. 12:50 You know, he was like the art director to me. 12:52 It's like a third grader like trying to do something, you know what I mean? 12:53 But but it was great to be around this all the time. 12:55 And I knew that that was something that I wanted to be a part of. 12:59 You get to experience all these awesome things that he was getting to experience. 13:02 I mean, he got to art direct shoot, shoots with the Muppetts in the, in the 80s, and, 13:05 and you know? 13:09 I don't know why I needed to tell you which one were the Muppetts, and 13:09 which one were my dad, all right? 13:12 Hopefully, that's like, like kind of obvious, you know, but but 13:14 like I got to experience this. 13:17 And my dad, being kind of a, a product of the 1950s, 13:18 all the influences that were my dad's growing up very quickly became mine. 13:22 You know, my father was a huge fan of people like M Sasek and 13:26 Battaglia the Provensens. 13:31 I love the work of the Provensens. 13:33 Tom Eckersley is one of my favorites, and my father's. 13:35 So it's a lot of my dad's influences very quickly came mine. 13:38 Of course, you know, kinda piggybacking off Will and his wife earlier about, about 13:40 Disney, you know Mary Blair is somebody I just absolutely adore, you know. 13:44 And it's like I know like half of this crowd is from Orlando, right? 13:48 So like, you know [APPLAUSE] yeah, right? 13:51 So, so if you go to Disney World and 13:54 you ride, it's a small world when you tone out that awful song, right, and 13:55 just focus on the, the majesty and the beauty that is that ride. 14:00 It is perfect, the way it's designed, everything is so wonderful, you know? 14:05 And as a single man riding it over and over again, 14:08 they will very quickly ask you to leave in a very strange way. 14:11 Like, hey dude. 14:14 No kids, man. 14:15 [NOISE] Hit the bricks. 14:16 This is getting creepy, you know. 14:16 So but again, like these were my dad's influences and 14:18 very quickly became my influences, you know? 14:20 So if you're in the mid-century kind of illustration when I'm not pinning my 14:22 favorite ways to do twisted pony tails on Pinterest there is, 14:27 I do have a Pinterest board. 14:31 It's called Retro Pop, and like literally, all it is is just like, 14:32 it's just mid-century illustration that I like from that kind of era. 14:35 And it's a, it's a fun thing to collect, but but being able to grow up like that 14:38 and have parents that totally supported and encouraged me to be an illustrator and 14:43 a designer, and make things was super, super helpful. 14:48 And, and I can never thank them enough for, for, for allowing that. 14:51 And I, god, I don't know what the hell I would have done if 14:54 I wouldn't have done that. 14:56 I was always around it. It's like, ever since I was young, 14:57 I knew I wanted to be an illustrator or a designer. 14:59 When I was in third grade was really when I first kinda got my first taste for 15:02 like art and commerce. 15:05 And when I was in third grade, which is maybe a year or so after this, 15:06 you, the, you would think this here would be Halloween, but 15:09 this was Tuesday for Tod, [LAUGH]. 15:13 Just kinda what I was into. 15:16 I also went through an Alex P Keaton phase. 15:18 The first like three years of my grade school, I wore a bow tie and 15:19 carried a leather brief case. 15:23 I went to a public school, man, 15:24 like that was like not like encouraged a lot but [LAUGH]. 15:25 But again when I was in third grade was the first time I really 15:29 put together like art and commerce and like what this meant. 15:33 And there was a contest for 15:36 the Kansas City Chiefs which is our professional football team. 15:37 And, and when I was in third grade, they were really, really horrible so 15:40 not that different than now. 15:42 And and, and so they were doing this contest. 15:44 Said, hey, if you draw season draw a ticket design, 15:46 you can then win season tickets for the cheese for a year. 15:49 And I was like, oh, that's rad. 15:52 I'm gonna try that. 15:53 So I tried and somehow I won. 15:54 And like, I mean, look at that hand typography, guys. 15:57 I mean, like, get out of town, man. 15:59 So, so again I entered this and I won. 16:01 I was like, wow. 16:03 And so I got free season tickets. 16:04 They honored me at the 50-yard line of a football game. 16:06 And there's like nine people there cause it was horrible. 16:08 And and and, and 16:09 they sent a football player to my school in a Ferrari to drive me around. 16:11 They did this whole assembly. 16:15 And then at the end of the assembly, 16:16 I was in third grade, a fifth grade girl asked me out. 16:18 So [LAUGH] I can pinpoint the day that I fell in love with art and 16:21 design, because people will give me things, and I get older women. 16:26 So it was like [LAUGH] it was a, it was like a magical day for me and, and design. 16:30 Around the same time this was going on as a in, 16:36 in third grade I started to hang out with a gentleman named Gordon MacKenzie. 16:39 And Gordon is a really, really special person. 16:44 He was an amazing guy. 16:47 Gordon was one of my dad's best friends. 16:49 And, and Go, Gordon worked at Hallmark Cards for years and years. 16:50 And his title at Hallmark was was very ambiguous. 16:53 He was a creative paradox, that was his title. 16:58 Really they didn't know where to put him cuz he was kind of an instigator. 17:00 And, but ultimately what Gordon's job was at Hallmark was, hey, 17:03 Hallmark is one of those businesses that is over 50% business people, but 17:06 then another 50% that is creative people like us. 17:10 And how do we let these people work and live together? 17:14 How does that work? 17:16 So Gordon would try to bridge that gap in tons of ways. 17:18 Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. 17:20 And and Gordon eventually, would eventually leave Hallmark, and 17:23 then go on to write an amazing book, and go on lecture upon lecture. 17:26 Very well received in the creative community. 17:30 But the book he would write was Orbiting the Giant Hairball. 17:32 And I can never recommend that book enough, still to this day. 17:35 It is so great for all of us as designers. 17:37 It's, it's Orbiting the Giant, 17:39 Giant Hairball kind of it's kind of your surviving with grace in, in all of us as 17:41 creative people living in a non-creative environment sometimes, you know? 17:45 And Gordon was unbelievably inspiring. 17:48 This was, I think, my dad and Gordon in a meeting, Gordon prepony tail and, and 17:51 goatee. 17:55 I don't know why NBC News was there, 17:56 my dad with the rocking mustache, it must have been the 70s, right? 17:57 So but Gordon, I just remember spending time with him as a kid and 18:00 thinking he was just the coolest guy. 18:04 I would, I would go to Hallmark all the time as a kid because my parents 18:05 couldn't find a babysitter. 18:07 So they would just lock me in a conference room a lot of the times, and 18:08 just be like, all right, he's not gonna go anywhere, you know? 18:11 And and I remember, Gordon would come in and hang out with me. 18:13 And, and Gordon had all kinds of really interesting philosophies on design and, 18:15 and one of them was everyone has a masterpiece in within them from birth. 18:19 And I'm such a believer in that, you know? 18:23 We all run across people that are like, oh, I can't draw or I can't do this, 18:25 you know, and and Gordon, Gordon called BS on that all the time. 18:28 So Gordon would go to speak to schools all the time, specifically like grade schools, 18:31 he would go to kindergarten and ask, hey, 18:34 out of all of you, how many of you guys like to draw? 18:36 Every one of them, you know. 18:38 Double hands up. 18:39 Like, yes, I love to draw, you know? 18:40 Then you go to third grade and, you know, how many of you guys like to draw? 18:42 And you know, it's like maybe about half that many, you know, kind of. 18:45 Then you go to sixth grade and there'd be the, the two of us in 18:47 the background kind of, I like to, I like to doodle on occasion, you know? 18:50 You're kinda looking around. 18:53 As we get older, we very quickly start to compare ourselves to others. 18:54 You know, oh, god, that guy's really good. 18:58 I could never do that. 18:59 I'd better do something else. 19:00 But, you know, and the comparison is, it's bad. 19:01 You don't need to do that, you know? 19:04 You are you, and you should make what you make. 19:05 Because if you don't make it, no one is, no one, no one's gonna make it for you. 19:07 And I like that idea. 19:11 I like that philosophy behind that, you know? 19:12 And, and Gordon just was a really inspiring guy with messages like that. 19:14 He was a big proponent for risk, you know, kind of walking out on thin ice and 19:18 wondering if it can support you. 19:22 Every few years, you have to take a risk. 19:24 Things could get vanilla very, very quickly. 19:25 And I like that idea of reminding ourselves how important risk was. 19:28 Everyone of you here has taken a risk, you know? 19:31 News flash, every one of you parents wanted you to be a doctor or a lawyer. 19:33 You know what I mean? 19:36 Sucks, right? 19:38 Oh, my god, my, my daughters gonna be a designer. 19:38 I don't even know what the fuck that is, oh my god, you know? 19:41 [LAUGH] You took a risk, you're here, you know, you have to continue to take risks. 19:43 Here's a huge component of a play. 19:50 Play is so important. 19:52 What we do is play, you know? 19:54 We, we get to do this. 19:56 And, and for me play is a lot of different things, you know? 19:57 It's just reminding myself how important drawing is As, you know, 20:00 just keeping sketchbooks and, and little Post-It notes just to doodle and have fun. 20:03 You know, cut type and make weird faces, you know. 20:08 Whatever play is, remind yourself to do that. 20:12 I think it's important for us to kind of continue to remember. 20:15 Be passionate about something, 20:18 how can something that you're passionate about be something you can play with. 20:19 And mine happened to be, oh the Kansas City Royals. 20:22 Sorry, it's more Kansas City talk but it's the Royals. 20:25 I, I can't be excited enough about the fact that we went to the World Series, 20:28 pardon me, we went to the playoffs for the first time in 30 freaking years last year! 20:32 I was, I was four years old the last time we were in the playoffs, you know! 20:36 Oh, that's us clenching to go to the World Series, but I was ver, I love the Royals. 20:41 I freaking love the Royals. 20:46 I went to a lot of 100 last seasons like it was amazing. 20:47 So I have a good friend in the industry Erik Marinovich who runs 20:50 Friend of Type which a lot of you guys probably know. 20:54 And I had Erik come visit the university I teach at, and it was during the playoffs. 20:56 So Erik saw how unbelievably passionate I was cuz I dragged him to go watch games 21:01 with me for night after night. 21:05 And it so happens that when the Royals clinched to go to the World Series, so 21:07 did the Giants and the Giants is one of Eric's favorite teams. 21:10 So, then Erik contacted me and was like, 21:13 Dad, we should totally do something on Friends are Tight, man. 21:15 I'll make a piece. 21:17 You make a piece. 21:18 You know, for the whole World Series and I was like, oh, yeah, yeah. 21:19 That sounds horrible man like I gotta do something every day for 21:21 like during the World Series? 21:25 I was like, I can't do that you know, I was like that's too much work and and 21:26 he was like well we'll just do one piece each, I was like oh that's great, 21:30 that's perfect. 21:32 And then the next day he tweets out that we're gonna do a piece for every 21:32 game of the World Series and I was just like, Eric you threw me under the bus, 21:35 he's like yup, you're in now man and I was like oh my god, 21:38 so again this was two friends that were like you know, what let's just have fun. 21:40 This is why we got into this, you know? 21:45 Let's just have fun making design, you know? 21:47 So again we did that on, on Friends of Type which Eric runs. 21:49 You know, I would do a piece for game one and then he would do a piece for game one. 21:53 And then these are some of the pieces I did. 21:56 I wouldn't wanna put Eric's up there because they're too good. 21:58 But like, you know, these are some of the pieces that I did just again, for fun. 22:00 There was no client involved. 22:03 There's nobody telling us what to do. 22:05 We only had a few hours to make them. 22:06 But you had fun and you reminded yourself why you do this, you know? 22:09 And I think that's really important to do on occasion is, 22:13 remind yourself how lucky we are to do this. 22:15 In the end of the day, like I said, we get to do this. 22:18 Like that's important to remember. 22:22 I'm sure we all have, my best friend in the world is a truck driver. 22:23 He drives a beer delivery truck, you know. 22:27 He loves his job. 22:29 It's an awesome job. 22:30 Like, we get a lot of free beer, you know. 22:30 Like, it's great, he loves it. 22:32 >> [LAUGH] >> But does he get to come to Georgia and 22:33 talk to 400 of his favorite friends about, like, beer delivery routes or some shit. 22:36 I don't know, you know. 22:40 No, he doesn't get to do that, we get to do that. 22:42 You know, we get to come here and talk about design and 22:44 things we're passionate about, and we get to be apart of. 22:46 I think that's really special that we, we get to do this. 22:48 My practice is broken up kind of in three parts, really two. 22:52 My own studio, a, as we briefly mentioned. 22:57 Do a lot of posters, which really is kind of under my studio. 22:59 And then I teach at the University of Kansas, [INAUDIBLE]. 23:01 An-, and teaching I think a lot of people when you think 23:05 of the University of Kansas, you probably think of basketball or 23:07 to be honest again you might not think anything at all. 23:11 That, that, you know, [INAUDIBLE] But yes, you probably think of basketball. 23:13 You might think of T-Robb throwing it down. 23:17 You might think of James Naismith, 23:19 that's the dude that invented the game of basketball. 23:21 Yeah, he was our first coach. 23:23 The rules of basketball to live in our arena. 23:25 You know what I mean? 23:27 Like, that's pretty rad. 23:27 You know, you could think of Paul Pearce, the truth, and maybe Mario in the shot. 23:29 No way? No? 23:32 Anyone? Anyone? 23:33 Anyone? 23:33 What about Andrew Wiggy Wiggy Wiggy Wiggins? 23:34 First round draft pick last year in, in the NBA. 23:36 I don't know. 23:38 It could be that. 23:39 But oh whoops, that's his first dunk as a Kansas Jayhawk. 23:40 My fault. 23:42 >> [LAUGH] >> But I love Kansas Jayhawks. 23:42 Unfortunately, our basketball seasons normally end like this, 23:45 unfortunately most of the time. 23:48 Which they did again this year. 23:50 But ironically enough I've never once seen one of those guys on campus. 23:52 These are the students that I teach every day at the University of Kansas. 23:56 >> [LAUGH] >> They're very, very dedicated, 24:00 talented designers of the future. 24:03 That I'm very delighted to teach. 24:06 Teaching's one of those things that I never in a million years 24:09 thought I would do. 24:11 I never in a mill, million years thought I should do. 24:12 But, I started to do it. 24:15 And, then I feel in love with it. 24:17 And now I'm afraid I could, I, I don't know how to survive without it. 24:18 It's one of those, kind of, part of my practices that it's like, I'm so 24:22 inspired to see what students are doing and 24:24 to see how exited they get about what I’m excited about which is design. 24:27 That it is, it’s a very selfish thing because I love it.um because I love it and 24:30 it’s hard and it’s a lot of sacrifice. 24:35 And you work full time like we all do. 24:36 To then try to teach when you have the time. 24:38 But it is, it is so rewarding, 24:41 it makes you such a better designer to then also do that. 24:42 Mitch and I also design a lot of posters. 24:46 Me and a buddy of mine started a screen printing studio, oh gosh, in 2006. 24:48 And we kinda started that way and 24:53 I started designing a lot of posters ever since. 24:55 I don't, I'm not really involved with the screen printing shop anymore. 24:57 He just runs the print shop full time. 24:59 But I design a ton of posters still. 25:01 And work with tons of different musicians. 25:04 And it's, it's, it's a truly, truly fun thing. 25:06 It's design at its core. 25:09 But it, in the essence, 25:11 still the most important thing, especially when you're designing a poster is concept. 25:12 Concept is king when it comes to designing posters. 25:16 And whatever that concept is, it can be the smallest of concepts, but 25:19 anything when you're designing a poster. 25:23 I mean, if you go to the far, far right in the middle that's a, 25:25 a flight of the Concord poster. 25:27 And anybody's a friend [INAUDIBLE] or 25:29 fraud of the Concord, you see that poster and you know when I'm down to my socks. 25:30 It's business time, you know what I mean? 25:34 >> [LAUGH] >> So it's like, whatever that concept is, 25:36 it needs to be present, it needs to be out in the forefront. 25:39 That's important. 25:42 It's easy to make something pretty, but we're not cake decorators, right? 25:43 So adding that concept it very important. 25:46 And in my studio, again I talk about risk. 25:50 Risk is important and, and my studio is definitely involved in that now. 25:53 For a long, long time it was really just kind of, kinda me. 25:56 Like, trying to balance it all and figure it out. 26:00 And, and more recently we're starting to expand, and we're starting to grow, and 26:02 we're kinda trying to figure that out. 26:05 Just right now as we speak my wife, who I, I really out kicked my coverage with her. 26:07 But my wife is coming on full time, so 26:12 we're in transition of that over the next couple months. 26:15 And then we have four really amazing interns that work with us. 26:17 So, we have at least two people with us everyday in some regard. 26:20 So it's really, really amazing collaborative 26:23 collective of people that we have starting to work as a team. 26:26 My wife, as I mentioned. 26:29 Mentioned is one of the most amazing designers I know. 26:30 I'm so lucky to have her in a lot of different ways [LAUGH] but 26:33 she's such a talented art director and designer. 26:36 And the fact that's she's coming on full time now is so exciting, and 26:39 I'm just, I'm excited to what's, what's next for us. 26:42 She's been an art director at, Willoughby Design Group, 26:44 which maybe a lot of you have heard of. 26:46 The Ann Willoughby is a very well-received designer. 26:48 She actually is, owns the the longest woman-ran design firm in the country. 26:51 Which is out of Kansas City. 26:56 And my, my wife, is kind of in charge their, their largest, 26:58 one of their largest accounts which is Panera Bread. 27:02 So for the last several years my wife, 27:04 kinda runs the Panera account which means she's designing all of their in store, 27:06 she's art directing all of their photo shoots. 27:10 And she’s doing, especially our favorite part about it on it that, 27:11 she would work on is their holiday campaign. 27:14 So she would always design all their cups and their bags and 27:17 all their in store which I think is just always top notch. 27:19 I am always blown away with what she works on. 27:21 Which I’m, I’m just kinda bragging about my wife now, this is what this has become. 27:23 >> [LAUGH] >> But again our studio for years and 27:27 years was a loft in downtown Kansas city. 27:29 We loved it there. 27:32 It was fantastic, but then we kinda got this idea to take a risk. 27:33 And we thought, "Hey let's try something different. 27:37 Let's sell this loft that we loved, and buy a crackhouse." 27:38 >> [LAUGH] 27:42 [LAUGH] 27:45 >> Every designers dream, right? 27:47 [LAUGH] >> So, we bought a crack house and 27:48 we tore it down, and we started working with a friend of ours who's an architect 27:52 to design us a live work space in some way,. 27:56 So we got renderings we started working through it and these are some of 27:58 the renderings of the space where we'll be moving and we are now, 28:02 we're in, you can kinda see the bottom concrete level is our office space, 28:05 walk out space for clients and our staff, and we'll live the two floors above that 28:09 and so then we started constructing this project and. 28:15 What I learned very, 28:17 very quickly in doing a construction project like this as designers is 28:18 as designers, we very much have champagne taste with beer wallets, you know? 28:23 And so that is very hard thing to grasp but we do. 28:27 And so we started designing this space and it was a dream project. 28:30 And, and one day I posted just a little photo here on the left about that project 28:33 and somebody posted on Instagram. 28:37 Did you seriously design your house to have a huge C for carpenter? 28:41 If so, thumbs up emoticon! 28:45 >> [LAUGH] >> Wow. 28:47 So, again, we haven't had it professionally shot, but 28:52 you can start to see kind of how it's coming together now. 28:54 We're really excited about the space and future possibilities, kind of, 28:57 of that space, you know? 29:01 It's gonna be a, a fun ride, I think, for sure. 29:02 At the end of the day, kind of getting into projects, too. 29:05 It, it is, it's story telling. 29:08 I'm like what we do is story telling. 29:09 Yes, with children's' books, that's a very literal interpretation of it, right. 29:10 But, just as any kind of design project we do, it's story telling. 29:13 And, several years ago, I started a project, with, where Georgia. 29:16 There was, there was a new idea for a burger restaurant in Atlanta. 29:20 And they didn't have a name. 29:25 They didn't have anything. 29:25 And they came to me with, this idea to try to start selling burgers in a better way, 29:27 and that would be trying to get all of the beef and 29:32 their produce and everything from that region, from that area. 29:35 And so we started to, started to talk and started to figure this out. 29:38 And, and for us, when any branding project starts, 29:41 the first thing we do is some basic research and strategy. 29:44 And we start a lot with, we do these kind of creative charettes and these 29:47 little strategies [INAUDIBLE], where we get to know their, their brand attributes, 29:50 and their positioning, and their voice, and all these things. 29:53 So we can design to that. 29:56 And then, in the, and then, as we move forward, if there's discrepancy, or 29:57 they have questions, we can always go back to exactly what they wrote and they said, 30:00 which really helps things. 30:04 So again, we start with strategy. 30:05 For me, everything always starts with pencil and paper. 30:07 Like I just have to work that way. 30:10 Like I have to write and draw. 30:11 So, for me, I start just doodling logo ideas and mark ideas and start to explore. 30:13 I start to move onto the computer a little bit. 30:18 These are just basic logo ideas like none of these even made it to the client. 30:20 These were just ideas that fell on the cutting room floor. 30:24 Why I thought it'd be a good idea to show a cow face in the logo lock up. 30:27 No one wants to see the face of the thing they're getting ready to consume, man. 30:31 >> [LAUGH] >> What, like, oh, 30:34 this burger's delicious. 30:36 Thanks! 30:38 Skippy, Bessie, whatever, you know, like yeah. 30:38 Your butt's delicious, I don't know. 30:41 You know, it's like, yeah, it's like, no one needs that, you know, but 30:42 you have to make those things. 30:45 You have to get them out of your system, you know? 30:46 So for us and 30:48 kinda what we do a lot of times is then we share brand concept boards, you know? 30:49 And those normally have several boards, but one concept we shared was this. 30:53 And, and this was one basic concept and 30:57 they were very responsive to the kind of illustrative nature for a specific reason. 30:59 Another concept we shared was this. 31:03 It was a little, a little, probably almost feel like too much of a coffee shop or 31:05 something you know? 31:08 That was a concept that never went anywhere. 31:09 This was all about like being layered and it was very textural. 31:11 Another idea that they really responded to the mark. 31:14 This one was just a little more graphic. 31:17 Kind of simple iconic based direction. 31:19 And in the end, what we really responded to with this particular brand, 31:21 was these two basic kind of ideas. 31:24 We loved this illustrative, kind of whimsy. 31:26 And we loved this kind of word bubble, which is almost a call to action. 31:29 Yeah! Burger, you know? 31:32 It fit. 31:34 It made sense. 31:34 So our brand, 31:36 our kind of logo lockup became this, with our main logo being the word bubble mark. 31:36 But then it had to be kinetic, it had to work on lots of platforms. 31:41 Right? So it worked horizontally. 31:43 It worked stacked with the tag. 31:45 We have a mascot it works with and 31:47 then the tagline we came up which is keeping it real. 31:49 It makes sense to our consumer but 31:51 it also makes sense to exactly what you are consuming. 31:53 You are consuming real food from your state, from your area. 31:56 It made sense. 32:00 So our brand became very illustrative you know? 32:01 And, and the reason and the idea behind that was when I started to visit 32:03 the space before we went in there, there's a lot of negative wall space everywhere. 32:07 And there's also an opportunity where we need to educate the consumer a little bit, 32:11 just about like why am I spending $14 on my meal, 32:15 when I can go to Wendy's across the street for $3, you know? 32:18 So we thought maybe this illustration was a way to kind of educate the consumer 32:21 a little bit. 32:24 So if you kind of look at the brand, 32:25 if you've ever been there, there's lots of like wall art in very specific places. 32:27 And a lot of the, you've been to the, you've been to the burger, yeah? 32:31 You've been to the YB? 32:34 Cool. That's awesome. 32:35 And so, and they're, yeah, I can't. 32:36 So there, there, there's going to be others opening, I am told. 32:39 I don't know what I'm not supposed to say or should so. 32:41 But yeah! So it's like, really exciting! 32:44 But, but we were very specific on where we wanted the art to be. 32:45 Like, let's put it where they're waiting in line because then they can 32:48 read this and it can just be little messages about what they're consuming. 32:51 But we thought that would be really helpful, so 32:54 you can kinda see how, how that brand came together which is really awesome. 32:56 And, and for me, when creating a brand identity. 33:00 The value of a successful brand. 33:04 I, I don't think it's found in like pixels and paper. 33:05 But it's really found in how that brand is brought into your life. 33:08 Like, how do people interact with that brand? 33:12 And that's what's really, really exciting about Yeah Burger. 33:14 You'll see throughout this little montage, or some of the other photographs I took, 33:17 everybody goes to Yeah Burger and they stand under the Yeah Burger sign. 33:21 And pretend like they're yelling yeah burger, right? 33:24 It's become this like crazy Instagram-able moment and I would like to sit here and 33:26 tell you that that was my plan from the get go. 33:30 Oh yeah. 33:32 What, what girl. 33:32 You know, but no. 33:33 Like it became this and that's awesome. 33:34 It became this great thing that people interact with and bring into their life. 33:36 And that's what a successful brand does. 33:40 You know it's like I'd never read this tweet that someone, that someone sent me. 33:43 Hey, I went to a place tonight that based solely on their logo and design, 33:46 the Yeah Burger in the ATL. 33:49 Oh, and my burger had bacon [UNKNOWN] on it. 33:51 What? Yeah. 33:52 Bacon jam. 33:53 So, again, >> [LAUGH] 33:54 >> This girl is driving down the street, 33:55 and sees our brand and says I want to go to there. 33:57 >> [LAUGH] >> And if that's not enough to show you 34:00 the value of what we do I don't know what is, you know? 34:03 So, I always like that. 34:07 Yeah, I every restaurant I work on is totally different, you know. 34:09 This went is very, very smooth. 34:12 It just clicked, it clicked, it clicked. 34:14 But not all of them do. 34:15 And so, for us, it can start as easy as you know, so I have this restaurant idea. 34:16 And again, this is also in Atlanta. 34:21 I don't live in Atlanta. 34:22 But I do a lot of work in Atlanta, somehow. 34:23 I don't know how this works out. 34:24 But again, someone said, hey I have this idea for a restaurant. 34:26 And all they had, all I knew was it was gonna be Southern Style Fried Chicken. 34:29 That was it, like that's it. 34:34 We don't got a name. 34:35 We don't got nothing you know, wow okay. 34:35 So we went through strategy the brand concept. 34:37 We went through all this stuff and then at the end he just was like you know, 34:40 I think I just want like a little logo. 34:43 I can just start plopping and dropping on everything and calling it a day you know? 34:45 And I was just like oh my gosh man, I was just like oh my gosh I did all this work, 34:50 we did all this stuff and then you just want the idea. 34:56 He just wanted this little idea to start plopping and dropping. 35:00 And so, I just remember leaving that meeting, feeling just like so defeated. 35:04 just such a kick in the crotch, you know? 35:09 You're just like, oh my gosh, you know, what had just happened? 35:11 And I remember driving away just not knowing what to do. 35:14 But I turned my car around and I went back to the meeting. 35:16 And I just started like right back into my dog and pony show. 35:19 You know, just like, this is what you should do. 35:22 You're missing an opportunity for this, this, this. 35:23 And I don't know if he was just ready for me to shut up or what happened. 35:25 But he looked at me, he said, 35:29 Tad I trust you let's go with what you recommend, done. 35:29 And my first thought was where the hell were you like ten minutes ago bro. 35:33 Like I just went through all this you know, but 35:36 I think he saw how passionate I was about his business. 35:39 And I think that's what he thought. 35:42 So then we created this brand and it's this fried chicken restaurant in Atlanta 35:43 called Chick-a-Biddy it's farm fresh chicken inside, it's, man, chicken and 35:46 waffles like, almost as good as that Bridge place last night, 35:50 that party we were at, you know? 35:53 So amazing chicken waffles and we created, I created all these like, 35:54 little hand painted iconography that would then be used in a lot of different 35:58 applications and a lot of different things. 36:01 Menus and, and, and all the tray liners. 36:04 Really fun signage interior and exterior. 36:08 Then we had a lot of fun just with the interior space also. 36:11 It’s a really really fun project and 36:14 again almost really ever happened if I didn't take a little bit of initiative. 36:16 And say you know what, I think you’re making a mistake here. 36:21 A really, really fun project. 36:23 And so its like doing that project I learned ya know you have to fight for 36:24 what you believe, you know fight for it. 36:28 But you need to be kind and be honest. 36:30 I think that’s important for and try not to ever let it get unfun. 36:32 I know that's hard with deadlines and this and that, but 36:36 try not to ever let it get unfun. 36:40 I've also worked with Adobe quite a bit, I know there's some people from Adobe 36:44 here actually, so, I'll be on my best p’s and q’s here for a moment. 36:47 But no. 36:51 I got to do some work with Adobe. 36:52 And it was really amazing that I remember the day I got a call from Adobe. 36:53 And I was like whoa, like how, how, I mean getting a call from adobe is like getting 36:57 a call from like a pencil, Ya know what I mean. 37:01 You’re like whoa I use you every day to like make shit like hello pencil, 37:03 this is amazing like [LAUGH] >> This is awesome, you know? 37:08 >> [APPLAUSE] >> And, and, and I remember when they 37:11 called, my first thought was like, how the hell do you know who I am, man? 37:14 And my second thought was, I sure as shit hope you're not calling me cuz I'm using 37:18 pirated software from when I was in college. 37:21 >> [LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] Luckily, that was not the case. 37:22 So, at the time, this has been about a year and a half or so ago, 37:26 they were pretty quick. 37:29 It was to launch CS6. 37:30 And our CS6, 5 or whatever it was at the time. 37:32 What was cool was they were like hey it's not out yet. 37:35 We want to give you a prerelease of Adobe Illustrator and 37:38 we want you to create a piece. 37:41 And it was specifically, because it was when they were launching their new pattern 37:42 tool, I'm sure a lot of you guys use their pattern tool, it's fantastic. 37:45 It's a fantastic addition they've added and they were like hey we want you to use 37:47 the pattern tool, somehow include that in your work. 37:51 Come up with a piece, whatever you have in mind, let's take a look at some ideas and 37:53 go from there. 37:57 And then we're going to document all the steps that you do, and 37:58 it's going to be included for 38:00 every single person in the world that buys a WCS6 will get a document. 38:01 He meant showing all of your steps to create your shit. 38:06 Now they're just like, whoa, oh, my God. 38:08 Mind blown, you know? 38:10 I was like, okay, well, all right. 38:11 So, yeah, so we did. 38:12 We created this, piece and they documented all of the steps which is cool. 38:13 And this was just kind of the piece I created on the left. 38:16 And for those of you that have been using Illustrator longer than some of 38:18 us you might remember the original packaging for Adobe Illustrator. 38:21 And it was, it was Botticelli's Venus painting. 38:24 So this was like con, my interpretation of Botticelli's Venus painting, 38:27 is what it is. 38:30 >> [LAUGH] >> So. 38:31 So if you look at it, there's lots of little patterns. 38:32 So we pulled those patterns out with the pattern tool. 38:33 We made bags. 38:35 Because we use those at trade shows and 38:36 all kinds of stuff to promote their project. 38:38 And it's just been this wonderful, seamless relationship. 38:39 Even more recently, Adobe and I have been doing a lot of work with a lot of their 38:42 learn tools where, again, I'm creating these kind of like hero header 38:46 images showcasing a lot of the new content that they have online. 38:49 So I've just been creating a bunch of a bunch of work for that as well. 38:52 Which is like really fun, it's just great stuff. 38:56 And like, working with Adobe, and 38:59 I'm not kissing ass because I think Adobe people are here, love you Adobe. 39:00 >> [LAUGH] >> Like, that has nothing to do with it, 39:03 but they are, it's one of those clients that's just seamless. 39:05 But, you know, sometimes, not all clients are that easy. 39:08 And, several years ago I partnered with an agency out of Dallas and 39:13 it was to work with on a project with Dr Pepper. 39:17 Dr. Pepper owns Snapple and they are like we need this new idea for Snapple. 39:20 We have this idea of this half and half concept where it's half tea half flavor. 39:24 I was like rad, that's cool. 39:28 Let me throw some ideas in there and I did and they liked them and 39:29 it was full steam ahead and so we started creating these half and 39:33 half Snapple concepts that were going to be half flavor monster, half tea monster. 39:36 So every one depending on the flavor would kind of switch out and they loved it. 39:42 It went to print, 39:46 I started getting samples I started wetting my pants with excitement. 39:47 I was gonna be able to go to a 711 and buy, like, a bottle that I designed. 39:50 I'm like, oh my god, this is awesome! 39:53 You know? 39:54 So we got all these samples and I was super jazzed and so 39:55 excited about all this stuff that was coming in with Snapple. 39:58 I'm like, dude like this is gonna be so cool. 40:01 And then last minute, I mean I [INAUDIBLE]. 40:03 It was like last minute that we get a call from a, 40:06 from a higher up and Somebody got kind of a little cold feet. 40:08 We don't know if this is the right demographic. 40:12 We're pulling it. 40:13 We're gonna go with something else. 40:14 >> Oh. 40:16 >> So it's like, okay. 40:17 >> [LAUGH] >> I get it. 40:18 You know? 40:19 It happens to all of us. 40:19 You know. It happens to all of us. 40:21 [LAUGH] [APPLAUSE]. 40:22 But, but what you have to, 40:26 what you take away from it is that you have to learn to let go, you know. 40:27 You learn to let go. 40:31 [LAUGH]. Oh it's not that bad. 40:34 You've all seen worse shit than, you've been at my table today there's 40:36 worse shit than that at my table over there, but no, it's not that bad. 40:40 But again it's, it's a little expected. 40:43 And you're like damn, and we almost, we almost snack one by, guys. 40:44 You know, we almost did it. 40:47 And so we ended up here or they ended up there. 40:48 I don't know. I had nothing to do with that, but, but 40:50 again, you learn to let go. 40:52 Something new comes along. 40:53 Something new happens and that's great. 40:54 We kinda started off my presentation probably four hours ago 40:56 talking about passion projects, you know. 40:59 And I think passion projects are super, super important. 41:01 To me a passion project is very, very simple. 41:05 It's inventing something you love, 41:07 writing something you'd read, make something you'd buy. 41:09 Simple. 41:12 And for me those passion projects really started with like very true story telling. 41:13 For me, it started in the, in the Isles of Greece, you know its all go there. 41:17 Together, you know? 41:21 And and, and so my wife and I got married about six years ago. 41:22 And, we were really lucky to go to Greece for our honeymoon. 41:26 You guys should look into it, they're kinda having some financial trouble. 41:29 You can kinda get there kinda cheap, so you know. 41:32 >> [LAUGH] >> You know. 41:33 Help them out. 41:35 Buy some Greek yogurt or something. 41:35 So so again, we got to go to Greece. 41:36 And my wife loves the fact that I don't really take some days off. 41:39 So like, we're on our honeymoon. 41:42 I have my sketchbook. 41:43 I have some notes with me. 41:44 And she's just like, Dude, we're laying on a beach in Greece. 41:46 Can you not like, you know, chill? 41:48 But, but I remember and anyone here that's married 41:49 can remember how unbelievably fun it is to plan a wedding, you know? 41:52 >> [LAUGH]. 41:56 >> Oh, seating charts and cake tastings and uncles and aunts and 41:57 don't sit next to Uncle Drunk. 42:00 You know, he's a, you know, whatever. 42:01 >> [LAUGH] >> So it's like, it's a nightmare. 42:03 So you spend an entire year planning one day of a party. 42:05 You know, my. 42:08 [INAUDIBLE] probably knows a little something about that. 42:09 Right? So you know it's like, 42:12 you just plan that one all year for one day. 42:13 And then poof it's over and then here we are on the isles of Greece, 42:15 in the, in the beaches of Greece. 42:19 I just remember looking to my wife and I'm like wow we planned this wedding for 42:20 a whole year and then now, here we are, me and you babe the next 50 years. 42:23 Here we go, you know, and it's like, 42:27 you it's like a little bit of it it's like, it's over, like the weddings over. 42:29 You know, it's sad. 42:32 And I remember looking at her and 42:33 being like I bet this is how Santa Claus feels every year, you know? 42:35 You know, I bet, dude, home boy plans a party all year long and it comes and goes. 42:37 December 26th comes, I bet dude's so bummed out at the end of, 42:41 on December 26th. 42:45 I like that idea. 42:46 That's kinda funny. 42:46 I kinda like this. 42:47 So, while I was in Greece, I just started sketching and doodling some basic ideas. 42:48 I was like, man, he's the holliest jolliest dude around. 42:52 That bad had a bad day.every once in a while, you know? 42:54 I liked that idea. 42:57 So. 42:58 Again I came back to the states and I was like, you know, 42:59 I'd done some work in publishing like I've done some illustrations and 43:02 a lot of book jackets and stuff like that. 43:05 I was like well I'll just float this concept to couple people and 43:06 see what they think. 43:09 And, well, it became this- 43:10 [MUSIC] 43:12 >> [LAUGH] >> [NOISE] [NOISE] 43:40 >> [MUSIC] 43:43 So no one asked me to make this book, you know? 44:04 But we turned [INAUDIBLE] around this publisher and 44:06 some people were [INAUDIBLE]. 44:09 They were like, yeah let's do this, you know? 44:10 Like wow, oh my gosh. 44:13 Like, a book I made, and idea I had is gonna be [INAUDIBLE] and PS, 44:14 this song's going to be stuck in your head for like a month man, and I, I apologize. 44:17 Oh it's going to be in there forever. 44:20 So we made this idea. 44:23 So we made this book. 44:25 And it came out several years ago. 44:26 It's called Sad Santa, 44:28 and it's about the saddest day of the year which is December 26th. 44:29 And again, no one asked me to do this, I did it on my own, and I got it sold. 44:32 And it was an amazing experience. 44:37 And and, out of that all kinds of fun things happened, like we got to go on 44:39 a book tour, and like we were in New York and got to do an event at Macy's. 44:42 On Thansgiv-, like the day before Thanksgiving. 44:48 So, like, it was literally at Macy's, it was me, the Rockettes, you know, 44:50 like the Rockettes, you know, me, 44:54 the Rockettes, and all the characters from the Macy's day parade, like, all them. 44:56 At Macey's, like doing this event, 45:00 like somebody's out like doesn't fit at all,you know. 45:02 But we got to do this and 45:04 this would have never happened if I wouldn't of taken that initiative. 45:05 Around the same time I had a couple of other ideas and, and 45:09 one was this series of called I say You say. 45:12 It's all about like interactive. 45:14 Reading and learning through repetition and flaps and and so again the same kind 45:16 of idea like I was like guys, just a random idea, I'm gonna float it by 45:21 a couple publishers let's just see what they think and then it became this. 45:25 >> [NOISE] [MUSIC] Wake up. 45:30 [NOISE] Quack quack quack quack quack >> I say 45:32 >> Animals. 45:38 >> You say. 45:39 >> Baa, baa, baa. 45:40 [MUSIC] 45:41 >> Holy smokes. 45:43 >> [MUSIC] 45:44 [INAUDIBLE] 45:48 [MUSIC] 45:50 [INAUDIBLE] 45:51 [MUSIC] 45:57 So again, it wasn't really something that anyone asked me to do, but we did it, and 46:19 we made this book. 46:23 And in it, in it, we came out with the first two which is opposites and 46:25 animal sounds. 46:28 And it was an amazing experience to create all these fun things that again, 46:29 no one asked me to do but we did them. 46:32 And then we came out with two more, colors and feelings. 46:34 And like, so just like that like it wasn't a client that came to me to do it. 46:36 It was a passion project that I needed to get out of my system. 46:39 And then now we have a four book series that's out and living in the world and 46:42 families and kids and adults are, are, are enjoying it and experiencing it. 46:45 And then those books inevitably then lead to more books. 46:49 And so these are some other books I've worked on, a little more recently. 46:52 One, one of my favourites of them is Zoom! 46:56 Zoom!, which just came out last year. 46:58 My favourite part of designing books is actually the in pages. 47:01 I love designing in pages, they're so 47:03 much fun to create, it's just a really really neat thing to be a part of. 47:05 Hopefully maybe a young designer, just a kid's life. 47:10 I think all of us remember reading a book with that adult in our life and 47:12 that's a special thing. 47:15 It's really fun and I'm. 47:17 So, like, no, like, crazy live tweeting for a minute. 47:19 Like, I don't think I'm supposed to show this. 47:21 But, I have a new four book series coming out this year and it's called. 47:22 It's called Who's That, and it's another flat book. 47:26 And it's going to be, the first two coming out are, Who's that Barnyard Friends and 47:29 Who's That On the Go. 47:34 And in October Who's That Arctic Animals and 47:35 Who's That When I Grow Up are coming out. 47:37 So again, like Things just continue to grow. 47:39 Thanks for taking a bunch of pictures, man. 47:41 I'm just kidding, you can. 47:43 I was just joking around. 47:44 But so it, it's cool to see like how these things start to come around from these 47:45 projects cuz in the end, especially when it comes to passion projects 47:50 if you're passionate about it, so are others, you know? 47:54 And you should get it out there, 47:56 and that's kind of how gig posters are, too, you know? 47:58 It's like they're not passion projects, like you're getting paid from a client, 48:00 but you know, newsflash, a lot of music and musicians don't have huge budgets. 48:03 So, it's like, a lot of times, those budgets are pretty small. 48:07 But those projects lead to other projects. 48:09 You know, me doing a lot of gig posters led to, you know, 48:12 several years ago, I got to do a full tour for John Mayer. 48:14 That was, gosh, 36 cities, 36 different posters for John. 48:18 Again it was an amazing project. 48:24 Like quick, quick quick, you know. 48:26 Say what you will about John. 48:27 He's said some weird stuff over the years you know what I mean, 48:28 but dude is super easy to work with and when I say he's super easy to work with. 48:31 His management is super easy to work with. 48:35 John didn't call me up on the phone once. 48:37 What's that all about. 48:39 You know little things like again about concept 48:40 like this yellow poster with the house. 48:43 Like John had a request. 48:45 Hey man, this is my home town. 48:46 My nana's gonna be there. 48:48 Can you just make sure it's not like some weird like bleeding devil or 48:49 anything like that? 48:52 So I was like cool. 48:52 So like that's a drawing of John's house, 48:53 like where he grew up in Connecticut, you know? 48:56 So like, trying to make sure those concepts are there, and, and 48:58 doing posters led to more work. 49:01 You know, doing campaign as a Ray-Ban. 49:02 We did a never, I did a never hide campaign with Ray-Ban 49:04 where they sent these ugly sunglasses to me there. 49:07 And then wanted them back in return so 49:10 I was like wait, like we were supposed to use that as inspiration for the, for 49:12 the poster for the advertisement and that piece we created ended up everywhere like 49:16 in every magazine you can think of, the centre image here 49:21 my dad texted to me one day he was in Beijing one morning I guess. 49:25 That Hallmark Beijing or something, I don't know, and literally was walking to 49:29 work and said, dude, I am walking to work in down town Beijing and 49:33 I walked into a ten foot tall example of your work at like a sun glass hut or 49:37 something, you know. 49:41 He'd be like, how cool is that that our work, 49:42 it's all the way on the other side of the world? 49:44 Like, that is so cool. 49:45 And then like cool things that you, or crazy that happened. 49:46 I was like a huge Dexter fan. 49:49 I don't know if anybody else watched Dexter and liked Dexter. 49:50 >> [NOISE] >> Rad, right. 49:52 So I'm watching it one season, as we all are on on pins and needles, right? 49:53 If you look way down here, dad found a clue on the wall but 49:57 if you scroll way down to the end of it my poster was on Dexter. 49:59 So that's like, like life, life long dream checked, right? 50:03 >> [LAUGH] But, like, you never know like, what's gonna happen and then like, 50:06 Ray-Ban called me like, hey, we're gonna make a commercial of your piece. 50:09 And I was like, Oh, that's awesome. 50:13 That's cool. Do you need me to, like, 50:14 do some animation for it, what do you want? 50:15 Oh, no, no, no, we're gonna do live action and it's already done, 50:17 we just wanted to show you. 50:19 And I'm like, really? 50:20 All right, that's kind of cool, I guess, you know. 50:20 They made this live action version of my campaign, even down 50:24 to like the inside of the guy's ear is blue and stuff, like, kind of odd right? 50:29 You know, but like that's awesome, that's cool, let's do it, you know, so, it's so 50:33 unexpected on what we do. 50:38 And then one of the last projects I'll show you guys is, 50:39 is I got to do a whole, whole campaign for Conan O'Brien. 50:42 And this was a year or two ago when he, he kinda made his transition to TBS and 50:45 the whole LA thing was happening, a, and they were doing a summer concert series. 50:49 And I mean, it's Conan O'Brien. 50:53 It's Coco, man, like I'll do anything for you, you know? 50:56 And, you know, outside of the fact that their team doesn't have the best taste in 50:59 musicians, it was really, really awesome to create this whole series of posters. 51:03 And it's kind of like this designer in me, I wanted them to work kinetically. 51:07 And I wanted them to work as a system. 51:10 So if you kind of go down the line of them, 51:11 they actually all connect in some way. 51:13 And obviously the pallet connects them, too. 51:16 But there's all, there's, there's concept in all of them. 51:17 And there's a little bit of Conan in all of them, and 51:20 there's a little bit of the musicians. 51:21 So, you know, you have Ke$ha on the far left, 51:23 I can't believe I'm talking about Ke$ha at a design conference. 51:24 But, we have Ke$ha on the far left, but you can see there's like, 51:27 there's a disco ball, there's spilled pills in the background. 51:29 >> Conan's in his Ford Taurus holding it, you have the, have the pier and 51:33 the boat crossing over to Edward Sharpe, where we have a home, we have a desert, 51:36 which are both songs of his. 51:41 We have the Hollywood sign which goes over to KT Tunstall where you have a b, 51:42 a big black horse and a cherry tree, comes over to Pitbull. 51:46 We have a pitbull, a, a, and that's kind of a given right? 51:49 But you got to do this, I got to work with Conan who is amazing and again, 51:52 it was a great job, it was a great team to work with. 51:55 But then, when the project was completed, what came in the mail, 51:58 I would have done the project for that, you know. 52:00 Conan sent me a signed poster and 52:03 it said, To Tad, you are a talented man, love Conan. 52:04 To Tad, this is not what my hand looks like. 52:07 [LAUGH] >> It 52:09 doesn't get any better than that, like we get to do this! 52:15 So to kind of recap, embrace the power of play. 52:18 You know, your job today might not be, you know, doing the cabbage patch for 52:27 the whole office or something. 52:31 But you know what, your job might need you to do the cabbage patch and 52:32 have some fun today you know? 52:35 Do that, embrace that, 52:36 it's important to remember, remember to, to have a little fun at what we do. 52:37 Go out and take risks, it's important! 52:42 Things can get vanilla and stale really fast, you know, remem, 52:44 remind yourself, take risks. 52:47 Love what you do! 52:50 That's the bottom line of anything and everything, man. 52:50 We, we unfortunately are not this spinning rock long enough, and 52:53 if you're doing something you don't like, switch, man. 52:55 It's not a big deal. 52:58 Do something you love and it sounds like most of you guys are all doing something 52:59 you love, which is important. 53:02 That's why you're here, right? 53:03 Passion projects are good. 53:05 Passion projects are good, make sure you do them. 53:06 It's important. 53:08 It fuels you. 53:09 It'll make you a better designer. 53:10 Exercise. 53:12 That has nothing to do with graphic design at all. 53:13 It's just good life advice, man. 53:15 >> [LAUGH] >> We sit for like 15 hours a day, man, 53:16 like, we're going to get that flat butt syndrome thing that I keep reading about. 53:19 I'm really worried about that, you know. 53:22 So, it's like, like get out there, walk around the block, you know, do something, 53:23 you know, it's important. 53:26 And, at the end of the day, like Buck Owens told us at the very start, you know, 53:28 go out there and the harder you work, the luckier you're gonna get. 53:32 I'm a firm believer in that, man. 53:36 Go out there and get lucky. 53:38 So I can't think you guys enough. 53:39 I'll shut up now. 53:42 Thank you guys so, so much for having me speak at your conference. 53:44 >> [APPLAUSE] >> So 53:48 I know we're like, nine hours late is what I'm told. 53:58 So joke's on you, you're gonna go outside, it's 3am actually. 54:05 >> [LAUGH] >> So 54:08 if y'all want to do a couple questions, we can do a couple questions. 54:10 I got some posters up here if you all are into screen printed paper, 54:14 we got some posters here. 54:17 We got a little book, we got some letter pressed greeting cards. 54:20 If anybody has a question, you're welcome to any of this stuff, it's yours. 54:24 We can, we can, we can hang out a little bit. 54:29 I cannot see shit up here man, let’s get real. 54:31 Yeah, you right there. 54:35 [BLANK_AUDIO] 54:36 Oh I don’t. 54:42 At all. >> [LAUGH] 54:43 >> Yeah well I mean, 54:44 I'm actually a pretty organized guy. 54:45 Now my wife hops on my computer and it's like a nightmare to her. 54:48 She's like what is all this that's going on? 54:52 You know, I mean, to be honest, a big part of my wife becoming, not only my, 54:54 my life partner, but now becoming my business partner full time, 54:58 is, it has a lot to do with organization. 55:02 Because it's like I, I got to a point where I can't keep burning the candle 55:04 at both ends like I'm doing. 55:08 I need someone to come on with me, you know, full time, and 55:10 who can I trust more than her, you know? 55:12 And so that has a lot to do with organization. 55:14 And for me, I'm very diligent about organizing all of my files, 55:16 in I label everything very specifically. 55:20 I created a system for me, like, if you don't work in my office, 55:24 it would make no sense to you probably, but like, we have a, we have a system. 55:27 That's important for everyone, like create a system for yourself and 55:31 follow it, and, and, and do it but ultimately, at the end of the day, 55:33 also remind yourself you cannot do everything. 55:37 Like as much as we all think we can, you can't. 55:40 Surround yourself with good people, you know, if that's, 55:42 I mean, you don't have to have a wife that's a really fantastic designer also. 55:45 But, is it, is it someone that you trust? 55:50 It comes down to trust, you know, it's, it's a weird industry we're all in, 55:52 that it's, it's it's design, right, it's our business. 55:55 But like, this is more than business, you know what I mean? 55:58 Like this is what we would all be doing for fun tonight. 56:00 You know what I mean? 56:02 Like, shit, it's Saturday night, I'm gonna throw a movie in and draw, you know, or 56:03 I'm going to work on this. 56:05 This is what we do. 56:06 So, it's important to us, so the people that you surround yourself with, 56:07 that's the most important thing ever. 56:10 You know? Like, find good people and 56:12 the more people you have helping you, the more organized you're going to be. 56:14 Why? Because you have more time 56:16 to do this and that. 56:17 It's when we get busy, we start just throwing shit all over the place and not, 56:18 you know, it, it's, it's find a way to give yourself more time, you know? 56:21 And it's like, nothing pisses me off more than, like, I, I'm not worried about 56:26 billing, you're late on that, or the, the bill, the budget's not quite enough. 56:29 Whatever. Money is money, you know. 56:32 It sucks we have to deal with it. 56:34 We focus on it, I get it. 56:35 You know? 56:36 But someone once told me, there always gonna be more money. 56:37 Like, there's always gonna be something out there. 56:39 But if you, pardon my French, you fuck with my time? 56:41 Now then I get pissed off. 56:44 You know what I mean? 56:45 Like, it, cause, unfortunately, we're never gonna get any more of it, you know? 56:46 Like, that's all we got, you know? 56:49 So it's like, any way that you can manage your time the best, that's, that, 56:50 that's the most important thing y'all have. 56:53 You know? And I think that's important to remember. 56:55 I'm sorry I'm so long winded. 56:57 Like, I don't even know if I answered your question, man. 56:58 So if you want any of this stuff, 57:01 please, I don't think I can throw it at you from there so 57:02 feel free if you want to come down and grab something you're welcome to, man. 57:04 How about right here, someone from Orlando, right? 57:07 >> Woo! 57:09 >> Geez! 57:10 >> So my question is for the Conan series. 57:12 Did you do all, like as one, since they all had like, the same elements. 57:13 >> Mm-hm. 57:19 >> Did you design them like this one huge layout? 57:19 >> I didn't design it in one huge layout, but we did design them all at once. 57:22 So, I mean, just like anything, I shared sketches first with them and 57:25 we had variations. 57:28 Like hey this is one kind of concept we can do where it is like 57:29 this big long scene. 57:31 I used, even had an idea where there was like, like weird dye cuts and like, 57:32 you know, there's like just some weird ideas I threw out there. 57:36 But I designed them all at once. 57:39 And I designed them individually. 57:40 I think they, like all individual arts boards or something, you know? 57:42 But no, they were all, all at one time. 57:45 They all printed. 57:47 They're all individual posters but they all kind of printed at one time. 57:48 They shipped at one time. 57:51 And then so, 57:52 everybody that went to the show at TBS all got one of those posters there. 57:53 And then what's the coolest about that project for me too, is like, 57:57 if any of you guys ever watch Conan and they show the bands in the green room, 58:00 they have the whole series hanging in the green room. 58:03 So any time the band is warming up or the musician is like in there doing coke or 58:05 whatever they do in their green room, they get to stare at my posters, 58:09 you know what I mean? 58:12 So like, that's like so cool. 58:13 And a, and like, all, they're always Instagramming like, little like, 58:14 music things that they do on the team Coco Instagram feed, 58:18 and it's always like my posters behind them and it just like dude, it melts me. 58:20 I'm just like wow because Conan to me is just like as good as it gets, you know? 58:24 Like dude is, like, he's a genius, he's so clever and smart. 58:28 So again I probably didn't answer your question at all so yeah, yeah, yeah, 58:31 feel free if you want any of this jazz right here. 58:35 Yeah, please take something yeah, let's go with right there. 58:37 >> [BLANK_AUDIO] 58:40 >> Yeah, of course. 58:44 There's lots of stuff gosh. 58:45 There's, like, types of, I mean, gosh, I don't know. 58:49 I, I love, I mean when it comes down to it, I love creating brand identities. 58:54 I think that's like my, my favorite type of work. 58:57 Because it's, it's everything. 59:00 Like it's, it's, it's everything. 59:01 You can think of interior space, you can think obviously of creating, 59:02 creating an identity and logo, and marketing logo system. 59:05 But like, it's everything. 59:07 I hope just to continue to create identities and, and things like that. 59:09 I hope to stat creating, I always want to do a good balance of, 59:12 like, large ones with, I love startups. 59:15 Startups are my favorite. 59:18 Like, yeah, there's, a lot of times not the budget there, but 59:19 sometimes there's a lot of, like, really cool freedom that you can do. 59:21 I hope to continue to do those. 59:24 I would love to, I mean, I don't know why I think this, 59:26 but I've always, I like sports, like I grew up, like, randomly, like, 59:28 I was, I played football my whole life and I was also the art kid. 59:32 So like I would come to my weird keg parties with my football friends and 59:36 bring all my g, friends with green hair, you know. 59:39 And be like, hey, you guys are gonna love these guys, 59:41 we’re all going to hang out, you know? 59:43 And, I love sports, and it’s like, 59:44 I think it would be fun to start designing, you know, within that realm. 59:46 And more specifically, I would love, I mean, 59:51 I think all of us would love to like brand a team or something like that, 59:52 which I don't think that's really feasible. 59:54 But like, I don't know, I feel very lucky. 59:55 To do a lot of the work that I like. 1:00:00 And it's I love the balance and that's why we all probably got into what we did, 1:00:02 is that you can wear a different hat over and over again many times in a week. 1:00:06 And, it's like, do a children's book, then I'm working on, like, 1:00:09 we're branding an international freight shipping company right now like it's 1:00:12 very different you know. 1:00:16 Then we're also working on a children's book. 1:00:17 And then we're doing a campaign for Macy's right now, and then we're, 1:00:19 we're doing some stuff with Target right now. 1:00:23 We're doing something, so it's like it's so different, all the time. 1:00:24 And like that variety is so awesome, you know. 1:00:27 That's really, really cool. 1:00:29 So yeah, I think sports could be cool. 1:00:30 I think, I mean I've never done work, I don't do a ton of work in apparel. 1:00:31 I think doing work with Nike or something people like that could be cool. 1:00:35 And I've talked to them a few times but it was never the right fit and, yeah, 1:00:38 I think there's a lot of things like that. 1:00:41 Feel free to come up, come up when you're done. 1:00:43 We'll take, I don't know what, they don't pay attention. 1:00:46 I think they take a nap back there. 1:00:47 Let's do, let's do another back there. 1:00:49 >> [INAUDIBLE] 1:00:52 >> Mm-hm. 1:01:08 >> [INAUDIBLE] >> Yeah I don't know. 1:01:10 That's a really hard question because you're right. 1:01:18 Cuz I remember being young, well, I actually like to think I'm still young, 1:01:20 but I'm not am I? 1:01:23 Oh, God. But anyway, no, 1:01:24 I remember like being a student and always being like, oh, man, 1:01:25 when I am gonna find my style, or whatever, you know? 1:01:27 And I don't know if I believe in that really, you know? 1:01:29 First and foremost above anything I'm a designer. 1:01:34 That's what I am, I am a designer. 1:01:36 As a designer we have to be able to be very versatile. 1:01:38 The best designers are the most versatile, in my eyes. 1:01:41 Should be able to do a lot of different things. 1:01:44 To me that's the way I kind of approach graphic design. 1:01:47 If I'm doing a poster for Jenny Lewis it's going to have a very specific sensibility 1:01:49 but, if I'm doing a children's book, that's not the same sensibility. 1:01:53 You know? 1:01:57 I should be able to try something else. 1:01:57 And, I don't think I should be pigeonholed to a specific style. 1:01:59 So I mean my recommendation would be explore a lot of different things. 1:02:03 Through making more, you are going to find your own voice a little bit. 1:02:07 And that's how I feel. 1:02:11 Like, even though it might be a poster for 1:02:11 Radiohead and then it might be Yeah Burger or something. 1:02:13 I still feel like you can kind of tell they maybe came from my hand a little bit. 1:02:17 And I think just through making, continually making, you find yourself. 1:02:20 And I feel like that would be my recommendation to anybody like 1:02:24 trying to find that style, if you want to call it, is just keep making things. 1:02:26 Because you're eventually going to find what feels right to you, 1:02:30 what is authentic to you. 1:02:32 And a lot of you saw where I came from with, like, my dad and being around 1:02:35 Hallmark, and it's like all these little bit of whimsy is probably what and 1:02:38 why I respond to things that are a little more whimsical sometimes, you know. 1:02:41 But that still doesn't mean that I don't want to try other things. 1:02:45 Like, I'll be totally honest, I daydream about something all the time and 1:02:47 it's that I want to create an alter-ego that I don't tell any of you guys about. 1:02:50 And like, just some weird name. 1:02:54 You know, you're like whoa, have you seen this new illustrator from Poland? 1:02:55 But it's gonna be me. 1:02:58 And it's gonna be, like, the darkest shit you have ever seen in your life. 1:03:00 >> [LAUGH] [APPLAUSE] >> Just wait for it. 1:03:04 It's gonna happen. 1:03:07 So, like, it would just be cool, it'd be fun. 1:03:09 Let's do one more, and we'll, we'll, let's go get a beer, guys. 1:03:11 Like, it's party time, right, like, let's do this. 1:03:14 Let's, let's go right here. 1:03:17 Ya sure. 1:03:19 I'm sorry guys, you can come see me over there, I'm gonna go to my booth, 1:03:20 we can hang out and talk there, I promise. 1:03:22 >> [INAUDIBLE] 1:03:24 >> I mean it's a little bit of both and, 1:03:35 and anybody whose written a book understands that the book 1:03:36 couldn't be successful without a really successful, editor. 1:03:39 So every publishing company I work with, you're assigned an editor. 1:03:42 And so I, I'm not gonna lie. 1:03:45 I'm not like a great writer. 1:03:47 Like, that's not my, my strength. 1:03:49 But I also I think I'm fairly good at ideas and concepts. 1:03:52 So I can get ideas and concepts through, but 1:03:57 then they can help me with grammar, and story, and, and all that. 1:03:59 And the editor makes you really sound a lot better than you are and 1:04:03 so I always am very, very thankful for the editors that I work with. 1:04:06 I also run every book by my wife like I mean, 1:04:09 like all married men should I run everything I do by my wife. 1:04:12 >> [LAUGH] >> And 1:04:15 my books ain't the no exception to that, anybody that follows me on Twitter 1:04:16 they know I can't spell and punctuate worth shit. 1:04:19 So my, my story, my writings, are very, very reflective of that. 1:04:22 And so she's great about just helping me get those things to a good place. 1:04:25 And what's good and what's not. 1:04:28 There's no one on earth that, that is more real with me than my wife. 1:04:30 Like, just straight up, like, no that cat, that's a stupid idea. 1:04:33 You should not waste time on that and I'm like awesome. 1:04:35 Cool, that's great but she'll also tell me what is. 1:04:38 So I rely a lot on her and then the editors I work with, 1:04:41 which they make your work really come alive and that's important. 1:04:44 Like I said earlier, you can't do everything yourself. 1:04:47 It's surrounding yourself with people that are positive and that you trust you know. 1:04:49 Again, guys I know, like I said, it's 4 a.m now and we, we're 19 hours late. 1:04:55 [LAUGH] But like, I cannot, I'm so honored for everyone who reached out to me to 1:05:00 bring me here and I'm so honored that you guys are all still here hanging out. 1:05:04 It's a crazy honor to be with you guys and I can't thank you enough for having me. 1:05:07 Let's go have a good time tonight, you all. 1:05:11 >> [APPLAUSE] 1:05:12