I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing the incredibly talented James Martin, also known as Made By James. He’s a creative and logo designer extraordinaire, and trust me, you don’t want to miss out on this conversation.
Do you ever feel like an imposter? How do you know if you are being confident or just arrogant? I’ve met lots of designers and creatives over the years and one thing is certain, we all doubt ourselves.
The Creative's Library Collection Books on Color Curated by BrandiSea One of the questions I am asked the most is where did I learn about color and what are my favorite books on the subject. So, here' ...
Spare minutes are the negative space in your life where you need to take advantage and use wisely. As an independent creative director, I don’t have someone to make sure all my tasks are getting ...
Every year I wish I could send a list of all the cool stuff I find to people who buy me gifts. I also wish I could get all these things for other geeky designers that I know. But here's some gift idea ...
When you’re first starting out, it can be a catch-22 to fill your portfolio. You need clients to get work but you need work in your portfolio to get clients. So what do you do? As a graphic designe ...
Don’t trust a designer who doesn't collect something. I generally wonder about people who don't collect something. I feel like people who don't collect something must not have a passion for anyth ...
I know I haven't been super consistent with my blog posts and I apologize for that. There's so much going on that I share on my podcast but I still want you guys to get some useful cont ...
You should ever stop learning and never settle. But how do you do this? Well, one of the main ways is to be proactive and find creative community. What is creative community? It’s a group or multiple ...
We all have our favorite websites or design books that we use and go back to over and over again. I wanted to share (briefly), some of my workhorse design books. No matter what project I'm working on, ...
A short guide to the design programs you have but may not know how to use correctly. #designmatters
About a week ago I had the opportunity to attend the ADDY awards and was shocked to have won three (two silver and one Albuquerque 30) for some posters I designed. I have to confess that I’m sort of ...
What does a cow have to do with being creative? #designmatters #makemilk
I’ve been thinking about this idea of creativity for awhile now (the sketch above was over a year ago). As kids, all our crazy creations and inventions are seen as clever or creative. Then somehow, ...
If you’ve been following me for the past year or so, you already know that I have a YouTube channel where I post short design tips (usually) every Tuesday. These tips are meant to be really brief ti ...
A few months back I had the opportunity to give my very first talk. I was thrilled that I was going to be able to speak about type. What could be better? Well the fact is, for the first time in a lon ...
https://youtu.be/s_9YftRIeZY Sometimes we just have to step back and remember that our designs are not the best or last best thing we will ever do. Today's tip is all about the importance of detach ...
Building a concept can be difficult. Many creatives (including myself at first) don't quite get the purpose of a concept. Today I'd like to write briefly about what a concept is, why you might need o ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x5g9fKRQHE Many designers look at their work and think, “It’s still missing something.” But maybe it’s actually that something needs to be missing. Your design is d ...
Why do I write this blog? I mean, what's the point? There's probably lots of other designers or creative directors that know what I know (and more) that don't feel the need to talk about it. This we ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq24ueo8UXM Don't you wish that someone understood the importance of choosing the right typeface? Have you ever been frustrated at the looks you get when you buy thi ...
https://youtu.be/ZYA6yb7qLb4 "If you're not cheating, you're not trying" right? Well, sort of. What does it mean to be a cheater as a creative? I have a couple of ideas. Also, check out these blog ...
https://youtu.be/deF8yioLBWs Tenacity: it's not giving up, not letting go... But how does this relate to being a better designer or creative? ------------------------------------------------------- ...
https://youtu.be/GmPldhzL1wE There’s obviously a lot more than just saying no to your clients; but for today’s tip, try to think about saying no to certain client requests and using your expertise to ...
Asking why, or questioning your decisions, tests your motive for every design decision you make. Knowing your reasons requires that you, have gone through some questions and had to answer for them. T ...
