Perspective Podcast | Fuel For Your Mind & Creative Grind

Jayworking: Reinvent Yourself & Become a Creative Free Thinker What if I told you, that you had the ability to contribute to something bigger than yourself? What if I convinced you that you could leave your mark and impact our future? Someone who is living life to their full potential and helping others reach theirs is Jamal Collins, AKA Jayworking out of Cleveland, OH. Jamal uses his ambition and curiosity to constantly reinvent himself. He's evolved to where he now pours his wealth of knowledge of design, entrepreneurship, social media and character building into the youth of Cleveland. He serves as an educator, mentor, consultant and most importantly a role model to our future generation who often lack encouraging influences around them. This is Bigger Than You In this episode, we discuss: Not waiting and using your voice to make change happen Finding ways to elevate all disciplines of life and design Being conscious of what you consume Working towards something bigger than yourself Jamal is the real

Rolling With the Punches & Pushing Crayligraphy When you’re pursuing work that’s important to you, you’re going to take a few hits to the chin and get knocked down a few times. The real question is how do you respond? Sometimes in life, you have to roll with the punches, dust yourself off and fight to create another day. You don’t get wrapped up in the adversity because you realize some people have it way worse.. Someone who is a champ at this is my brother Colin Tierney of Tierney Studio. Colin and I met in 2015 for the first time at Creative South back in 2015. He’s become a close friend who always bails me out of a pinch when I need help with pricing, pitching, delivering or providing honest feedback on my work. Lets just say he's a pro at branding, calligraphy, lettering, teaching, starting interesting side projects and most importantly, puns. The dude is also the magician behind Crayligraphy which we will talk more in depth about in the show. Strike a Nerve, Provide Value & Listen In this episode

Making Your Own Opportunities with Hoodzpah Design You and I live in a world where so many people expect a hand out with minimal effort required. Then there are those who believe everyone else is catching a break while they constantly get dealt the short end of the stick. Sometimes you gotta take the shit in stride and make something happen in your life...sometimes you gotta get uncomfortable and hire yourself. Today’s guest did just that and have a reputation for being badass humans who make their own opportunities through self-initiated side projects I’m talking about Amy & Jen Hood of Hoodzpah Design, a branding agency with moxie. They went from working at a Coupon Clipper to slaying work from some of the biggest names we interact with on the daily like Google, Disney, Facebook, Vox Media, and Target...I’m sure you’ve maybe heard of some of these…? I was lucky enough to meet them at Circles Conference last September and their big personalities complement their big work. An Endless Buffet of Advice Serv

Durham Brand & Co. = Bourbon & Grit When you see big time work for big time players, it's easy to jump to conclusions thinking there's a team of designers, copywriters, project managers, accountants, creative directors, etc. However, little do we know that sometimes behind the scenes pulling strings is a one man / one woman army wearing each hat kicking out mountains of highly crafted work. Usually these are just normal blue collared beings with a superhero drive to make shit happen in their lives. Their tenacity is fueled by family, bills, coffee and in this case, Bourbon. If you’re a sucker for branding, typography and want some guidance in slaying great work for great clients then buckle your seat belts as Austin Dunbar of Durham Brand & Co. joins us today on the show. Austin has a gritty and delicately crafted style and his typography, compositions and texture game is on another planet. Let’s just say he’s not human but he works for brands us humans recognize like Hershey’s, Adobe, Michelob, P

Navigating Treacherous Waters The road to making a name for yourself is seldom smooth and sunny sailings. There are treacherous open waters and plenty of storms one will deal with along the way. While someone you look up to is crushing it by sharing their gift with the world, you have no idea what they overcame to get to this point. Sometimes you get stuck in a shitty situation and it takes kind people to lift you up and invest in you. From there, you're hopefully able to see what they saw in you. You eventually learn the importance of self-belief and having a drive that allows you to remove the limits we so often place on ourselves. We need the adversity to fuel our drive to navigate these open waters. The more you show up and invest in yourself, the more you'll find value in what you do and how you can provide it to others. This is a huge part of what allows us to thrive as creatives and use our gift to make an impact on people. The Drive & Passion of James Lewis This leads me to today's guest. James Le

Make Time for You & See Progress on Your Creative Side Hustle Are you the type of person who wings shit each day and wonders why you're not making consistent progress? If you are, it's okay because this used to be me too. Over the past four years, I've slowly gotten to the point where I approach each day with intention like Tony Diaz mentioned in episode 52. Each day I have a focused plan of attack and I'm always going for the jugular. Hands down, the biggest question I get asked by people on my newsletter, Facebook group, emails or social media is: "How do I find balance and make time to work on Perspective-Collective with a day job, wife and other commitments?" By no means am I even remotely close to being an expert at time management and productivity, but I've found what works and doesn't work for me. I hope what I share can help you find what works for you. The following are the five biggest tips that got me the biggest results in pursuing my side hustle: Take one bite at a time Plan your a

Building an Audience with Ian Barnard In life, you often have to experiment over and over again until you find the right thing that works for you. Some may refer to this as failing while others refer to it as progress. You may find "your thing" at a young age or you may discover it randomly later in life. Whenever or whatever it may be, it's never too late to find that thing that lights you up that can be shared with others. This is how it happened with today's guest, Ian Barnard. Ian is a letterer, calligrapher, workshop leader and content creator out of the UK. Not to mention an amazing human being who pours himself into our community and would give you the shirt off his back. I’ve watched Ian grow his audience from a few thousand to over 200k. He’s a wizard at audience building and creating viral videos, but he’s 100% open about his process and sharing his tips and tricks through his Youtube and Instagram tutorials and his Honest Designers Podcast. He has an incredible story of how he went from g

Lenny Terenzi of Hey Monkey Design When you hit rock bottom and are backed into a corner, you’re forced to make a choice. _How do you respond? _ I feel it's easier to throw in the towel then it is to raise up and face adversity. It's take a lot of guts to get back up and attack life from a new direction. Then you have Lenny Terenzi, who's went from extreme highs, to extreme lows only to climb his way back up to the top. Not only has he made a huge name for himself in the creative industry, but he shares his story and his Professor Dumbledore like wisdom alongside it. Lenny is an expert at branding, illustration, screen printing, teaching workshops, speaking, organizing events and whatever else you can think of, he probably does it. He's a pretty squirrely and lovable character who operates under the name Hey Monkey Design. Not only has he been a huge role model to me, but he has zero issues opening up and being transparent in order to help someone else avoid the mistakes he’s made. In this episode we chat abo

Pandr Design. Co & Drunk On Lettering Sometimes there is more going on behind the scenes than you could possibly imagine. While many people see only see the surface, it's those putting in the work when no one's watching that really get ahead in life. My guests today are a shiny example of putting in the hours behind the scenes and it's paying off. Hold onto your biscuits as today I have the most bad ass female lettering duo in the game, Roxy Prima and Phoebe Cornog. You know them as Pandr Design Co. where they crush branding, murals, speaking and teaching. They are also the hosts of the popular Drunk on Lettering Podcast where they interview the biggest letterers in the game and show the personalities behind the work all while being drunk. Genius I know right? Behind their upbeat and entertaining personalities you see plastered on your social media, these two ladies grind harder than most of the creatives I know. They set massive goals, work their asses off and inject an entertaining and much needed spark

Listen to the raw unedited audio response Losing Sight of Why You Started Sometimes we get down on ourselves and lose our way. Today's episode is in response to an Instagram friend of mine named Gosha Bondarev. To wrap some context around this, Gosha is a young illustrator and letterer from Saint Petersburg, Russia who aspires to be a full-time freelancer. I've watched him amass a following over 20k followers in the 1-2 years. While someone may have a large follower count, this doesn't always translate into confidence and happiness. With Gosha's permission, the following is a message he sent me reaching out for advice followed by my response. Note: I decided to write out a more thoughtful response for this episode based on the raw audio file I sent him which you can listen to here. While I can't respond with audio to each person who sends me an email or message, I felt particularly called to respond to this one as it felt like my old self-talking through him. I hope this wave of vulnerability and encouragemen

Showing Your True Self in Your Work I get it, sometimes it's hard to show your true self in your work. We live in a world where we are taught that hyper-curation is the key to success. However, what if people want to know the human behind the account? What if a business wanted to hire a specific personality for their brand that created that work? I think these are strong questions you should ask yourself to see if that is the missing factor in building your brand. This can also help attract an audience that cares not only just for your work, but for you as well. Someone who I think is an absolute pro at this is my friend Adam Vicarel who operates Vicarel Studios out of Denver, CO. He's amassed a large audience from his design, direction and outdoors vibe he pours into his lettering and branding. The OG's of Instagram Lettering Adam and I go back to the early days of Instagram lettering where both of our work was dog shit. We become good friends over the years and I've watched him blossom to a point where he's

Master of One Podcast In a world clouded in a mist of negativity, sometimes you find a bright pocket of positivity. That bright pocket (really I'm thinking hot pocket) of positivity is no other than the terrific trio of the Master of One Podcast. I met Luke, Patrick and Andrew a few years back at Creative South as they had a sign-up sheet that filled up fast for podcast spotlights. These jolly souls bring a lot of niche knowledge from their respective sources of mastery. Every week they bring you the latest in games, design and film from their world and they have some of the biggest names in the creative industry drop by to share their process and advice. Listen each Tuesday as they talk about the latest happenings around the community and what cool new items you should be spending your money on. Then listen again on Thursday when they talk with a guest celebrity artist from one of our industries. Not only will this be entertaining because these dudes love to give each other shit, but In this episode we discu

BenRealVsWorld Content tells stories and everyone has a story and has the ability to tell a story. The means are there to learn. Find the best way that YOU can tell a story whatever medium that may be. If you're a content creator and this doesn't set you on fire to make something that matters than what the hell is wrong with you?! My buddy Ben Hagarty, aka BenRealVsWorld knows a thing or two about creating content. He’s been creating content on Youtube before it was big and now he’s in LA as a content creator for the likes of Schoolboy Q, Kendrick Lamar, Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, EA Sports and Madden Football. I could keep that list going but you get the point, he's the real deal. Ben is a local legend in my stomping grounds of Cedar Falls, IA. He's a role model when it comes following your dream and taking a risk when you catch a glimpse of what you’re capable of creating. From creating music in his parent's basement to crashing on air mattresses that needed bubble gum to fill holes, the road to where he i

Melting Faces With Mark Caneso Ready for some down to earth advice and have your face melted with mind-bending letterforms? If so, you're in for a treat as I have a very special guest on the show today none other than Mark Caneso. Mark operates under the name PPRWRK Studio and runs PSTypeLab which is a Type Foundry and home for his products. Side note: I'm currently loving the shit out of his custom Apple Pencil wraps. Not only does Mark create amazing typefaces you can find on Adobe Typekit like Hatch, Quatro or Neplus, but he’s made a name for himself pushing letters to the extreme. His Instagram will make your brain hurt in the all right ways with his ambigrams, encrypted messages and wild experiments. Not only is he crazy talented, but he’s a genuine down to earth guy who shows you behind the scenes of his process which I highly respect. Overview In today’s episode, Mark gives you a permission slip to: constantly play share unpolished work break the rules push the boundaries create things you want to see

Rise Up to the Challenge What did you accomplish in 2017? Did you build or work on something you can be proud of? If so, you have a chance to build on that momentum in 2018. If not, you have a clean slate to get your hands dirty and put in work. I say it all the time, but you have insane amounts of potential buried inside you. Yet the road to mining it won't be easy. You're gonna deal with plenty of shit to get to the sunshine as mentioned in last week's episode. This year is your opportunity to rise up to the challenge of taking initiative, being prepared to say yes and knowing when to say no. Create Your Own Door Opportunities are out there to be had, but they won't knock if you haven't built a door. This one is straight from Tony Diaz of Industry Print Shop on episode 56. It all boils down to being proactive instead of reactive. I wouldn't be where I am today had I not gotten uncomfortable and started sharing my art on Instagram. I'd be stuck in my last miserable day job had I not busted my ass working out

Looking Back On Shit and Sunshine Wanna know one thing that terrifies me? It's looking back a year later and realizing I made no significant growth in my life. For me, the best way I know how to measure this is by setting goals, reflection and by documenting or journaling it—whatever you want to call it. 2017 was a massive mind fuck yet it provided some of the best highlights of my young creative career. I like to call this shit and sunshine. One month I'd feel depressed and worthless. The next month I'd feel loved and fulfilled. There were plenty of times I felt lost and hopeless only to turn around the next week and feel driven and hopeful. 2018 is going to be a massive year, I can feel it but it'll have its challenging times...especially when I turn the big dirty 30. Something I want to encourage you to is to take the shit in stride so you can appreciate the sunny days when things go right. Take a moment to reflect, celebrate and even document if it helps you see the growth. Ensuing are 12 lessons I learne

Master on None but Jill of All Trades How many times in life have you felt that internal urge to pursue something yet you're hesitant because it differs from what you currently do? Sometimes it's okay to be a jack or jill of all trades instead of a master of one. Each one of us is a passion weaver and each passion thread we weave has a similar underlying structure to it all? Maybe it's just our job to connect the dots and see how everything aligns together? This is a deep concept but it makes so much sense if you think about it. This week I want to present to you Dominique Falla, HBIC of the Typism Global Lettering Community. It has blossomed into a massive Instagram account, a conference, a book and an online summit which you’ll hear more about in the show. She’s also a Passion Weaver, Speaker, Author, Typographer and has completed tactile string typography commissions for brands like Google, Bing, Penguin, Random House and Woolworths, among others. She will have a new book called Creative Fitness coming out

Building Doors With Industry Print Shop When you catch a big break, it usually means a little bit of luck was sprinkled in the mix. However, sometimes in order for you to have an opportunity to be lucky, you have to build your own door to be knocked on or down. That's the case today with guest Tony Diaz. Tony is the head honcho of the artist-run, award-winning screen print shop specializing in apparel and flatstock, Industry Print Shop in Austin, TX. They work with some of the biggest names in the industry like Goodtype, Morning Breathe, James Victore and Draplin to name a few. While it says printshop in their name they do far more than that as they are in the business of creating experiences for creatives like you and me. Tony and his crew are also in the business of building doors as you heard in the intro sound byte which we dive deeper into on this episode. Want to help the show grow? Consider supporting the cause on Patreon He’s a punk rocker turned screen printer turned business owner. Not only does he

Dustin Lee of Retro Supply Co. It’s funny how a change of events can spark a radical shift for the better in your life. Dustin Lee went from rock bottom and desperation to kicking out amazing vintage based designer products for creatives under his business Retro Supply Co. His shop specializes in brushes, textures and fonts inspired by historic vintage materials. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Dustin found a need in the world and invested the extra effort in order for his products to stand out on Creative Market. The rest is history he changed his life with a new source of passive income. Over the years, he's carved out a niche in this field by giving talks and teaching workshops on building side income with your creative projects. The response was so massive that he eventually created a side brand called Passive Income for Designers which is structured around his newsletter and Facebook Group. In a competitive world where people tend to keep knowledge to themselves, Dustin goes all out and shares it all

Slow & Steady Grind After college, I went through 3 years aimlessly drifting. During that span, I almost quit on art and thought fitness would be my profession. Throughout that year and a half experiment of personal training, I saw a world that mimics the creative world you and I operate in. Many of my clients or gym attendees were looking for a quick fix. Most wanted something that could manifest immediate results with little effort. They were searching for that magic fat burning pill that'll melt away that stubborn extra flab from eating too many plates at Thanksgiving. It was hard to hear the truth that "70% of any fitness goal is what you put into your body with the other 30% being exercise and resistance training." The same principle applies to your creative career. There is no magic pill that is going to make your Youtube video or Instagram drawing go viral. There may be best practices, but there's no quick fix or guarantee. Like any fitness goal, building a successful creative career take