The Busy Creator Podcast With Prescott Perez-fox - Conversations On Creative Culture, Workflow & Productivity

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 26 with Still Life Photographer Christine Blackburne Christine Blackburne is a commercial still life photographer based in New York. She works primarily in the fashion, cosmetics, and jewelry sectors, bringing her stylish use of colour and light to her images. This conversation moves from Christine’s origins as an assistant photographer, to how she sets up her still life shoots, and a bit about working with an agent and managing workflow. Click through to the full blog post to see a few of Christine’s images, and check out her site, christineblackburne.com, to see even more.         00:00   00:00         Perfume bottles still life   Watches still life Christine occasionally shoots things that move Show Notes & Links Christine’s studio is located in the South Street Seaport area of Manhattan Southwark, London Christine shoots most things that don’t move like cosmetics, jewelry Christine went to Rochester Institute of Technology, spent time with objects Most

Bill Doran (@Chinbeard) is a replica props and model builder based in Seattle. He has turned his hobbies — playing video games and attending conventions — into his profession by serving a niche community who need high quality props and weapons as an part of their cosplay. This conversation focuses on how Bill creates his pieces using very hands-on techniques and tools, and how built his online customer base from mostly in-person interactions. Bill’s work can be seen on his website, Punished Props, and onhis YouTube Channel.00:00   An example of Bill’s YouTube videos, where he brings some how-to direct to your screen. Show Notes & Links Bill’s job title is “Intergalactic Arms Dealer”, specialises in video game weaponry Bill is not the traditional Hollywood-style prop maker Bat’leth Cosplay Bill is more of a commissioned artist, working B-to-C DragonCon and Pax Prime, two of the bigger costuming conventions Master Chief Armor, plus a Rocket Launcher Wizards of The Coast in Seattle commissioned some gaunt

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 24 with Word-of-Mouth Marketing Guru Saul Colt 2014.09.22 by Prescott Perez-Fox |  Edit » The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 24 with Word-of-Mouth Marketing Guru Saul Colt Saul Colt (@SaulColt) is one of the world’s leaders in word-of-mouth marketing. Over the years, he’s bolstered the reputations of his companies and clients by connecting audiences with brands, and by making people think, laugh, and cry. A well-known and well-liked figure across North America, Saul has built a network of creative pros and in turn those relationships have help build his own reputation. In this discussion, we hear how Saul became a connector, how he spent his character-building years as a comic book writer, and how he still struggles (surprisingly) with his own shyness and fear of rejection. Video shows Saul’s skywriting stunt, mentioned in the episode. Saul is now Chief Evangelist at Xero, a small business online accounting software company. Catch up with him on his blog,Saul.is.       0

The Busy Creator Podcast ep. 23, Building a Business While Traveling The World, w/guest Christina Canters Christina Canters (@cjcanters) is an architect-turned-entrepreneur who left her native Melbourne, Australia to travel the world as she builds her new consulting and teaching business, Design Draw Speak. This conversation focuses on travel, as well as the mindset and preparation required to build a new business on the road. Christina and Prescott share their war stories — and fond memories — from travels and studies abroad, and commiserate about the prices of certain goods in different places. Keep up with Christina and her travels via her blog,Kips and Kale.     Show Notes & Links Christina is on the road, speaking from Austin, TX. As of publishing, she’s in Thailand. Podcast Movement Design Draw Speak, helps architects become better communicators Christina is a former architect Design Draw Speak started as a podcast, and has branched out to coaching and teaching Social Media Marketing World Tropic

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 22 with Designer and Entrepreneur Brandy Shea Brandy Shea (@MileOneCreative) is the founder of Mile One Creative, an independent design practice serving entrepreneurs and small business owners with brand development and marketing design. In addition to her design services, Brandy recently created the Quality Thrives project, an online video series and forthcoming book showcasing ordinary, hardworking business owners who provide craft and quality in their professional offerings.         00:00   00:00       
   Here’s a teaser of the Quality Thrives project, which begins in earnest October 10, 2014. (Press release) Check out the full show notes to get all the contact details.   Show Notes & Links Branding Branding, a website where the branding industry can define itself (or not) Job Titles can change perspective, e.g. “I’m not a freelancer; I’m self-employed” Kenneth Badgett, founder of Up My Average Brandy and Kenneth work well together as a designer/sales team B

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 21 with User Experience Designer Walé Ogundipe Walé Ogundipe (@kopasetik) is a user experience designer who has worked in a variety of creative professions including the music industry, broadcasting, marketing, film & video, and now online and mobile application development. Lately, he’s been involved in several hackathons and embraced the philosophies if fast iteration and design sprints towards building apps for web and mobile. In this conversation, we discuss how Walé arrived in User Experience, the point of view that a UX design takes when approaching a problem, and some books that we should all read for a better understanding of business and design.         00:00   00:00         Show Notes & Links Experience Design Service Design Zaks Building Blocks; Not Lego “The Radio Voice” Walé worked at Mapflix Walé learned about distributed teams from co-workers who move frequently TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon The Busy Creator Podcast Bonus Episode (July 2014) Hi

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 20, Building and Growing a Small Design Firm, w/guest Josh Miles Josh Miles (@JoshMiles) founded Miles Design, an independent graphic design firm in Indianapolis, Indiana, after organically growing his freelance practice. Following some hi-profile work in a narrow sector, he’s grown his team to nine employees, taking care to build a healthy workplace culture along the way. Josh and his team at Miles Design In this discussion, Josh shares some of the challenges for growing and maintaining a design business, as well as some of the tools and tactics he uses to keep the team in sync and doing great work.         00:00   00:00         Show Notes & Links Prescott met Josh at the Brand New Conference in San Francisco, 2011 Josh began as a freelancer, working with clients such asPurdue University Josh knew he’d eventually be an independent designer The selling side of graphic design isn’t told much in school Win Without Pitching by Blair Enns David C. Baker, Recourses

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 19 with Online Video Host & Producer Shannon Morse Shannon Morse (@Snubs)  is a producer and host of several online video shows such as Tekzilla and Hak5. Following early training in theatrical performance and hotel/restaurant management, she transitioned into new media. Across her many projects, she’s responsible for all research, writing, and production. Read more about Shannon on her site, snubsie.com In this episode, we discuss Shannon’s origins in film/video production, the struggle of working for multiple employers with multiple studio workflows, and some of her outside (geeky) pursuits.         00:00   00:00         Show Notes & Links Tekzilla Hak5 TWiT Network, Before You Buy, Coding 101 Shannon worked at Domino’s Pizza Producer duties include “making sure everyone is having a good day.” “The Producer Mentality”, not always a great thing Sheryl Sandberg and her problem with the word “bossy” “I don’t like anything built on a base layer of chaos.” Shan

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 18 with Design Firm President, Author, Podcast Host, and Professor Debbie Millman Debbie Millman (@DebbieMillman) is a design and branding industry impresario. She will, at any given moment, be involved in a multitude of projects and roles across the profession. For nearly 20 years, she’s been the President ofSterling Brands, a design and brand strategy firm based in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Since 2005, she’s hosted Design Matters, one of the most successful radio shows (now podcasts) about design and creativity. She also founded and chairs the Master’s in Branding course at theSchool of Visual Arts in New York, and has authored numerous books. In this episode, Debbie speaks about the structure and workflow of Sterling — now a corporate agency, how she stays energized across her many endeavors, and how she’s still working to overcome awkwardness in her life and career. We also get to hear the story of how Debbie and Prescott first met.         00:00   00

Charles Penn is a musician and music producer based in New Jersey. Together with Prescott they discuss the state of music on the Internet, including listening, buying, sharing, and the potential to collaborating world-wide. The conversation moves to music promotion and tactics for artists starting out. Check out Charles’s music on his website, The Sounds of The Underground.         00:00   00:00         Show Notes & Links First episode recorded face-to-face. Skype is awesome, but it’s nice to see people in real life. Coverville In The Groove, Jazz and Beyond YouTube (yes, for music) Prescott [still uses] an iPod Classic Bob Marley on iTunes Google Music Juicy, by Notorious B.I.G. on iTunes Pandora, for streaming Music Genome Project Sade on iTunes Beats Music Service Services are too associated with Social Media (Rdio and Spotify, especially) Drake, Nicki Minaj, Lil’ Wayne — all artists which Prescott has never heard of Daley Robin Thicke 45 Record Singles Beatles-a-Rama Apple Records iTunes v12

 Marie Poulin (@MariePoulin) is a Digital Strategist and Web Designer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Following her early work in a small Toronto-based studio, Marie set out on her own and established a solo web design practice before making a more recent transition to strategy. Marie has taken on more self-initiated projects, launchingDigital Strategy School, powered by Doki, the online teaching platform she helped build. Along the way she’s become resourceful and has had to teach herself a host of new skills. Marie can be seen on her site, MariePoulin.com Show Notes & Links Marie formerly called herself a “Digital Craftswoman” (because it’s more than just craft these days) Lately, Marie does 60% her work; 40% client work Oki-Doki Digital Strategy School, for designers – 10–12 beta testers “To teach is to learn twice” York-Sheridan joint program in Design Thinkhouse Design Getting Things Done, by David Allen Work The System, by Sam Carpenter Erica Heinz & Niki Brown, web designer g

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 15 w/author, speaker, and creative consultant Todd Henry Todd Henry (@ToddHenry) is an author, speaker, workshop leader, and creative consultant who has written two books on practices observed in successful creative professionals, and tactics for being prolific, brilliant, and healthy. He regularly speaks and consults with companies about how to develop practices and systems for success. In addition, he’s been writing and podcasting since 2005 on his website,Accidental Creative. Read more about Todd on his personal site. For this particular discussion, we were slightly pressed for time, so to augment our chat, here is a video of Todd speakingat Creative Mornings in Cincinnati in November 2013.   Show Notes & Links The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry Die Empty by Todd Henry The Accidental Creative Podcast (iTunes, Stitcher) Prescott calls Todd “The Patron Saint of Creative Productivity” Todd calls himself an “Arms Dealer for the Creative Revolution” “We battle agains

Laura Thomas (@Laura_Raptor) is a writer living and working in Canada. Previously, she has published a full-length novel, but has changed her focus to the short form novella, especially in the Erotica genre. Laura has created a productive workflow and lifestyle that allows her to publish up to three stories per week to online and via electronic platforms like the Amazon Kindle. Check out Laura under her pen name, Selena Storm, (@Selena_Storm) where you can find about 40 titles.   Show Notes & Links Apologies to Joel Duggan, our first international guest Laura lives in Hamilton, Ontario Virginia Wade EL James Novels are 80,000 words; lately Laura’s works are 5000-7000 (better returns for the genre) How stories are born Laura is inspired by things that interest her For some people, kink/fetish comes first; Laura does the opposite finding the setting first There’s only so many ways to say “he put this in that.” “I felt like I was north of The Wall” (a reference to the winter of 2013-14 and A Song of Ice and

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 13 with Singer-Songwriter-Musician Blake Stratton Blake Stratton (@BlakeStratton) is a Nashville-based musician and songwriter. In his twenties he was a touring musician living the Nashville lifestyle. Lately, he’s switched toward collaborating and composing, as well as seeking to connect independent creatives through his blog and podcast, Life in The Woods. With Prescott, he discusses the virtues of waking up early, the struggle for continued creative success, and the strangeness of the music profession.   Show Notes & Links Musicians, and their nocturnal schedules “I do my best creative work in the morning time.” Will Power, and its finite nature Teenage physiology, and wake-up time Before-school programs at work, to accommodate working parents Blake is an introvert. He creates where no one else does. Rush hour in New York is (at least) 2.5 hours Blake’s podcast, Life in The Woods, catered toward “independent creatives” Blake was, until very recently, a “working musi

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 12 with guest Will Hudson Will Hudson (@WillHudson) is the Co-Founder and Director of It’s Nice That, a publishing company that champions creativity across the world of art & design. Together with Prescott, he discusses how It’s Nice That began as an art school project and grew into a publishing empire cum creative agency in London. We also hear about Will’s productivity habits, and how he manages the assault of so much email.   Show Notes & Links Prescott and Will met a few times, in New York and in London It’s Nice That began as a university project INT publishes about 9 articles per day, across art, design, fashion, film, animation, etc. The difference is “creative expertise” and giving all submissions equal weight Printed Pages, quarterly magazine Here London, annual creative symposium Nicer Tuesdays, a monthly event First Broadcast, audio-visual site Company of Parrots, a shop This At There, London events listing Studio Audience, weekly podcast Core offerings:

The Busy Creator episode 11, w/guests Michael Sacca and Alex Rolek, co-founders of Brandisty.com Michael Sacca (@MichaelSacca) and Alex Rolek (@AlexRolek) are the co-founders of Brandisty.com, a website that allows companies to put their brand on the web. The duo started out as a small agency doing web design and software development before shifting towards a B2B product. Along with Prescott, they discuss the origins of Brandisty, how they went about getting early feedback, and the day to day scrappiness of running a small web software company. Show Notes & Links Brandisty is a small software company, about 5 staffers plus contractors TinyFactory, the agency from which Brandisty was born Brandisty’s inception was born from frustration — “can I get a transparent PNG?” Valio Con, a design conference where Brandisty was introduced as a beta product The Busy Creator on Brandisty Delete Blood Cancer on Brandisty TinyFactory started as an agency Michael studied the music business Alex studied finance and real

The Busy Creator Podcast episode 10, with guest Web Designer Erica Heinz Erica Heinz (@ericaheinz) is a web designer in Brooklyn, NY. As a veteran freelancer, she’s work for a variety of clients and sectors, lately focusing on fast development around humanitarian and public sector projects. She’s also a teacher of web design, and of yoga. Together, Prescott and Erica discuss tools of the trade, best practices for web designers, how to continue to learn, and how to avoid becoming overwhelmed by systems. This episode features the most in-depth show notes to date, with a ton of links to websites, tools, and tips. Show Notes & Links Previous web designers on The Busy Creator Podcast, Niki Brown Erica does Humanitarian Work and Rapid-Responce work Occupy Sandy, built in 6 Days Peace Talks in Ireland for the Council on Foreign Relations A microsite for Richard Branson’s B Team, done in 3 weeks Prototyping Prescott hates the term “Product Designer” in the realm of Web Design “Visual Designer” is a term that w

Bob Stanke (@BobStanke) is the Director of Digital Media for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Over the years, he’s become an expert in Evernote, and has created several workflows he uses everyday to manage his bookmarks and other important information. In this episode, he shares with Prescott how he designed a system to use Evernote for contact management, including how that translates to use on mobile devices and how to create searchable data for future use. Show Notes & Links Google+ Podcasters Community Evernote manages every aspect of Bob’s Life Minnesota Timberwolves BobStanke.com, media consulting on the side Bob’s original blog post, Evernote as a Contact Management Evernote is a blank slate Bob likes to gather as much info as possible (name, address, birthday, spouse’s name, etc.) Evernote beats Outlook/Contacts because it’s on all devices. It’s a central location. Evernote lacked a reminder system, a way to create automated events. It’s now included. No automation, unfortunately (ex. Thank-you emails

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 8 w/guest Ashley Milne-Tyte Prescott chats with Ashley Milne-Tyte (@ashleymilnetyte), a journalist, radio producer, and podcaster living in New York City. Together they discuss the daily grind of journalists and the process for recording and editing audio segments for radio and podcasts. We hear Ashley’s workflow and habits, and her plans to improve productivity as spring approaches. Also, please note that Ashley is looking for an intern. If you’re interested in working alongside a podcast and radio producer in New York, please get in touch with her, via her site.   Show Notes & Links The Broad Experience podcast Women in the Workplace theme, including tangential themes like sex Episodes include: Emotions at Work, How Aging Affects a Women’s Career, The Man Show Ashley worked at Marketplace, the Public Radio business show Metro, the commuter newspaper The Financial Times, The Daily News, The Independent,Women of Influence — where Ashley has written The New York Creative

The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 7 with Designer & Blogger Courtney Eliseo Prescott chats with Courtney Eliseo, graphic designer and founder of the popular design blog Design Work Life. They discuss keeping organized as a solo designer, the workflow of writing blog posts, and the balance of running a content business while staying relevant as a practitioner.   Show Notes & Links Seamless Creative, Courtney and her husband’s design practice Graphicology Design Work Life on Pinterest Courtney on Skillshare perez-fox.com, Prescott’s design blog (since January 2006) Prescott went to grad school RSS, for reading blogs The “brass ring” is clientless work Courtney lives by her to-do list Design Work Life is a show-and-tell blog. No problem with that. Both Courtney and Prescott use Harvest for time-tracking Omnifocus for to-do lists. Good because it’s based on GTD Courtney’s husband is a web developer Past Busy Creator guest Armin Vit is half of a husband-wife team Prescott’s grandparents are a husband-wi