Bridging culture and design is a topic that is near and dear to Esther’s heart, especially as she is mixed Chinese-American, and has spent time meeting and connecting with people of all cultures. In this episode she talked about what to do and what not to do when working on a project that has cultural nodes. The big idea here: Being curious, thoughtful, and intentional when bringing culture and storytelling into design allows you to better connect with audiences, make them feel seen, and stand out in a sea of “borrowed” cultures.

Links Mentioned:
Sereth Design
Kutoa Project by Sereth Design
Continue the conversation with Esther on Instagram

Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co.

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/
Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com
Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
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Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast

In this episode, we chat about ALL things font license with John Giardiniere, the custom licensing specialist at Fontspring. John breaks down what font licenses are, the different types of licenses are, and how to use them. This episode will give you confidence in understanding the legalities around the fonts you use and love.

Guest Information:
Guest Name: John Giardiniere
Guest Business Name: Fontspring
Guest Website: www.fontspring.com

Links Mentioned:
www.fontspring.com/worry-free
www.fontspring.com/matcherator

Email [email protected] for questions!

Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co.

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/
Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com
Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast

Do you ever feel like you can’t take a TRUE vacation? Maybe your fears are that your clients will be mad, you don’t have enough funds to pay for the time away, or you feel like you have TOO much to do that taking time away doesn’t make sense. We’ve been there. In this episode we talk about:

• The things we do to prepare for vacation
• Battling mindset when taking time away
• How we plan for vacation ahead of time
• How time-off impacts our business and our own mental health?
• How to build rest into our schedules more regularly
• And much more!

Inbox Question:
“How do you make the most use of a junior designer/intern?” — Indy Griffiths

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/
Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com
Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast

Natalia is a brand designer and the Owner behind By Nat Studio. She's been designing since 2015 as a side hustle and in 2020 she shifted to working on her business full time. She is based out of South Florida but she's often traveling with her husband embracing the 'digital-nomad' lifestyle. In this episode we chat with Nat on how her business changed and evolved during this time, how she stayed focused and productive, and her big learnings of living that life.

Guest Information:
Guest Name: Natalia Agostinelli
Guest Business Name: By Nat Studio
Guest Website: bynatstudio.com
Guest Instagram: @by_nat

Links Mentioned:
By Nat Studio Template Shop | 25% off template shop with code BETTER
**Hey Whipple, Squeeze This: The Classic Guide to Creating Great Advertising — by Luke Sullivan and Anselmo Ramos
Drop Dead Designer with By Ariel Co
Design Biz Mastery with Morgan Rapp

Inbox Question:
“What was the greatest resource you used to help you learn how to design a brand?” — Kiana Nicole

Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co.

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/
Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com
Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast

Today’s convo is inspired by an inbox question we received: “If you could travel back in time to any point in your career and give yourself a single piece of advice, when would you go back to and what advice would you give yourself?” — Meher Kaur

In this episode, we chat about:

• What the beginning was like
• Some of the limiting beliefs we had
• Things that were really tough to work through
• How we’ve evolved over time
• We also read short letters to ourselves!

Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co.

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/
Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com
Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast

A lot has changed for us since we started using the One Concept Method. (Don’t know what we’re referring to? Check out Season 1 Episode 7 for an overview!) We chat today all about where we started, what we updated, our brand strategy & creative direction process, and how to talk with clients about the One Concept Method (educating them on the benefits, feedback, refinements, and more). All of the updates we’ve made to our processes are in service of minimizing refinements and having a smooth and easy concept development and presentation phase of your projects.

Links Mentioned:
Elby Creative’s Notion Dashboard Workshop
Branding with Bre
Studio Seaside

Inbox Question:
“What’s a must when adding a project to your portfolio? What do you think truly helps tell the client’s story and showcase their new brand/your talents the best way possible?” — Amanda DeWoody

Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co.

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/
Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com
Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast

This week Jen chats with the ladies from The Brief Collective - Kenzi Green, Marisa Burgett, and Sammi Reese - all about using creative briefs (or conceptual projects) to attract new leads, flex your creative muscles, and practice creating on a deadline. Our convo covers everything from how to create a conceptual project, to how long you can/should spend on them, the benefits both for new and seasoned designers, and how being creative for yourself strengthens your unique style and creative capabilities!

Guest Information:
Guest Names: Kenzi Green, Marisa Burgett, and Sammi Reese
Guest Business Name: The Brief Collective
Guest Website: thebriefcollective.com
Guest Instagram: @thebriefcollective

Links Mentioned:
https://sharpen.design/

Inbox Question:
"How do you make room for your own creations?” - Angela Davis

Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co.

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/
Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com
Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast

Episode Description:
Welcome to Better Pod After Dark!! Jk - we’re playing the safe-for-work version of the game “Smash or Pass” today, brand designer edition! We polled you guys on Instagram to see if you liked or disliked certain programs, web platforms, social media, and juicy designer situations, and we play along with you!

Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co.

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/

Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com

Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources

Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterpodcast/

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast

Kenzie is a brand and website designer who fell in love with website design and decided to start her business focusing on brand and website design for small businesses. In this episode we talk about the process of building a website from start to finish, making websites feel like our clients’ digital homes, and the details we think about when putting a site together.

Guest Information:
Guest Name: Kenzie Amick
Guest Business Name: Kenzie Amick Co.
Guest Website: www.kenzieamick.co
Guest Instagram: @kenzieamickco

Inbox Question:
“Do you register the fonts you use/customize for the client or the client will register/trademark it themselves?” — Rhegimae Samson

Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co.

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/\
Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com
Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast

One of the questions we get asked most often is: how important is a college degree to running a brand design business? We’re here to chat through the things we found most valuable from our college experiences (Esther in Advertising with a Focus in Design and Jen in Journalism) and the things that we didn’t learn as much about (surprise: the technical side of brand and web design!) We’re both incredibly grateful for the people we are today due to our degrees, but we’re here to lay it all out as to whether what we learned in school had a direct, indirect, (or no direct) impact on our careers as independent brand design studio owners.

Links Mentioned:
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
The Futur Podcast The Art of Negotiation
Standout Squarespace
Branding with Bre

Inbox Question:
"Does anyone else neglect their brand as they are too busy working on everyone else?” — Maria Crider

Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Recording Co.

Connect With Us:
Our Free Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterbranddesigner/
Podcast Website: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com
Podcast Resources Page: https://www.betterbranddesigner.com/resources
Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterpodcast/
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/betterpodcast