Do I need school to be...

Have you heard the expression “Never meet your heroes”? Well, I met one of my podcasting heroes and he surpassed my expectations! Dave is the founder of the Print Design Academy, teaching Graphic Designers how to print and how to fall in love with print. His story is a whirlwind of learning experiences, getting chances and taking advantage of them, following passions and showing them to others. From learning on the job to becoming a teacher, Dave tells us his tale.

On this interview we spoke about:

• Our shared obsession with paper and printed goods
• Getting up at 4am to workout (I mean damn!) because Discipline over Motivation
• How an ex-girlfriend’s dad had a major impact in Dave’s life
• Learning print on the job at a printshop
• His other podcast (the low key inspiration for this show)
• The Print Design Academy and the Colour Bar Challenge
• The Design Community born out of a challenge

Want to learn more about Dave and the Print Design Academy? Here are some useful links
PDA Website
PDA Podcast
PDA Instagram
PDA on YouTube
The Quickie Podcast

Here are Dave’s recommendations:
The 4-hour work week by Tim Ferris
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
‘Don’t wait for the motivation to do something, have the discipline to do something.’

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and support the show on Buy me a Coffee. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here.

This week, I had the pleasure of learning more about my wonderful colleague Ray Lawlor. Ray and I both work at The Customer Bureau (Helping iconic brands become customer centric) and a while back Ray approached me with an amazing story, his story. In his words, he didn’t know what he wanted to do until he was 30. Ray believes that learning and figuring out what you want to do is a constant process of life and that change is wonderful and nothing to be afraid of. This story is truly wild and I can’t wait to share it with you.

On this interview we spoke about:

• Ray’s selftaught journey
• From music to television to advertising to engineering (I mean, what?!)
• Celebrating scholarship programs
• A wonderful woman named Anne
• Not being made for formal education
• Supporting partners during freelancing and jumping from freelancing to company team member
• The importance of having awesome colleagues
• Giving kids the chance to be lifelong learners
• A chat about priviledge

Want to learn more about Ray Lawlor? Here is how you reach him and where you can find his work!

LinkedIn

Engineered’s Website

Here are Ray’s recommendations:

The Customer Bureau

Rory’s Story Cubes

Irish Language Broadcast Fund

Emma Fanning’s episode (one of Ray’s favourites)

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and support the show on Buy me a Coffee. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here.

Staying in line with the environmentalist topic, this week we have another warrior for the earth but who uses a physical medium and not a digital one. Rafael Martig, has a fascinating story of combining the logical and emotional to advocate for conservation of flora and fauna. From a young age, he loved nature and learned to observe and learn from it. Born into a family of creatives, he took the science path before getting back to his roots and picking up a brush to make his audience think about the role they play in the future of the planet. A true pleasure to talk to such a rare bird (that joke will make sense after you listen to this episode, trust me it’s brilliant)

On this interview we spoke about:

• Going from scientist to visual artist
• A lifelong fascination with birds and being known as the bird guy
• Doing what you can with the skills you have
• The voting pencil that inspired a super long painting (literally, it’s super long)
• How impact can start in your own backyard

Want to learn more about Rafael? Here is how you reach him and where you can find his work!

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Here are Rafael’s recommendations:

Ask an artist Podcast

‘100 Ways to Draw a Bird and Make a Living from Illustration by Felix Scheinberger

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and support the show on Buy me a Coffee. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here.

I’m not a fan of social media, sounds weird because I have a podcast but I’m really not a fan of the social media aspect of it. That’s why I was so excited when Neerja and Aparna reached out to me because I love to be proven wrong and to learn what the other side looks like and does. In today’s episode I’m taking to Neerja from ‘Humans Of Earth’, an online platform focused on sharing stories from small climate activist and promoting their efforts and knowledge to expand their reach and provide information to the world. So much respect for these ladies and their work!

On this interview we spoke about:

• Using social media to enact change
• A lawyer and an engineered becoming climate activists
• Featuring stories about ordinary people enacting change
• The effects of climate change
• The power of social media to unite people

Want to learn more about Apart, Neerja and Humans for Earth? Here is how you reach out to them!

Website

Instagram

Issue 1 of the HFE magazine

LinkedIn

Their e-mail to reach out

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and support the show on Buy me a Coffee. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here.

After break due to illness and medical stuff, the podcast is back and we have amazing interviews for you starting with Mr. Paul Delaney. Paul went from the field of Graphic Design into Illustration through the master degree route (you know how I feel about degrees). Paul likes to draw pictures, scribble ideas for stories, make stuff look nice on a page and brighten people’s day. This style is fun and playful and organic, he brings joy to my instagram feed and I hope he brings it to yours too.

On this interview we spoke about:

• Paul’s experience doing a masters in Illustration
• His personal style and why he makes a drawing everyday.
• The difference between Graphic Design and Illustration
• Plans for the future
• The difference between going to school in person and going to school online

Want to learn more about Paul and his work?

Website

Instagram

His prints on CowPat

Paul’s Sketchbook

Here are Paul’s recommendations:

Ben Howard’s Music

Arcade Fire’s Music

Future Island’s Music

The 1975’s Music

Parcels’s Music

Ocean Colour Scene’s Music

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and support the show on Buy me a Coffee. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here.

And we made it to the C-suite! Yes, my guest this week is the Founder and CEO of Startdock, Thom Wernke. Funny enough in this episode we’ll question the role of CEO and what it actually means, spoiler it’s just a role. For those thinking, what is Startdock? Startdock is a coworking space where community is everything. Startdock and its Dockers believe it takes a community to grow a company. At StartDock, tenants are promised flexible contracts and the ability to scale up and down with their workspace adapting to their journey. With 4 amazing locations (5th one is on the way), an active startup community and that believe that your business will grow because of the StartDock environment, it truly is the place to be for up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

On this interview we spoke about:

• How Startdock selects the cities for their locations
• Starting a company with multiple founders
• Thom’s organic journey into becoming CEO
• The weight (or lack of weight) of a title
• Accelerator programs? Yey or Nay?
• Being an eternal student, the situational aspect of teaching
• Startdock’s journey into becoming a B-corp

Want to learn more about Thom and Startdock? Here are some links:

Startdock’s Website

Startdock’s Instagram

Thom’s Linkedin

Thom’s blog post about the event in London

B-corp and the B-lab certification

Here are Thom’s recommendations:

‘Scaling-Up, how a few companies make it and why the rest don’t’ by Verne Harnish

‘Over Routines’ a podcast by Arie Boomsma

‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie

‘Sapiens, A brief history of Humankin’d by Yuval Noah Harari

‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, a podcast by Joe Rogan

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram, Linkedin and support the show on Buy me a Coffee. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here.

On this week’s episode I’m talking to the talented Carolina Cristallo, a fresh graduate from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. Carolina and I actually graduate together from Graphic Design on July of 2022 (which feels like a decade ago) and on this episode we talk about out experience at the Academy, how formal education shaped us, being a working student working at the institution you study, being an international student sand much more.

BONUS! This episode was recorded at the podcasting room of the WdKA using a RodecasterPro meaning we have sound effects :P

On this interview we spoke about:

• Carolina’s Graduation project about gentrification and the role of creatives in it
• Finding your position as a creative
• Using your privilege to have impact on others
• Building trust and connection during the design process
• Studying and working as a PAL at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, Netherlands
• The value of exchanges as part of creative process and creative education

Want to learn more about Carolina and her graduation project? Here are some links:

Carolina’s Instagram

Carolina’s Graduation Project

Linkedin

Willem de Kooning Academy’s Graphic Design Program

WDKA’s Publication Station’s Instagram

Wanna get to know other Summer ’22 Willem de Kooning Graduates? Here you go!

Arimit’s Episode

Georgina’s Episode

Kristian’s Episode

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide for the music on this show!

Want to support the pod?
Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and support the show on Buy me a Coffee. We are currently looking for sponsors, if you know someone or are a local businesses in the Rotterdam area that would like to know about our sponsoring plans, reach out to us here.

This week, on the second episode of season 2, we have Jérôme Bacquias who is the founder & managing Director at paper republic. Don’t know this awesome brand? In short, it’s a company making notebooks and fine leather goods based out of Vienna, Austria and my personal private addiction (hey, I could have worst addictions) At paper republic, they are committed to respect & authenticity. They aim to respect our environment by creating products that are made to last and are crafted from sustainable and natural materials. They are beautiful and they are awesome!

On this interview we spoke about:

Want to learn more about Jérôme and Paper Republic? Here are some links:

Jérôme’s Linkedin

paper republic’s Website 

paper republic’s Instagram

paper republic’s Manifest

paper republic’s Analogue Shop in Vienna

Notebooks for Ukraine

Illustrator of the notebooks for Ukraine

Jerome’s recommendations:

Notes by Albert Camus

Kolyma Tales by Varlam Shalamov

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

The violence and the sacred by René Girard

Want to support the pod?

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide for the music on this show.

WELCOME TO SEASON 2 OF THE PODCAST!

And we are starting with a great one. It’s no secret that I’m skeptical about people who put ‘Coach’ as their job title. Honestly, I think most of them are snake-oil salesmen and saleswomen. Well, Coach Johnson is not one of them and he sets the bar for a life-changing coach. Coach is a 10 year veteran teacher/Athletic Director that looks to build students sense of self and foster strong communication between parents and their children. A masters graduate from Sarah Lawrence College, he developed his love for block building and works with other teachers and schools to incorporate block building into their classroom programming. He is a Husband, a father, a coach and the host of Our Village Stories: Parenting through Passion and Grit.

On this interview we spoke about:

Want to learn more about Coach and his podcast? Here are some links:

Cameron’s recommendations:

Special thank you to Ro Halfhide for the music on this show and to Immaculate Lemaron for proofreading the transcripts and helping this podcast be as accessible as possible.

Want to support the pod?

• Going from the ladder to the elevator effectively
• Being an auditive learner
• How the creative process can translate to business
• Growing a network of skills
• Becoming a tech start-up