Our guest this week is Alicja Colon. Alicja is a commercial lifestyle product photographer, based out of Savannah, GA working at Focus Lab. We talk about studying graphic design in college, and transitioning from designer to wedding photographer to a project manager and then finally into her current career. We also discuss how working with Stocksy United taught her how to better craft a story. And, when you get done listening to Alicja here go listen to her podcast Manual Focus, where she does short segments about the business of photography.

My guest this week is Victor Yocco. Victor is a User Experience Researcher working for EY-Intuitive out of Philadelphia. He has written several articles for the likes of A List Apart and Smashing Magazine and has recently written a book about User Experience Research called, Design for the Mind: Seven Psychological Principles of Persuasive Design. We talk about how user experience research works within the context of design, the culture of alcohol in tech and agency settings, his own dealings with substance abuse, getting sober, and ways to address the underlying issue that lead to substance abuse.

My guest this week is Rocky Roark. Rocky is a San Diego-based Designer and Illustrator, working for Digital Telepathy by day and freelancing by night. He has worked with clients like Facebook, Box, and Adobe. I talk with Rocky about, growing up in Georgia, getting his start working for Focus Lab, and this new venture Slap! Stickers.

My guest this week is John Howard. John is the founder of Black Airplane, a branding and web design firm based out of Atlanta. Black Airplane has worked with clients like Coca-Cola and Rocket Donations. I talk with John about how he got his start in design by doing flyers for Christian rock bands, how a door closing on a job forced him into the entrepreneurial world, and his new product SlingShot – a project collaboration tool for designers.

My guest this week is diane gibbs. diane is an associate professor of Graphic Design at the University of South Alabama, she also runs her own design company, Little Bird Communications, and is the host of Design Recharge, a weekly interview series, where she talks with other designers and creative professionals. I talk with diane about her faith, teaching, her motivation behind starting Design Recharge, and so much more.

My guest this week is Illustrative Designer and vector guru Von Glitschka. If you aren’t familiar with Von, Google him and get back to me on when you run out of results. We talk about growing up in the Pacific Northwest, his first job in a screen printing shop, how he got approached by How Magazine for his first speaking gig, and his tutorial series through lynda.com. And make sure you check out the show notes for links to Von’s books, and other things he’s done.

This is a special bonus episode of the podcast with designer and Illustrator Clark Orr. We sat down and recorded this live, in front of 700 people, from the stage at Creative South last week. Clark is based out of Orlando and has worked with brands like Johnny Cupcakes, Benny Good, and Metallica. We talk about how skateboarding and punk music influenced his design early on, designing for popular apparel brands, creating a work-life balance and what the future holds for him.

My guest today is Scott Fuller of The Studio Temporary. Scott is an Atlanta-based designer, who has had the pleasure of speaking at Creative South in the past. Scott and I sit down to talk about the hustle to find clients, being a Table Tennis whiz kid, what the future holds for him, and the joys and challenges of raising special needs children.

My guest today is Eric Friedensohn. Eric is a freelance designer and hand lettering artist, based out of New York City. We talk about his passion for travel, which lead him to internships in Prague and Lithuania during college, working with friends in an accountability group to keep pushing himself to work on projects and hold him to his goals, how Creative South introduced him to some amazing friendships, and his up coming Summer of Sketching project that you can learn more about at SummerOfSketching.com

My guest today is Blake Stevenson. Blake is a full-time designer and illustrator, based out of Toronto, Canada, working a day job in marketing. He fills the rest of his time as the guy behind Jetpacks and Roller-skates, creating illustrations based on his love of music, video games, comics, and old-school pop culture. I talk with Blake about dealing with imposter syndrome, the importance of communications skills in the real world, how his illustrations have started to change now that he’s had a kid, and being able to give back to the creative community.