This week Ashley Gutierrez, a junior producer at Fresh Tape, a sports media production company based in Denver, walks us through her role in a recent project between Twitter, HBCUs, and the NBA. She sees her role as the blueprint to everything – from the pitch, to planning, finding the right people to execute her idea, managing the talent and clients, and even picking up a camera or editing when necessary. Living in the “we just have to make it happen” world, she makes sure the projects get done on time and, most importantly, within budget. Originally from Miami, Ashley and I discuss moving to Denver during the pandemic and the transition from intern to full time. Her advice is don’t think too much about what’s on your reel, putting the experimental stuff you do in your free time is what gets you a job doing what you really want to do. Also, learn how to light a set… it’s what makes an image beautiful. 

SHOW NOTES

• NBAxHBCU 
• Lauren London x Puma
• Avalanche Hype Video
• Gondola.cc - IMDB for social media
• Jobs at Fresh Tape

This week, Patrick Drake, a product designer for Dealerware, an automotive tech company located in Austin, discusses how you can’t separate UI from UX because they inherently enhance each other towards a product’s overall goals. He discusses why demonstrating sound problem solving in your work and the ability to walk someone through your thought process is the most effective skill a designer can develop. Patrick shares his process for usability testing, downplaying biometric eye tracking in favor of fast, high-fidelity prototypes because you don’t have to guess what someone is thinking after a biometrics test. We talk about using parallel work examples to get a job doing something new and how sending perfect work isn’t as important as just showing some level of competency when starting out.  Lastly Patrick compares the autonomy and depth within an in-house design role vs the fast turnaround of project based freelance work at a design agency - it’s all about the iterative self-sustaining loop of finding and improving novel problems.

SHOW NOTES

• Dovetail - A User Research Platform
• Johnathan Stark - Freelance Mentor 
• Articulating Design Decisions, by Tom Greene

This week, Corey Zucco (@czooksmedia), a recent graduate from the spring of 2021, talks about moving back to her hometown and how she landed her first full-time job as a digital designer at Red Ventures. We tackle mental health breaks, personal branding and network utilization. Corey also shares her journey through the virtual interview process, her fears about never landing a job, and her relatable disdain for LinkedIn. Lastly, Corey gives her tips for navigating the job market, including patience and persistence.

This week Dan Liu, director for TV shows like AMC's The Walking Dead and Netflix's Shadow & Bone, discusses how his job is to get everyone on board with his vision while still being respectful to each department by never forcing his technical knowledge on them. We talk about capturing the moments he is happy with on film while creating a space for the actors to give the ones he did not expect and how it is more important to capture the intention and tone of a scene even when it's not exactly the way you planned in. Dan details the process of directing a TV show from being hired through delivery, working with writers, and how the budget affects all decisions made. Lastly, we talk about being intentional in selecting independent projects, the interconnected industry network in Hollywood, and having a personal project as a calling card to show that you can do what you are trying to be hired to do.

This week Sara Lowe (@sara_lowe17), Art Director at BBDO in Atlanta, talks about how art direction is more than just design; it's a concept with big ideas and making them come to life as a way to get someone to like something. We discuss being creative within the restrictions of a client brief and using Instagram as a morning design scroll for daily inspiration. She digs into working with a copywriter and how it’s more than just a partnership; it’s a relationship that you work on all the time. We attempt to keep on top of current social media platforms as Sara explains the need to know not just how they work but why they work and what will work on them beyond knowing the TikTok dances. Lastly, Sara shares the magic words to guide a client through production drafts when you don’t see eye to eye and the importance of compromise in creating great work. 

Show Notes

• Honey Baked Ham campaign
• #StopTraffic experiential campaign

This week Justin Law (@TweetJustinLaw), a Senior Producer for South Carolina Athletics, talks about how content creation is more than just fan engagement but primarily used as a recruitment tool for 16-18 year-olds considering playing for the University of South Carolina. We talk about keeping current in trends without being cheesy and putting the viewer in the shoes of a player on and off the field, which is more than quick cuts and catchy music. Justin talks about going to school for biology and the difficulty of studying for four years to do something only to realize you hate it, how it felt like a waste of time, and dealing with the quarter-life crisis. We discuss his path from the PAC 12 to the BIG 10 and finally the SEC, applying for jobs through Twitter DMs, and the best strategies for doing so. We break down his most recent demo reel and his thoughts on how to best showcase your talents in 50 seconds. Lastly, we dig into keeping creative throughout shooting the same type of video over and over, and freeing yourself from perfection by not putting too much weight into each video - if you mess up, just move onto the next one.

Show Notes

• Sandstorm video
• Welding Themed Battle Armor Video
• The Columbus Ohio MixTape
• 2020 Demo Reel

This week Autumn Moore, editor at Trailer Park in Los Angeles, talks about the full scope of what it takes to get a trailer on screen and how she loves that her ideas are the first thing you see on a project. We discuss how you can edit the beats of a trailer’s story in several ways, and breaking the formula is where cool work comes from, but you have to first know the editing formula to justify why you broke it. Autumn details the how assistant editing is the best way to become an editor, but editing is something you do on your own time because their skill-set is completely different. Lastly, we watch and dissect Autumn’s favorite current trailer breaking down why they work and why she loves them. 

Trailers we discuss:

• The Social Network (2010) - trailer #1 
• Little Children (2006) - trailer #1 
• Promising Young Woman (2019) - trailer #1 
• Ratched (2020) - teaser trailer 

This week Adam Johnson (@the_creative_explorer), a Senior Graphic Designer at Nike, talks about the balance between branding and appeal in apparel graphic design and how that ties into the overall narrative story. We discuss working two years ahead of real-life and how he designs outside of trend while using the combination of cyclical fashion and innovating performance technology to be on-trend in the future. He explains the collaborative ecosystem between the roles that make a piece of apparel happen and how he allows himself to explore new ideas within its boundaries and restrictions. Adam reminisces on feeling completely unprepared right before graduating college, how exhausting applying for jobs is, and his strategy on faking it to land a job. Lastly, we dig into his creative process, abandoning the idea of perfection and how hard it is to let a side project be a thing instead of trying to make it A THING. 

Show notes 

• Fishing Jersey project
• Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight
• Camp Mug Supply Co. 

This week Chelsea Lee (@kaijulekramp), Art Director for Brand and Purpose Communications at Square, talks about the holistic nature of art direction and how the story you tell is impacted, not defined by the medium chosen to tell it; taste and style can translate across any medium. We discuss the future (not death) of print, and the cultural shift in our relationship with physical things - all while acknowledging that most, if not all, current print projects have a digital aspect to them. Chelsea breaks down the difference between editorial and corporate spaces and the balancing act of having an opinion in each. We dig into mentorship and how you don’t need to be Versace to work in fashion; there are a lot of jobs in your dream industry without being at the top of the food chain. Chelsea opens up about the difficulty of finding internships, tricks for breaking the code of office emails, and not worrying about something being too “student-y” - good work is good work. Lastly, we discuss finding the balance between expressing your voice and knowing what you bring to the table is special and unique, all while allowing the space for others to have theirs in the creative process. 

Show Notes

• Saint Valiant Vintage Store 
• Making Change - Digital White Paper examining the use of Cash v Credit across the US
• The Reader - Square’s first-ever brand magazine
• 150th edition of The Nation
• Society of Publication Designers 
• Remembering Milton Glaser by the Cooper Union 

This week, Jessica (@jessicahische), lettering artist, author, and professional procrastiworker, talks about knowing when your freelance job is your full-time job. We get in the weeds with artist reps and making connections to people at places that want to hire you and, more importantly, work that people know how to hire for in the future. In the end, we agree to not worry about having your shit together in five years; it’s not a race to the top.