SARAH HERRON, ART DIRECTOR & TV PERSONALITY, LAUNCHES SHELIFT
SARAH HERRON, ART DIRECTOR & TV PERSONALITY, LAUNCHES SHELIFT
When WNW Member Sarah Herron isn't working as an advertising Art Director, she leads a double life as a reality TV personality. Both experiences have helped prepare her for her next and most personal adventure yet, SheLift. As Sarah puts it, "SheLift is a nonprofit that empowers girls to conquer their personal obstacles, discover self-compassion and inspire others by providing them with the tools, experiences and mentorship to work towards living an inspired, authentic life."
In our interview below, Sarah discusses how only 72andSunny and its approach to advertising could have prepared her for the challenges of making SheLift a reality. She also opens up about the tough but ultimately essential decision to leave her full-time job and fully dedicate herself: "Even though we still have a challenging year ahead, I’ll always be happy knowing I gave [SheLift] 100% and the attention it deserved to thrive."
As for her time on The Bachelor, Sarah calls it life-changing. "It gave me the confidence to overcome some pretty debilitating confidence issues. I was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome, and as a result grew up with only one arm. I decided to participate in the show in an effort to face my fears and own my story in the most vulnerable way possible." We're pretty sure Sarah holds the distinction of being the only WNW Member to appear on The Bachelor. And having been on three seasons, which makes her an official dating pro, it seemed only right that we also pry her for some dating advice for all you single creatives.
If you're interested in helping SheLift, you can donate here or show your love by picking up a sweet "Maybe You Literally Can Even" t-shirt.
Tell us about your creative background. Who is Sarah and how did she get here?
I graduated from Otis College of Art and Design with a BFA in Advertising / Graphic Design. Immediately after graduation, I picked up my internship at 72andSunny where I spent 6 more years learning from the best in the industry.
When I appeared on [The Bachelor], I started getting fan-mail and messages from girls all across the country who were just like me. The girls would write telling me how much it meant to see someone "like them” finally represented in mainstream media.
What is SheLift and what lead you to launch it?
SheLift is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers girls to conquer their personal obstacles, discover self-compassion and inspire others by providing them with the tools, experiences and mentorship to work towards living an inspired, authentic life.
I was called to create SheLift after appearing on ABC’s The Bachelor. The experience was life changing as it gave me the confidence to overcome some pretty debilitating confidence issues. I was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome, and as a result grew up with only one arm. I decided to participate in the show in an effort to face my fears and own my story in the most vulnerable way possible. When I appeared on the show, I started getting fan-mail and messages from girls all across the country who were just like me. The girls would write telling me how much it meant to see someone "like them” finally represented in mainstream media. I’ve since appeared on the show 3 times – no longer as a means to find a husband, but rather to bring awareness to girls with disabilities at home that we are not as perfect and confident as TV and social media might portray.
After a lot of soul searching and self-healing I saw an opportunity to provide mentorship to girls in a way that is unique to me – through sport and social influence. SheLift is a program that empowers girls at an early age to have the confidence to conquer any obstacle.
I’ve always found that conquering physical challenges is synonymous with building self-confidence.
In what ways is the idea of adventure integral to the mission of SheLift?
I’ve always found that conquering physical challenges is synonymous with building self-confidence. Being that I am a Colorado native and outdoor enthusiast, I knew outdoor adventure would be the perfect vehicle to get girls to discover what they’re capable of doing and boost self esteem.
What moment in the conception and launch of SheLift has made you the proudest?
The day I decided to quit my job in advertising and pursue SheLift full time was my proudest moment. It made it feel real. The outpouring of support and belief in my decision made me confident it was the best decision I’ve ever made. Even though we still have a challenging year ahead, I’ll always be happy knowing I gave it 100% and the attention it deserved to thrive.
When you have a great mission that people are inspired by, they’ll move mountains to help you get it done. Committing money is another feat.
What have been some of the challenges of getting SheLift off the ground?
Fundraising has been the most difficult part of starting SheLift. Everything else has been surprisingly easy. I credit the ease and speedy development solely to our mission. When you have a great mission that people are inspired by, they’ll move mountains to help you get it done. Committing money is another feat.
How can WNW members get involved and help SheLift?
SheLift’s brand model relies heavily on social media and influence. We’re really leaning into our brand partners and social ambassadors to help make SheLift not just an organization, but a movement. WNW members can help by spreading the word and connecting brands / donors who might share alignment in our mission.
The great thing about 72andSunny is when you take on a role as a creative, an account director, a producer, a strategist etc., you’re not just that one role – you’re all of them.
You’ve worked as an art director at 72andSunny for the past 6+ years, but it looks like SheLift has required you to take on much more of a producer role. Is producing something you’re hoping to continue to explore, or was that more just born out of necessity for this particular endeavor?
The great thing about 72andSunny is when you take on a role as a creative, an account director, a producer, a strategist etc., you’re not just that one role – you’re all of them. When I made the decision a year ago to take on a new production position, I think it was foreshadowing from the universe. Operating SheLift has required me to put all my skills to use: design, writing, ideation, budgeting, project managing and more. I truly credit 72andSunny for giving me the learning opportunities and experiences to put SheLift together.
We’re pretty sure you hold the distinction of being the first WNW Member on The Bachelor. As an official dating pro, what’s some good relationship advice you can share with WNW Members, and creative couples?
Dating advice: Ladies, we all can and SHOULD be our own Bachelorettes. Dating should be fun, and if you’re 30-something and single, make the most out of it! You are worthy and deserving of having multiple men wanting to be with you. You are smart, creative, driven and have a bad-ass job. YOU ARE A CATCH.
As for creative couples, it’s like any other relationship. The best ones take work, cooperation and understanding. Creative people are passionate, emotional, and opinionated. If boundaries aren’t respected, relationships, whether work or romantic, will become toxic. Practice patience and empathy!
Are there other Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants, past or present, who have launched nonprofits or products that you endorse?
There have been several contestants who’ve come off the show and attempted to parlay their exposure into a business opportunity. Some more successful than others. The exposure and “fame” you get from appearing on the show is fleeting and I think a lot of contestants think they need to jump on the hosting/acting/modeling train and rarely that works out. I never saw my exposure on the show as an opportunity to capitalize. SheLift found me and I feel very fortunate to have been given a platform for social empowerment.
Who are some of your biggest creative idols and influences?
Some of my greatest influences have been the partners and leaders at 72andSunny. Glenn Cole, John Boiler and Matt Jarvis are some of the smartest people I’ve ever met.
If you weren’t an Art Director, what do you think you’d be doing instead?
I wanted to be an artist since I was old enough to hold a crayon. I’m doing exactly what I was meant to be doing, sharing my ideas with the world.
What do you do when Not Working?
I’m never not working.
What are some things you would tell your high school self?
When you grow up you’re going to meet Leonardo DiCaprio, and go on amazing dates that are on TV, and everything is going to be AMAZING.
What’s next for you?
SheLift!
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
How the Artist Visiting Our Startup Office Change My Life
What began with an email and cute Instagram illustrations turned into a collaboration that’s still going strong today. Jason visited our offices at the end of April this year (2016) to create art and work with our team on creative projects. An added bonus was that we had time to really get to know one another. Hearing Jason speak about his life, his career trajectory, and his impressions of Berlin had a profound personal impact on me.
Read MorePROFILES OF THE WEEK: OCTOBER 10TH
PROFILES OF THE WEEK:
OCTOBER 10TH
Jimmy Simpson, Motion Designer. Brooklyn.
Joel Lee, Art Director. Toronto.
Tori McGoogan, Art Director. San Francisco.
Mart Biemans, Designer. Groningen.
Grace Gadston, UX/IA Designer. Vancouver.
Suzanne McKenzie, Designer. New York.
Brock Kirby, Copywriter. Portland.
Yuan Guo, Designer. San Francisco.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
Watching Not Watching: Mr. Robot
Watching Not Watching:
Mr. Robot
WORKING NOT WORKING
HBO has long been the gold standard of television, and arguably still wears that crown. But there are now so many adrenaline-packed and addictively authentic shows touching down from Netflix, Amazon, FX and AMC, and WNW Members are finding plenty of creative inspiration from all of these curators. Often overlooked, USA is now front and center with the aforementioned powerhouses on the heels of Mr. Robot's Emmy and Golden Globe wins. But Mr. Robot has had a cult status right from the start. Below, WNW Member and New York-based Designer Julia Korbut tells us how the show hooked her, and why there are no signs of it releasing its grip: "When I first heard of it, Mr. Robot seemed like a cool show about hacker culture. It was the only time I’ve seen hacking portrayed as something other than a bizarre 3D fever dream. A bit into the pilot episode, additional undertones were added in - social justice, mental illness. It quickly became a show that’s not only about hacking the planet."
Julia also contributes some brooding pixel art that drips with as much paranoia and darkness as the show itself.
FYI: This is a Spoiler Free Zone.
Who is Julia Korbut and how did she get here?
I'm a self-taught designer and illustrator. Currently a Product Designer at Venmo. I've been working in agencies, games and startups for the past ten years. Sometimes I do pixel art on my off hours.
What was it about Mr. Robot that hooked you?
When I first heard of it, Mr. Robot seemed like a cool show about hacker culture. It was the only time I’ve seen hacking portrayed as something other than a bizarre 3D fever dream. A bit into the pilot episode, additional undertones were added in - social justice, mental illness. It quickly became a show that’s not only about hacking the planet.
Elliot, the protagonist, is a regular security firm employee by day, and vigilante hacker by night. He suffers from some sort of delusional dissociative disorder, and self medicates with drugs and hacking people for social contact. We don’t get the full picture of what’s happening due to his illness. We quickly learn we can’t accept the story as-is since the entire show is narrated from his perspective. It’s a complex show that makes you look twice before you read it at face value.
The show is set in current day Manhattan, with every detail kept true to reality. It makes the Mr. Robot world seem like it could exist, a scary thought at times. It draws a lot from the anger younger generations face growing up into a sense of debt and insecurity. They want to reclaim the world, make it better. It has that “Occupy Wall St” vibe, which is an interesting ingredient for a tech thriller. The protagonist, Elliot, is worried about where the world is headed. He has suffered personal losses due to corporate greed. He wants to save the world and spare others. It doesn’t necessarily go well from there.
Who’s your favorite character and why?
Mr. Robot. has a lot of great, powerful female characters. We even meet a trans character later on. My favorite character though is definitely Angela. She’s Elliot’s childhood friend, and in the beginning of the series we often see her overlooked, disrespected and pushed aside. She decides to seek power. She takes control of her fate and evolves a lot in the second season.
Moral ambiguity is a common theme in this show. There’s this duality of right and wrong. Angela definitely gets some of that. We don’t know the full extent of her agenda, but she pursues it relentlessly. She keeps moving towards her goal even in very hostile situations. She has this air of revenge, of “I’ll show you”, hand in hand with building herself up and having the drive to keep going. Seeing powerful, non-stereotypical female characters is definitely refreshing.
Without giving away any spoilers, which season did you like more?
Every season has a central theme of sorts. From crime to punishment and so on. I’d say both seasons are pretty adrenaline-packed, but the second one really goes places. You think you know what’s going on in the first season, that you have a pretty good understanding of things. In the second season, you realize a lot of things were a misconception.
The amount of blackmail on Mr. Robot is pretty impressive. Does the show ever make you want to wipe your online identity clean and move to the mountains?
There’s definitely more to this show than that. But as scary as it is, every ‘hack stunt’ on the show is entirely possible. Real life security consultants, some ex-FBI, were hired to help write the show that way. What makes it interesting is that those attacks stem from something apart from malice. And we get to see the consequences.
Is Mr. Robot, and television in general, a source of creative inspiration or escape for you?
I love watching movies, TV, music videos for the colors. The fashion. The cinematography. But anything is a possible source of inspiration for me. It’s like a muscle - you can train your eyes to see interesting composition and color in anything. I see ideas in the most random things.
On-screen media is particularly inspiring for fashion. If only my Wacom could print out sweet outfits.
Complete this sentence: If you like ________, you’ll love Mr. Robot.
The internet.
What other shows, new or old, do you recommend to fellow WNW Members?
So both of those recommendations are going to be from the UK. I don’t know how come they portray dystopia so well, but that’s just how it is.
Black Mirror is an obvious recommendation. Every episode is like a movie, a separate story line. It explores technology and where it could possibly take us as society. Some episodes, especially the last one from season two, are really extreme.
Utopia is another brilliant one. This one is super underrated. I can’t really describe it without giving plot details away, but just watch this. Some keywords: Comic book conspiracy theories, beautiful cinematography, the color yellow, sick beats.
What are you working on these days?
On my off hours I jump between a few different things. I have a bunch of ideas I work on. Currently my focus is on a short animation project. It’s loosely inspired by museums and simulation theory.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
WNW Member Elias Stein
34X34: DESIGNERS BID FAREWELL TO DAVID ORTIZ
34X34: DESIGNERS BID FAREWELL TO DAVID ORTIZ
The Graphic Designer for the Boston Red Sox, Marissa Mcclain, pulled out all the stops to honor David Ortiz, one of the most celebrated heroes of both the franchise and the city. Mcclain's 34x34 Project features 34 #ThanksPapi billboards in the Boston area, each designed by a different artist. Four WNW Members paid their respects to the future Hall of Famer through their work. Even WNW Member Jon Contino, a self-proclaimed "obnoxious New Yorker" and diehard Yankees fan offered a tribute, adding, "Rivalries are built on respect...and there's no number as scary to a Yankees fan as the number 34. Thanks to the @redsox for inviting me to be a part of a living legend's farewell. Even I can't deny the awesome legacy of David Ortiz."
Scroll down to see the other contributions from WNW Members. You can see all 34 billboards here.
WNW Member Jon Contino
WNW Member Brian Lindstrom
WNW Member Sean O'Connor
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
MEET "SUNDAY AFTERNOON" THIS FRIDAY NIGHT
MEET "SUNDAY AFTERNOON" THIS FRIDAY NIGHT
And you thought the Golden State Warriors looked like this season's most dominant Super Team. This Friday night from 7-10pm, brand new NYC-based studio and agency Sunday Afternoon is putting on a one-night show in TriBeCa, with an open bar courtesy of Des-Gin and Aberlour whiskey. It will be a mix of photography, design and sculpture from all the artists on the roster. Scroll down to meet the artists of Sunday Afternoon, where "a time of day is a state of mind."
WNW Member Ahmed Klink
WNW Member Juan Carlos Pagan
WNW Member Shane Griffin
WNW Member Ricardo Gonzalez
WNW Member Josh Dickinson
WNW Member Rich Tu
WNW Member Jesse Rieser
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
26 ARTISTS: WHATEVER YOU CALL 'EM, REMEMBER TO "CHECK 'EM"
26 ARTISTS: WHATEVER YOU CALL 'EM, REMEMBER TO "CHECK 'EM"
London-based Seed Animation Studio has released "Check 'Em", a short animation film for Breast Cancer Awareness, in association with Breast Cancer Care. Twenty-six artists contributed original pieces, including six WNW Members. Considering they're all tackling the same subject(s), it's inspiring to see the artists show off such an array of eclectic animation styles. They've somehow managed to collectively match the creativity and absurdity of the many nicknames we have for "Brad Pitts", "Twin Peaks", "Fun Bags", "Norks", or "Wopbobaloobops" if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
Take a look at a handful of the many different takes below, and whatever you call 'em, don't forget to "check 'em."
"Bazookas" by WNW Member Jack Sachs
"Bonbons" by WNW Member Caroline Attia
"Baloobas" by WNW Member Antonio Vicentini
"Mammaries" by WNW Member Andrew Khosravani
"The Twins" by WNW Member Sophie Koko Gate
"Knockers" by WNW Member Yukai Du
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
PROFILES OF THE WEEK: OCTOBER 3RD
PROFILES OF THE WEEK:
OCTOBER 3RD
Jasmin Jodry, Designer. Brooklyn.
Lorin Brown, Illustrator. Brooklyn.
Julian Glander, Animator. New York.
Shannon Bellanca, Designer. Los Angeles.
Adam Danielson, Designer. Boston.
Morgan Schweitzer, Illustrator. Los Angeles.
Jen Epstein, Motion Designer. Brooklyn.
Mitchell Ratchik, Art Director. Brooklyn.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
7 Tips for the Advertising Freelancer
If you work at a big agency, it seems like once a week that somebody sends out an email about farewell drinks and plans to join the freelance army.
There are lots of reasons for the explosion of advertising freelancers in recent years. From an agency perspective, more project work versus AOR assignments means that agencies are less likely to take on permanent staff. From the freelancer side, many people like the freedom and flexibility that freelancing provides. The money is pretty good too.
Read MoreGIPHY Presents "Loop Dreams" - An Exhibition of GIF Art IRL
GIPHY PRESENTS "LOOP DREAMS" - AN EXHIBITION OF GIF ART IRL
Join GIPHY in New York City this Sunday for LOOP DREAMS: An IRL exhibition of GIF Art. You can experience the work of 25 GIF artists through holographic posters, projections, VR, and interactive installations, with additional curation by Rhizome. Branding by WNW Members Mark Richard Miller & Dave Franzese of Dark Igloo.
12-3PM: Come explore inside the first ever Virtual Reality GIF Museum! The team behind the Mona VR headset will be giving demos of the soon-to-be-released MoGA and will be available to answer all your VR questions.
4-5PM: Join us for a panel discussion on the GIF led by RHIZOME. This panel discussion—featuring artist Laura Brothers, curator Jason Eppink, and GIPHY founder Alex Chung—will explore the GIF's usage as vernacular communication and artistic medium as parallel trajectories in the history of the file format.
October 2nd, 2016 / 10am-6pm / 201 Mulberry Street / New York, NY 10002
Hope to see you there! Scroll for the full list of featured artists.
Featuring art from:
Jacob Ciocci
Yung Jake
Nicolas Sassoon
Ann Hirsch
Laura Brothers
WNW Member Mattis Dovier
Stuart Wade
Eno Swinnen
Phyllis Ma
Scorpion Dagger
Zach Scott
WNW Member Julian Glander
Sam Rolfes
Winston Duke
WNW Member Karan Singh
Katri Tikkanen
LaTurbo Avedon
Dina Kelberman
David Berrebi
John Fogarty
Lauren Pelc McArthur
Jess Mac
Daniel Berman
Leon Denise
Nicole Ginelli
Martin Onassis
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
ANXY: A BEAUTIFULLY-DESIGNED MAGAZINE ABOUT OUR INNER WORLDS
ANXY: A BEAUTIFULLY-DESIGNED MAGAZINE ABOUT OUR
INNER WORLDS
Embracing your individuality and creativity and sharing it with the world requires a lot of courage, regardless of whether it comes easily to you or not. It means you're putting time into discovering yourself. We at WNW are always thrilled to see our members address not just the highs but especially the lows that come with the territory of self-discovery. Anxy Magazine is a prime example. Anxy's founder and Creative Director, WNW Member Indhira Rojas, tells us, "Anxy is intended to be a creative and artful exploration of mental health combined with powerful personal narratives. We are looking to create a publication that allows us to dive into our inner experiences and share what’s *really* going on in our lives. Our mission is to reduce the stigma around mental health conversations and make them an integral part of our daily lives."
Anxy aims to show that there's no longer a need to expend all of your energy on internalizing your struggle. And that the curtain we use to hide anxiety is really just a thin veil that distorts the realities of it: "We want to normalize these bad feelings and share how others have navigated or are still navigating those negative and dark moments... Each issue of Anxy uses a central theme—“loneliness” or “boundaries”—to build an original, insightful, and creative perspective through interviews, personal essays, reported features, visual stories, and recommendations for what to read, watch and download to round out the conversation." In our interview below, Indhira opens up about her own experiences with anxiety, expresses why a tactile magazine is the right medium to guide this conversation, and offers some insightful and generous tips on embracing your own anxiety.
Yesterday, Anxy was featured as the Project of the Day on Kickstarter. Head over to Kickstarter to back this mission. And if you are interested in the project and want to collaborate with the Anxy team, email them here: hello@anxymag.com. They'll be looking for writers, illustrators, photographers, you name it.
Tell us a little bit about your background. Who is Indhira and how did she get here?
I’m the founder and creative director of Anxy Magazine, and principal at Redindhi Studio, a design practice focused on branding, editorial and interaction design. As a designer, I’m curious how the stories we tell each other shape our lives, influence our behavior and evoke our emotions. Most of my career I’ve been in the intersection of publishing and technology, developing visual strategies and identities that enable compelling narratives.
I’ve worked on a wide array of projects, from leading interaction and art direction at The Bold Italic, to launching the Once Magazine app and the Modern Farmer website, working on the re-branding of Atlas Obscura and designing Eric Ries' latest book The Leader’s Guide. Another transformative milestone in my career was working at Medium, where I lead the branding and creative art direction of some of our first publications such as Matter, Gone, Re:form and Backchannel.
Now, how I got here, here: I’m originally from the Dominican Republic—a Caribeña. I was fortunate to receive a scholarship that brought me to the US to complete a degree in Communication Design at Parsons School of Design in New York City. I later moved to San Francisco, CA to pursue a Masters in Design at California College of the Arts, which allowed me to transition into tech.
What is Anxy, and what led you to start it?
Anxy is intended to be a creative and artful exploration of mental health combined with powerful personal narratives. We are looking to create a publication that allows us to dive into our inner experiences and share what’s *really* going on in our lives. Our mission is to reduce the stigma around mental health conversations and make them an integral part of our daily lives.
I decided to start the magazine because I found myself in the middle of a rough time, dealing with a lot of grief and anger from doing my own therapy work and just feeling like — wait, I can’t be the only one. Why is it so hard to reach out to someone and say: “I’m feeling this huge void in my chest right now, and I know it’s sadness, and I don’t know what to do with it. Have you ever felt that way?” It’s like, unless there’s a death in the family, where there’s permission to grieve, we don’t allow ourselves to have those raw conversations and talk about some really dark feelings and experiences. We are all working so hard to make each other believe we have our shit together. Um. We don’t. Let’s get real.
I wanted to hear about other people’s experiences and how they have navigated them —what they do with the things that arise, how it has influenced their work, their everyday lives. I also wanted to bring together the psychology concepts that can bring language to what sometimes is so hard to describe and pinpoint.
Unless there’s a death in the family, where there’s permission to grieve, we don’t allow ourselves to have those raw conversations and talk about some really dark feelings and experiences. We are all working so hard to make each other believe we have our shit together. Um. We don’t. Let’s get real.
How did you decide on the format of Anxy? How does a serial publication better enable a conversation into anxiety?
For Anxy, we decided on a bi-annual publication, in which each issue is based on a theme, such as “loneliness” or “boundaries,” because we wanted to create a tactile collection of conversations. That way we can dive deep into a specific topic and create a complete volume of original, insightful, and creative perspectives. So much online content gets lost in the vortex. If you don’t click on the link from that email or feed—wooosshh—the story disappears forever (or until your Google it, if you ever do). And even when you do read it, even if you ‘save it’ … it still gets lost in some kind of digital archive.
We are looking to share these themes and stories through interviews with folks we admire, personal essays, reported features, and visual stories. We hope it will be content people can come back to for months to come, the way you do with a good book—you read it in stages and sometimes more than once.
The advantage of a serial publication, as opposed to a podcast or blog, is getting to experience content on a printed (tactile) page. It enables the juxtaposition of words and images in a way that connects to your senses differently. If done artfully and with an appreciation for beautiful design, Anxy can hopefully go beyond what’s currently in the market covering these topics.
The advantage of a serial publication, as opposed to a podcast or blog, is getting to experience content on a printed (tactile) page. It enables the juxtaposition of words and images in a way that connects to your senses differently.
In what ways are you applying your experience as a UX and visual designer to the magazine?
I’m applying my experience in some ways that are a bit more obvious, mainly understanding our audience and the need we are looking to fill, and creating the conceptual framework and visual direction of the magazine — from the branding of the publication to the tone of our video, website, and all the promotional materials.
Other aspects that have really come in handy, which are less visible, are putting into practice the strategy and project management skills that I’ve learned through ‘shipping’ things. This is the first time I’ve created a Kickstarter campaign. There are a lot of pieces that have to come together—it’s been quite the journey.
Anxy Mag has the potential to combat the misconception that you’re alone in facing anxiety. Do you see that feeling of loneliness in feeling alone as the most dangerous effect of anxiety and depression?
For me, the most dangerous effects of anxiety, depression, and numerous other mental illnesses, is not wanting to be alive anymore. It can start with a devastating feeling of loneliness and grow to feeling totally invisible and misunderstood. Feeling that no one could ever understand how we feel, because how could they? They are not the ones in this body, with these experiences, dealing with these thoughts.
The misconception we want to tackle is not just that you are not alone, it’s also that trauma is so much more common than we care to admit to each other. We dare claim that it’s a rite of passage in life. At some point, we will experience something difficult in some form or another. Big or small, individual or collective, it’s probably going to happen. And it’s understandable that you may feel buried by it. We want to normalize these bad feelings and share how others have navigated or are still navigating those negative and dark moments.
There seems to be a general consensus that anxiety and depression are particularly prevalent in creative individuals. Why do you think this is?
I’m one of those folks who believes all humans are creative, not just us labelled ‘creative people’. But, putting that aside, us “creatives” generally tend to feel more comfortable in the realm of expression and making. It becomes the way we channel our inner experiences. When making is the channel, our emotions related to our anxiety and depression comes through and becomes more visible (both in the work and how we carry ourselves), especially if what we make is publicly consumed. For others, non-labelled creatives, anxiety and depression are probably just as prevalent, it’s just channelled in ways we are not as aware of.
At times it can feel very rewarding to feel connected and make. Other times, you realize that a busy mind, not being able to think about other things but the problem at hand, is really a mind that cannot think about negative or dark thoughts. Creativity can be that double-edged sword.
How has your creativity helped keep anxiety at bay? And how has your creativity perhaps opened the door to anxiety or depression?
The way my creativity has kept anxiety and depression at bay (which has been a sad revelation, even in its comfort) is that it’s a great tool for distraction, sometimes dissociation. I’ve noticed for me, I get into problem-solving mode or into a flow and then everything else disappears. At times it can feel very rewarding to feel connected and make. Other times, you realize that a busy mind, not being able to think about other things but the problem at hand, is really a mind that cannot think about negative or dark thoughts. Creativity can be that double-edged sword.
The aspect of creativity that can open the door for anxiety and depression is when we lose track of what we are making and start judging ourselves. We can sometimes be very harsh. Whether it’s ‘this is not good enough,’ which can turn into ‘I’m not good enough,’ or ‘why can’t I be this or that?’ It just opens the door for that inner critic and puts you in a real rut.
'Mathographics' poster. Design contribution to Anxy Kickstarter campaign by design visionary & WNW Member GMUNK.
What are some top tips you can give to fellow WNW members who struggle with anxiety, or are close to someone who struggles with anxiety?
Huge question. I will talk about things that have worked for me. But I don’t think it works for everyone. As we all manage things differently.
If you have become aware enough about your current state to realize something is off and you are tired of being tired, look for support: a professional therapist, a group, a friend who can really hold your experience. Talking to a professional therapist saved my life.
Meditation has been really helpful for me, mainly because it has helped me become an observer of my inner dialog and realize that thoughts are not reality, they are just thoughts—we just tend to believe everything we think. That can be un-learned.
For those who are close to someone who struggles with anxiety (and they are not in a state of self-harm), I would say, just be present for them when you are with them. Be a steady presence in their lives so that they can feel safe and supported when they are with you. Listen to them. Pay attention without judgement, and most importantly without trying to solve their problem (this is really really hard!).
Anxy Magazine Assistant Editor Katie MacBride (far left) with Founder Indhira Rojas in the studio with Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Maerz, and Editor-at-Large Bobbie Johnson (right). Photo by Michelle Le.
The team you’ve assembled is stacked with so many talented individuals. How did you pitch Anxy as an endeavor worth joining?
Anxy has been a labor of love for everyone involved. I feel so lucky to count on such an awesome team of talented folks. To be honest, pitching Anxy didn’t require heavy lifting. Everyone involved has dabbled with therapy in some way, and feels the same need I feel—a desire to connect with others around our issues and stop with all this pretending. We can see people are craving open discussions about coping with anxiety, depression, fear, anger, trauma, shame, and all those things can change the direction of our work and our lives.
Anxy Magazine Senior Editor Madison Kahnin the studio with Editor-at-Large Bobbie Johnson. Photo by Michelle Le.
Anxy Magazine Founder Indhira Rojas (left) at Redindhi Studio in conversation with design team. Photo by Michelle Le.
This is the right time to have this conversation. Other publishers are beginning to broach the topic, and many public figures have come forward with personal revelations about mental health. Actor Kristen Bell wrote about her struggles with depression and anxiety; comedian and podcaster Marc Maron has made a career out of talking about complex emotional issues with his creative peers.
We feel a real revolution taking place around normalizing mental health outside the medical arena. It felt like an opportunity ready for the taking and so they jumped on it with me. :)
Anxy Magazine Founder Indhira Rojas (center) at Redindhi Studio in conversation with design team. Photo by Michelle Le.
How can WNW Members get involved in helping Anxy Mag and its mission?
There are many ways to get involved in helping Anxy — the most urgent is supporting our Kickstarter so we can make this project a reality! The second best way, specially for WNW’s huge community of creative professionals, is to become a contributor. If you are interested in the project and want to collaborate with us, please reach out to us at: hello@anxymag.com. We will be looking for writers, illustrators, photographers, you name it!
Anything else you’d like to add?
Please join our community and help spread the word. We are slowly ramping up our social media, but we would love to have you follow along in your journey!
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
PROFILES OF THE WEEK: SEPTEMBER 26TH
PROFILES OF THE WEEK:
SEPTEMBER 26TH
Vanessa Teodoro, Illustrator. Lisbon.
Webb Blevins, Designer. Santa Barbara.
Marie-Celine Merret, Producer. New York.
Phil Gibson, Designer. New York.
Timo Meyer, Illustrator. Bonn.
Sarah Ferone, Illustrator. Philadelphia.
Scott Reinhard, Designer. Brooklyn.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
AT DIXIE'S DEADZONE DINERS, A CHANCE TO DISCONNECT TO RECONNECT
AT DIXIE'S DEADZONE DINERS, A CHANCE TO DISCONNECT TO RECONNECT
Many of us love the idea of 50s diners, with their vinyl booths, bottomless coffee, jukeboxes and flapjacks. But then midway through sipping on a malted shake, we pull out our futuristic wireless brain-scrambling devices and start surfing and beaming messages across the globe.
With Dixie's Deadzone Diners, patrons finally had the chance to experience a more authentic 50s diner. After all, the Deadzone Diner slogan is "Great Meal, No Service." WNW Members Jeff Scardino, Tara Lawall, Rob Trostle and Rich Greco helped create several pop-up diners in places with no cell service, so people could disconnect to reconnect with loved ones. We're talking caves, vaults and canyons.
As Jeff notes, "The campaign received over 11 million online views, which is a bit ironic."
This isn't Jeff's first involvement with a thought-provoking installation. Last year, we featured the traveling "Machine 11," which flipped the script on typical anti-smoking scare tactics and instead afforded passersby a series of amazing 11-minute life experiences for the cost of 1 cigarette.
While Dixie's Deadzone Diners campaign has ended for now, it's still possible for you to build your own time traveling device just by putting your other devices away.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
SABINE DOWEK TALKS MOMA, DESIGN RESEARCH & CREATIVE QUESTIONING
SABINE DOWEK TALKS MOMA, DESIGN RESEARCH & CREATIVE QUESTIONING
WNW Member Sabine Dowek worked in MoMA's graphic design department for four years before going freelance. We were excited to learn how such an experience could speak to the concepts of research, conversation and celebration that drive graphic design. And Sabine delivers in our interview below. The Brazilian-born and New York-based designer tells us, "For an exhibition, the best research was often talking to the curators, engaging them in conversation, asking questions—that is where a point of view is revealed. That point of view is what drove the curator to spend years of their lives extensively researching and developing a subject matter, so it's a pretty special place to start from. Asking questions always helps." Sabine's ability to discover the creative passion behind great curators, artists and their works as a means to unleash her own is what defines her stellar contributions to MoMA.
Sabine also tells us about other go-to venues for inspiration in the form of New York museums, galleries and jazz clubs. Sabine adds, "The word 'working' can be limiting, in the sense that when you are not, you are still aware and observing things happening around you. These observations later manifest themselves during the creative process in several different ways." Take the time to fully appreciate Sabine's work, and you may be lucky enough to see it later manifest itself during your own creative process.
Tell us about your creative background. Who is Sabine and how did she get here?
I am a designer originally from Rio de Janeiro. I’ve lived in New York since 2006 (except for a short stay in São Paulo last year).
Before even knowing what graphic design really was, I was passionate about drawing. My father owns an extensive collection of Bandes Dessinée (Franco-Belgian comic books). He taught himself how to draw by redrawing scenes from his favorites books. I used to do the same, attempting a child-like version of Spirou (a popular character beloved in France/Belgium). I was never great at it, but continued to draw and paint until going to college. During my last year in college, I realized my education had been quite insubstantial and felt unprepared to practice the profession. I transferred to SVA in New York. I recall having a similar feeling then upon graduation, perhaps to a lesser degree and despite the fantastic education I received. I realize now this feeling has stayed with me until today, and I suspect it always will.
How would you describe your creative style? Do you recognize a signature style that links all of your projects, or do you try to excuse yourself and approach each project as its own entity?
I think there is definitely a shared sensibility across my work and that continues to evolve over time, but I wouldn’t call it style. As an illustrator, having a style is helpful, but as a designer, the visual expression should be informed by the specific and singular needs of the client or project.
Jazz Interlude
What drew you to this subject?
The Jazz interlude is a bi-annual fundraiser to benefit the Friends of Education at MoMA and to raise funds to acquire African American art. Jazz music is fascinating. I would often go to the Village Vanguard and be mesmerized by the musician’s improvisation skills. And they always seem to have so much fun playing.
What inspirations helped inform this project?
Apart from being a jazz fan, the vernacular of vintage jazz albums are great. They really incorporate the rhythm and soul of Jazz. I did a lot of research on jazz albums and the kinds of graphic elements typically associated with it.
Hardest part?
The hardest part for me was the deadline. It came to us late and we had a week to figure out the design, while in the midst of many other projects. Oh, and being 9 months pregnant didn’t help either.
Inventing Abstraction
What drew you to this subject?
This was a unique exhibition. The curators, Leah Dickerman and Masha Chlenova, had the thesis that abstraction wasn’t the result of a single genius, but rather born out of the relationships between artists of that time. The curatorial team spent many years researching who knew who, and together with Columbia University created a basic skeleton of those connections which we then worked from. Being a part of such a unique concept and process was great.
What inspirations helped inform this project?
Alfred Barr, MoMA’s first director, had created a chart in 1936 mapping the development of modern art. It felt like an obvious decision to use that as inspiration for the artist network chart we were designing for the same museum 76 years later.
Hardest part?
The network chart was particularly hard to tackle. There were over 80 connections, so it's very dense and was labor intensive.
What was it like to work as an art director and designer for such an institution like MoMA? How does your approach to museum and exhibit identities differ from your approach to book cover design?
Working for MoMA was an incredible experience. To be exposed to fascinating art, work with knowledgeable people, and be behind the scenes of formidable exhibitions displaying the work of absolute masters—I feel very fortunate and grateful. Walking through the galleries before the museum opened to the public, alone with a Picasso—there was something special about it.
At the design studio at MoMA, the designers do a large variety of work—from exhibition design to printed matter to video content. You get exposed to a lot and it never got boring. Formally, the design is almost always typographically driven. While book covers can certainly be that, the concept doesn't necessarily need to exist in the typography—it can be expressed in an illustration or photograph. That opens a lot more possibilities and can be hard to get right. On the other hand, book covers have a set canvas to work from, while an exhibition may not—you can explore the natural architecture of the space, use it to engage or disrupt the design, as well as exploring different materials and animated title walls, if fitting of course.
On more extensive projects, what kind of research and preliminary explorations typically inform decisions throughout your creative process?
That really depends from project to project. For an exhibition, the best research was often talking to the curators, engaging them in conversation, asking questions—that is where a point of view is revealed. That point of view is what drove the curator to spend years of their lives extensively researching and developing a subject matter, so it's a pretty special place to start from. Asking questions always helps. What does the design and language need to do? How will people interact with the design? What are the stories that we should/need to be telling? It is often easy to lose track of this once you start designing and are in the thick of it. But I find myself always going back to these questions, making sure whatever I'm designing still makes sense, and at its best, engages with the viewer in some deeper form.
What moment or project in your career so far has made you the proudest?
Matisse is probably it. First because of the artist himself—having the opportunity to design the identity for such an incredible artist, and particularly for the cut-outs, which is such a distinct moment in his career. Second, I was thrilled we created an identity that didn’t look like the cut-outs, but instead was inspired by a key element that drove the exhibition: Matisse was constantly changing and shifting his compositions. He pinned the pieces of cut paper on the wall of his studio and as he lived with it, he would unpin and repin, modifying the composition in the process. This worked out well as we needed to develop a flexible identity that worked on many different platforms, from the environmental space to a bandage box.
Biggest career failure?
My first job out of college. That one is flashing in big, bright red lights. By the time I left that job, I was questioning whether I should be a designer at all. There were a lot of expectations on me and I put a lot of pressure on myself. I was so concerned with my boss’s opinion of me and was eager for validation, that the quality of my work deteriorated. It’s fascinating how our own psyche can sabotage us. It may seem cliché, but being afraid of failure is ultimately what made me fail. However, it's part of the process and when you do succeed, it feels really good.
What are you working on now?
I am currently freelancing at IBM. They have a new Brand design and experience team. I am working on the World of Watson event, which will take place in October. I also just finished doing a series of illustrations for Buzzfeed News.
How do New York and Brazil influence your work?
If I am to be honest, I feel New York has had a much deeper impact and influence on me as a designer. The years I have spent here, the people I’ve worked with, the stunning amount of things I was exposed to have been crucial to my formation as a designer.
What cultural and creative venues do you frequent in New York?
New York is a hot podge of cultural venues. The main museums are always great to visit, as are the smaller institutions, such as the Neue Gallery, the Frick Collection, and The Jewish Museum. Open Studios in Bushwick has some great art as well. Joe’s Pub, Village Vanguard, and Ear Inn has really great music.
Do you thrive off of being part of a creative community or are you more in your element as a lone wolf?
A little bit of both, probably.
Who are some of your biggest creative idols and influences?
While there are tons of people/studios that I admire, I can’t say they are idols. I can’t call an idol someone I never met (they might be very talented, but not great human beings). People I can call role models and influences are inevitably some of the people I have worked with. Paul Sahre, Julia Hoffmann, Ingrid Chou, Sam Potts, Sam Sherman, Mike Abbink—these are all amazing designers and most importantly, great people.
If you weren’t a Designer, what do you think you’d be doing instead?
Something with food. I always loved cooking (and eating).
What do you do when Not Working?
Now that I am a parent, I spend most of my free time with my son and husband. Doing things that nourish the brain and spirit, going to museums, art galleries, reading—lately a lot of Green Eggs and Ham—traveling, cooking…The word “working” can be limiting, in the sense that when you are not, you are still aware and observing things happening around you. These observations later manifest themselves during the creative process in several different ways.
What are some things you would tell your high school or early twenties self?
Not to worry all the time. I would say the same thing to myself now.
Who are some other WNW members whose work you admire, and why?
Oof, there are so many talented ones. Kevin Brainard, Scott Reinhard, Wael Morcos, Jessica Svendsen, there are lots of talented people here.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Thank you for the interview. And thank you for creating such a an important tool in connecting employers to creatives. I am new to WNW and am excited to be a part of it.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
PROFILES OF THE WEEK: SEPTEMBER 19TH
PROFILES OF THE WEEK:
SEPTEMBER 19TH
Trevor Davis, Designer. Brooklyn.
Scott Balmer, Illustrator. Dundee.
Charis Poon, Designer. Hong Kong.
Lauren Geisler, Art Director. New York.
Wes L. Cockx, Illustrator. Brussels.
Remus Roman, Photographer. Detroit.
Nadine Saez, Producer. San Francisco.
James Mabery, Motion Designer. Atlanta.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS
LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS YOU WON'T
WANT TO MISS
by Emily Gosling
For a sprawling, grey city allegedly peopled only by grumps, London certainly does pretty well in the creativity stakes. Each fall the city cheerfully (yes, cheerfully) celebrates its design bounty with London Design Festival, comprising a vast number of exhibitions, talks, workshops, open studios and trade shows across disciplines including graphics, furniture, architecture, typography and interiors. Expect typographic wine tasting, the art of “gourmet bathing” and gender neutral fragrance sculptures.
Now in its ninth year, LDF has garnered a sibling in the form of the London Design Biennale, which takes place at Somerset House throughout September. The biennale presents installations by teams from 35 different countries around the world, each loosely taking the theme “utopia” to mark the 500th birthday of Thomas More's book of the same name.
Elsewhere, LDF broadly divides the city into several “districts”, such as the Shoreditch Design Triangle, Brompton and the new Brixton District, in which visitors will find all manner of shows, stores and events demarcated by Pentagram partner Domenic Lippa's bright red festival signage. To achieve maximum chair-blindness, there’s also a number of large-scale trade shows such as Decorex, Designjunction and 100% Design.
It's a tricky beast to navigate, and with the best will (or spreadsheet) in the world, its impossible to see everything. So we've put together a list of ten highlights you shouldn't miss if you're into design, want to be inspired and in the big smoke over the coming weeks.
Soak, Steam, Dream: Reinventing Bathing Culture
Designers have long recognised the bliss of the bathtub, and an exhibition at Roca London Gallery showcases the multifarious ways creatives have reinterpreted a good soak. The focus is on “communal bathing culture,” and a highlight is a display of archive material from stunning 70s mag Wet – A Guide to Gourmet Bathing, which not only proposed radical ideas for ablutions, but did so in a way that defined the era’s postmodern graphic design aesthetic.
A bunch of grads from art school Central Saint Martins have taken a cerebral turn, with an exhibition that tries to show new ways design can help make sense of the world. Highlights include Freya Morgan’s illustrations of a world where humans and houseplants swap roles, and Giada Giachino’s stunning sustainable jewellery.
You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels
1966-70 at the V&A
The Acid Test poster designed by Wes Wilson, printed by contact printing co., 1966. Courtesy of Steward Brand
Away from the Liquid Marble and a dramatic reinvention of a clock, the V&A’s finest LDF asset is Revolution?, an all-encompassing look at the late 60s movements around civil rights, new freedoms and social upheavals and how fashion, music and art shaped them. Among the exhibits are copies of underground magazine Oz and an Ossie Clark costume for Mick Jagger.
Poster for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown at UFO, 16 and 23 June, by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, 1967, London (Michael English & Nigel Waymouth). Photograph © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Souper Dress, 1966. Photograph © Kerry Taylor Auctions
Blow Up, 1966. © MGM / THE KOBAL COLLECTION
Christine Keeler, photographs by Lewis Morley, 1963. © Lewis Morley/National Media Museum/Science & Society Picture Library
V&A Dundee, Northern Lights
Bringing their charming accents and design nous all the way from Scotland, a bunch of creatives based north of the border are presenting their work at the V&A. Organised by the V&A’s forthcoming Dundee museum, the pieces look to showcase the strengths of Scottish product design, and the site-specific manufacturing processes that make them possible. Exhibitors include furniture designer Angus Ross, accessories designer Beth Lamont, product and furniture designer Scott Jarvie, and Isabelle Moore, who makes contemporary chairs and swings.
Digital Ghostsigns
For the uninitiated, “ghost signs” are those gorgeous glimpses of faded type on brickwork where a sign once lay. Sam Roberts is fascinated by these, and knows his stuff, organising Ghostsigns tours around London to show off these barely legible beauties. For LDF, the tours will be joined by hand lettering workshops, and the piece de resistance, Light Capsules– a projection mapped light installation that exhumes graphics of yore, created by experiential designer and 3D artist Craig Winslow.
Studio Makgill x H Furniture
What do you get when you cross a graphic design studio with an upmarket furniture brand? Well, Studio Makgill and H Furniture are about to find out, when the graphics folk have a go at reworking the look of the brand’s WW Chair. Expect bold colour combos when they go on show at designjunction, from 22–25 September.
Type Tasting
Sarah Hyndman is a woman who’s just loco about lettering: so much that she founded Type Tasting to explore the role of typography in our lives. She’s found that letterforms can tell us more about who we should date, how much a product costs and even our sense of taste. For LDF, it’s the latter that gets another probing, with typographic wine tasting. For the non-drinkers there will also be events looking at how to pick your dream font, and a “typographic time machine” at the V&A to channel letterforms from the past and future.
Asif Khan, Mini Living Forests Installation
If the gritty urban environment all gets a bit much, architect Asif Khan has the perfect solution: bringing the forest to the streets. In collaboration with small car brand Mini, he’s created three “forests” chock full of plants, aiming to “explore the relationship between public and private space in the city.” They can be found around Shoreditch, and people are encouraged to relax and mingle in these verdant oases.
Blend by Raw Color
Working across photography, textiles, interactive design and print, Eindhoven-based interdisciplinary design studio Raw Color prides itself on innovative yet aesthetically tip-top works. During LDF, Covent Garden’s Aram Gallery will present its solo show, Blend, with standout pieces inducing The Fans- an installation of coloured blades that show how movement can create different color tones.
Zuzu Mengham Sculptures for Laboratory Perfumes
Artist and designer Zuza Mengham has brought the visual back into the realm of the olfactory by creating five sculptures that interpret Laboratory Perfumes’ gender neutral fragrance range. They’re glistening, jewel-like things, and the Sculpting Scent show is at The Conran Shop in Marylebone for the duration of LDF.
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
THE ONLY WOMAN CARD YOU COULD EVER PULL IS FROM THIS DECK
THE ONLY WOMAN CARD YOU COULD EVER PULL IS FROM THIS DECK
The Woman Card Project is a deck of cards made by illustrators who support gender equality. The deck consists of important women (or more colloquially: Yas queens) who have and continue to spark change around the world regardless of their gender. WNW Member Maddy Kramer had the idea to create the Woman Card Project after comments by Donald Trump, attributing Hillary Clinton's candidacy to her gender. The deck aims to turn negatives into positives by calling out damaging gender stereotypes, and reminding people there is no such thing as a "Woman Card." Until now. Shout-out to WNW Members Valeria Vanzulli and Patricia Ortiz for contributing original queens of their own. Scroll down to see a handful of queens and the only Joker in the whole deck. And head here to donate for a free deck or purchase a deluxe pack.
After the success of the first deck, Maddy and company already have a second deck underway. They're also looking for volunteer designers. Both decks will be available to purchase at the 3% conference. They're hoping to ultimately get the decks to Middle School curriculums, so students can learn about Yas queens.
Ronda Rousey
Malala Yousafzai
Frida Kahlo
Madonna
J.K. Rowling
Beyonce
Emma Watson
Serena Williams
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler
Michelle Obama
Ilana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson
Hillary Clinton
Oprah Winfrey
Jessica Walsh
Rosa Parks
Marilyn Monroe
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Miley Cyrus
Sofia Coppola
Shonda Rhimes
Donald Trump
Are you a WNW Member with new work, exhibits, products, or news to share? Email us!
Ask an Expert: Get Rich or Die Cryin'
Ask an Expert:
Get Rich or Die Cryin'
Welcome to the inaugural episode of "Ask an Expert," some bonus content to go along with our new podcast Overshare. Ask an Expert is a fun-sized program where creatives, who know a lot about creative things, learn about important things they know nothing about. Like accounting, legal, and shit that hasn't even hit their fans yet. We were lucky to have two WNW Members with great voices (and faces) for radio: Cooper Smith, a self-proclaimed parallel parking expert and Marques Gartrell, a self-proclaimed WaWa expert. Unfortunately for them, and luckily for us, the conversation revolved around a topic outside their respective wheelhouses: Accounting.
Cooper and Marques bring in the help of Robb Eng and Jaclyn Tanner, two accounting experts from FreshBooks, a cloud accounting software made specifically for freelancers and small business owners. Why is accounting important for creatives? As Robb would summarize in the ensuing conversation, "Creatives don’t realize the value that they’re giving their client and what sort of revenue [both the client and creative] can get from the work that they’re giving. Freelance isn't free."
Believe it or not, we had a really entertaining and insightful conversation about accounting, a topic that often tends to scare or sedate. We highly recommend you listen to the full 30-minute episode to learn about Marques' affinity for velvet and how to value yourself as a creative. Thanks to FreshBooks for their support and knowledge. Subscribe to Overshare on iTunes, Soundcloud, or with any other podcasting app via our RSS feed.
Creatives tend to be a little bit squeamish when it comes to money, and not just squeamish but not good at it. Why do you think that is?
Robb: They were never really trained in how to talk about money. When you were in school, you go through a lot of design and courses, they don’t tell you about how to talk the money talk. And that’s something where it’s more of a muscle that you need to flex and get more used to. It’s not like you’re not able to do it. You just have to do it more often and get used to it.
Is there anything you can do to get your invoices through, to make sure you’re getting your money faster, to not get screwed over?
Robb: One way at the beginning is to think about deposits. When you’re working with a client, require "this much" up front. Maybe it’s 20%, maybe it’s 50%. It gives you a little of that cash flow you need to keep the lights on while you’re working on the project. And if you do it at the beginning when they want your services, you have that negotiating power. It isn’t like you already delivered on the project and now they’re walking away and forgetting about you.
Jaclyn: Bigger clients and bigger corporations are habitual for paying just crazy crazy late. So if you score an awesome contract with a big client, "YAY!" But know that they’re going to take their dear sweet time.
Robb: Think ahead. For bigger corporations, typically it's a 30 day window after they receive [the invoice]. So don't send it at the very end when you need it in the next two weeks. You gotta give yourself some time for those bigger companies. Some creatives will send it right away.
What should go on an invoice?
Jaclyn: If there’s one thing Judge Judy has taught me, “Get it in writing." Pretending to get all the way to court, what’s the stuff that's going to help your case? Stuff like a date, stuff like who’s the recipient of this invoice, what’s the total amount, when was the payment date, when did you expect to be paid, all this stuff that helps you “build a case”. What’ the stuff that you need to get in writing. So you can go to your client and say “Nothing personal, but this is what we agreed to up front, so now we’re just going to be consistent with our commitments.”
Robb: In the creative space it’s very different than the food space. If you get a burger, and all of a sudden you want bacon, people know they have to pay for that. But for some reason, with designers and creatives, it's “Hey, can you make this one more change?” It’s going to take you that time to make that change and do all that, so if it’s not in your agreement and you don’t have this invoice on there, then you might have to do it, and waste all that time doing it. So if you have this invoice, you can say “hey, great suggestion, I can definitely do that. The charge will be this much."
Value-based billing. What is it?
Robb: This is not for the junior level freelancer. More for the established creative trying to get out of the trap of trading dollars for hours. It’s a paradigm shift, flipping the conversation toward the value you deliver, versus the cost that you’re incurring. Working with your client on what kind of return on the investment or ROI are you going to give. So for example, if you’re a web or UX designer and you’re developing a website for a client, and through working with them you're able to generate 100k more in revenue. You can look at that rate, so based on the amount of additional revenue, you can then work on a 10K dollar rate. So that’s a huge 10x return on investment based on that. What’s really great about this shift is they’re now not stressing about reducing your costs but more stressing about the profit and value that you’re delivering. You’re more a business partner with them and less about a transaction.
Jaclyn: It positions you as a professional. This is your realm, your wheelhouse. So to come to the table and say “this is my deal and I’m going to tell you where you’re at and where you could be" positions you as a partner. As opposed to this horrible race to the bottom that everybody’s doing. I don’t want to hire someone who is faster and cheaper. I want someone who is going to bring quality to the table because I care about my business. That’s what I dig about value-based billing, it positions you as the authority that you are.
