Better: The Brand Designer Podcast

Brand photography goes hand in hand with brand design. You can’t have a solid brand without the supporting visuals. In this episode Esther chats with Adeline Nieto, a NYC-based brand photographer about how to share heart-centered stories through photography, the value and power behind photos, and how brand designers can best collaborate with photographers and our collective clients on commercial s...

Burnout is a strong sign from your body that something is not working. It’s important to listen. In this episode, Jen and Esther talk about what it’s like to maintain creativity when you’re burnt out, keeping the money coming in, and personal stories of working through charred seasons. Inbox Questions: “How do you maintain your creativity without feeling burnt out?”— AJ Samson “How do you balance...

Do you ever think you’re not really doing anything “substantial” as a designer because you’re not saving lives and “just” designing logos and websites. Well we’re here to change that mindset! You can make an impact in the world as a designer in so many ways — both tangible and intangibly. Your skillset allows peoples’ businesses to grow and connect with people, bring joy, improved life, and touch...

Jen and Chaitra have a soul chat about how motherhood changed their lives and businesses in this episode! Chaitra walks us through exactly how she hit 6 figures in the first year after her 18 month maternity leave, her best lead generation strategies, and her mindset around business growth, motherhood, and setting (and achieving!) your goals. Guest Information: Guest Name: Chaitra Radhakrishna Gue...

Curious about what being an intern at Cosmo was like? Jen chats through not only her time working in NYC at the print versions of Cosmo and Women’s Health Magazine, but also design lessons she learned from those experiences that she uses in her web process today! You’d think there’s not a lot of shared principles between a print magazine and a website, but Jen challenges that in this episode! Link...

The sales call is one of the hardest parts of running a business, and rightfully so. There’s a lot of pressure around it because it’s ultimately what brings in those clients. In this episode we talk through our personal sales call structures, favorite questions to ask prospective clients, and our blended approach to pricing. We also share what we include in our proposals + how we both set them up...

Today Jen chats with Olivia Austin from Current Design Studio all about hiring - when to think about it, how to know you’re ready, and how to navigate the hiring and interview process. We approach the hiring conversation from the perspective of knowing your studio values and adding team members who share those values. Guest Information: Guest Name: Olivia Austin Guest Business Name: Current Design...

OK, we KNOW - everyone has a different ideas on how to run your business and be successful! There’s loads and loads of how-tos out there, what to do and what not to do, and we have some HOT takes. Join us as we go through some potentially controversial (though, not in any highly politicized ways) opinions. SPOILER: Jen and Esther have some differing opinions! And that’s what makes it fun and inter...

Get ready for a soul chat! We talk this week about parts of our business that we both really struggle with and coach each other through those tough spots. Jen brings up feelings of scarcity mindset and Esther talks through finding an organic marketing strategy that feels authentic to her brand (and works). We hope this chat encourages anyone who feels similar to us! Inbox Question: “As a brand des...

We play Never Have I Ever all about design and business topics - the tea is boiling! We chat through embarrassing stories about the beginnings of our business, lessons we’ve learned, projects that didn’t go our way, difficult clients, and so much more. We end with some classic Never Have I Ever questions - you definitely don’t want to miss it! Special thanks to our producer Jon from Wayfare Record...

Emily is a London born Colombian designer, wellbeing fanatic and the founder of Vibras Creative Studio and House of Vibras. She qualified as a Graphic Designer with a degree from Central Saint Martins in 2017. Her editorial style earned her a place creating layouts at ELLE UK magazine, followed by a string of in-house design roles at household-name British fashion brands. Despite doing what she wa...

We’re back! Season 6 is on a roll, and we update you guys on our July breaks (Esther adopted a puppy and Jen went to Ireland!), upcoming events, and what to expect for Season 6 of the pod. Check out what’s coming up for us below! Upcoming Events: Faster with Figma co-workshop with The Shopify (code)x on August 15th at 12pm Eastern (11am Central, 10am Pacific) — In this workshop Lea from The Shopif...

We’re taking a short break in between Seasons 5 and 6 (Season 6 is coming in hot August 9!) so we’ve pulled some of our favorite episodes from the archives for you guys to enjoy. This one is Season 3, Episode 10: Value-Based Pricing and Shifting Your Mindset with Morgan Rapp. This was one of our most-requested topics with one of our all-time favorite guests, Morgan Rapp. Morgan is the founder and...

We’re taking a short break in between Seasons 5 and 6 (Season 6 is coming in hot August 9!) so we’ve pulled some of our favorite episodes from the archives for you guys to enjoy. This one is Season 3, Episode 7: Designer Confidence and Imposter Syndrome. This rerun episode with Jen and Giselle was chock full of so much knowledge and vulnerability. Imposter syndrome is something that is all too com...

We’re taking a short break in between Seasons 5 and 6 (Season 6 is coming in hot August 9!) so we’ve pulled some of our favorite episodes from the archives for you guys to enjoy. This one is Season 2, Episode 5: Creative Ways to Get Clients. In this rerun episode, we listen to Jen and Giselle talk about how to get clients in ways that push outside the box. Some of our biggest takeaways from re-lis...

We’re taking a short break in between Seasons 5 and 6 (Season 6 is coming in hot August 9!) so we’ve pulled some of our favorite episodes from the archives for you guys to enjoy. This one is Season 2, Episode 1: Setting Healthy Boundaries in Your Design Business. Giselle and Jen chat about what setting boundaries with family and friends, setting boundaries with clients, and setting boundaries with...

And thats a wrap! Another season has come to an end. In our final episode of Season 5, we answer a whole bunch of your juicy inbox questions. Thank you for being a part of our community! We can’t wait to keep these conversations going. Let us know if you have any follow up questions, or more thoughts on this episode or any in all of Season 5! Some of the MANY questions we answer in this episode: “...

Alejandra is the strategist and designer behind Ale Now Design. She specializes in creating brands with humanity, emotion, and storytelling because she believes business is personal. Alejandra is Peruvian and migrated to the United States when she was 18. She believes this fact has made her identity issues even harder living between two spaces. Not fully belonging to either world, has made her fee...

Jen and Alex from The Arcoíris Design Co. chat all about discovering, cultivating, and making the best use of your intuition in your design business. They discuss what an “intuitive hit” is, how to recognize different types of inspiration and thoughts, and best practices for getting acquainted with your intuition and using it to provide more value to your clients and increasing your creativity. Al...

6 months has FLOWN by! In this episode we wanted to share with you some updates on our own businesses — our project statuses, how we’ve changed as business owners, what’s stay e d the same, what we’re learning, and oh so much more! Tune in to hear our real-time goings on, the good the bad and everything in-between. Links Mentioned: The Shopify Codex - The Shopify Codex is a first-of-its-kind cours...

Jen gives an update on what the second year of her life as a mom and business owner looks like compared to the first, and the lessons she learned along the way. This is less of an advice episode (all parents, babies, and families are different) and more of a place for Jen to chat openly about the beauty and the struggles of being a mom and running a business full time. Jen hopes that this episode...

If you’ve ever felt like marketing yourself on social media (or elsewhere) felt uncomfortable or you’re worried about coming off “salesy,” then this is the episode for you! Ashleigh Henry of The Cheetah Company is a marketing consultant who focuses on educating powerful women to show up and serve in their digital spaces with intentional storytelling and a whole lot of joy. She chats with us in thi...

Bridging culture and design is a topic that is near and dear to Esther’s heart, especially as she is mixed Chinese-American, and has spent time meeting and connecting with people of all cultures. In this episode she talked about what to do and what not to do when working on a project that has cultural nodes. The big idea here: Being curious, thoughtful, and intentional when bringing culture and st...

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

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