Students of Design

Kilian is a Sacramento-based illustrator, designer, educator, and pixel wizard behind Great Raven Design Co. Take one look at his neck—you'll understand how much The Lords of the Rings means to him. I'm jealous of his Middle-earth-themed wedding a few years ago, but I think I could take him in a lightsaber duel. Kilian cut his teeth designing labels, t-shirts, and logos for the craft beer industry...

Kirk is an illustrator, animator, and art director, and he runs a small independent studio called BoneHaus with his skeletal sidekick, Skully. Unlike most of us, he didn't go to art/design school, but that's a good thing because he probably wouldn't be doing what he does today if he had. Why? Kirk isn't good at drawing—a weakness he's turned into a superpower. He's an expert with shapes and great...

Lisa is a Cleveland-based creative consultant specializing in lettering, murals, illustration, and graphic design. She's created over 125 murals in 9 US states AND 1 in France. She's made art for clients like Amazon, Meta, PepsiCo, Mercedes-Benz, Harley-Davidson, Aveda, StubHub, and many more. Lisa's obsessed with Lana Del Rey and tiki bars and has a creative crush on Gemma O'Brien. Once, she said...

Dan (aka Destiny Child, I meant Destiny Kid) is an artist, writer, illustrator, and designer specializing in hand lettering. His Instagram account @dandrawnwords is his creative sandbox, and he's created thousands of lettering compositions over the past decade. Phrases like: "Your Failures Fail to Define You" and "Tomorrow You'll be Glad You Did It Today." Those are shorter messages, but he's also...

Jacob is a Dingbat—MR. Dingbat to you—a designer and art director who runs a tiny graphic design studio in Austin, TX, also called Dingbat. His studio specializes in brand identity, packaging, illustration, and typography. Once upon a time, he worked at IBM and then Helms Workshop, and he's partnered with selected clients like Duolingo, Cratejoy, Emojibator, Kammok, and Fifty-Nine Parks. Did I men...

Adam is a designer and illustrator from Orlando, Florida. For the past 4.5 years, he's been working as a Senior Brand Designer at Acorns—basically, he draws squirrels for a living, lol. But, before the squirrels, he worked independently for a long time and created designs for big names like Disney, Target, Dunkin' Donuts, William Sonoma, and Cartoon Network. Eventually, his world started to fall a...

Kendrick is a Creative Director and VP of Creative at Shepherd, a full-service ad agency in Jacksonville, Florida. He surfs and skates, and you can find him at Kona Skatepark with his kids on the weekends. Kendrick is just an all-around swell guy, and his work is fantastically textured, smooth, slick, cute, gnarly, or literally whatever it needs to be. Despite working at the same agency—Shepherd—f...

Bryony is a designer, author, and co-founder of UnderConsideration—a graphic design firm in Bloomington, Indiana. Over the last two decades, Bryony has managed the behind-the-scenes of various initiatives with her husband, Armin Vit, including Brand New (the blog), Brand New Conference, First Round, a bunch of other blogs, a podcast, and they've published five books including Graphic Design Refere...

Sarah is an illustrator, lettering artist, and muralist living in Austin, Texas. In 2019, she gave her two weeks' notice, left the corporate design world (USAA), and started Wild Vine Creative. For the past few years, her focus has been creating murals, and her artwork features organic shapes, an earthy color palette, and wildflowers like globemallow, fall aster, and bluebonnets. Don't be surprise...

Michael (aka Fugstrator) is an "illustrator who illustrates with design principles." He's the "People's Homie"—I made that up—and is a Senior Design Evangelist for Next Gen Creative Pros at Adobe. We all love his work, and I'm jealous of all the "space stuff" he creates. He's worked with aerospace clients like NASA, Blue Origin, Boeing, and other big companies like IBM, Oracle, and Skillshare—AND...

Rick (aka Skeeletor in the competitive Skee-Ball world) is a lot of things—a Dark Artist, Creativity & Leadership Coach, Inner Monster Wrangler, Author, Educator, Podcaster, and World Builder. I met Rick around 2014 and have followed and supported his work since. Some of the best conversations I've ever had about self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and monsters have been with him. As a coach, he's help...

Hank is an Art Director, Designer, and Illustrator originally from the muddy backwoods of Mississippi. He's created work with Instagram, Netflix, and Adobe, and he's the force behind Hank Designs Studios and Fuzzies Co.—a culture-focused illustration project. Our friendship goes back to 2019 when I met him at Design Week Huntsville in Alabama. He gave a fantastic presentation, and afterward, I tau...

Ash is a Co-Founder and Creative Director of Six Cinquième, a Montreal-based Strategic Brand Consultancy. She's created work for organizations like The National Black Canadians Summit, On Est Là!, a BIPOC-focused talent agency, and The Centre for Canadians of African Descent. Many design agencies say they're selective about the people they work with—but Six Cinquième proves they are. Their work up...

Jesse is an Associate Creative Director at Marketing for Change, a research and creative agency propelled by behavioral science. He's also the tallest designer I know, plays in a volleyball league on Wednesday evenings, and will tell you the best chicken tender in Colorado Springs is from Ivywild Kitchen. When Jesse isn't winning ADDY or Telly awards, he's pushing passion projects—like T is for Ta...

Jason is an independent Senior Graphic Designer, Illustrator, and Muralist in Augusta, Georgia. This guy's been through the trenches and has worked at 24-hour sign shops, agencies, and everything in between. Even though he's worked with HBO, Nike, and the Atlanta Braves—Jason doesn't shy away from working with the local burger joint or the hardware store down the road. Small businesses are a part...

Matt is an Austin-based graphic designer, illustrator, and type designer. You probably know him as StayGray Ponyboy, and even though he has a new logo, he assured me he's still the same PonyBoy. Matt has worked with big-name clients like Disney, Jeep, Adobe, Under Armour, and the Atlanta Braves. He's also the founder of Crop, an annual creative conference showcasing real stories from real people....

Daphna is a designer living in Austin, TX, focused on visual design, product design, and illustration. Known as the Queen of Occult, her illustrations draw inspiration from traditional American tattoos, the occult, and mysticism—expect lots of skulls, snakes, and hands. Despite having close to 100K Instagram followers, she experiences some of the same struggles the rest of us do, like the difficul...

Wendy is an Owner and Creative Director of Lewis Carnegie, a multi-discipline design studio in Austin, TX. She's created work for The University of Texas, The Harry Ransom Center, Home Slice Pizza, Austin Batcave, and many others. She's also recognized as a FELLOW by AIGA Austin and served as vice president for the chapter. Wendy and her husband (Sean) are pillars of the creative community in Aust...

Oen is a Distinguished Design Executive at IBM. He's also held titles like Visual Designer, Creative Director, and Design Principal. However, at his core, Oen is a Designer, an Advocate, and an Educator. He's served on several AIGA Boards, is recognized as a FELLOW by AIGA Austin, and has taught at Austin Community College for over 15 years. I met him in 2010 while he was my Portfolio Development...

Matt is an independent visual designer—based in Austin, TX—primarily focused on brand identity, package design, illustration, and custom typography. He's done work with Helms Workshop, Canales & Co., The Butler Bros, and more. Matt is also a metal guitarist, DIY to the bone, and if push came to shove, he'd give up custom typography before music. You can find his work on Instagram @mattthompson and...

Nick is the Owner of Longo Designs . He's a brand builder, a design instructor at Cal State University Northridge, and a mentor. He's also a Co-Host of The Deeply Graphic Designcast (The DGDC), the ultimate podcast for creatives, and you can watch him weekly on Adobe Live: Office Hours . I met Nick at Crop 2023 in Austin, TX, and we've been friends ever since. Tune in for a talk about package desi...

Russell is the Owner and Creative Director at Studio Dzo, a Black-owned and Woman-led multi-disciplinary, design-build studio based in Austin, Texas. He's also a Design Educator and teaches Portfolio Development at Austin Community College. Russell is a longtime friend—we went to school together, worked together at Dell, and were roommates for a while. Check out work samples at  SudioDzo.com  and...

Zaine is an independent Illustrator & Graphic Designer located in Austin, TX. She's completed work for Yeti, June Shine, Kammok, and Corvus Coffee. Zaine is also a former student of mine, and I'm proud to feature her as the first guest on the podcast. You can see more of her work on  Instagram  and her  website . --- Questions for this interview. Think about what you knew when you graduated vs. wh...

Welcome to Students of Design. My name is Joseph Israel Raul Bullard, and I'm a Logo & Visual Identity Designer based in Colorado. I'm also an adjunct professor at Austin Community College and have taught there since 2017. As you can imagine, I've seen a lot of student work—the good, the bad, and the trash. But more importantly, I've heard a lot of the same questions. This podcast will provide int...