The Quickie - Conversations with Designers

Sacramento-based brand identity designer Zuza Hicks of Nicely Made Studio joins Dave for a conversation about personality-driven branding, the unexpected lessons of leading a creative team, and why print is having a serious moment. Zuza brings a genuinely unique perspective to design. She's largely self-taught, holds a master's degree in social policy and journalism, and draws on her life between...

Episode Summary: In this episode of The Quickie Podcast , we chat with Vietnamese American illustrator and design generalist Kytana Le . She shares her journey from growing up in a small bayou town in Louisiana to working at Visa, blending her love for illustration, branding, and UX design. We dive into how a high school art class and a Tumblr rabbit hole led her to pursue design, her obsession wi...

In this  episode of The Quickie Podcast, we sit down with graphic designer, illustrator, and creative director Colby Clites . Colby shares his journey from Tampa, Florida, to the mountains of Colorado, where he works in the beverage and food industry, designing packaging and branding for some seriously cool products. We talk about his creative childhood (spoiler: his mom saw his design future...

In this episode, I sit down with Steve Cousins, a self-taught graphic designer, art director, and creative director with an impressive career spanning West Beach, Lululemon, and top design studios in Portland. Steve shares his journey from small-town British Columbia to working with global brands, the impact of skate culture on him, and the lessons he’s learned from both wins and failures. Pl...

In this episode, Lucy Eden, a talented brand designer and educator, shares her journey from creative childhood experiments to building a thriving career. We dive into her insights on balancing content creation with client work, navigating challenging seasons in business, and her passion for wordmarks and typography in design. Lucy opens up about lessons learned from difficult projects, her admirat...

In this episode, I chat with Tim Jacobus, the legendary illustrator behind the iconic Goosebumps book covers. From the early days of his career to navigating the evolution of illustration from traditional painting to digital, Tim shares fascinating stories about his creative process, challenges, and the enduring legacy of his work. Tune in for a nostalgic deep dive into the art that shaped a gener...

In this episode of The Quickie Podcast , Dave sits down with Sara Sun, a graphic designer, content creator, and illustrator based in Dallas, Texas. With experience spanning from boutique design studios in New Zealand to creating conceptual packaging and brand sponsorships on social media, Sara shares her journey of transitioning from traditional design roles to becoming a full-time content creator...

In this episode of The Quickie Podcast , Dave chats with Michelle Muise, Art Director for the New England Patriots. With over 25 years of experience in graphic design and project management, Michelle shares her journey from discovering her passion for print and design at a young age to becoming a pivotal part of one of the most successful NFL franchises. Episode Highlights: Michelle’s Background :...

In this episode of The Quickie Podcast , I chat with Cam Werner, also known as Canvas Cam, a self-taught graphic designer with a love for skateboarding, hardcore music, and comics. Cam shares his journey from starting a clothing brand during his skateboarding days to becoming a full-time freelance designer with Canvas Design Company. Episode Highlights: Cam’s Background : Cam discusses his ea...

In this episode of "The Quickie Podcast," we sit down with Todd Wikle, a talented designer from Asheville, North Carolina. Todd shares his journey from youth pastor to graphic designer, highlighting the influence of family, the challenges of self-teaching, and the importance of creative community. We dive into his most proud project, discuss his inspirations, and explore how personal experiences s...

This weeks guest is Dustin Noden. He is the Creative Director at Lincoln Design Co. and cofounder of KernClub. During this episode we talk about his journey to the design field and how it wasn't through a traditional schooling path. He gets into his early inspirations, the random job offer he got because he knew Photoshop a bit, and the direction that job pointed him in.  We also talk about t...

This week's guest is Orlando Arocena, but you might know him as Mexifunk. He is a Mexican-Cuban-American Vector Artist. We met for the first time at Creative South, where we ended up recording this epic episode. He has done work for some names you might recognize...Lionsgate, Warner Brothers, Disney, Marvel, Netflix, Adobe, MGM, Hulu. Plus he is an 11-time Clio award winner.  You wi...

My guest this week is Ben Pavey. He is a Graphic Designer and Team Lead of Brand Experience at OCAS out of Guelph ON. Fellow Canadian Gent! During this episode we talk about his early celebrity from being in an Olsen Twins movie and a mosaic moose that started his creative journey. But we also get into some of the hard-hitting story telling you are used to.  Including a website project that h...

My guest this week is Brad Stoneking. Owner and Designer at Piedmont Brand Co.  During this episode we dive into his journey from metal band guy to design dad. Including a conversation about why pivoting to working for himself was the toughest time in his career so far. We also talk about the design job he had where the walls were crumbling around him and what he did.  Brad also shares a...

My guest this week is Jake Paul. A self-taught Graphic Designer from the UK.  During this episode we talk about how he was pursuing a career in law or banking before making a hard right turn and becoming a graphic designer.  Jake shares some of his wins, his fails, and what his parents' response was when he told them he didn't want to pursue law or banking anymore. He also tell...

My guest this week is CJ Cawley. A super talented, kind, fun, energetic and amazing human from the UK.  During this episode we talk about his journey to freelance design and cooking it up in design school. You'll appreciate that sentence when you listen to the episode ;)  CJ also shares with us how the skateworld was his gateway to design and what he appreciated about it. He al...

My guest this week is Ian Paget, but you might know his as @logogeek, or as an Author, or a Podcast Host, or as a talented designer. During this episode we talk about helping creatives make a living doing logo design and how he never intended to actually go full time freelance.  Ian also tells us about personal struggles that he was facing, how they weighed him down and why, and how...

My guest this week is Josh Kenyon, Owner and Creative Director at Jolby out of Portland OR.  During this episode we talk about why he wanted to work for Disney since he was 6 years old and the agricutlural design studio he worked at and how it has helped him in his career to this day.  Josh then talks about a diagnosis he received and what dealing with that was like....

My guest this week is Shelby Temples, founder of HeWillNeverGoHungry.com - PS. You gotta go check out his website. Insanely good.  During this episode we talk about a contest for creating album artwork for Janet Jackson...that he won...but was underage to participate...and because of that they had to go to the next person.  We also talk about Nylon Magazine and why it was so influen...

My guest this week is Jason Snell. He is an artist, designer, motion designer, and all-around rad dude!  During this episode we talk about why Covid was such a tough time for him, the Run DMC project he was a part of, as well as early career mentors and inspirational design projects.  We also talk about movie posters, comic books, and an Amazon project he was a part of that went off...

My guest this week is Abi Connick. She is a Brand Designer and a Design Content Creator based in the UK. She has an incredible YouTube channel delivering tonnes of value to Designers. Check the link below.  During this episode, we talk about how she was laid off early during Covid, what that meant for her, and the trajectory it put her on.  We also talk about und...

My guest this week is Tim O'Connor. He is the Graphic Designer at ChaosInked and the owner and Graphic Designer behind The Last Drop. A clothing company supporting people recovering from addiction.  During this episode, we get into Tim's story of struggling with addiction and how it affected his career, how meeting Aaron Draplin really inspired him, and why he started The Last Drop.  We...

My guest this week is Amy Farrell. She is the co-founder of Times2Studio and owner of Designing Success where she teaches designers the business side of design.  During this episode we talk about growing up problem-solving, when she learned that graphic design is a real career, and why 2006-2007 was the most difficult time in her design career. Amy even shares why design business processes ar...

My guest this week is Christina Hall. She is the owner of Superlunar Design Co. and an all-around rad human.  During this episode we talk about MLMs, hiring VAs, not sleeping enough but still smiling, and of course all the usual awesome stories I like to get into. The wins, the fails, the mistakes, the lessons learned, the heartwarming and fulfilling project stories. All of it.  Christin...

My guest this week is Will Paterson. He is a Logo + Brand Designer, Author, YouTube Content Creator, and now Course Creator.  Buckle up for a story telling extravaganza. These stories include the highs and lows of his very public YouTube channel, his design career, and some of the key projects where he felt incredibly fulfilled.  Plus loads of laughs! Don't miss checking out the lin...