SOLOPRENEUR OG Today on Obsessed Show I’m chatting in person with one of my best friends of all time, Torrey Dawley. This is my second in-person interview in a row, as well as another amazing creative professional from Indianapolis. Torrey started his own brand and design business back in 2006 called Sandpaper Studio. Today he’s scaling down client…

Today on Obsessed Show we have a long-overdue part II episode with my friend, Sam Vázquez. You may remember Sam from Episode 15 of the show. Seven years later, we’re catching up with Sam about his work in graphic design, fine art, music, and now, teaching. So without further ado, please enjoy this conversation with Sam Vázquez. (I was trying a new …

Today on Obsessed Show, I’m excited to chat with the Principal Designer of Focus Lighting, Brett Andersen. Focus Lighting is an award-winning professional architectural lighting design firm located in New York City. The Focus Lighting team’s creative process is informed by a combined experience in theater, architecture, and design and they create l…

Today on Obsessed Show, I’m excited to chat with the CEO and Co-owner of Mancini Duffy, Bill Mandara, Jr, AIA. If that firm sounds familiar, it’s probably because we interviewed the other co-owner and “anti-architect” Christian Giordano & Jessica Mann Amato. I’m excited to learn more about Bill’s role in the firm, a massive project they’re working …

CARLOS MUSQUEZ, EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, CATALYST MARKETING AGENCY Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with Carlos Musquez, Executive Creative Director at Catalyst Marketing Agency bringing his brand of creative excellence to the B2B branding space, something that is near and dear to my heart… You may remember Carlos from episode 143, when Carl…

On January 13th, 2018 at 8:08 am, an alert was issued to the 1.4 million citizens of Hawai'i, ‍BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Today on Obsessed Show, I’m excited to chat with the creative team behind the immersive and creative new VR film, “On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World).”…

Fredrik Öst & Erik Kockum Today on Obsessed Show, I’m excited to chat with the founders of creative agency, SNASK, Fredrik Öst & Erik Kockum. "Freddie" was adopted from South Korea and raised in Northern Sweden after being found outside a police station. Erik is a confused and misunderstood misfit genius who believes that the feeling of freedom and…

Today on Obsessed Show, I’m excited to chat with the president and co-owner of NYC tech-first architecture and design firm Mancini Duffy, Christian Giordano and co-owner and design principal, Jessica Mann-Amato. Christian has dubbed himself and his podcast "The Anti-Architect" and I’m excited to dig into that statement alone…and learn more about th…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with interior designer, writer, and TV personality, Kimberley Seldon. Based in Los Angeles and Toronto, she founded Kimberley Seldon Design Group in 1991. Kimberley is also the Founder of Business of Design - an online learning platform for independent designers, as well as a recurring on-air design expert for Ci…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with the founders of modern home furnishings and design brand, Blu Dot: John Christakos & Maurice Blanks. Based in Minneapolis, Blu Dot has 12 locations across the US (with new stores in Miami, San Francisco, and more on the way). You may know Blu Dot from their gorgeous mod pieces that are all over Instagram, or…

Today on Obsessed Show, we’re continuing an unexpected trend of interviewing another lead singer. Today I’m chatting with A/J Jackson; songwriter, director, and perhaps best known as the lead singer of the international platinum-selling rock band Saint Motel… they’ve played Coachella and toured with Imagine Dragons, but imagine my surprise that the…

Today on Obsessed Show I’m honored to be chatting with John Flansburgh, ½ of the dynamic duo that is They Might Be Giants. As you can only imagine my response when I received the email… “Hey, this is John F. from TMBG, and we’d like to share our Book with you in hopes that we can figure out a chat on your podcast.” Well spoiler alert, I was pretty …

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with industrial designer, Vikkal Parikh. Influenced by his unique background in architecture, Vikkal has spearheaded breathtaking, mixed media narratives for some of the world's top-tier brands. These include the likes of Facebook, Adidas, HBO, Microsoft, White Castle, and more. With the increasing surge in anima…

We’re back with Vigor Branding principal, host of the Forktales podcast, and author of the new book, The Bullhearted Brand, Joseph Szala. If you’re a long-time listener, you may recall Joseph from all the way back in season one. Today we talk about his latest evolutions, including how the Grits & Grids podcast led to his new show, Forktales, and wh…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with greeting card designer and founder of the Kate Smith Company… you guessed it, Kate Smith. According to her website, Kate and her husband Ryan launched their first company, From Frank, together in 2012. We quickly grew the line of 50 greeting cards into a full-fledged character brand — which we won’t spoil al…

Today on Obsessed Show, we’ve got a special treat. This episode is supported by Wireframe, a podcast all about creativity and design. I checked out an episode of Wireframe, and today I get to share this episode with you in its entirety. Like our show, Wireframe is a show made for creative professionals: graphic designers, UX designers, illustrators…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with industrial designer, Neil Ferrier. Neil Ferrier (who previously worked in advanced product development at Oakley) is a mechanical engineer by degree and the owner of industrial design firm DISCOMMON, which specializes in left of center bespoke goods. Aside from reinventing classic accessories like impact pro…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with the founders of Artifox, Dan and Sarah Mirth. You may know Artifox from their Instagram drool-worthy workspace furniture and clever artifacts, perfect for a world where so many of us are struggling to find inspiration, while working from home. According to their website, Artifox was born from their founders’…

Theron Skees—Designer’s Creative Studio Nate Naversen—Themedattraction.com Jason Surrell—Author Josh Polk Lecturer, Department of Computer Information & Graphics Technology Chris Rogers, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Computer Information & Graphics Technology

No, not that Snowden… also, we’ve had a ton of snowfall at Obsessed Show HQ this week… coincidentally, not that “snowed-in” either. #dadjoke Eric Snowden is driving the future of mobile creativity by leading a global team of designers to bring to life powerful new tools like Illustrator on the iPad. I’m curious to hear why he believes mobility is t…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with co-founder of Handsome, John Roescher. John Roescher is a former military vet who started the company because of a passion for the potential of the internet to explore new ideas and make connections - a similar urge that originally led him to join the military right out of high school. Once COVID hit, though…

Today on Obsessed Show we've got our first ever (I mean, I think it's the first-ever... once you're past 150 episodes, you have the right to forget stuff) - so I THINK it's the first-ever letterpress designer and printer, and his name is James Lewis Tucker. You guys may not know this, but I got my start with very print-oriented design roles, and I'…

Prescott Perez-Fox is an art director, brand strategist, speaker, podcaster, and teacher, recently transplanted to Phoenix, AZ. Now a Lecturer at Arizona State University, he brings his knowledge, passion, and a few hard-fought lessons to the next generation of multidisciplinary designers. In addition to his brand-focused design work, Prescott is t…

Valerie Aurilio, General Manager, and Phyllis Murphy, Executive Creative Director Today on Obsessed Show it's a two for one sale... I'm chatting with Valerie Aurilio, General Manager at Landor & Fitch, and Phyllis Murphy, Executive Creative Director, at Landor & Fitch. If you're doing any design work in the branding space, there's very little chanc…

Throughout his career, Gomez has regularly shifted between live-action, animation and graphic design, cross-pollinating between the mediums to inform his design aesthetic with outside influences. While it may be common practice in the design space to stick to one lane and perfect a given discipline, Jose has found the most growth as an artist by sw…

Howard has a unique design point of view. Over the past 25 years, he has served scores of Fortune 500 companies, including Pfizer, CVS/Caremark, Hewlett Packard, Motorola, and SAP, by leveraging the concept of simplicity to activate customers and employees. He challenges design teams across the world to bring humanity to brands. You could say Howar…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with Illustrator & Package Designer, Abraham Lule. Born and raised in Mexico, Abraham Lule describes his body of illustration, typography and packaging work as design with a human touch. His spectrum of skills is flexible and ever-changing, bringing a truly unique crafted flair that is undeniable in his work. He …

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with Ben Solomon, Creative Director of Conran Design Group U.S. Ben brings over a decade of brand-building experience to the Conran team. From full identity development, socialization, and activation, Ben has helped brands develop their own unique, impactful expressions. Prior to joining Conran, Ben was a Creativ…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with Pinar Guvenc Managing Partner of SOUR studio, which stands for Social + Urban. She and her company have helped companies like Twitter, Google, P&G, Lego, Mercedes-Benz, the UN and many others solve problems through the power of workshops. SOUR is the recently rebranded name of the former Eray/Carbajo, an int…

Show I'm chatting with Jonathan Courtney, the CEO & Founder of one of the most well-known innovation agencies in the world, AJ&Smart, and author of the Workshopper Playbook. He and his company have helped companies like Twitter, Google, P&G, Lego, Mercedes-Benz, the UN and many others solve problems through the power of workshops. So here to tell u…

Today on Obsessed Show we have a bit of a part two, with just one of the co-hosts of the Biz Buds podcast, Michael Janda Mike Janda on the line, who is not only the co-host of the Biz Buds Podcast, but is also a coach, and the author of Burn Your Portfolio and The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing. So without further ado, please enjoy this part …

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with the co-hosts of the Biz Buds podcast, Tom Ross and Mike Janda For those of you long time listeners, Tom Ross may sound familiar, because he's amongst the small number of guests who have been on the show more than once, and today is #3 for Mr. Ross, who is a coach & cheerleader for creative entrepreneurs and …

Today on Obsessed Show, we're chatting with Brett Zucker. ::::: This episode is brought to you by Yellow Images. ::::: Brett Zucker, CMO of Monotype shares how brands can best champion creativity to navigate and succeed during and coming out of a crisis. Specializing in design, tech and expertise, Monotype has helped strategize branding for Southwe…

Today's episode is brought to you by the new season of Wireframe, from Adobe XD. Be sure to subscribe to Wireframe here: https://link.chtbl.com/wireframe?sid=podcast.obsessedshow

Today on Obsessed Show we’re chatting with Carlos Musquez. ::::: This episode is brought to you by Yellow Images. ::::: Carlos Musquez, Executive Creative Director of ELA, is the creative lead for the agency. His deep agency roots at Omnicom under Alcone Marketing, saw him developing and designing best-in-class campaigns for major brands such as Th…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with Daniel Scrivner, CEO at Flow. Investor at Blackletter. Creative Director at Made by Scrivner. Daniel was previously the Head of Design at Digit and Square. He's worked for some of the most respected brands in the world including Apple, Nike, Disney, and Target. Daniel advises world-class teams at companies l…

Join the Obsessed Show Community here: https://apple.co/3d3rr5x Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with Steffen Christiansen, creative director at design and experience agency, Jam3. Steffen was born and raised in Denmark and is currently based in Toronto. He specializes in Digital Products & Experiences, as well as Branding & Illustration across …

Today on Obsessed Show I’m chatting with Jessie McGuire. Jessie McGuire is the Managing Director at brand design studio ThoughtMatter, leading a team of artists, writers and strategists to create daring designs and identities for everything from art museums, communities and brands to a range of institutions and organizations. She has been integral …

Eric Thoelke, President, TOKY Eric Thoelke (pronounced “toky”) brings more than 30 years of real-world experience in brand strategy and design of complex projects. Eric is responsible for leading a team of designers and brand strategists who create new names and visual brand identities, design print and online experiences, and solve branding challe…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with principal consultant at Illig, Ed Illig. Ed is a Marketing & Brand Design Strategist + Outsourced Fractional Marketing Lead | Problem solver, revenue driver, creative leader, experience creator, strategist, marketer, integrator, designer, inventor, thinker, writer, director, illustrator, producteer, adventur…

Today on Obsessed Show I'm chatting with co-founder and creative partner of Oh Hello Design Co., Sara Seal. Sara has over a decade of experience creating and cultivating both boutique and large-scale brands. She’s passionate about making strong, authentic voices heard above the crowd and wants her work to empower others to pursue their biggest drea…

Designer & tinkerer-in-chief at Humphreys Studio John rebuilt the South African camping chair using argentine leather and pecan, featured in GQ and sold at Neiman Marcus. John also does custom projects and helped in the building of intelligentsia coffee in Austin and the newest shop from the Intelligentsia legacy called The Meteor. John grew up in …

Anna Brozek was recently named CEO of Big Cartel, the leading independent platform that's helped enable more than 1 million artists and makers sell over $3 billion of their work directly to consumers via easy to open online shops. Since its inception in 2005, the independently run company has been instrumental in empowering talented artisans to do …

On today’s episode, I chat with John Benzick, who has provided innovation expertise to Procter & Gamble, McDonald's, Best Buy, The Hershey Company, Arm & Hammer, LensCrafters, Chase Manhattan Bank, Kimberly Clark, S.C. Johnson, Water Pik, Philip Morris International, Outback Steakhouse and other companies. Today he uses his powers to coach would-be…

Heidi Luerra is the Founder & CEO of RAW Artists, the world’s largest independent arts organization. Over the past decade, Heidi has grown RAW to a worldwide operation in over 80 cities with almost 200k artists in the RAW community. She's publishing her first book "The Work of Art" this September. "The Work of Art" covers topics from personal brand…

David is a high-functioning eccentric who thinks in stories, speaks in aphorisms and wields a passion for storytelling that’s unorthodox approaching idiosyncratic. Hired at Google as a 22-year old, David held an objectively unjustifiable amount of power. He built a content team at Google Maps and established a global production strategy that covere…

99designs may be a controversial guest to some listeners, but we connected with their CEO, Patrick Llewellyn, all the way from Australia to talk about their latest research report, Design Without Borders. You can learn more about the report here: https://99designs.com/design-without-borders And without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with…

Today on Obsessed Show we're finally airing a conversation for last fall with Abby Downing, Partner & Creative Director at The Superfan Company. The Superfan Company works with top entertainers, musicians, and brands to create programs and products to engage their superfans. From VIP packages at concerts, to limited edition products, to collectible…

Aaron's specialty is communications and visual experimentation — he brings a shot of humanity to otherwise cold tech experiences, and helps folks get to know and love tech a little more. Aaron's work has been featured at the Saatchi&Saatchi New Directors Showcase and the MoMA’s archive for The Art and Technique of the American Commercial. He was na…

Although he went to school to be an industrial designer, Aaron fell in love with photography, and later founded PHLEARN, an online photoshop, lightroom, and photography platform to bring free, creative education to anyone around the world. SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, Please enjoy my conversation with Aaron Nace.…