Katrina Torrijos, an Adobe Express Evangelist, was in Omaha a couple of weeks ago for Adobe Create Now. We recorded this episode in a green room / nuclear bunker / hidden lounge below The Durham Museum just hours before Katrina took the stage to show off the capabilities of Adobe Express and how Adobe Firefly (Adobe’s generative AI tool) incorporat…

I met up with Tad Carpenter in the green room at The Funny Bone Omaha of all places. That’s right, AAF Nebraska’s annual Meet the Pros upped their game on the location and went full-on comedy club! Tad was just hours away from being the main keynote speaker at the area’s best design / advertising / marketing student event, and we crammed into the c…

Kit Hinrichs! Any time I see design I consider good, and then see Kit’s work…well he’s just at a different level than everyone else. And in case you think he’s not, check out his new book, NARRATIVE DESIGN: A Fifty Year Perspective, showcasing some of the things he’s designed over the past 50 years. On this episode, we welcome back Kit Hinrichs to …

Clement Mok, who was just awarded a Cooper Hewitt 2023 National Design Award for Digital Design, stops by The Reflex Blue Show to talk about his path into the design field, and finding his way to Apple to work on the original Macintosh team. We also talk about his restaurants, including sugarFISH, and what’s next in technology. Enjoy. The post Clem…

Mike Schnaidt stops by The Reflex Blue Show to talk about his new book – Creative Endurance: 56 Rules for Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Your Goals. A practical sort of self-help guide for graphic designers. We also talk about his role in being the Creative Director of the Fast Company empire, and working in the magazine world for over two deca…

Katie Risch McAdams, the Chief Marketing Officer at Basis Technologies, was the lunchtime keynote speaker at this year’s OnBrand Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Recorded from the event on July 13, just after the taco bar had been put away and all of the churros had been consumed. Her talk, ‘Advertising Through Uncertainty’, is one that is especially…

Ross Asdourian was the closing keynote speaker at this year’s OnBrand Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Recorded from the event on July 13, right next to where the taco bar was now being taken down, Ross and I discuss the importance of craft services, and what amazing churros they had at the event. We talk a bit about his Udemy courses, figuring out w…

Whitney Warne was the opening keynote of this year’s OnBrand Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Recorded from the event on July 13, right next to where the taco bar was being set-up, Whitney and I discuss her coaching and consulting business, Evoke EQ, and the nine enneagram types. What is an enneagram? I was also curious as well, and Whitney gives an …

Justin Dauer, who is no stranger to The Reflex Blue Show, and author of Cultivating a Creative Culture and it’s second edition, Creative Culture: Human-Centered Interaction, Design, & Inspiration, joins me to discuss his new book, in fulfillment:the designer’s journey. We talk about what it means to be fulfilled at work, and what you can do to reac…

As the last of this year’s HOW Design Live podcast interviews, Jada Britto joins me to discuss her talk on, ‘Reigniting Hope: Breaking Out of the Checkbox Mentality.’ I had met Jada the day before at the conference, and immediately knew I would love to have a longer chat, and thankfully, we found a time to record the next day with just hours of the…

Emily Mills was at the HOW Design Live conference in Nashville to talk about transition as a creative professional. And as the founder of Sketch Academy, she was also spending quite a bit of time sketch noting the event itself from the exhibit hall – for those who want more about the live sketch note mural she did with Gary Kopervas, I spoke with E…

Carl Gerhards was at the HOW Design Live conference in Nashville to talk about the rebrand, I mean, ‘the next generation of the Pepsi logo‘. It’s rare to have such a large company make a shift in their identity in today’s age and get a lot of positive feedback from the design community, which this one deserves. To my surprise, this was mostly handl…

Shayna Kulik was at the HOW Design Live conference in Nashville this year to talk about how art and culture affect pattern and color. Just a look around any room immediately makes me realize how many patterns I see during a day, and how many I have probably not even noticed, so it was great to be able to talk to a pattern visionary like Shayna to h…

Ben Greengrass and Jessie McGuire of ThoughtMatter seemed to be everywhere at this year’s HOW Design Live conference in Nashville. They gave a talk titled, “Creative Bravery: The Importance of Friendship, Humanity and Embracing Vulnerability to Break Creative Boundaries”; ran a booth at the exhibit hall; and ThoughtMatter even sponsored the lunch f…

One of the Highlights of last years’ (2022) HOW Design Live event in Boston, for me anyway, was the chance to sit in the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile, and to speak with one of the Hotdoggers. But, as part of what makes a Wienermobile sighting so exciting is the rarity, it was not meant to happen again in 2023 (I do speak in this episode about also seei…

Bill Gardner once again gave his Logo Trend Report live at HOW Design Live in Nashville (his 21st! logo trend report). The energy he brings on stage is unmatched. Because of my recording schedule this year, I walked into his talk with a full ten seconds left, but even still, the room was packed – once you get Bill talking about logos, his love and …

Jenn Lederer (Comedian/Keynote Speaker), was at HOW Design Live in Nashville giving a talk/workshop titled “Perfect Pitch – HOW To Talk About What You Do”. We talk about her path into comedy, being a keynote speaker, how to talk about yourself while sounding human, and more. Enjoy. The post Jenn Lederer: The Reflex Blue Show #241 appeared first on …

Steve Gibbs, Shayna Kulik, Karen Larson, Jamie Saunders, and Keith Smith discuss the final day of 2023’s HOW Design Live in Nashville, Tennessee. There is always that weird time about a week out from HOW Design Live where you feel that it was just yesterday with all of the motivation, learning, and adventure you are still processing, and yet I also…

Bill Gardner, Stephen Gates, Emily Mills, Jessica Neblett, Jenny Reed, and Stefan Sagmeister discuss the second day of 2023’s HOW Design Live in Nashville, Tennessee. I last spoke to Stefan Sagmeister in Boston about Environment Design, so I had to ask how the carpet at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center was seen. As always, he is insi…

Justin Ahrens, David C. Baker, Michael Bierut, Bill Gardner, Darcy Hinrichs, Gary Kopervas, Emily Mills, Stefan Mumaw, and Calvin Ng discuss the first day of 2023’s HOW Design Live in Nashville, Tennessee. This HOW had an energy I missed. It was great to see such a large gathering of designers in one place, and to also have the opportunity to explo…

Desmond LaVelle and Jennifer Martindale were the keynote speaker of AAF Nebraska‘s Meet the pros this year. Well, unlike most years where each keynote speaks over one of the two lunches, they simply did a back-to-back, or as they called it, a double header. As always, the event was great, and I always highly recommend it to all students within a fe…

I first met Petre Spassov at the 2011 AIGA Conference in Phoenix, and since then have been fortunate enough to receive a few of his promotional pieces for PS Design. As he has created some of the best self-promotional design pieces I have seen, I thought it would be fun to have him visit The Reflex Blue Show and discuss what goes into a good self p…

Christopher Cox stopped by (well, virtually anyway) The Reflex Blue Show to talk about the weather and snow accumulation in Fort Collins and Omaha (this makes us officially old?). We then speak about his previous work under Change the Thought, for Barack Obama, and his past blogging. We also discuss Alternative Movie Posters, the wonderful environm…

We last spoke with Jen Landis back in 2019, at the OnBrand Conference, where she was speaking, along with other things, about her Pin Curl Girls. Since then, she has continued to promote creativity and positivity to girls age 8-13 with her Art Gang (my daughter is at the desk next to mine working on an Art Gang project while I am editing this podca…

George Garrastegui, Jr. was in Omaha to drop the mic at the end of the 2022 On Brand Conference. Once again, big thanks goes out to AAF Nebraska, AIGA Nebraska, AMA Omaha, and PRSA Nebraska for once again hosting the SOLD OUT event. We speak of his Works in Process podcast, finding your niche by focusing on what we do for us, his part in the AIGA D…

Keni Thacker was in Omaha to kick off the On Brand Conference just blocks from my office a couple of weeks ago. First off, big thanks goes out to AAF Nebraska, AIGA Nebraska, AMA Omaha, and PRSA Nebraska for once again hosting (and selling out!) this great event in its fourth appearance. Keni kicked off the event speaking about 100 Roses from Concr…

My final podcast from HOW Design Live in Boston this year was with Danielle Hughes. She discusses her talk on “Personality Brand” (instead of what people usually use, which is their personal brand). We also discuss differentiating yourself through how you go about your hobbies; how every no leads to a better yes; companies now wanting to celebrate …

Fonz Morris, a ‘deadass SMART effing product designer,’ stopped by to chat during the HOW Design Live in Boston this year. We talk about his journey to becoming a Lead Product Designer at Netflix; giving back through launching a mentorship program that creates a ux/ui pathway for those enrolled at historically black Colleges and Universities; build…

Zipeng Zhu stopped by to chat during the HOW Design Live in Boston this year. He was spending the previous days changing a lot of the talk he would give, still called “Rainbow”, which he describes as using as a metaphor about the beauty after hardship. We also talk about his project of creating fun and playful representations of the anatomical feat…

So much happened during HOW Design Live in Boston this year, that I barely left the convention center at all. On the middle day though, I did make my way the three blocks to Johnny Cupcakes, and then across the street to a Harry Potter store. It was there that I ran into The Reflex Blue Show co-founder Nate Voss, and we decided to take the time to …

Robyn Kanner met with me at HOW Design Live in Boston to talk about her talk on the last ‘6 Novembers’. We also talk about her love of New Wave film, her work as the Senior Creative Advisor at Biden for President, her current work at Studio Gradients, and more. Enjoy. The post Robyn Kanner: The Reflex Blue Show #230 appeared first on 36 Point.…

Gary Kopervas (Syndicated Cartoonist, and SVP Creative Strategy at Finch Brands), met with me at HOW Design Live in Boston. We discuss his ‘Doodle or Die’ workshop focusing on getting the ideas out of the the back of your brain, and onto paper where people can understand them. We also discuss how doodling can be used to bring a team together, and g…

Rania Svoronou (Executive Design Director at IBM), was at HOW Design Live in Boston, and sat down to talk about how to be a resilient leader. We also discuss why and how designers are, by nature, very resilient – and how we are constantly dealing with failure – so much failure. We also talk about AI design, and the present and future work involved …

Justin Ahrens, Jeff Bloom, Michele Pistone, and Kelly Wang discuss the last day of 2022’s HOW Design Live in Boston. What a great event, and one that feels way too short. That being said, HOW once again packed in more sessions than anyone could possibly ever see, and the amount of speakers is crazy. I can only hope Nashville in 2023 can live up to …

Justin Ahrens, Ti Chang, Stephen Gates, Jamie Saunders, Ahbleza Sellars, and Nicole Slaw discuss the second day of 2022’s HOW Design Live in Boston. Every conference has many things you remember, but always that one thing that you remember first. Sometimes it’s a speaker (for me, HOW 2014, Bob Gill). Sometimes it’s an outside event (for me, the Red…

Bill Gardner, Andrew Gibbs, Patty Lennon, Michael Roderick, and Terri Trespicio discuss the first day of 2022’s HOW Design Live in Boston. It was great to be back among so many creatives at the HOW Conference. The event, as usual, went by fast, and the countdown to 2023’s event in Nashville, TN has already begun. In addition to the 3 recaps, over t…

Justin Kemerling stops by The Reflex Blue Show to talk about his new book, In the Middle of Everything. Written 10 years after opening Justin Kemerling Design Co., the book does a great job of capturing a design career in, well, the middle. We also talk design for politics and activism, making your night job into your day job, and more. Thanks goes…

Karen Torok gave the closing day keynote at AAF Nebraska’s Meet the Pros—a student event that I wish all markets had something similar to. AAF Nebraska does an amazing job on this event (disclosure: I served on the committee this year, but have been promoting this event ever since I went while in college, and so would be telling you how great it wa…

Nikki Villagomez stopped through Omaha, Nebraska to give the opening day keynote at AAF Nebraska’s Meet the Pros—a fantastic student event that’s been going on for quite a while (like, well over 60 years now). She does a great talk about how culture affects the typography of a city—a talk that is adjusted to each market she’s given it in. We also t…

Great design books are still being made, it just feels like you have to look a bit harder to find them. Snails & Monkey Tails : A Visual Guide to Punctuation & Symbols, by Michael Arndt is one of them. Michael stops by The Reflex Blue Show to discuss his book, and, well a lot of punctuation and symbol stuff … pretty sure 1/2 the marks I use may be …

Omaha designer and illustrator Amanda Walla stopped by The Reflex Blue Show to talk about what got her into lettering, and the 100 day challenge she did. Well, we do talk about this at first, but the real reason she stopped by was to talk about Star Wars. Amanda is part of the Duel of the Ranks podcast that, well, ranks all of the Star Wars media a…

Tim Lapetino, stops by The Reflex Blue Show to discuss his upcoming book, Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon. And also, what a huge cultural phenomenon Pac-Man was / is. We also discuss how his interest in journalism and design has led to his current career in working in pop-culture, his previous book, Art of Atari, and some of his current work doing some a…

Archie Boston stopped by The Reflex Blue Show to discuss what it was that brought him into a career in Graphic Design and Advertising in the 1960s. We also discuss his book, Fly In The Buttermilk: Memoirs of an African American in Advertising, Design & Design Education, and how and why to self-publish a memoir about design. Archie is one of the 202…

Susan Augenbraun (Events Manager at the national office of AIGA) and Paul Mendoza (who leads a digital design team at UCLA) stop by to talk about the 2nd (does this make it annual?) AIGA Portfolio Festival. Of course, no portfolio talk is complete without discussing what is expected in a portfolio. And, as this event was created during the all-virt…

Christina Falzano, Managing Director of Conran Design Group stops by The Reflex Blue Show to talk about getting into branding, changes over the years in phone bills, how people interact with brands now, working in branding for the pharmaceutical and health spaces, and more. Enjoy. The post Christina Falzano: The Reflex Blue Show #219 appeared first…

I feel like I’ve known Prescott Perez-Fox for close to 20 years, but I think it’s all been online with the exception of a lunch we had like a decade ago at a conference. Even this podcast was remote, but it felt like he was in the same room. We catch up on Prescott moving from freelancing to teaching, and the changes that can take. We also talk abo…

Michael Schwab! This week we welcome illustrator/designer / artist Michael Schwab to The Reflex Blue Show to talk about his process, the tools he uses, his influences, and more. Ben Lueders, who co-hosted for most of seasons 5 and 6 returns to co-host this episode as well. Enjoy. The post Michael Schwab: The Reflex Blue Show #217 appeared first on …

Ken Barber, of House Industries, joins The Reflex Blue Show to talk about his journey into lettering. We also talk about what it’s like working with JJ Abrams and Jimmy Kimmel. Oh yeah, and that time in Omaha where I saw him present in a bowling ally back in 2000. Good times. Huge thanks again to Hanna Zimmermann, who co-hosts from Lincoln, Nebrask…

Valerie Aurilio, General Manager of Landor & Fitch, has been working on a project with a soon-to-be 250 year history – America. We discuss working with the America 250 Foundation to brand the country’s semiquin. I can only imagine what goes on in a project this large, and that’s a lot of what we talk about. A few glimpses of what we’ll all be seein…

Owen Davey visits The Reflex Blue Show (remotely, via the UK) and we discuss starting a career as an illustrator, the changes in the field over the years, and doing illustrations for social media. We also spend a bit of time talking about The Mandalorian, and some of the other shows we enjoy. Enjoy. The post Owen Davey: The Reflex Blue Show #214 ap…