The Career Benefits of Being Just Unqualified Enough If you are an elder millennial like me, you already get it. If not, please stop what you're doing and stream Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead immediately. This blog will still be here when you return. Sue Ellen’s magical phrase—“I’m right on top of that, Rose”—is basically waiting for a narrator to add, “And folks, she was absolutely not on top of that.” It is less a status update and more a verbal smoke bomb. Rose asks

For the record, this is not design doctrine. No research was conducted, no focus groups were harmed and I am not suggesting every Scotch bottle must look as though it survived a minor clan dispute. Just one loud girls rant. I think this is one of those, when in Rome...well Scotland situations. As a designer I'm usually drawn to packaging that feels fresh, clever and considered. Give me an unexpected color palette, a beautiful typeface and a brand with enough personality to ma

Before I design anything, I like to ask one deeply annoying question: What is this supposed to feel like? Not what color should it be. Not what font are we using. Not should the button be rounded, squared, pill-shaped, ghosted, outlined, or spiritually unavailable. What should someone feel when they land here? Relieved? Curious? Safe? Energized? Seen? Like they suddenly have their life together because a website had good spacing? That feeling matters because people usually kn

A lot of creatives grow up thinking the dream is to work on brands like Apple, Nike, Glossier, or whichever brand currently has the internet collectively whispering, “the art direction.” And of course, I get it. Those brands are beautiful. They are culturally fluent. They have mythology. They have taste. They have the kind of brand equity that makes every campaign feel like it is arriving with its own fog machine and keynote soundtrack. But there is another creative path that

Sometimes the joke is not the problem. Sometimes the fear is. A funny look at creative timing, nut jokes, safe branding, and why the best social moments need room to move.

A fun creative review of Be More Pirate and How To: Be More Pirate, with lessons for designers, artists, writers, marketers, and creative rule-breakers.

For creative brains juggling ideas, errands, reminders, and rogue intrusive thoughts, this is a funny little system for clearing mental clutter: pull the weeds, park the useful thoughts, and make room for the better ideas.

That itchy "am I outgrowing my job?" feeling? It might be a promotion your brain already gave you. 5 signs you've become a creative director.

In the new year many of us are on a journey of self-improvement and goal setting. Enter the Zen as F*ck Journals!