For the past year I've been listening to a fantastic podcast called
Adventures in Design (The AID Podcast). A group of designers and illustrators (Mark, BIlly, & James) share their insights on the design world, poster design, making a living at art, and "Shop Talk" for technical know-hows on everything from silkscreening prints to computer software. Discussions on how to bill for your work and how to collect payments, and how to deal with difficult clients are helpful not just for new designers, but for designers of any age. Most designers who have been working for a while can relate to many of their stories on deadbeat clients and clients who undervalue their work. And if you've ever dreamed of illustrating rock posters, you may change your mind after hearing some of their narratives on bands. They're all relentlessly funny, great illustrators, and hard workers. After listening for 41 podcasts, I almost feel like I know these guys!
There are a handful of episodes worth noting.
Episode 41 with Jeral Tidwell
The most recent podcast has a wealth of information from Jeral on copywriting your artwork. Unfortunately, he's been infringed upon countless times, even from big box retailers. He found out about copywriting artwork the hard way, but thankfully he's sharing valuable information with other artists, namely that it's not as difficult or expensive to copyright your artwork or pursue legal action if your art is infringed upon.
Episode 23 with Ken Taylor
Ken's one of my favorite illustrators ever. Not only can the guy seriously draw, but his typography & composition is absolutely astounding. A funny bit from the episode is when Ken recalls how illustrator Jay Shaw once mentioned how Australia is filled with all sorts of creepy crawling things that will kill you, including koalas which will F you up (Ken said koala's just sit in trees and chew on leaves).
Copyright issues abound! They briefly mentioned copyright issues on an episode and the controversy surrounding big retail stores like Urban Outfitters, Coy Foster, etc who either flat out steal or heavily borrow from illustrators and produce very similar works for sale in their stores without crediting the original artists. One artist in particular, Lisa Congden, stood up & said, "Hey, that's my work you just ripped off." But as it turns out, she had been "heavily borrowing" from other illustrators for most of her career as well. You can listen to another
podcast interview with freshrag that Mark does which delves further into this story. And here's the
FB post with links to many articles.
Episode 39 with Faythe Levine & Sam Macon
They speak with the makers of a documentary called "Sign Painters" which is a little different than their usual guests, but definitely a great listen. They chronicle a handful of artists who have carried on the old-fashioned tradition of painting signs. I haven't seen the documentary yet, but it's on my list of things to watch.
Episode 33 DKNG
Dan from DKNG tells a hilarious story about how he ran over himself with his own truck. I nearly peed myself when listening to this.
On Episode 40, Mark asked everyone to "spread the love" for the AID Podcast. So that's what this post is all about! If you haven't listened to their podcast, put it on your playlist NOW! Just be forewarned that it sometimes isn't NSWF with cursing and gross stories, AND you may look like an idiot laughing uncontrollably at your desk with your ear buds in.
