Welcome to The Honest Designers Show
We are so excited to launch our brand new weekly podcast, The Honest Designers Show!
This new podcast features our founder and CEO Tom Ross, alongside experienced designers Ian Barnard, Lisa Glanz and Dustin Lee. Each of your hosts have excelled in their own creative fields, and this new show is our way to give you a transparent look into life as a modern designer. Want to learn how to land your first client, develop a unique style in your work, or simply to realise that other folk are going through the same challenges that you’re facing? Then this is the show for you!
You can listen to our first ever episode below:
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Other Ways to Listen: Soundcloud | iTunes | Stitcher
Meet Your Hosts
The Honest Designers Show started when our founder Tom found he was regularly chatting and sharing tips with top designers; Ian Barnard, Lisa Glanz and Dustin Lee. We soon organised a weekly call where we would help each other with areas we were struggling with and try to give each other actionable feedback. Soon we realised that the collective experience of the group was proving so valuable for each of us, that we thought ‘why not share these conversations with the world?’.
And so, The Honest Designers Show was born! This podcast is an insight into how to succeed in the creative industry, as well as giving you a totally transparent, under the hood look at some of the tougher, less glamorous hurdles to overcome! We also tend to get a little goofy along the way, so this is a chance to get to know each of us a little better :). We’ve loved recording this show for you, and we hope that you find value and enjoyment in listening to it.
SHOW NOTES
In this first episode we delve into exactly how to develop your own personal style as a designer. This is something every designer goes through at some stage, and once you land upon your own unique style, amazing things can start to happen! We describe our own journeys of how we got there, roadblocks we overcame, and dish out plenty of tips on how to find and develop a great style yourself.
[1.00] Copying others to find your style, and getting comfortable with yourself
[1.45] How to recognise when you’ve found your style
[2.25] The ‘switch’ moment when you finally discover your style
[3.00] Using other people’s work to find your own style
[3.40] Why copying is a natural part of the process
[4.20] Finding different sources of inspiration
[5.15] Being inspired by outside styles
[6.00] Using outside inspiration for marketing yourself
[6.30] Dustin’s shaving routine (and how it helps inspire him!)
[7.30] The power of mood-boards and other cliches
[8.30] Ian’s struggle to nail down a particular style
[9.45] Why you shouldn’t worry if your style flits all over the place
[10.20] How your style can often by subconscious
[11.15] The importance of practice
[12.05] Feeling comfortable in your skin
[13.25] Ian’s random feed (and why this doesn’t matter!)
[14.50] The home-runs in the early days
[15.15] Copying your best self
[16.00] Holding yourself accountable with a fan-base
[17.00] Why consistency matters
[17.50] How to avoid giving up too quickly
[18.30] Why feedback is great (even the bad feedback!)
[19.25] Why no feedback is the worst feedback
[20.25] The insecurities of being a designer
[21.20] Why you should aim to divide people with your work
[22.00] Finding your core fans through polarisation
[23.00] Taking note of what you’re drawn to
[23.50] Finding your style in other areas (music)
[24.40] Dustin’s friend’s amazing project
[25.55] Getting out of your head, and getting lost in the process
[27.30] Learning along the way
[28.10] Why Ian works on what interests him the most
[29.45] Exposing yourself to multiple influences
[30.50] Why a defined style can be an advantage
[31.30] Listen to your personality type to find your style
[32.20] Our various styles (and who is most distinctive)
[33.20] Why YOU can be your style (rather than just your work)
[34.00] Why you can attract clients with a narrow style
[36.00] Why other people’s style might not be right for you
[37.45] Some styles are more achievable via practice than others
[39.00] How to see different styles in imperfections
[40.00] Having fun and trying different things
[42.00] ‘Find your fun’
[43.00] ‘Do what’s weird about you’
[43.50] How to stand out in a busy industry
[44.30] Branching off from your best ideas
[45.10] Tom’s teacher ripping up his artwork at school!
[46.25] How Lisa judges a successful project
[47.40] Dustin NOT going to the bathroom on the call
[48.45] Lisa’s weird world
[50.00] The importance of giving yourself some slack
[50.50] Tom’s tip for feeling better about your journey
[52.00] Why people remember your failures (and why this is ok)
How you can help
As this is a new show, we’d really appreciate your help spreading the word. If you enjoyed listening and found value in this first episode, you can do these two things to help us:
1. Subscribe to The Honest Designers Show in iTunes
2. Leave us an honest rating/review in iTunes
Early reviews can make the world of difference for new podcasts being discovered, and it would mean the world to us if you were able to help.
Click to listen to The Honest Designers Show on iTunes
Here is a quick guide for how to leave a review on iTunes
Let Us Know What You Think
We would absolutely love to know how you enjoyed this first episode. We’ll be releasing a new episode each Wednesday, and look forward to hopefully answering many of your questions on the show. We continue to be so grateful for the wonderful community here at Design Cuts, and hope that this show is another way that we can give back to you all.
PS: A bit of trivia for you: the artwork for Honest Designers was a group effort. The wonderful lettering is by Ian Barnard, the illustrations are by Lisa Glanz and Dustin/Tom compiled the wider layouts, details and colour palettes.
Love your podcasts and site!!!!
I’m not a designer by trade (I am actually an air traffic controller) but I love to create as a hobby and it’s so very interesting to hear you struggle with similar creative and confidence issues. It’s really encouraging to hear how you deal with things and gives me confidence as well as practical advice on how to carry on.
Many thanks!!!
Hey Jeanette,
Thank you so much for your comment and what an awesome job!
We are really glad that you’re feeling encouraged and we super appreciate you tuning in. There will be lots more to come so hopefully you’ll find lots of subjects that we can all relate to :)
Awesome podcasts! Thank you, I’m learning so many interesting things, it’s gold!
Thanks so much Alice, we are really glad that you like it and are picking up some new tips too- that’s awesome :D
The Honest Designers Show is my current favorite podcast to listen to in the studio. This isn’t just a handful of designers sitting around shooting the breeze ~ while there is some playful banter between friends, they basically stay on topic, offering insights, ideas and practical, useful information to their listeners. As a graphic designer for nearly 20 years in a past life, I often find myself nodding in agreement with points made about working with clients, going the extra mile and conducting oneself in a professional manner. Grab a cup of coffee and tune in ~ you’ll be glad you did.
Last night my A/C decided to die on me, being in the Caribbean it was a typical hot night and I couldn’t sleep: at 4 am I picked up my phone and started looking through my list of podcasts, didn’t really see anything worth listening to at that hour of the morning though.
I did a quick search wondering if I would stumbled across any new podcasts on Graphic Design, that’s when I discovered The Honest Designers. I must confess the podcast is brilliant and insightful, I’ve started with episode 1 and I’m working my way up, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts, experiences and challenges, much appreciated.
I’m a final year student pursuing my BA in Graphic Design and will definitely share your podcast with my classmates, thanks again for a great podcast.
Hey Rohan,
Thank you so much for leaving us such an awesome comment!
We are really sorry to hear about your AC but I guess we should be thankful that it bought us together :D we really appreciate your feedback and cannot tell you how much it would mean for you to share the Honest Designers show with your classmates! We just love sharing the team’s experience and opinions with you, so we’re super glad that you’ve enjoyed it- thanks for tuning in :)
Hi there! I just discovered your podcast and I am really enjoying it! I just finished listening to episode 4, and had a question, (not sure if this is the best place to ask questions). Talking about feedback as one of the helpful aspects of a formal education in design; as a self-taught designer myself, I was wondering if you could recommend some active online communities where designers post their work and also receive feedback?
Thanks :)
Dimitra