David Sherwin is Director of User Experience at Lynda.com, where he leads a team of UX designers that are helping people around the world learn the skills they need to succeed and pursue their passions. He is also a Fellow at frog, a global product strategy and design firm. His books include Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills and Success by Design: The Essential Business Reference for Designers.
Read MoreVaughan Ling is a concept designer specializing in Vehicles, Environments and Props using 2D and 3D tools. He has extensive experience in Film, AAA videogames, TV, Toys, Automotive, Naval, Theme parks, Documentaries and Advertisement. Lots of car talk this episode :)
Read MoreDarren Yeow is an extremely talented designer/artist who recently launched a Kickstarter for his original product, the NOMAD Art Satchel. We dive really deep into his creative career, and the difficulties in launching a product while continuing to do the things you love.
Read MoreJan Urschel is a freelance art director, concept designer and illustrator working in the entertainment industry, designing for feature films and video games. Clients include: Warner Bros, Lucasfilm, Marvel, EA, Sony, Ubisoft, LucasArts, Cloud Imperium Games, Psyop etc.
Read MoreOur guest this week is the talented concept artist, James Zapata. James is a self-taught illustrator and concept artist, who has produced projects for Applibot and Wizards of the Coast.
Every artist has their own path and struggles, and James discusses his personal choices and decisions that helped guide him along his career path. James is a great example of how to push through and learn from both sides of the creative spectrum. We also discuss his future goals and endeavors a bit, as there are many more triumphs ahead for James.
Read MoreOur guest this week is Jonathan Yuen from Melbourne, Australia. He is the author and creator of HUDS + GUIS, alongside his full time job of designing interactive experiences as Head of Art for the digital agency, Tribal DDB.
I first found out about Jonathan via his project website hudsandguis.com, where he is able to share his love and passion for film and video game heads-up display (HUD) and graphical user interface (GUI).
Through our talks, I further discovered that Jonathan also enjoys illustration and design. He is an artist of many talents indeed. Needless to say, it was truly great having him on this podcast. It was a terrific opportunity to discuss his family life, career aspirations, passion projects, and how he manages to fuel his creative needs.
Read MoreOur guest this week is Scott Ross. Scott grew up in the Bronx NYC, where he came from humble beginnings. He decided that being a musician didn't help pay the bills, and so Scott found himself a new venture in the business of making movies. He progressed his way up through the ranks and became the Executive CEO of George Lucas' company, Industrial Light and Magic, and then Senior Vice President of LucasArts Entertainment Company.
He later forged his own path in the industry by creating the world renowned visual effects house, Digital Domain, which had large impact on films such as Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2012, Transformers, Titanic, Apollo 13, among many other notable films.
Scott's career has seen many rewards and challenges, but through all these transitions, Scott has consistently based his choice in selecting the paths that would allow him to follow his dreams.
Read MoreOur guest this week is Alex Preston. Alex was born in Hawaii and grew up in Ventura County, acquiring his education at Otis College in southern California. After graduation, he worked at various production and design studios as a freelance creative. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he is hard at work crafting his own creations for your personal enjoyment.
Most recently, Alex's venture success on Kickstarter has allowed him to live out his dream of creating his own video game called "Hyper Light Drifter," which is a 2D Action RPG that combines all the best of the 8-16 bit classics, while utilizing the modernized technology and designs from today. In this podcast, we jump right into Alex's path and personal take on the things he loves, where his source of inspiration comes from, and his exciting accomplishment of being able to make his very own video game.
Read MoreIn this episode with Robert Simons, we have an in-depth conversation about his personal journey. He discusses the source of his muse and how he has managed to turn some internal struggles in life into something amazing. We also talk about his work on Ender's Game and his recent success on his Kickstarter project, "Momentum".
Having the opportunity to have worked with Robert on Ender's Game, I saw first hand how passionate, positive, and driven he is to continually succeed. Watch out world, there is more monumental work headed your way from this talented soul.
Read MoreThis week's podcast brings the opportunity to chat with Anthony Jones, an amazingly talented concept artist among the entertainment industry. Anthony has worked on many levels of this industry from movies, toys, commercials, and video games. Most recently, he began the process of creating his own collector's edition book, titled "Heaven's Hell", which will be released in the near future.
In this episode, Anthony and I discuss his personal perspective on our industry, recommendations on how to sustain a successful freelance career, and the journey of launching a book of his collective work thanks to funding by Kickstarter.
Read MoreDanny LuVisi joins the podcast once again to update us on his creative journey. Since our last conversation, he has been cranking away on building his brand and legacy. Danny has a new book due out in November, and he discusses the process of establishing intellectual property and the getting into the world of publication.
Read MoreDavid Levy, aka Vyle Art, has nearly 15 plus years of industry experience working on multiple large title films and video games as a leading international concept artist. David originally began his studies in industrial design and architecture in France and the Netherlands. Since then, David has used his masterful skills to contribute to such game projects as Prince of Persia 3 and Assassin's Creed, while also working on films like Tron Legacy, The Thing, Prometheus, and Ender's Game.
Building his career in various stages, David has taken many risks and continuously pushed himself to get the most out of himself and his work. With big risks, comes big rewards.
Pablo Gonzalez is a multi-talented director, motion designer, and compositor for film and game cinematics. His award-winning short films, For You, My People and Mike Inc., have screened at several film festivals around the world, including Annecy, Hiroshima, SXSW, Montreal, LA Shorts and the Vancouver Int'l Film Festival. Pablo was heading the Motion Graphics Department at Goldtooth Creative, a VFX and motion graphics studio based in Vancouver. He recently branched off and is now freelancing. He has animated and directed commercials, installations, and other video projects for a multitude of notable clients, like Warner Brothers, Electronic Arts, Capcom, and Ubisoft, just to name a few.
In this podcast, we gather a more in-depth look into the elements that have contributed to Pablo's success, his personal outlook on the future direction of his career, and how he aims to get there.
Read MoreThis episode is the much anticipated 'Round 2' of my conversations with Jake Sargeant, where we focus our talks around the freelance lifestyle. In this follow-up, we provide a more in-depth discussion about how to break down some of the vital elements to keeping your work/life balance healthy, supporting our creative community, and quite a few other helpful suggestions that we didn't get a chance to discuss in the last chat.
Read MoreAaron Beck is a native of Wellington, New Zealand, where he is a senior conceptual artist in the workshop division of the world-acclaimed Weta. He has worked on several big screen projects for Weta, including Avatar, District 9, and the recently released film of Elysium. Aaron truly enjoys his craft and being able to create manifestations of robotic life forms and military weaponry. By capitalizing on his inquisitive perception of the world and our existence, Aaron channels those unique viewpoints into his work and produces such incredibly powerful and mindblowing concepts.
Aaron and I had a truly great chat about the things we love in this life, which are highly fueled by science, cars, and films. I want to personally thank Aaron Beck for coming on and sharing his journey with us. Massive congratulations to all his career success and looking forward to the many great things still to come from this talented soul.
Read MoreKevin Tong is an ambitious freelance illustrator who I've had the pleasure to know for quite some time. In the early stages of his career, he began working on packaging and art direction for toy companies, and now works on his own commission projects. Kevin also creates spectacular limited prints for high profile films, which have been distributed through Mondo.
In this episode, Kevin & I have an open chat about how to keep the things you love in life balanced, how to establish yourself as an artist, and how to keep your creative flow ongoing.
Read MoreIn previous podcasts, I have had the opportunity to speak with industry professionals about their career journey, experiences and struggles, and how they were able to achieve their current position in life.
However, about a month ago, Mike Yakovlev, an avid listener and student from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, reached out to me and enthusiastically proposed something a bit different. He asked if I could focus my next conversation around the curious mind of an art student and possibly offer guidance on how to navigate through our industry from a student's perspective. So that's exactly what I did!
In this exclusive one-time breakout episode, we exchange common ideas and issues with personal development, reaching goals, and how to find your creative purpose.
During his childhood, Jayse Hansen became a super fanatic for Sci-Fi and cartoons, and this insatiable curiosity forged a path that naturally led him to the world of art and design. Jayse now manages to work from his home office in Las Vegas, and has a powerful portfolio of work from some of the top blockbuster films, like Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Ender's Game, The Avengers, and Iron Man.
Jayse's ability to stay focused and create amazing visuals in our somewhat chaotic workdays of multiple deadlines & projects, and all while building and maintaining positive long-lasting networks, is truly commendable.
Read MoreJustin Ishmael has experienced many different artistic paths throughout his life, and his most recent journey led him to the current role of creative director for Mondo, a family company of Alamo Drafthouse. Justin's passion and desire to connect the fine art world with film franchises has helped catapult Mondo to become a leading company for high-level, collectible art.
Among one of an array of fascinating topics, Justin and I chat a bit about Mondo's massive transformation from small beginnings and its significant impact on collectors, artists, collaborators, and the film culture overall.
Read MoreScott Robertson has an amazing amount of career experience that spans more than two decades. He has taught at the prestigious Art Center for many years with a customized curriculum designed around his own creations and creative path. Scott also owns and manages Design Studio Press, which distributes a multitude of great books featuring the works and creative journey of talented artists. He thrives on trying new things and pushing his abilities to maximum levels, but regardless of how busy he gets, Scott still dedicates time to help his students and friends.
Scott Robertson is a prime example of how to successfully keep your life filled with passion and challenges. It's a great honor to have him on this podcast, and I extend a massive amount of gratitude to Scott for taking time to have this chat.
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