Low-Key Legends

What does it take to make exceptional digital products? How can one product leave us feeling content and keep us on it for hours while others drive us away in just a few clicks? This week on Low-Key Legends we will learn from product veterans Zeke Shore and Ian Lord co-founders of TypeCode. TypeCode designs and builds digital products and experiences, collaborating with ambitious clients like A24, Google, MoMA, Scholastic, Disney, and MIT to bring powerful ideas to life. Finding clever solutions to hard problems while making things beautiful, intuitive, functional, and effective

The long-awaited interview with the founding team of Smith & Diction is here at last! In this conversation, Mike and Chara Smith discuss their design, copywriting, and branding approach, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and authenticity. They share insights on the role of words in creating effective brands, the benefits of working as a couple, and the value of incorporating outside experiences into the creative process. Smith & Diction Process Doc Social: Medium Instagram Twitter / X Threads

In this episode of Low-Key Legends, I interview Nathan Riley, the design director at Unseen Studio to learn how he got started in design and built Unseen Studio with his co-founders. We discuss the early years of the studio, the significance of self-expression and passion projects, and the influence of sharing on Dribbble. We explore Nathan's journey into 3D design and the agency's shift in 2018 towards creating immersive web experiences. Nathan on Social: Unseen Website Nathan's Instagram Nathan's Twitter / X LinkedIn

In this episode of Low-Key Legends, I sit down with Alex, Matt, and Jeremy the founders of Study Hall, a collective of curious creatives ready to tinker with norms to build impactful high-craft work for all walks of life, from Fortune 500 companies like Airbnb to small start-ups. We explore how branding has evolved, looking at what elements are timeless and what we can push and explore more of in 2025 and beyond. Our conversation hovers around the business of branding and how it intersects with today's tools and tomorrow's technologies. We cover how AI is impacting our industry and our team's productivity and what might be next in the world of branding ditching screens and moving into the future of interfaces. Study Hall on Social: Website Instagram LinkedIn Threads

In this episode of Low-Key Legends, I interview my friend Kirk Wallace to discuss the changing landscape in the creative community. They explore how sharing work in 2024 has evolved and how it has impacted how audiences and clients discover their work. Kirk shares his journey from being an engineer to becoming an illustrator and designer, and how he has grown his audience and built a successful career. We get into the importance of authenticity, the need to adapt to new formats and platforms, and the balance between B2B and B2C audiences. We discuss the importance of sharing the process and telling a compelling story to emotionally connect with an audience; finding the balance between being a business person and an artist. Kirk on Social: Skill Share Courses Website Instagram YouTube

Today on Low-Key Legends, I am joined by Jenny Heintz and Mike Wagz, the founders of Self Aware, a design and technology studio based in Philly and established in 2018. Partners in life and business Jenny and Mike focus their synergistic skills on bringing brands to life online, creating fun and dynamic solutions that are both beautiful and performant. They have worked with a variety of organizations and institutions, big and small—from local businesses like Middle Child to major institutions such as the Institute of Design and MIT, as well as Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's production company, Artists Equity. Jenny and Mike share how and why they decided to publish the Notion Doc "Every Project We Have Ever Charged For" shedding a light on how they price creative work. We explore the idea of transparency and business and how it breeds the conditions for open conversation, trust, and a healthier industry. Jenny discusses the importance of being systematic and organized in their design studio, Self Aware. They share how they use processes and systems to guide their clients and ensure they stay on track. They also talk about the benefits of transparency in the industry, including sharing their project budgets and prices. We discuss the challenges of pricing services and the importance of valuing your work. Notion Doc: Every Project We've Ever Charged For Social: Website Twitter Instagram

On this episode of Low-Key Legends Dan Mall shares his journey as an entrepreneur and the challenges he faced in building and closing his agency, SuperFriendly. He emphasizes the importance of culture, margin, and taking care of people in building a successful business. Dan discusses the factors that led him to shut down his agency after 10 years, including the desire to spend more time with his family, the lack of a clear goal for the agency, and the changing industry landscape. We dive deep into the importance of mindset and the skills needed for success in the design industry. Dan shares a contrarian view that not everyone should be paid for their work, especially if the work is not valuable. He believes that compensation should be tied to the value of the work being done. He also emphasizes the importance of learning and teaching as forms of compensation. Britt and Dan discuss the challenges of running a freelancer-based business and the need for transparency and empathy in the industry. Find Dan on Social: → Dan's Site → Design Systems University → Newsletter → Twitter → Linkedin

On this episode of Low-Key Legends, Britt sits down with Tim Evans the Co-founder of Malvah Studio to discuss Tim's wild adventure of getting into design and stumbling into starting Malvah with his business partner Ty. Tim discusses the entrepreneurial journey of starting Malvah Studio and the challenges of running a business in South Africa. He shares how the economic and political climate in the country has shaped his role as an entrepreneur. Tim also talks about the importance of building strong relationships with clients and the importance of sharing your work to attract the right clients and establish trust. Malvah Website Twitter / X LinkedIn Instagram

In this conversation, DJ Javier, the founder of Banyan Surf Club, discusses his career and collaborations with big brands like Billabong, Shake Shack, and the LA Rams. He emphasizes the importance of persistence, checking his ego, and staying humble. DJ shares how working with a manager has allowed him to focus on the creative work while his manager handles the business side. He also talks about the role of social media in attracting clients and the importance of presenting well and concepting effectively sharing a story along with your design. DJ also talks about the value of passion projects and how they can lead to opportunities with bigger brands. DJ's playful and inclusive mindset is influenced by his experiences and the desire to create a space where everyone feels heard and uplifted. Sari-Sari Show: Indoek Gallery 432 N Ventura Ave Studio 30, Ventura, CA 93001 Find DJ online: → Website → ⁠Ted Talk⁠ → Instagram → Lumpia Surf Team → Canto.Vision

In this episode of Low-Key Legends, we chat with Liz and Gavin founders of Datalands about how they found their unique niche of designing around data for Fortune 500 companies. We learn their unique story and how building their studio wasn't linear and came with its unique challenges and positioning hiccups. If you don't know Datalands is a visual communication and information design studio producing groundbreaking, thrilling projects—shaping the aesthetics and essence of forward-thinking brands. Social: → Website → Instagram → Twitter → Behance → Ladies Who Create Podcast

In this episode of Low-Key Legends, I chat with Emmett Shine, a designer, and entrepreneur. We discuss the importance of passion and creativity in business. Emmett emphasizes the value of infusing personal delight and creativity at scale and its impact on brands and experiences. We talk in-depth about the insights on the success of Gin Lane and Pattern Brands, highlighting the importance of creating a culture that encourages leadership and entrepreneurship and how founding both led him to his new venture, Little Plains. Little Plains is Emmett's new design agency where he combines his passion for art and design with business effectiveness. He discusses positioning Little Plains in the market and the importance of staying true to his unique voice. Social: → Little Plains → Pattern Brands → Emmett's Site → Instagram → Twitter

Mario Šimić is a senior designer at BORNFIGHT STUDIO® a digital design studio in Croatia, crafting masterful websites and user interfaces. Mario went from an engineer to designing masterful websites, paying extreme detail to craft and interactivity. Mario shares his perspective on the power of side projects and how they help you evolve your taste and hard skills. Mario dives deep into how to break through creative block and making meaningful impactful designs, while pushing yourself and your team. Join us for this incredible Web Design Creative Crash Course with Mario Social: Instagram LinkedIn Twitter/X Dribbble BORNFIGHT STUDIO®

Sitting down with Rachael Yaeger to chat shop on all things Human and business. We explored what success means to Rachael and how it looks closer to walks in the woods than it does to fat stacks of cash. We discuss the roots of Human and Rachael's profound entrepreneurial spirit. We explore what makes Human's branding, design, and websites so unique, and how Human creates using an Ocean's 11 business model, expanding their capabilities when needed. But who is Rachael? Rachael Yaeger is the co-founder of Human, a brand-led, digital studio specializing in design and development all under one roof. The tl;dr of it all is they're good humans making good work for good humans. Social: Human Site Twitter Instagram

In this episode of Low-Key Legends, we chat with Filippo Cipriani head of studio at Adoratorio, Adoratorio is a digital agency based in Brescia Italy working with clients like Netflix, Guicci, Maserati, and more crafting exquisite brand and digital experiences. We dive into the fundamentals of what makes for a successful design studio and great creative work. How the words you use to tell a story are equally if not more important than the visuals you use. In this epic far-ranging conversation we chat we explore food, wine, and hospitality, the lessons Fil learned in Hotel and hospitality school, and how Anthony Bourdain changed his life. Strap in and take a mental flight ✈️ to Brescia with me. Filippo on Social: → LinkedIn → Twitter / X → Website

Just the tip[s] no fluff, but we love the fluff here. This is a buffet-style tasting of all the episodes aired in February. A beautiful set of interviews that range from entrepreneurship, branding, creating digital experiences, and pricing creative work. Chapters: 00:00:48 The Entrepreneurial Spirit with Erin Hines 00:16:38 Branding 101 with Jowey Roden 0:40:19 Web Experiences & Creating Emotion with Claudio Guglieri 01:04:35 Pricing Work Effectively with Milkshake Studio

We sit down with the studio that brings all the people to the yard - Milkshake; partners Alex and Simon talk all things digital branding, sprint-based pricing, food, dad jokes, and zombie apocalypse strategy. We go deep into the modern world of branding and how you're biggest brand asset is your website. Today all brands are digital and need to be online with a website that showcases their values. Code is a modern design medium, let's use it to make dope things! Milkshake is an upbeat creative studio based in Greenpoint Brooklyn that creates clarity for companies through design and technology. We will go much deeper on this as we dive in. Alex, Simon, what a pleasure to have you here! Welcome to the show! Grab some fries because we've got the milkshakes covered. Chapters: 0:11:50 Running Projects 0:23:40 Specializing 0:41:23 Alex & Simon Backstory - Milkshake Origins 1:04:10] Skills Learned Building The Agency / Relationships 1:33:04 Sprint Based Pricing Milkshake On Social: Website Dribbble Twitter / X Instagram

In this episode, I sit down with Claudio Guglieri, the designer and creative director. With 20+ years in the creative and design industry. We dive into the power of play, the impact of ideas, craft, creativity, leadership, team building, hiring, and more. Our focus for this podcast is on how to lead a creative life and have creative longevity in the design industry, to stay relevant and in an ever-evolving world. Claudio is the head of design at Opal Cameras, Opal is a product design and engineering company, based in California, known for making high-end cameras. The Opal C1 is the ultimate webcam for home setups, I would recommend it to anyone. It is great for video calls and even recording. We recorded the video for this episode with the C1, from Opal. You can catch the video version on Youtube with this link here. Social: → Personal Website → Twitter / X → Instagram → Opal Camera

Sitting down to chat with Jowey Roden was a pure treat, in this episode, Jowey shares his journey of building Koto Studio with his two co-founders through the lens of Optimism, Co-Creation, and Craft. This episode is for everyone interested in learning what it takes to create a world-class #branding and design studio or those who want to hone their craft in branding. Jowey reveals the secrets of how Koto makes the best work possible for brands like Coca-Cola, Activision Uber Eats, and other brands you know and love.

In this episode of Low-Key Legends, I sit down with Erwin Hines an artist, designer, and creative director. He is the founder of Open Gym a hospitality group that focuses on building sustainable ecosystems of change within communities through the power of Space, Food, and Wellbeing. As well as the founder of FUTURE IS COLOR® Erwin’s solo research studio focused on using design to create space for meaningful conversation of change. Social: Website Twitter/ X Erwin's Instagram Future Is Color: Future Is Color FIC Instagram Books: All About Love by Bell Hooks The Art of Loving by Eric Fromm Anything You Want by Derek Sivers

In this episode, I talk with Sofia Papadopoulou about the world of immersive tech, all things AR and VR. We dive into the possibilities with this technology and what the future might look like. Sofia is an art & creative director working with global teams & clients, crafting impactful brand & immersive activation concepts as a partner to movers & shakers in the digital space. Chapters: [0:03:10] Early Career Path [0:11:25] Leadership Opportunity - Dubai Project [0:28:40] The Importance of Personal Branding [0:39:40] Falling In Love With Technology [1:07:10] Sofia's Relationship with Music [1:19:10] Fast Fun Questions Social: Portfolio Website Sofia's AWWWARDS TALK Twitter/X Instagram