Creative Slash

Ep. 053 – Christian Helms – The 99-Pack, a McDonald's Broom, and Taking the Joke Seriously

A 99-pack of beer sounds like a joke. It's about as tall as Shaq and weighs eighty pounds. When Christian Helms described it to his mom, she said she didn't get

Ep. 052 – Bill Gardner – Stolen Magic Secrets, a $20 Rock, and Branding for Machines

There are thousands of magicians who can handle a deck of cards better than David Copperfield. There is one David Copperfield. Bill Gardner has a one-word answer for why

Ep. 051 – Paul Lukes – Graffiti, Getting Clean, and Why Ugly Design Converts

Designers spend their careers trying to make things beautiful. So what do you do when your boss tears up the polished sign you made for the tip jar, tells you to redo it

Ep. 050 – 50 Episodes, Over 40 Creatives, and the Equation We Never Meant to Find

Fifty episodes and over forty interviews in, Brad and Dustin have heard just about every piece of advice a working creative can give. About half of it directly contradict

Ep. 049 – John Hendrix – Sandcastles, Doubt, and Why Your Calling Doesn't Have to Be Your Career

Somewhere along the way we started assuming that the thing you were made to do and the thing that pays your bills are supposed to be the same thing. John Hendrix does no

Ep. 048 – Allan Peters, A$AP Rocky & the Design Influencer Dilemma

In this episode, Brad and Dustin dig into the recent Allan Peters and A$AP Rocky situation, but the real conversation goes much deeper. It turns into a bigger discussion

Ep. 047 - Emily Balsley - Murals, Community Art, and Making the World Weirder in Public

Emily Balsley makes art feel like something that should spill out of your sketchbook and into the neighborhood. In this episode, we talk with illustrator, muralist, and

Ep. 046 – Jason Craig – Cash Flow, Chicken Bones & Making Creative Work Actually Work

Jason Craig is the type of guy you talk to about freelance work, and suddenly it feels like you’re seeing the whole thing in technicolor for the first time. This episode

Ep. 045 — Dan Lee — Leaving the “Right” Career and Building a Creative Life

In this week's episode, we talk with graphic designer, illustrator, lettering artist, and all-around creative entrepreneur Dan Lee. We've admired Dan's wo

Ep. 044 – Kate Smith – How Being Unmistakably Yourself Becomes a Creative Business

This episode features artist, illustrator, greeting card designer, and licensing powerhouse Kate Smith on what happens when you stop trying to make work that looks “marke

Ep. 043 – Chris Piascik – The Accidental Illustrator and the Power of Making Work Every Day

This episode features illustrator, author, YouTuber, and accidental Adobe Fresco evangelist Chris Piascik on building a creative career by staying weird, making a lot of

Ep. 042 - Brad Stoneking - Design, Deadtooth, and Why Real Creative Work Still Matters

This episode features designer, artist, and Piedmont Brand Company founder Brad Stoneking on building a creative life that doesn't run on chasing algorithms, copying

Ep. 041 – Goodtype – Magic, Momentum & Building a Creative Business on Your Terms

When we sat down with Ilana Griffo and Katie Johnson of Goodtype, we expected to talk about typography, online education, and what it’s like to run one of the most recogn

Ep. 040 – Jeremy Slagle – Family, Creativity & Turning Interests Into Opportunities

In this episode, we sit down with designer, illustrator, and longtime Creative South community member Jeremy Slagle to talk about building a creative career by following

Ep. 039 – Lenny Terenzi – The War I Didn’t Know I Was Fighting

For years, Lenny Terenzi built the kind of creative life designers dream about. He ran a beloved studio and screen printing shop, taught workshops to hundreds of creativ

Ep. 038 – Orlando Arocena (Mexifunk) – The Man Who Changed the Look of Vector

In this episode, we sit down with legendary illustrator Orlando Arocena (Mexifunk) to talk about building a creative career by leaning into the things other people run aw

Ep. 037 – Creative South — Community, Creativity & Why Conferences Matter

We spent the week talking with designers, illustrators, educators, and other creative professionals from across the country about why they keep coming back year after yea

Ep. 036 – Trust Design – Punching Above Your Weight as a Two-Person Studio

In this episode, we sit down with Trust Design, a two-person studio run by Hannah Smith and Jesse MacKenzie, to talk about how they’ve built a reputation for delivering b

Ep. 035 – Mikey Burton – Staying Human in an Over-Optimized Creative Industry

At some point in your creative career, the stakes shift. We go from just making stuff… to overthinking. Obsessing. Optimizing. And it sucks the the fun out of the entire

Ep. 034 – Jeff LoPilato – Values, Sustainability & Building a Creative Career That Actually Means Something

What began as a personal shift toward plant-based living turned into a bigger question: what if your work could actually support the kind of world you want to live in? W