Graphic Support Group Podcast

Practice, practice, practice. Whether or now practice makes perfect it's about putting in the hours, the work, the sweat, the tears and the reflections. Bryan Collins of Poetic State joined me, James, in a calm and collected conversation with designer and illustrator Alex Kirsch. We connected on how drawing and soccer have been pillars in his life since childhood, yet the two worlds haven't always merged together. Alex shares how his love of sport and the discipline it has taught him has influenced how he's pushed himself as a designer who now occupies several different spaces. Thanks for the support.We R Here 4 U. Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

Before we begin we have a special message from Bryan and Poetic State.Hey, listeners. I'm Bryan Collins, founder of Poetic State, and I'm a career coach who helps multidisciplinary creatives break through whatever is holding them back. If you're stuck, unclear about your next steps or just ready to get outta your own way, I'd love to hear your story. We're offering free 30 minute discovery calls for the listeners of the podcast where we can talk about where you are, where you want to go, and your next action. Follow the link below to book your session with me.Take him up on this and don’t miss out!As we wrap up the year and our Season 5, we welcomed back Bryan Collins to help us work some stuff out. James admitted his suspicion of Bryan and recruiters. Drew lets off a little steam about the pressures of collaboration. Through it all Bryan was there with us and helping bring our attentions to the center. Thank you all so much for supporting Graphic Support Group this year. We have had a chance to reflect on how great this podcast platform is and what it means to us. We R Here 4 U. Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

We’re back with another episode of Graphic Support Group and we’re filled with joy to share this one. Our guest Nontsikelelo Mutiti “is a Zimbabwean born designer, visual artist, and educator whose conceptual approach to design spans the mediums of print, moving-image, web design, fine art, and community engagement.” That introduction doesn’t even begin to capture the breadth of wisdom that Nontsi shared with us. As the spring semester came to an end this past May (she is the current Chair of Director of Graduate Studies in Graphic Design at Yale University) the multidisciplinary designer spent a gracious couple of hours with us. Her words moved us through the many worlds and spaces she occupies in her life. The conversation helped Drew and I to re-think some ideas about Modernism, community and representation that admittedly had us in knots over the years. Sometimes the complexity of the world has a simpler, more honest solution. We’re so happy to share this generous episode and hope it’ll bring some joy to the beginning of the fall. We hope you all will find some joy in the episode and maybe consider becoming a dragon slayer.We R Here 4 U. Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

Warning: this episode speaks about autism and mental health. We remind listeners that the Graphic Support Group hosts are not medical professionals. Please listen with care and understanding.I met Able during my junior year as a passionate and painfully green design student. What I remember was that he was a tall, older guy who was simultaneously disarming for his height and earnestness. For a chronically detached art student, it was a breath of fresh air that I didn’t know how to take in. Him and I only attended school together for one semester, but he’s taken that education and gone very, very far. He’s currently a Group Creative Director at Thought Matter in New York and previously worked at Noom, been a Creative Director at Deustch NY and LA, member of the AIGA NY board and taught at SVA. Over the years, Able and I have been in sporadic touch through past projects and social media. From a afar, he’s defined persistence for me and I’m so glad we got to spend some time together on the podcast. Able bares all about the many obstacles he’s overcome including a life threatening illness, financial precarity and mental health struggles. Through it all he’s remained hopeful and grateful to be who he is. Able is a truly creative human being and I’m very fortunate to know him. I hope that his story can be of support for anyone. For me, it was yet another reminder of how much good there can be in the work we do and to not be tied up in the implications we can’t always control. Check out some of the projects he’s mentioned in the episode: his music as Kamuter, his partner Julia Parris’ creative studio Analog is Heavy, his own work at WTF Studio and some of his collage works. Choose gratitude friends. Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

Warning: this episode contains some foul language. If you are sensitive to this or are listening around young children please use your own discretion before you tune in.James here :) I was able to sit down with Gabrielle Widjaja, who works under the name Gentle Oriental, and asked her about how she navigates the highs and lows of her creative practice. Gabby began her career as a graphic designer and over the years went through many hurdles to be able to tattoo full-time today. She shared her journey with me, and the two of us compared our different, but connected Asian American lineages.Gabby would like to shout out a Gentle Pokes, Studio Bumi and Ricky Wang! Check ‘em out! —We’re really excited to be sharing this episode with the GSG family. Thank you always for the support. If you appreciate this platform for creativity and care, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. We’re planning many things for the GSG community, so stay tuned. We R Here 4 U. Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

Hi everyone, I'm James.And I'm Drew.Welcome to Graphic Support Group.It's kind of crazy to think that this podcast has been going on for over three years. When Drew brought his idea of Graphic Support Group as a creative collective, we both thought a podcast would be a fun first project to work on. But neither of us had any idea we'd create something that would resonate with so many other people and have such staying power.We really appreciate all the support and interest in the podcast over the years. And as we say in our Instagram profile, we are here for you. That means we'd love to hear from you for anything at all. Responses, questions, recommendations, suggestions, anything. Reminder, the hotline is always open.We have a new number since Google Voice decided to expire our old one. The new number is +1-929-277-1941.And you can always reach out to us via email, which is help@graphicsupportgroup.com. Don't hesitate to reach out for any reason.You can also DM us on Instagram. And last but not least, you can also send us a message through Substack where you can subscribe and get all our updates. We're at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com.We really look forward to hearing from you, and we really mean that, so please don't hesitate to reach out.We have a lot of new ideas in store for year four. And we plan to engage more with our audience and community to get a better idea of what this podcast means to everyone and help us determine what else Graphic Support Group could become.Thanks again to all our guests over the years and a big thanks to all of our listeners. We really appreciate the support from you all, the calls, likes, messages, and the generosity overall. It really means a lot for us to get some support in that way as well.A seriously big thank you. And so with that, we have a special mini episode where we're finally replying to one of our favorite calls we ever received on the podcast. We know that this response is now years delayed, but we still felt like we owed it to Berlin's number one graphic support group fan to respond and follow up on our word.Again, we are very sorry about the delay getting back to you. I think by now you received the t-shirt that you talk about in the call after a series of shipping fiascos where the shirt was returned from Germany back to the U.S. And then I had to send it again. I think that took several months, so I hope you got it. And please know that we value your time, your support, and your enthusiasm. And thank you again for the kind words.With that, please enjoy Berlin's number one graphic support group fan. Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

Hey hey! Hope everybody is having a truly relaxing, mindful summer with enough sunscreen and design totes filled with image-heavy, text-light books to go around. We’re back with another episode of Graphic Support Group, believe it or not. We have a very special episode for you, the first in a series we’d like to call “Behind the Screen” (thanks to Drew’s partner Deniz Önder for the great nomenclature). This series focuses on the behind-the-scene heroes of the design industry: the printers, technicians, administrators, and studio managers who keep the wheels of this chaos screwed on. Without them, we’d be pretty helpless, so we’d like to dig into what keeps these instrumental figures motivated and inspired, and the pitfalls they undoubtedly face from time to time. Our inaugural Behind-the-Screen-er is Hasan Askari. Hasan has been a key figure at The Rhode Island School of Design since the late 90’s when he co-founded Concept-Link, a print and design shop that slowly but surely became a go-to resource for design, photo, and architecture students, helpless to find the proper printing capabilities on RISD’s Campus. Over the years Concept-Link offered their services to RISD’s students and faculty to the point of giving students access to the print shop after hours, answering emergency 3 am phone calls from feverish degree project candidates in the 11th hour of production, and even eventually moving into RISD’s official facilities to become the one-stop-shop for students to talk through print techniques and revise projects to make them actually printable, while Hasan dished out philosophy and literature references and pearls of wisdom to bloodshot-tearful eyes of the RISD woebegone. Besides being a full time print hero and entrepreneur, he has also enjoyed a journalistic career and contributed in critical studies and creative nonfiction. He has also been working on an anthology of English translations of contemporary Urdu poetry. James and Drew were delighted to talk with Hasan, after years away from Concept Link with memories rushing back in of our days as crying students. We hope you enjoy! Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

Alec Stewart wrote us a profound email on addiction and design a couple years ago (we’ve shared it below). Both of us had known of Alec at RISD, where he studied as an undergrad during our time as graduate students. At the time he possessed a great energy and creativity that we found envious. We had little idea he was also struggling with addiction and great inner turmoil all the while. A now sober and radically open Stewart shares his path to recovery and how he maintains his sobriety despite the never ending threat of a relapse. The surprising thing about Alec’s story is how relevant his struggles are to the unhealthy trappings and myths of design practice and the cycle of self loathing and burnout from overworking. Our obsession and addiction to long hours and “passion” are truly destructive to our health and well being. We’re dangerously committed to a belief that creativity comes from struggle and that greatness only comes by going over the edge. Alec shares his discovery of this falsehood, and also discusses how he inversely applies design thinking to create boundaries for himself and his life.We’re super thankful for Alec for being so open and direct with us. He brings his humor and wit to a difficult story. We can’t thank him enough. Disclaimer: This episode contains accounts of addiction and substance abuse. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction or substance abuse, please visit usa.gov/substance-abuse for resources and support. Help is out there.—ALEC STEWART -On understanding addiction, radical sobriety & brutalist designTo begin - I will introduce myself in the manner of AA: Hello my name is Alec and I’m an Alcoholic. I suffer from addiction - it’s a fact and I am not afraid to admit that. It’s a part of who I am and the more I begin to understand my own addiction, the easier those words come. Where before I was ashamed to admit my own struggles, now I feel relief to tell people who I really am. A lot of that initial shame came from the incredible amount of negative connotations that surround Addiction. In western culture it is often looked down upon as a moral failing, a deficiency of character. I personally see it as a disease. Something that needs to be continuously treated, healed, and rehabilitated. There’s nothing wrong with having addiction, it merely is. I suffer from the disease of alcoholism, just as someone else may suffer from diabetes. When you take Alcoholism, and consider it in the lens of disease, you can analyze its symptoms like any other health condition. To define the symptoms of Alcoholism is tricky. Alcoholism is complicated and multifaceted, both highly personal and universal. I think there’s several overarching principles that every alcoholic shares when in active addiction: uncontrollable compulsion, self-isolation, attachment, ego, and an inability to love oneself. I am happy to expand on any of these symptoms and its relation if needed. I also believe, you don’t need to be addicted to Alcohol to be considered an Alcoholic. I think there are base symptoms of the disease in people who’ve never touched a drop of alcohol. Addiction can manifest in many ways. With designers for example, it can appear as an addiction to work. This is a super common reality for designers. Many of us throw ourselves into work at the expense of ourselves. Forgoing our basic needs in order to keep designing. Burning out our burnout. That compulsion to work and keep working is not any different than the compulsion to drink. They are both incredibly unhealthy, and they both need to be treated. I think when we overwork ourselves, we lean into the symptoms of compulsion, attachment, and ego. We work obsessively, we attach to our designs / ideas / inspirations / whatever, we sacrifice ourselves to be the best - craving the respect of our peers over the contentment of where we are. Yuck. You’d be hard pressed to find a designer that hasn’t dwelled in one of these symptoms. The only way to mitigate these symptoms is through sobriety. Sobriety is not just abstinence from a substance, it’s a way of being. It’s admitting oneself is powerless over the disease and figuring out a healthier way of living. There’s a guide to it in AA called the 12 steps. They are written in relation to Alcoholism, but they still are a pretty decent thing to work through - whether you struggle with alcohol addiction or not.Outside of the 12 steps, my personal sobriety involves a lot of guard rails, a grid system applied to my life. These involve various ways for me to avoid triggers and mitigate compulsions. Some days I’m successful, some days I’m not. I just figure it out one day at a time. They are all involved in making sure I maintain a healthy mind, body, and soul. My significant other and I have a mantra: The best way to tell someone you love them is to love yourself. The best way to take care of someone is to take care of yourself. I apply the personal responsibility of taking care of myself everyday, so I have the ability to take care of those around me.To give an example of one of my guardrails - I no longer allow myself to have social media. I deleted my instagram. I realized I was using my instagram to find validation for my work through others, validation I couldn’t give myself. I thought that if others liked my work they inversely liked me too. Super twisted, backwards way of thinking. I still struggle with making work for myself. It’s hard for me to detach from the approval of my peers and try to allow myself the grace to give myself that approval. That is all rooted in the inability to love myself.My personal design practice is also rooted in my sobriety. Both in the design movement I work within, and how I use design in relation to my mental well being. My personal practice in graphic design is in Brutalism. I see brutalism as truthful. It presents itself as it is - no frills, no gimmicks, no bullshit. It’s starkness holds honesty. That rigorous honesty is necessary for me in every aspect of my life in order to maintain abstinence from alcohol, so it also makes sense that I would apply that same honesty to my design practice as well.In relation to my mental well being, I use my designs to filter my compulsions. I take the thoughts I am obsessing over and apply them to my designs. You can directly see how my work visually changes depending on my mental health. The more manic and unhealthy I am, the more chaotic and out of control my designs become. My computer screen is a mirror for me to see how upside down and inside out I am at any given time. That said, I will addictively design if given the opportunity too. Anything healthy, I can make unhealthy on the flip of a dime. This whole year I have been actively practicing stepping away from the screen. After designing for a decade, I am still trying to figure out how to work in a healthy manner. My hope is that one day I can be happy enough with what I make, that I won’t have to make at all.In the manner of AA, I think we should end with a prayer -Grant me the serenity to accept Photoshop crashes, the courage to not name my files FINAL_FINAL_FINAL, and the will to not burn myself out - AmenRelated info I did not include in the above write up that I can talk about if you want me too:I have been placed on adult time out twice. I have done both an intensive impatient program, and a detox. I have been an alcoholic since college. I have done IOP, AA, and all the Jazz. I am happy to explain them or my experiences with them. I can talk about how fucking luny rehab is, how much I drank to end up in rehab, or the absolute cartoon characters of human beings I’ve met in rehab. I can clarify any AA lingo or address its weird roots in christianity. I can talk about relapses, prolonged amounts of sobriety, or anything in-between. Basically anything related to me being an utter goofball of a human and a digital cowboy of a designer I’m happy to touch upon.Thanks for reading - Cheers! Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

Last September (we know, we know) we had the immense privilege of speaking with Matthew Miller, an ecstatic new presence and rising design star whose work mixes humor, psychedelia, batshit typography, insane color combos, and incredible uplifting, biting, and transparent messaging about life and the never ending hustle. Matthew is a self proclaimed “self-taught” designer with a compellingly unique trajectory and journey, which he so kindly and openly shared with us during a long talk. Since discovering Matthew’s work, we have been captivated by his sprawling output, which spans work for the environmental consciousness brand Future Earth, diaristic personal anecdotes and uplifting morsels of wisdom and inspiration, music tributes, and pretty much everything in between. Since our recording, the work has only expanded and continues to reach new heights and audiences. We are so happy to finally share this convo. It was such a pleasure chatting with Matthew. We are so sorry our pace has slowed. We believe we have finally regrouped and will be releasing more steadily and recording some new episodes! More to come. Thanks for listening! If you’re still with us, thank you! If you’re new, thank you! We love you all. James and Drew https://www.instagram.com/bymatthewmiller/https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/matthew-miller-spotlight-graphic-design-071122 Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

We are more than delighted to share our lovely conversation with the one and only Richard Turley, a sentence that feels like a dream to type. Over the course of 90 minutes, we talk with the former Bloomberg Businessweek, MTV, and W+K Creative Director about a career spent poking holes in the mythos of Graphic Design, touching on themes of self-esteem and collaboration, privilege, and extreme self-seriousness within the industry. Turley’s insight and wisdom from a long, winding career making lots of amazing work with lots of incredible people, was a bright spark for us, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!Don’t forget to call the hotline (202) 507-9158 for any needs or questions! EMERGENCY AID - PLEASE READ:We are devastated by the recent Earthquakes affecting our friends in Turkey and Syria. Please take a moment and donate to one of the following organizations to support these countries during this horrible catastrophe, as government disorganization and slow response has left thousands in dire conditions: https://syriaturkey.carrd.co/ Additionally, this week, all proceeds from shirt sales will go to Earthquake Relief Funds in Turkey and Syria. Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

!! FULL TRANSPARENCY MODE ACHIEVED !! The indelible creative career consultant and life coach behind Poetic-State, Bryan Collins (not that Brian Collins), takes James and Drew through a Discovery Session to help unlock the their full POD-tential. We go deep into the insecurities, fears, and pitfalls of DIY Podcasting & remote creative partnership, as we try to unpack some of the sticking points that keep us up at night as we continue to grow the pod and continue to make strides towards a more supportive and inspiring Graphic Support Group!From Bryan’s site, his coaching practice, “helps people gain clarity and purpose by transforming limiting beliefs into strategies and actions. He also provides an empathetic and creative space for you to reimagine what’s possible, and where we co-create actionable tasks; designed to help you reach your goals, fast.”To book a Discovery call of your own and begin your own coaching program, visit Bryan’s Poetic-State site. We hope you enjoy this amazing conversation!Thanks for sticking with us through the highs and lows of running a Support Group!And as the holidays near, don’t forget we still have a few shirts left! Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

We sat down with Phillip Kim, the LA-based Korean designer who's confident, effortless typography and form-making defies rules for both small and large clients alike. We talked to him about his recent struggles with anxiety and stress, and how he's struck a balance with his life through a recent move to LA. Kim actively engages clients and takes bold risks on all of his projects, so we were pleased to learn the methodologies behind his work, and how he strives to bring clients along for a wild but collaborative creative ride. Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe

Now residing and working in New York City, Amy Fortunato grew up and spent most of her life in Southern California, after she was adopted from Korea as a young child. Amy sat down with us to patiently recount her personal story, dissect her relationship to her identity, talk about her career working with Lorraine Wild’s Green Dragon Studio, and to discuss her evolving relationship with Korea—where she eventually went on to pursue masters studies in Design. We shared a lovely, intimate conversation about how it all informs her design practice, teaching career, and approach to life. Perpetually humble and insightful, Fortunato’s calm strength emerges as a unique force of nature. Please enjoy this special episode and thank you, Amy for your time and generosity. Get full access to Graphic Support Group Podcast at graphicsupportgroup.substack.com/subscribe