Design Your Life with Vince Frost

Design Your Life podcast E018 with Vince Frost in conversation with Australian artist, designer, muralist, calligrapher and illustrator Gemma O’Brien.Over the past 10 years, Gemma has taken her passion for typography and built a flourishing career around drawing letters. Her bold type, expressive calligraphy and detailed illustration can be seen in advertising campaigns, editorial publications and large-scale murals in galleries and interiors around the world. A number of her projects have received the Award of Typographic Excellence from the New York Type Directors Club. In 2015 she was recognised as an ADC Young Gun and in 2016, named one of PRINT Magazine’s New Visual Artists: 15 under 30. She has collaborated with numerous global brands and publications including Apple, Tiffany&Co, Google, Adidas, Adobe, and The New York Times. Beyond her commercial work, Gemma O'Brien is a regular speaker at international conferences and also hosts hand-lettering workshops at design schools, agencies and events. In this episode, Gemma recounts her decision to quit studying Law and instead study Design, to today where she is a globally sought-after muralist and creative. She explains the value of listening to your gut and seeing the opportunity in being flexible, where she hasn’t so much designed her life as much as it has designed her.Stay tuned for episode 019 featuring Founder and CEO of Binyan Studio, Andrei Dolnikov.gemmaobrien.comfrostcollective.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design Your Life podcast E017 with Vince Frost in conversation with Frankie Ratford, founder of The Design Kids.Frankie always wanted to be a designer in Australia. Following a family holiday to Oz as a child, she made it her goal to study and work here and at 18 made the move from her homeland England to study design in Melbourne. After seeing Vince Frost speak at a design event Frankie became “obsessed” and was determined to land a role with Frost*collective. A few years in, she came to the realisation that full-time studio work was not her dream and decided to travel and reflect on what her creative purpose could be. Almost 10 years later Frankie has become one of the world's leading experts on the Graphic Design industry. Having founded The Design Kids; a global online/office resource bridging the gap between studying and working in design across 33 countries, Frankie has spent over six years on the road building a global design community of 140,000+ people from the ground up. Her new coaching arm takes advantage of all the knowledge she gained, looking at each of the nine business elements from a client perspective and industry perspective. She works with studios as an outside perspective to help get the right clients, position the studio where it needs to head, improve their digital presence and most importantly, their bottom line. In this episode, Frankie relives the moment when she walked away from her successful studio career to make discoveries about what she really wanted and was capable of. Here, Frankie shares her journey from the terrifying but deliberate choice to take the road less travelled and not follow the prescribed career trajectory she’d been told to follow, and how it made her realise the problems in the current state of design education. Stay tuned for Episode 018 featuring Artist and Designer, Gemma O’Brien. frankieratford.comfrostcollective.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design Your Life podcast Episode 016 with Vince Frost in conversation with Aussie-made-global icons Dare Jennings and Carby Tuckwell, founders of cult brand Deus ex Machina. Dare, founder of quintessential Aussie surf brand Mambo, and Carby, former creative director of Moon Design, launched Deus ex Machina into Australia’s cultural consciousness in 2006, with some neatly customised motorcycles and a quaint notion that ‘doing something’ is more fun than just ‘owning something’. Deus ex Machina (Day-us ex Mack-in-er; meaning ‘God from the machine’ in Latin) is a step bigger than a brand: it’s a culture. The pair’s openness and enthusiasm strike a chord with people, wherever they are, to celebrate a culture of creativity. In this episode, Dare and Carby relive the moment when they walked away from their highly successful careers, to launch something completely untested and daring. Here, the pair share their journey from what was just an idea to a now thriving global brand, and the secret to living their philosophy of success where: “there’s no ‘right way’ to do individualism, it’s all the same juice.”Stay tuned for Episode 017 featuring Illustrator and Founder of The Design Kids, Frankie Ratford. Deus ex Machinafrostcollective.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design Your Life podcast Episode 015 with Vince Frost in conversation with an expat Aussie in New York and placemaking guru, Steven Cornwell.Steven is placemaking champion for one reason: to give people a better life. He’s a former Melbourne boy turned New York expat who underwent the major life transition of leaving his eponymous creative agency in Melbourne to uproot his young family and live in New York City and take on the role of Chief Marketing Officer for The Howard Hughes Corporation. In this episode, Steven reflects on the major differences in Australian and American creative culture, finding a partner who understands the demands of the deeply human industry you’re in, and why he’s working to impact the future of developments to be more about giving people an ecosystem to “live a better life, not just urban sprawl.”Stay tuned for Episode 016 featuring Dare Jennings & Carby Tuckwell, founders of Deus ex Machina.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design Your Life podcast Episode 014 with Vince Frost in conversation with one of editorial publishing’s most influential design figures, Chris Dixon.Chris is an editorial magazine designer who has worked across some of the world’s most influential publications including AdBusters, New York Magazine, and now as the Design Director for Condé Nast’s flagship title, Vanity Fair. He is one of the most interesting designers of contemporary publishing and has been a true leader in this period of designing for the legacy of print verses designing for future of digital. In this episode, Chris recounts his earlier career in editorial design, his film-directing-like approach, and his predictions for the role of the designer in the future of publishing during the most disruptive period of change for the industry. Stay tuned for Episode 015 featuring Aussie ex-pat and Chief Marketing Officer for global firm Howard Hughes, Steven Cornwell.Chris Dixonfrostcollective.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design Your Life podcast Episode 013 with Vince Frost in conversation with graphic design icon, Matt Willey.In 2014 Matt was named 'Designer of the Year' by Creative Review, and was elected as a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) in 2015. After many roles working as a graphic designer across a number of international magazines, at times alongside Vince Frost, he has gone from founding his own graphic agency, Studio 8 in London, to now where he has spent the last five years in New York as the current Art Director for the New York Times. In this episode, Matt shares how he essentially “fell-in” to his career as a designer, his wellness tactic of “feeling uncomfortable” to get out of his introverted shell, and the major turning point of his life after being clinically diagnosed as deaf at a young age, and how not being able to hear enough actually helped him hear more. Stay tuned for Episode 014 featuring Design Director for Condé Nast’s flagship title, Vanity Fair, Chris Dixon. Matt Willeyfrostcollective.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design Your Life podcast Episode 012 with Vince Frost in conversation with local Aussie Yoga Guru, Entrepreneur, and Humming Puppy Founder, Jackie Alexander.Jackie is the co-founder of revolutionary new yoga house Humming Puppy, which focuses on sound healing by introducing frequency and vibration to the rooms to align energies. Jackie made the massive decision to change her life as a dental practice manager to a global entrepreneur and Yogi. Today, her four-year-old practice Humming Puppy has three locations across Melbourne, Sydney and New York, and is carefully designed to deliver the most positive experience possible. In this episode, Jackie reveals how she has designed a successful and spiritually fulfilling life by finding the courage to listen to her inner ‘ah-ha’ moments and act on them – especially when the risk is so high.Stay tuned for Episode 013 featuring New York Times Magazine Art Director, Matt Willey.hummingpuppy.comfrostcollective.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design Your Life podcast Episode 011 with Vince Frost in conversation with photographic icons, the Douglas Brothers. British photographer/director siblings Andrew and Stuart Douglas are renowned creatives, known primarily for their rebellious approach to photography and film direction. Having grown up in Southend Essex and later, London, the pair’s legacy began in the midst of the London punk movement, where they used their “incorrect” style to snap some of the world’s most iconic figures during their youth, including Richard Gere, Morrissey, Timothy Roth and Tilda Swinton. Since then, their work has evolved and continued to disrupt the creative and commercial worlds alike, with their left-of-centre work for Adidas, Coco Cola and Hollywood feature-length films. In this episode, Andrew and Stuart share their personal and professional stories – which are often one in the same. They recount their origins, moving from stills to videos, how working with your brother can simultaneously result in your best work and decade-long feuds, and ultimately how they “find wellness while keeping the hamster-wheel going.” Stay tuned for Episode 012 featuring local Aussie Yoga Guru, Entrepreneur, and Humming Puppy Founder, Jackie Alexander.thedouglasbrothers.comfrostcollective.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design Your Life podcast Episode 010 with Vince Frost in conversation with Australian advertising guru, Russel Howcroft.Russel is an internationally acclaimed advertising professional and media personality best known as a panellist on the ABC satirical television show The Gruen Transfer. Getting his start at the tail-end of the ‘Mad Men’ era, Russel’s acumen has seen him in enviable positions with prestigious firms around the world such as London’s renowned Lowe Howard Spink and Australia’s George Patterson Y&R. Recently, Russel has taken a side-step from advertising into a new role as Chief Creative Officer with global accounting consultancy PwC.In this episode, Russel’s shares why he turned down major career opportunities, what the massive cultural shifts in advertising throughout the last 30 years have meant for his career, and his now mission to educate Australia on “the power of commercial creativity”. Up next on the Design Your Life podcast we have photographic icons the Douglas Brothers.  frostcollective.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design Your Life podcast Episode 009 with American creative James Victore. James Victore is an American art director, designer, and author. He is first-and-foremost an artist who “teaches creativity and personal growth,” says the man himself. Victore's work has been exhibited in the wildly prestigious Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as well as the Louvre in Paris. He has won numerous awards and accolades for his racy unique social and political commentary posters as well as television directorials (including an Emmy), and has even published a tell-all monograph titled, Who Died and Made You Boss? Featuring not just his highly sought-after work, but the ideas and thinking that drive it. In this episode you’ll discover James’s seismic life shift, transitioning from his career as a designer to a creative and personal growth teacher. Here, James dissects the finer points of his life as an artistic educator, and his – at times – tumultuous journey to rediscovering his passion and creative purpose without “shoving his ‘weird’ in a draw”. Stay tuned for Episode 010 featuring ABC’s The Gruen Transfer panelist Russel Howcroft. Jamesvictore.comfrostcollective.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.