This week we have a super special show in store for you, an interview FROM NEW YORK with Jason Bacher
01:07 We’re recording in Michelle’s bedroom today, so there’s appropriate background noises
01:30 We met Jason at a super cool coffee shop called Irving Farm Coffee Roasters on the Lower East Side (Brandi was right!)
03:50 THIS IS YOUR WARNING: This show has language.
04:12 We are here with Jason Bacher
04:25 Everything “s s ssounds” good
04:40 What was Jason’s motivation for moving to New York (from Ohio)
04:52 What would their studio (GFDA) look like in New York? Bigger, faster?
05:05 It HAS changed, but initially felt very temporary
05:20 He fell in love with New York and never wants to leave (I know the feeling Jason)
05:36 Jason talks about what has changed since he moved to NYC
06:52 Jason really misses being able to “hi-five” someone physically at times
08:03 When you’re working alone, hi-fiving yourself sometimes happens
08:28 Jason’s new favorite place to hang with people is an actual watering hole, called Sweetwater
09:00 James (Victore) introduced Jason to this place
09:07 Jason answers Brandi’s question on how his brand GFDA got started, the motivation and what’s in the name
10:46 He wasn’t seeing a light bulb turn on for his students and wanted a way to wake them up
11:00 Talked with his business partner Brian about the idea of being able to deliver advice to people without having to see their work. The only way that they felt it would be powerful enough was to include profanity as the “hook”.
11:49 GFDA was created in black, white, and red, in Helvetica, and always only the F word for impact used very specifically
12:30 They were basically taken by surprise cause it was not planned and all of a sudden was a success.
13:25 How Brandi found Jason
14:00 Brandi loves Jason’s format of newsletter, you should definitely subscribe
15:58 How Jason handles creative block, or friction
16:05 TIME LIMITS!!!!!
17:14 The trick is making things you like or love and people will come to you
17:42 You shouldn’t really ever create things JUST for other people
19:00 Not everyone has the same level of taste, especially clients at times
20:30 Your job as the designer is to show them what they need and why
22:10 On “firing” clients and what can be a cause
24:08 Client briefs and their importance in weeding out clients
25:01 On pricing: Just ask the client how much money they have, sort of.
26:45 It’s actually nice to make money sometimes as a freelance business owner
27:20 Payment plan options are a cool way to help clients be able to afford design
28:51 People should not have to give up food on their table to invest be able to buy design
30:45 What’s the poster all about?
32:10 Jason and Brian are okay with you stealing some stuff, cause you’ll give them your money sooner or later 😉
33:12 First priority for GFDA is not making money, it’s getting stuff in people’s hands and making an impact on them
33:53 They launched Lorem F*#!ing Ipsum
34:15 Thinking inside the box to promote his stuff
34:50 SNEAK PEEK: working on getting a publisher for their new book “Everybody Swears”.
35:40 Brandi just sounds awkward swearing
36:01 Jason slips his swearing under the door after he shows them he knows stuff
36:36 Brandi knows nothing about what IQ scores are good…
38:00 Profanity used correctly in a presentation can wake the audience up a bit
41:04 In the beginning of GFDA Jason and Brian worried if it would work or not
42:45 There are always moments of failure, especially in creating your own products
Find us on all forms of social media via @BrandiSea!: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and you can email us any questions you want Brandi to cover at brandi@brandisea.com. Thanks to Vesperteen for letting us use his genius (“Shatter in The Night”) in every episode of Design Speaks!