SNEAKER WEEK PDX — Career Advice from Women in Nike Footwear Design

July 28, 2024

This past weekend, I attended my first Sneaker Week PDX, an annual event here in Portland. The mission is to connect the city’s sneaker community with its sneaker industry.

I listened in on multiple panel discussions and scribbled everything down in my notebook. The conversation that stood out to me the most took place on Sunday, focused on women in design. This panel featured women from different facets of the Nike footwear design team.

As a color designer at Nike, there were many insights shared that I personally found valuable. Looking at my notes, I realized that I had gathered some solid advice, relevant to anyone working in a creative industry. I wish someone had shared these insights with me when I first started in design.

Here’s a selection of gems from the women of Nike footwear (edited for clarity).

Have multiple channels of creativity outside of work; it takes the pressure off. — Francesca Capone, Sustainable Product Design

Your career will get progressively more challenging as you grow, so never be afraid to ask for help. — Louisa Page, Footwear Design for Jordan

Lean into the genius of the people around you. — Marie Crow, Design Innovation

Don't fixate on job titles; think more about the experiences you want to have. — Nereida Pedroza, Color Design for Jordan

Don't feel that you have to fit into a specific box to get the job you want. Play up your own strengths, rather than what you think others want to see. — Sophia Weston, Color Design for Women’s Classics Footwear

Chase the things that make you happiest. — Jessica Washick, Color Design, for Women’s Lifestyle Footwear

You have to feed your own fire. If you believe you can do anything, speak to and about yourself in a way that reflects that. — Lauren Thomas, 3D Footwear Design for Jordan

And one additional word from Lauren — this one blew me away. I'm going to be thinking about it for a long time:

“Only learn enough to be dangerous, then get to making and doing”

— Lauren Thomas, 3D Footwear Design for Jordan

How to Elevate Your Instagram Stories — 10 Design Tips for the Creative Professional

January 9, 2024

In the spirit of playing to one’s strengths, I’m going to start this post by sharing one of mine.

A comment I hear frequently from design peers and friends is how consistent I am with sharing my work on social media. People tell me that they’ve watched me evolve over the years, and I’ve inspired them to share their own work. To me, that’s the ultimate compliment.

As a creative professional, I’m always working toward building a sustained presence for myself and my work online. One of the more intimate platforms for this is Instagram Stories. It allows us to engage with our audience in real time, and it alleviates some of the pressure we might feel to present ourselves perfectly.

That said, even if sharing lo-fi content, we needn’t do it in a chaotic way. As mentioned in my earlier post, 21 Tips for a Better Portfolio Website, polished presentation doesn’t hurt.

Here are 10 user-friendly design tips that don’t require any additional apps or software —

10 quick design tips that will instantly elevate your stories

To start, think of each story as a composition. If using all the features available— text, tags, filters, emojis, gifs, music — you’re crowding your composition. My general rule is to keep all those elements to a minimum. Because it’s meant to be absorbed quickly, a simple story says more than a complicated one.
When you share a grid post to Stories, Instagram automatically pulls a gradient of colors from the post to display in the background. Change it to a harmonious, solid color — either a neutral (like black or white), or a color pulled directly from the post. It’s easier on the eyes.
HOW TO — In the top right corner of your story, click the three-dotted icon. Then select Draw. With the eyedropper tool, select a color from the palette at the bottom of the screen. Or pick a color directly from the post. To see the color change, hold your finger down for a few seconds anywhere on the background.
If you’re taking photos specifically for Stories, take them in your camera’s preset 9:16 format. I suggest that you always take a few photos this way, in case you want to share them later. If a photo fits awkwardly in 9:16, skip sharing it in Stories.
Don’t over-explain what you’re doing or where you are. Create a sense of intrigue and, hopefully, get some good conversations going in your DMs with those who are curious.
Keep text to a minimum. Long captions are a great way to engage your followers on grid posts, but stories are meant to be light and ephemeral.
If you must add text, prioritize legibility. Choose a simple font, and stick with it. If placing text on a light background, use dark text and vice versa.
If including multiple lines of text, always align them to the left. This makes your text much easier to read.
Avoid placing anything at the very top of your story. It’ll get obscured by the app’s interface and will likely be missed.
Tag accounts that are likely to share your story. Say, you want to share a book — tag the author and the publisher. If it’s a clear and visually-pleasing story (not crammed with a ton of text/emojis/gifs, etc), they’ll be more inclined to share.
Most of the time, your tags don’t need to be visible. To hide tags, drag them out of the frame. This gives your story a cleaner look.

BONUS TIP

Create continuity with Instagram’s Highlight feature. For each category, choose a brief title, and upload your own cover image. I prefer to keep mine simple, so I used an image of the same color for each one. I pulled the color directly from my logo.

WHAT I SHARE IN MY INSTAGRAM STORIES

On my public Instagram Stories, I mostly share things that relate to my work or reflect my design tastes. Some people seem to blend their personal and professional lives effortlessly. I’m not especially good at this, so I usually avoid it. Again — know your strengths!

My approach to Stories is to invite my audience in a little closer. Give them a peek into my world. This includes —

Previews of professional work. I often share my latest portfolio update, with a link to my website.
The creative process, or a behind-the-scenes look at a project.
Art journal spreads, an essential part of my creative practice.
When traveling — beautiful spaces, architecture, exhibitions, anything my followers might not be familiar with.
Vignettes from my home, especially when natural light pours in. It enhances everything.
Creative classes, workshops or events I’m participating in.
New books I’ve added to my design library.
Resources that my followers might find useful or interesting.

I prefer my stories to have a sense of thematic progression. I share what I like. When my audience also likes it, I’m encouraged to share it more often. With each story, they learn a bit more about me and anticipate seeing more stories like it in the future.

EXAMPLES FROM MY INSTAGRAM STORIES

PROFESSIONAL WORK

Stories relating to my job as a color designer at Nike.

Promoting a book project in 2022 — Palette Perfect, Volume 2.

RESOURCES

Books from my design library. My collection of books on color grew when I started research for my upcoming book, Fashion Palettes.

CREATIVE PRACTICE

TRAVELS

Museums and art spaces I saw while traveling in Amsterdam.

HOME

A peek into my apartment, which I’ve been furnishing slowly over the past year.

As a relative newcomer to Portland, I like sharing details that make the city feel unique.

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM

Any tips to add? Please share in the comments —

ANDY RICHTER + BOWEN YANG — How to Stay Grounded in a Creative Industry

December 29, 2022

The highs and lows of showbiz can be extreme (wonderfully described by actor Betty Gilpin here). Though not as volatile, I see many parallels between entertainment and other creative industries, including my own.

I used to dabble in the New York comedy scene — taking classes in improv and storytelling, seeing live shows multiple times a week. As both a comedy fan and dabbler, I’ve come across many budding talents, observed them grow and evolve over time, then slowly gain wider recognition for all their efforts. It’s similar to what I’ve seen happen for my peers in the design industry, and it’s always satisfying to see.

One example of someone I’ve witnessed “making it”, all while being highly creative, earning a living and staying relatively sane, is Bowen Yang of Saturday Night Live.

I’ve been following Bowen’s comedy since 2017, when he still held a day job as a graphic designer and was primarily known as co-host of the Las Culturistas podcast. I’m still a loyal listener, and I’ve enjoyed watching his star rise to SNL and beyond — not only because I love his sensibility, but because I’ve seen him put in years of work. In other words, I’m invested.

I recently rediscovered my notes from a conversation he had on Andy Richter’s podcast The Three Questions, back in March 2021. While wrapping up, the two comedians drop a series of gems that I feel are useful to creators of all kinds.

Here, Andy and Bowen talk about how they’ve stayed mentally afloat in the the choppy waters of show business. Edited for clarity — listen to the full episode here (this segment starts around the 57:00 mark).

ANDY RICHTER: One of the early lessons that I learned, because I saw people whose ambition and drive and goal was a thing or a position or a job. And they get it, and then they're still producing all this ‘gotta move forward’, ‘gotta get it’, ‘gotta gotta gotta’ stress … So early on, I realized your goal should be a process. Your goal should just be getting better ... Because the healthiest way to do this [career] is for the work stuff, as you go on, to matter less and less and less … It's the life that you build outside of it that really matters … I mean, there's work involved and there's stress involved, but it's fun. And if you just pursue it as fun, and if it matters less and less as you go on, that's the best, I think.

BOWEN YANG: I think that's it. I love that you say that the goal should be a process ... The thing about working at SNL, that I hope that people who work there in the future will realize, [is] that's it's a job where nothing is in your control, except the process, except the work. But everything else after that is not in your control whatsoever. And it feels kind of futile …

AR: Are there things that have surprised you? Are there things that you tell yourself to get along and continue on?

BY: I feel like the thing that I will remember for a while now is you saying that your goal should be a process. The other thing that's really stuck with me —Tony Hale [of Arrested Development] said this in an interview. [He was asked,] "Yo, what's your best advice on getting into comedy or showbiz?" And he said, 'Instead of thinking of investing in a career ... think of it as investing in a community, where you just kind of take care of the people in your circle who are also trying to do the same thing ...’.

AR: He’s right.

BY: It’s what appeals to me about the whole late-night structure of it [SNL]. It’s about the wellbeing of the unit. It sounds so chummy, but that's what’s sort of seen me through everything so far … I had friends coming up in comedy, whether it was in college or doing these little one-off shows I would produce in Brooklyn. We've always checked in with each other at times that felt very meaningful, and that's the thing that has almost nothing to do with comedy, but it just has to do with everyone looking out for one another. That's the biggest thing that I've come away with.

In summary, to stay grounded in a creative industry —

Detach yourself from specific outcomes.

Pursue work as fun.

Make the process your goal. Nothing is in your control except the work.

Build a good life outside of work.

Invest in your creative community, not just your ‘career’.

Look out for each other.

CHRIS BLACK'S BON MOTS — Practical Advice from an Internet Wise Guy

April 13, 2022

When I came across Chris Black’s Instagram feed a few years ago, I was instantly intrigued. No captions, no hashtags, no pretense — just a series of quiet moments, elegantly captured. At the time, he had at least 20K followers, yet his bio was blank. Who was this guy?

It turns out this guy not only has a great eye, but a lot of noteworthy things to say. Chris Black is a brand consultant, writer, producer, podcaster, and prolific tweeter, among other things. He’s worked with brands like New Balance, Ralph Lauren and Thom Browne.

In 2015, Black published a book titled, I Know You Think You Know It All, a collection of one-liners about "how to stand out in public and online”. These days, he shares his thoughts via Twitter and podcasting, talking about whatever the culture happens to be serving up.

I love a strong opinion. While I don’t agree with everything Black says, I enjoy the authoritative stance he takes on matters that are ultimately not that important. Like Diana Vreeland or Fran Lebowitz, if they had internet access.

I find myself mentally filing away his thoughts, certain they’ll be of use to me someday. Last summer, I invested in a high-end suitcase, but not before I referred to Black’s luggage recommendations in The Strategist. Black — a frequent user of the em dash — got me hooked on them, too.

Citing No. 248 from his book — “Make friends with people who don’t have the same opinions as you” — I think Black would ultimately agree that there aren’t really any rules, other than to think for yourself.

Looking back at the book, Chris Black’s advice feels as practical and relevant as ever — words that will serve you in work and in life. Here’s a selection of stand-outs that ring true.

No. 5 Be less concerned about getting credit and more concerned with the quality of the work.

No. 10 Always hang out with people more talented than you are.

No. 32 Never confront someone for unfollowing you.

No. 41 There shouldn’t be any adjectives in your Instagram bio.

No. 57 Limit your use of emojis.

No. 68 It’s not a competition: you don’t have to one-up every story you hear.

No. 84 Delegation is crucial to success.

No. 104 When a child is crying on a plane, know the parents hate it just as much as you do.

No. 112 When in doubt, over-tip.

No. 133 Don’t work for free.

No. 150 Responding with a meme can be funny, just be sure to choose the recipient carefully.

No. 158 Never Facetime in public.

No. 174 Not everyone can be an ‘influencer'.

No 186 Know your audience before you make dated references.

No. 214 Don’t confuse megalomania with genius.

No. 220 Talk on the phone in public as little as possible.

No. 225 Don’t ever say, “Sorry, I’m not sorry”.

No. 235 Everything isn’t a photo opportunity.

No. 248 Make friends with people who don’t have the same opinions as you.

No. 254 Self-awareness is as important as skill.

No. 255 Think before you hashtag.

No. 268 If you’re not British, don’t end your email with “Cheers”.

No. 261 If you insist on owning a luxury sports car, only drive it, don’t talk about it.

No. 282 Never fish for a compliment.

No. 300 No one needs all the details all the time.

No. 332 No one wants to be around the guy who reflexively hates everything.

No. 339 You can’t set out to make something go ‘viral’. People will share it if they want to.

No. 345 Know when to log off.

No. 361Never ask someone to follow you on social media. If they’re interested, they will.

No. 363 Don’t ever use the word ‘curate' when mentioning your social media accounts. (Oops — guilty. — SNA)

No. 366 You shouldn’t refer to your own album, film or project as ‘highly anticipated’.

No. 374 Don’t make every holiday another excuse for a promotional email.

No. 376 It’s perfectly acceptable to admit you don’t know something.

No. 396 Try not to be overly concerned with “networking”. Definitely don’t throw the word around.

ELIZABETH GILBERT — Defining Hobby, Job, Career and Vocation

March 28, 2022

If you were asked to sort various the parts of your life under the categories of ‘hobby’, ‘job’ ‘career’ or ‘vocation’, what words would fill each space? What would you find in the intersecting areas?

There’s a video on Youtube of writer Elizabeth Gilbert speaking on this subject that I visit from time to time. In it, she breaks down the differences between these four words that are often conflated — hobby, job, career and vocation. Prior to watching, I had never seen this subject so swiftly and artfully explained.

LINK TO VIDEO

Gilbert is a wildly successful writer. With a unique ability to connect to her many readers and fans, she is frequently asked for advice on leading a creative life. She even wrote a book devoted to the subject, Big Magic.

Throughout her career, Gilbert has been a huge proponent of creativity for creativity’s sake. She has argued that everyone is innately creative on some level — it’s part of who we are as a species. Although Gilbert has reached soaring heights in her own career, she doesn’t believe that everyone needs to turn their creative interests into a job. In Gilbert’s view, to insist that our creativity also pay our bills, is too much to ask of it.

For those like myself who have chosen a creative career path, I find her words reassuring. Our professional lives are often unpredictable. While the conditions of our careers are subject to change, the reason why we started — our love of the work — remains.

Here’s a summary of the aforementioned four words, defined by Gilbert. I also recommend watching the full video (it’s under 10 minutes).

HOBBY

“A hobby is something that you do purely for pleasure … Here's the wonderful thing about a hobby. The stakes are zero … You don't have to make money from your hobby. You don't have to get famous from your hobby. Nobody has to know anything about your hobby … You do not have to have a hobby. It is not required, but it’s a nice thing to have. It makes you feel like your life is just not about the grind.”

JOB

“The only thing that you actually do have to have is a job. You have to pay the bills … I never resented having a job because having a job was the way that I kept the contract of taking care of myself as a mature adult in the world, being reasonable, being rational, being able to pay my bills, being able to not be a burden on other people, not waiting for someone to come along and save me … Just taking care of myself, providing for myself.

Here's the great thing about a job — it doesn't have to be awesome. It doesn't have to fulfill you. It doesn't have to be joyful. It just has to pay. That's it. I've had so many jobs that I didn't love … Whatever! You go and do it, you give them the thing that you're giving them and you take the money in return. That's the exchange … If it's killing you, if it's toxic, if you're being abused and manipulated, if it's terrible — if you can get out of it, and if you get a better job — do it. But just recognize your job doesn't have to be your whole life.”

CAREER

“A career is a job that you are passionate about and that you love right now. A career is something where you're willing to make sacrifices. You're willing to work extra hours. You're willing to put your life on the line for this thing because you believe in the mission of what your career is. If you're in a career right now that you hate, that's terrible. If you're in a job that you hate, that's okay [laughs] ... If you're in a career that you can't stand, my suggestion is that you quit that career and just go get a job. Just go get a regular job to pay the bills so you can do other things … You should love your career or not have one. That's completely how I feel about careers. Not necessary. But if you have one, make sure you love it. Otherwise, there's no point. You're just grinding yourself out for nothing.”

VOCATION

“The holiest, most sacred, most amazing and mystical pursuit of all — vocation. A vocation is a calling. A vocation is a divine invitation. A vocation is the voice of the universe in your ear saying, ‘I want you to do this thing. I want to use your talents and gifts to make this thing. I want you to participate in the story of creation in this way’ … We are participants within creation. This is your piece of it — that's your vocation. It comes from the Latin [word meaning] ‘a calling’, ‘to be called’ … A vocation is the highest possible pursuit that you can do. Here's the amazing thing about having a vocation … Nobody can give it to you, and nobody can take it from you. Somebody can take your job away from you. Somebody can take your career away from you. Nobody can take your vocation away from you”.

In reflection, I created an illustration — an attempt to further distill Gilbert’s definitions of each word — hobby, job, career and vocation.

How to Improve Your Portfolio Website — 21 Tips for the Creative Professional

December 22, 2021

This is what my portfolio looked like when I first launched my website in 2014. I had a lot of work ahead of me!

I’ve been a creative professional for over ten years. In that time, I’ve learned a lot about portfolio websites — by making plenty of mistakes, observing my peers and gleaning advice from people I admire. My website never feels quite "done"— I'm constantly trying to improve it.

Because I’ve spent so much time tweaking my portfolio, I’ve picked up on a few things. This list started as a way to help myself, then I shared it with a few friends who wanted to update their own websites. Now I’m sharing it with you.

Keep in mind, this list is meant for creative individuals who want to represent themselves in the professional world. Whether you hope to attract clients, collaborations or get hired for a full-time job, this guide will help you instill trust in your viewers and demonstrate passion and competence in your work.

The projects you share should fall into at least one of three categories 1) your strongest work 2) the work you most enjoy doing 3) the work you want to do more of.
If permissible, prioritize showing professional work, especially anything done for high-profile clients or employers.
There’s a wide range of opinions online about how many projects to include in your portfolio. Some say 4-12, others say no more than 8. Rather than fixating on a certain number, I feel it’s more important to include projects that encapsulate tips 1 and 2 above. It’s generally best to avoid sharing work that is more than three years old, but again — refer to tips 1 and 2.
Your work should emphasize depth over breadth. Instead of providing an overview of everything you’ve ever done, show that you’re capable of doing different types of work within your chosen area of expertise. Show range inside your niche. I love this example Chris Do gave to a design student who’s passionate about making movie posters.
When possible, share high-quality photos of your design work out in the real world. If you don’t have any, create mockups.
If you want to share more raw, exploratory or process work, include it as a piece of a larger project. If it’s not related to a specific project, share it in a separate section of your site dedicated to exploration. Even when sharing rough or unfinished work, add context and polished presentation.
Provide written context for each project. Include the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why. Be specific about your role in the project, what was accomplished and the impact it had. Offer clarity — don’t assume that your audience knows about every client or industry that you work with. Give credit to collaborators wherever it’s due.
Include testimonials for each project — if you don’t have one, ask your client or employer for a written statement they’d be okay with sharing publicly.
Eliminate spelling and grammatical errors throughout your site. If writing is not your strength, ask someone more skilled to proofread for you. Careless mistakes undermine your credibility.
All the design elements of your website — color, space, typography, photography — should be in service of your work. Prioritize simplicity, legibility and ease of use over eye-catching or trendy design features.
Optimize everything for mobile, tablet and desktop viewing. Your site should look good on all interfaces.
Make it easy for viewers to see your work as soon as possible. Don’t make them click around too much to see the good stuff.
In the words of Matthew Encina, the top left corner of a page is “prime real estate”. Your best work should occupy this spot. The stronger the work, the closer it should be to this area of the page.
Don’t link to password-protected work on a public page. It’ll deter the viewer from exploring further. If you must, make sure the viewer knows they’ll need a password before they click.
Don’t barrage your visitors with links on your homepage — this only encourages them to bounce from your site. I learned that from The Worst Portfolio Ever. When including an external link, make sure it opens in a new window.
As difficult as they are to write, include a bio or ‘About’ page. Briefly state who you are, what you do, who you work with and a bit about your creative and professional interests — hopefully something that makes you unique and memorable. You can elaborate further, but make sure you cover the basics up top. It’s okay to show a touch of personality, but avoid fluff, cliches and generic statements that don’t serve you. Include a recent photo of yourself to give the viewer a deeper impression of who you are. Look directly into the lens of the camera to further instill trust.
Make sure your contact info is impossible to miss. You can share multiple modes of contact, but don’t forget the most important one — email. Email is evergreen, and it makes you seem like a real person that can be reached.
If you haven’t updated a blog or social media account in years, remove it from your website.
Include notable examples of press, features and awards. As you gain more recognition for your work, edit these down to the most relevant selection.
Invest in your own domain name and hosting space — it’s worth it. An online sale enticed me to buy my own url years ago, before I had any work worth sharing. I felt it would pay off eventually, and it has.
Your portfolio should evolve along with you. Keep its contents vital, exciting and fresh.