Interview: Brianna McCarthy

How did you discover artistic ability?

Accidentally. I’m not even sure. I’ve always, for as long as I’ve known myself, been attracted to creating things. I come from a resourceful family; a low income background has a tendency to provoke that! So, I knew that it was possible to alter most things, do without some things and make completely new things. Art was and escape for me too – I daydreamed too much as a child, drew too much, wrote too much – gave me the opportunity to be somewhere else constantly.

How is your ethnicity a source of inspiration or strength in your work?

Or is it just sort of a default setting that has little bearing.

It's both. I just am what I am, the product of many things and that's both mundane and exciting. I’m certainly influenced by my ethnic make-up or cultural influences as I want to know them intimately – it’s all very beautiful. Someone asked me once why all my paintings were of Black women. I had to think about it. I knew the answer, but what was it? I happen to be Black, female and West Indian; it’s what I identify with and influences how I see myself – therefore, it comes out in my expression.

Is being a woman artist different from being a man designer, do you find it liberating or challenging?

Liberating. I love being female and I love that men are different. I think male designers are quite different from female artists. My partner is a male designer and the differences between us, which I can attribute to creative differences, are fascinating. I make things I think are gorgeous to look at and that bring positivity because of that; he seeks to solve a problem through design. It’s quite interesting.

Is that question irrelevant?

Haha! I think it's relevant if you're into that dynamic.

What aspect of your art do you really love?

The reactions my work provokes. When someone really enjoys what I’ve made, it’s a good feeling. When I’m done and I know, from the piece, that it’s done and I’m happy with it, it’s a good feeling.

What's the most challenging part of what you do?

Figuring out exactly what it is that I do! My call card says “Brianna McCarthy – Makes Things”. Seriously though, being self taught is awesome I think but I wonder what I missed out on sometimes. I went with my other loves (Literature, French) for university. I didn’t ever consider studying art. I might change that at some point though.

What's your dream job?

Finding a way to create for a living outside of working at an agency or design company. I actually enjoy, if that's the right word, working in the corporate field -- it provides me a little balance.

Can you discuss any specifics about the process of creating a few of the pieces you sent.

The portraits of the 5 girls were done on a four day family vacation on the south coast of Trinidad. It was beautiful – the weather, the sea, the people – a great vibe. But I was pretty pensive that weekend – these girls were done during and after that time – a period of clarity. They’re honestly some of my favourites.

Any advice for neophytes?

Being a neophyte myself, I’d have to say – keep learning, stay focused, be smart about who you take advice from and trust yourself a little. Risk is good most times, even though I don’t often take my own advice in that regard. Most of all, be honest with yourself about yourself.

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Interview: Kishya Greer

One of my favorite things about social media is the almost kinda sorta true social aspect of it. I mean you really do get to meet people. Better still you get to meet interesting people. You know the kind of people you actually read their email and dig what they have to say. Here's one such person; Kishya Greer, She's one of those smart designers that can hold her department down. She's smart, creative and has initiative. She's moving ahead and I suspect nothings going to stop her. I go on and on about the future looking bright due to smart young people like her, well you're going to want to adjust the brightness on your monitor yet again because the glow just got greater. Read below and glimpse the greatness.

How did you discover design?
I discovered design in high school actually. I love music and I had a lot of CD's then and a huge CD book filled with my favorite albums. There where slots for the CD's on one side and a slot for the matching CD booklet on the other. I never wanted the booklets to be damaged in the so I would spend hours on my Grandmothers computer designing square inserts to match my favorite CD's to put into the book. I remember matching colors and trying to match typefaces and putting horrible effects on the type as well. I had no idea I was designing or that there was a career path I could take doing this all day. I was just having fun. Around that time I would also hand draw the type treatment from my CD's onto regular printer paper. I would spend time getting it just right then fill in the color with jelly pens. I still have some of these stored away. Here and there I stumble across them and sort of laugh and wonder how I had time for it.


I had a class in high school my senior year where I learned all of the Macromedia programs (Flash, Fireworks, Dreamweaver). A guy from the Art Institute of Dallas came to talk to the class one day and I thought it seemed cool that I could be a animator or design for a living. I went to schools open house not long after that with my mom and I started school at the Art Institute a week after graduating from High school and I fell in love from there. Since I went straight from High school I graduated at the age of 21 with a BFA in graphic design.

How is your ethnicity a source of inspiration or strength in your work?
Or is it just sort of a default setting that has little bearing.
I think that being a Black American has an impact on design expectations but it is not a huge impact on my work. It puts expectations on me from every angle. I have been expected to spice up social media pages with falling stars or horrible effects like that. I usually have educate people and say "What you see as the "fancy" pages is not good design and I am not following the pack by replicating that." Sadly rap CD covers make some people think tacky is good. In my work I try to do very clean design. In the 90's when Cash Money Records was a big deal with all of its badly designed CD's it bothered me till no end. That was before I was into design and it still got under my skin.


In a corporate world I think being Black American woman maybe at first glance some may have low expectations of me until they see my work. Once my work starts to talk for it's self I have people that only want to work exclusively with me. So yea, it does have an effect but not a huge one. As a designer the work that you produce speaks much louder than your skin color.

I really have not used my ethnicity as a source for inspiration. I use my life experiences as a source. I have come to learn that no matter what your background we all usually have some of the same experiences no matter the ethnicity. Depending on the culture people may have a different spin on the same experience but there is much more in common than the differences. If you are a 80's baby you remember the same cartoons and toys no matter the skin color. I can mention a Glo-Worm and a select set of people will get excited and go into stories about their Glo-Worm or lack of one. There is always a link to other people and that's what I like to pick up on. It makes the world seem smaller.

Is being a woman designer different from being a man designer?
Not all positions or projects are given based on quality of your work and passion for the job. In most situations it really does not matter what I am. But, there are very few situations where it effects the progress in my career path.

What aspect of design do you really love? Logo design, typography, type design Layout, etc?
I just have a strong hunger for design and the only thing that helps ease my appetite is learning and doing new things. Design is really my life. I dream about it and I critique menus when I eat at restaurants. The designer light is always on in my head. I look at things and think about how I can make things better. Always up for a good challenge.


I love logo design and typography. For all active designers we know that it takes time and a lot of brain power with a dash of luck to pull off a great logo. I want to learn much more about typography. It is a challenge to work with it in a way that is innovative.

What's your dream job?
That is a tough question. My dream job would be a position where I am making a difference. It could be behind the scene in a marketing team pushing for a better way of life or something as simple as making someone laugh at a ad. A good print price can bring people together if done right. The paper choice, typeface, and spot varnish are all things that make a difference in the tone of a piece. Here at my current position I do a lot of internal event posters. People working here in a bland office see the posters and stop and read. They also attend the events and have fun. That little bit of joy to a persons day is my aim. As long as I am not just working for food but I am actually helping others, I will continue to be happy. I'm excited about the future and all it has for me.

Can you discuss any specifics about the process of creating a few of the pieces you sent?
The black pocket insert (with the number one) project was brought to me with the goal of communicating that the company was ranked number one in a number of segments by the Black Book of Outsourcing.


Since this was used at a conference where lots of letter sized collateral pieces are handed out, this piece was made to fit in your shirt pocket. The thought was to free up the hands of people that came by the booth. We received feedback stating they loved that they could stuff it in their pocket and keeping their hands free. Of course they had to read it to find our contact information to give feedback. Needless to say, the small size worked for this project along with a clean design.

Any advice for neophytes?
Be persistent and keep pushing yourself to the next level. Get a design mentor. They will teach you and help you become much better at what you do best.

See more of Kishya's design and musings here & here.

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Adverve: (Kick-Ass) Interview with Hadji Williams

Over at Make The Logo Bigger Bill Green and Angela Natividad of AdRants have an incredible interview with Hadji Williams that pretty much lays the advertising industry's guts out on the table for all to see. Yes, they are cancerous and rancid guts, but through their funny but serious autopsy of things you can almost hear (see, smell?) a glimmer of hope. Not necessarily hope in anything that the industry is currently doing but in the way these three can be so honest in their assessment of the state of affairs.

I was most amazed at how adult the conversation was. Not that these three aren't more than capable of that kind of conversation, it's just that most often the discussion around race/gender politics in advertising is the most juvenile and insincere bunch of mumbo-jumbo you ever want to hear. They actually manage to talk about race while jokingly injecting at just the proper tone a few not politically correct jokes. That's the kind of thing I love, a moment to deflate the situation and allow the tension to air out. It's because unlike many other talks on this subject the three were fearless, secure and smart. So they could laugh a bit while digging ever deeper. Although there seemed to be a little nervous laughter at times, it in no way hindered the power and the candor of their discussion. It's a long (read epic, lord of the rings length) discussion but there are no wasted moments. This tough discourse is how we can begin to get things changed in the advertising arena. This is a decisive conversation, this type of discussion is indicative of progress. So if you have the time at home the headphones or earbuds while your at work, I would really suggest you give it an ear.

Unclog your ears and your brain here.

This interview is the kind of thing that should win an Adcolor Award! (just a suggestion) https://sites.google.com/site/mayuradocs/PinIt.png

Interview: Eric Larkin

Three of my favorite words are Beauty, Black & Brilliant. I use them liberally, like toe ointment, I spread it around thickly, densely, deeply even. But I feel those three words in no way counteract each other. They are after all, the biblical ingredients the formed the universe. And I see them in some form everyday...  simultaneously. Here is yet another burgeoning example of that; Eric Larkin. I came across Eric's work quite by chance. I was trolling the wonder-webs with my browser set on serendipitous (you have that setting too, see it up there under: Edit - Find - Serendipity). So I run across these cool ass afro illustrations. If you been to this site before you know my "Fro" love only grows daily nappily out of control. Much like a well, fro. Now my first thought was damn, if nobody else has seen these, I'm biting these (so be on the look out for commercials with people walking around with state and country shaped afros). Further investigation led me to a site called scribbledoodled.com and I was like damn more ideas. More really good ideas. This dude is a really clever illustrator, blog fodder gold! Next I learned the Eric wasn't just an illustrator he is also a cracking Art Director. His concepts are really hear felt and fervent stuff. I reached out to him to ask permission to post his work here and his response warm and impassioned. The kinda folk I like, nice, pretense free & funny. (I hates a damn snob) But the kid aint cocky, not like a lot of the industry asses you meet. Especially the self amped rookies. Oh and ad people who leave comments under the psuedonym "one show gold" who the f-f-fu... ??? I get the feeling we will never get this from Eric, he is the craft in it's trues form. I suspect he may see his share of "one show gold" but it will be far from his defining factor or only claim to fame.

How did you discover design?
I always had a knack for just creating stuff from when my brother and I used to make home-made music videos and animations with our VHS video camera as kids. I suppose it's no surprise that, though I have an associates degree in fine arts, a bachelors and masters degree in Art Direction, I discovered the craft of design in my dorm room, making concert posters for a friend in college, with nothing but a bootleg version of photoshop and a cheap scanner.




How is your ethnicity a source of inspiration or strength in your work? Or is it just sort of a default setting that has little bearing.
Everyone has a their own personal reference library from which they work. Everything we do/see/hear/give/experience becomes an addition to our collection of life references. In that sense, I suppose my work is inspired by my blackness. How can I not be.
I built my reference library reciting the reggae lyrics of Maxi Priest, dancing to Hype Williams music videos on BET, wishing I could be in a Boys 2 Men music video, laughing at jokes from "A Different World" and "The Cosby Show," crying to movies like "Lean On Me," comparing Micheal Jackson and MC Hammer's dance moves, being comforted by the spirituals of the AME Zion Church and spending too many hours in the community Barber Shop.


The cool part and sometimes tearful part is figuring out how to make my references relevant to those who don't share them.

Is being an illustrator very different from being a designer or does it involve the same brainpower?'
To say that illustration was my first love would be an understatement. it was my first nasty, down and dirty, completely inappropriate, sloppy, lusty, doin' it in the park, PDA, romantic relationship. It's raw. It's fresh, It literally often brings me to tears when I see a vision that was in my head on paper.

On the other hand, when I'm an art director or designer on a project, I can put all of my passion and energy into something, it could be completely my idea, but at the end of the day it's not for me. It's typically not for my tears. It's for my client




What aspect of design do you really love? Logo design, typography, type design Layout, etc?
I love some sexy type. I recently visited Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera's house, that is now a gallery of their work in Mexico City. The bulk of Diego's typographic work is secluded to one corner of a very empty room. I fell in love with his work for his expressions with type alone. I think the use of type in art.



What's your dream job?
I can recall the moment when I became an artist. I was drawing smiley faces on a page my mother and father stopped what they were doing, looked me in the eye and told me that I was indeed an artist. It was that given identity from a loved one that has formed my life. I'm fortunate to have that. There are so many that don't.
My heart is in helping people understand and live fully in their identity. Advertising and design is here and it's gone. Brilliance, if I ever get any, will come and go. But it's my investment in people that reaps a benefit onto eternity. I don't know my dream job, else I'd be doing it. But when I find it, I'm sure it would include building up people's identities.





Can you discuss any specifics about the process of creating a few of the pieces you sent.
I'd love to share thoughts about the illustration collection I've included:

The Beauty-Fro Collection was inspired from my trip to Kenya. It was the first time I was the majority in a whole culture or nation (as opposed to in a room, a class or a institution). No matter what I did or where I went, there were people that looked like me, very unlike America. Seeing this larger scope of Black people, helped me to understand the Black beauty more than I ever did. Some of the insecurities of my own image changed. Even some of the things that attracted me to a black woman changed.

There are aspects of black beauty that are completely opposite to the beauty of the majority or any other nationality at all. One of those in particular is the afro. It comes in many shapes and sizes, it comes soft and it comes rough, it comes loose and it comes tight. It is very unique to each person. It is what my people are born with. But because of lack of exposure to it in America, dating back to a time where the only acceptable hair style was the "straight hair" style of the majority, it is often misunderstood, written off as ugly and considered shameful to wear natural. 

I think the fro is beautiful. Using extreme pop-exaggeration and expressiveness, this collection exalts the fro, as a representation of unique black beauty.




I'll also share about "THE STRONG INSIDE" campaign for Nike ACG Boots:
Being the typophile that I am, the STRONG INSIDE campaign was a dream come true. We stitched the typography straight into the posters of these in-store executions. We used the medium of these posters to illustrate the quality and durability of Nike ACG shoes.





Any advice for the neophytes?
If you are a new to this (like me), you are probably wrong at most everything.
The sooner you realize this, the sooner you will start correcting your wrongs and stop asking for pats on the back. (Brav-F'n-O! I Luh dat!)
The sooner you stop asking for pats on the back, the sooner you start defining your own success, instead of trying to meet up to other people's standards aka award shows.
Oh, and love the people you work with more than your work - your rep is everything.

See more here & I steal my ideas here.

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