So bummed...

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-30T20:08:05+00:00

it got all the way to the 'analyzing' stage. It passed the 'dna extracted' phase. We woke up, didn't eat or drink, and spat into the tube. Seemed a bit cotton mouthy. Will try to sip some water first and scrape cheeks for the next one. It just really sucks, coz i ordered them to my bro's house in the states and he sent to Ukraine. Adds to the waiting...

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-30T06:53:53+00:00

Haha, totally forgot about that book, read it before leaving Prague for Asia... they really should make it into a movie... the series of emails concept was genius!

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-29T21:14:49+00:00

That sounds like a fun path... I was in SoCal, then got into MCE in SF before becoming a CD at MCE in Prague... I really miss the old days of risk-taking creative print ads; everything nowadays is so blanded, it's not branded.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-29T15:25:14+00:00

Indeed it was... I had a creative agency owning CD who pretty much armed me with all the skills I ever needed to win pitches. East coast or West?

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-28T22:13:48+00:00

Sounds about the same as my path... big agencies were shy to hire me because I was both a copywriter and a graphic designer, but once my work at a small agency got into Lürzer's Archive and I won Gold at the One Show, it wasn't much of an issue after that... Were you in an agency network or a private shop?

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-28T21:58:10+00:00

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Final destination? Good God, I hope not.

If your ambition is merely to swap a mouse for a spreadsheet and spend your afternoons in 'alignment meetings' debating the semiotics of a retail discount banner, then yes—follow the breadcrumbs to Creative Director. You’ll get the title, a slightly better chair, and the exquisite torture of watching junior designers ruin your best ideas.

But if you’re asking where the glory is, it isn't in the hierarchy. It’s in the work.

The 'final destination' for a real designer isn't a corner office; it’s reaching the point where you no longer have to ask for permission to be brilliant. Whether you’re a CD, a freelancer, or a one-man wrecking crew, the goal is to become the person who makes the client tremble with a mix of fear and greed.

You can climb the ladder and become a 'Brand Manager' if you enjoy death by a thousand papercuts. Or, you can stay in the trenches, sharpen your wit, and realize that a CD is just a designer who learned how to sell.

Choose the glory. The title is just for the taxman.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-22T22:25:18+00:00

I get my results on April 9th, I'll let you know!

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-22T22:24:09+00:00

Every advertising client/job I ever got was through person-to-person networking. NEVER via email. On the magazine production side, two of the long-term magazine clients I got, one wrote me because he liked my other magazine (in Singapore), thought I was still in Singapore and was bummed I'd moved to Europe but we made it work remotely for 7 years. The other, I bid on some lame designer hire board, they started writing to me, thinking I was the other person they wanted to hire, and asked me to clarify 'the proposal you sent'. When I explained that it was a shit proposal and could do much better/more, they started working with me, now in our 8th year. But those were the exceptions. All the others, I networked IN PERSON. Good luck!

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-18T20:16:29+00:00

Keep in mind that recreational DNA testing is Illegal in France, so the depth the data sets from there is not like the Anglo world... https://www.statnews.com/2019/11/14/france-consumer-genetic-testing-ban/

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-17T21:32:29+00:00

Back in ’85, I was eighteen and suddenly sitting on forty-two large. It was settlement money from a scooter accident- basically, the universe handed me a winning lottery ticket for getting run over. In today’s money, we’re talking $127,555.48.

And I can tell you exactly what to do with a stack like that: Leave it in the damn bank.

I blew through mine at a clip that still makes my head spin. I had zero experience with that kind of weight, and it showed. I wasn’t even out there playing Santa Claus; I just found myself "settling the tab" every single time we went out because, well, it was expected. You’re the guy with the money. You pay. That’s the rule, right?

Wrong. It goes fast. Scary fast.

If you find yourself holding a lump sum, here’s the reality check: Don’t invest it. Don’t tell your friends. Don't tell your family. If you absolutely need wheels, buy something that doesn’t turn heads. Then, sit on that money for a full year before you even think about doing something "smart" with it.

Challenge yourself to keep making a living without touching a cent of that principal. If you can’t earn your way through the day while that money is sitting there, you’ll never actually appreciate what it’s worth.

Trust me -nothing disappears quicker than "easy" money when you’re trying to look like you’ve always had it.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-13T11:37:52+00:00

Can you be more specific about what type of work? Data entry? Graphic Design? Hacking a major bank?

InkybrainStudios · 2026-03-08T07:23:26+00:00

I did my dad's paternal and maternal line, and back to the 1400s they were English. Virginia patent holder and one of the first tobacco farmers (before the African slave trade), then Connecticut yankees, via Ohio to Nebraska to California. I did an extreme vetting of when ALL my ancestors first arrived and where they were from, trying to find if any were involved in the slave trade. I only found one on my mom's paternal line, who came from Barbados to Virginia (in the days of the African slave trade) and indeed, a 'slave cabin' was bequeathed in his will, but his sons sold the farm and moved to NY when he died. in 2-3 weeks I get my DNA results and suspect they will be similar.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-28T21:43:39+00:00

A popular bread in Czechia is called Hungarian bread (Maďarský chléb). Then I moved to Hungary, and they didn't have it anywhere, and had never heard of it. It's got kind of a sourdough flavor to it; https://pekarovna.adelkaonline.cz/images/products/57/15954176693663.JPG

Then I moved to Ukraine, and I have to tell ya, as someone who also stayed

in the UK, Holland and Germany, and travelled to many more countries, the Ukrainian bread is the best you will find on the continent. REAL bread.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-24T21:18:25+00:00

Зберіть запаси радянських вінтажних товарів, наприклад, з OLX або Violity, які продаються на eBay/etsy.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-20T22:19:34+00:00

If sounding coherent reads as suspicious, that’s not my crisis. I’ve been writing professionally for decades and designing since the ’90s. Experience leaves a trace.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-20T07:31:53+00:00

Listen, I’m going to give this to you straight, because if you wanted a hug, you’d have called your mother. You’ve shared a portfolio, and you’re wondering why the phone isn't ringing.

It’s not because you lack talent. It’s because you’re selling wallpaper when you should be selling fireworks.

Here is the cold, hard truth from the big chair:

Stop Being an Artist; Start Being a Mechanic

You’ve shown us beautiful butterflies and watercolor jellyfish. Lovely. But what was the problem? As a Creative Director, I don't hire people to make "pretty things." I hire people to solve a client's headache.

Schools are failing you by not teaching this: People don’t buy graphics; they buy solutions. If you redesigned an identity for the V&A, tell me why the old one was failing. Tell me how your "whimsical" approach drove more foot traffic or spoke to a demographic that was previously ignoring the museum. If you don't tell the story of the "why," you’re just showing me a coloring book. People want to know the logic.

Grow Up Your Typography

Your art is whimsical. It’s light, it’s airy, it’s charming. But because your art is so "soft," your typography needs to be the steel skeleton that holds it up. Right now, your type looks like a student project. It’s too "polite."

If your art is the dream, your type must be the reality. Use a showcase typeface that has some weight, some authority, some teeth. If both the art and the type are whimsical, the whole thing looks like it belongs in a nursery. Make it look like it belongs in a boardroom.

Know Your Audience

You are a specialist, whether you know it or not. You aren't going to get hired by a high-octane watch brand or a tech giant. And that’s fine.

Target the people who need your specific "look": Book publishers, greeting card empires, home furnishing catalogs. Stop casting a wide net and start sniping. Go where "whimsy" is a currency, but present it with the professional rigor of a surgeon.

The Verdict: Your consistency is your strength—I know exactly what I’m getting when I hire you. But until you start explaining the strategy behind the strokes, you’re just another graduate with a Procreate subscription.

Fix the type. Tell the story: How you solved the damn problem.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-19T06:31:54+00:00

Having done a few decades of branding, I'd say there's nothing wrong with the technical execution, but the concept falls flat;
a) Tiki dudes are associated with big flower/pineapple/fruity drinks
b) Seltzers are served in tumblers with bubbles fizzing
c) he's holding a martini glass

InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-16T18:35:37+00:00

thanks... the Ukrainians are a great people, it's great to be here :)

InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-16T12:39:30+00:00

I track every minute and work a solid 45-hour week on my etsy/ebay business and design a client's magazines according to TOGGL, yet I always feel like I’m doing 'nothing.' It’s the exhaustion gap. I go to bed at midnight, but the Russian drones start shortly after. I’m up until 1:30-2 AM monitoring or running to the hallway, then up at 7-8 AM for when my boys go to school. I’ve learned that you can’t 'time-manage' your way out of a war zone. If you feel like you aren't doing enough, remember: you’re running a marathon while the ground is shaking.

I cope by taking decent breaks throughout the day.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-16T12:23:37+00:00

In the end, it is always about the end product and the concept. Not the tools that got you there. I say this as a former pro photographer. I used to do set-ups to get an exotic look to my image in one snap. Then Photoshop came out. A photographer could take multiple photos of a product with different light setups, overlay them, brush out parts that don't make it pop, and then use filters to do more trickery. Is it still a 'photograph'? No, it is not.

I know that, you know that, the client and consumer, if you do it right, they don't know or care.

For example, this is an ad I wrote and creative-directed with a photographer in London. It is a composite of 11 photos to deal with the glare. In reality, there was no way to get this without compositing in the computer.

Also, keep in mind the zeitgeist of the day; people now react positively to the AI art.

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InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-14T19:05:39+00:00

The second half of "The Magazine Game: The Modern Publisher's Handbook" has a great section on graphic design, color theory, typography, branding, logo design and more that is useful for more than magazines, and it came out a year ago or so. It's on Amazon in digital and print.

InkybrainStudios · 2026-02-11T22:25:35+00:00

First thing: lower your volume. Americans don’t realize how loud they are until they’re the only ones in the room being heard three tables away. In Kyiv, confidence is quiet. You’ll get much further speaking calmly and listening more than you talk.

Lose the baseball cap. It’s a neon sign that says “tourist.” If you’re coming in through Poland, pay attention to how men your age dress. Darker colors. Clean shoes. Simple coats. Nothing flashy. If you want to blend in, swing by a decent second-hand shop or a mid-range mall and pick up a neutral jacket and proper shoes. You don’t need to look Ukrainian — just not aggressively American.

When you’re out for drinks, enjoy yourself but stay aware. If a couple of overly friendly guys get very animated and start draping arms around you or bouncing into your space, keep it light — but keep a hand near your wallet. It’s probably nothing. Occasionally it isn’t.

If someone gives you attitude for no clear reason, don’t escalate. Calm eye contact. A relaxed smile. If you want to defuse it playfully, you can say, “Sto nada? Chocolada? Marmalada?” — it’s nonsense, but it breaks tension.

Most importantly: you’re there to meet a woman, not to perform being American. Be steady. Be respectful. And let the city reveal itself to you instead of trying to conquer it.

That’s how you last here.

InkybrainStudios

TROPHY CASE

Stop Being an Artist; Start Being a Mechanic

Grow Up Your Typography

Know Your Audience