Eric Karjaluoto's guest appearances

Eric Karjaluoto

The Gyst Life - A podcast about how to live your best life

One Thing Real Quick

Guest Lectures + Speakers

Mark Lewis

Brad Woodard

Neil Campbell

Liam Gillick

David Sherwin

Mona Hatoum

Ian Wallace

Matt Halloran

Seth Lucas

Leslie Chapman

Lauren Celenza

Jayson Lowe

David Dombrowski

Joaquin Azulay

Annie Spratt

OwlTail

Running a creative agency or studio? You may be full of crap. ----more----   Still with me? Great! You might be ready for real change then.  Here’s the thing... Most of us are really frightened to say when things aren’t working.  And this goes for any business owner. As creatives, we fool ourselves into thinking we just need to do a little more and create something new. Put that fresh coat of paint on, update that website, draw attention to those awards you won… Or maybe we’ll focus internally depending on our size. Upgrade our spaces tweaking the environment to give off just enough "we’ve got our shit together" so "you should be work with us" vibe without being pretentious. we're not saying don’t do that either, just pointing to the timing of when and why you do. I get that for most of us in the creative industries, this is not meant to be malicious. It usually comes from good intentions. We want to ensure that the impression perceived by others is one of being capable of supporting our clients (new and existing).  But we’re not actually addressing the issues deep down, we’ve just given the pig some lipstick. Industry veterans will agree, there’s more to the successful agency or studio than meets the eye. You’re in an industry that’s riddled with superfluous fronts, unrealistic outcomes, exaggerated claims and more bullshit than you will have ever bargained for. But fear not fellow creatives. Your future can be bright and filled with everything you hoped for if you pay attention to the lessons of those who’ve come before you.    ___________________________________________________   Chances are you might’ve forgotten why you got into this business in the first place. And that was to be creative. Perhaps now is the time to get reconnected to the roots of where you came from, to be honest with why got into this line of work. Get clear how you really should be presenting yourself with that in mind and skip all the bullshit... like RFP’s and well-crafted pitches. It’s just a bunch of well-crafted lies to wow a prospective client and win business.   BE YOURSELF  Keep it simple.  Stop looking externally and focus internally.  No one cares about all the hype. Elegantly solve problems again.  Be with another human being and support them.   This is your superpower after all.   Follow What Eric is up to http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/me/ https://www.smashlab.com/   Some of the projects they built https://www.telgard.com/ https://campnab.com/ https://pixaver.com/ https://www.emetti.com/   Sponsor for today's episode Summer Love Vodka! https://www.summerlovevodka.com/

Running a creative agency or studio? You may be full of crap. ----more---- Still with me? Great! You might be ready for real change then.  Here’s the thing... Most of us are really frightened to say when things aren’t working. And this goes for any business owner. As creatives, we fool ourselves into thinking we just need to do a little more and create something new. Put that fresh coat of paint on, update that website, draw attention to those awards you won… Or maybe we’ll focus internally depending on our size. Upgrade our spaces tweaking the environment to give off just enough "we’ve got our shit together" so "you should be work with us" vibe without being pretentious. we're not saying don’t do that either, just pointing to the timing of when and why you do. I get that for most of us in the creative industries, this is not meant to be malicious. It usually comes from good intentions. We want to ensure that the impression perceived by others is one of being capable of supporting our clients (new and existing).  But we’re not actually addressing the issues deep down, we’ve just given the pig some lipstick. Industry veterans will agree, there’s more to the successful agency or studio than meets the eye. You’re in an industry that’s riddled with superfluous fronts, unrealistic outcomes, exaggerated claims and more bullshit than you will have ever bargained for. But fear not fellow creatives. Your future can be bright and filled with everything you hoped for if you pay attention to the lessons of those who’ve come before you.  ___________________________________________________ Chances are you might’ve forgotten why you got into this business in the first place. And that was to be creative. Perhaps now is the time to get reconnected to the roots of where you came from, to be honest with why got into this line of work. Get clear how you really should be presenting yourself with that in mind and skip all the bullshit... like RFP’s and well-crafted pitches. It’s just a bunch of well-crafted lies to wow a prospective client and win business. BE YOURSELF  Keep it simple. Stop looking externally and focus internally.  No one cares about all the hype. Elegantly solve problems again. Be with another human being and support them. This is your superpower after all. Follow What Eric is up to <a href="http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/me/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/me/</a> <a href="https://www.smashlab.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.smashlab.com/</a> Some of the projects they built <a href="https://www.telgard.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.telgard.com/</a> <a href="https://campnab.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://campnab.com/</a> <a href="https://pixaver.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://pixaver.com/</a> <a href="https://www.emetti.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.emetti.com/</a> Sponsor for today's episode Summer Love Vodka! <a href="https://www.summerlovevodka.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.summerlovevodka.com/</a>

In The Creative Industry? Stop Dressing the Pig and Start Solving Problems | Over Drinks with Erik Karj at Smash Lab

Eric Karjaluoto a Vancouver BC based designer. He’s one of the two guys behind SmashLAB, a small design studio which he co-founded 19 years ago. Clients include Arc’teryx, Saltspring Soapworks, The Nature Conservancy, The Vancouver Aquarium, and a bunch more. He’s written two books, The Design Method and Speak Human. And together with his business partner, Eric Shelkie, he’s built a handful of useful side projects, including Officehours, Campnab, and Emetti, to name a few. The Question: How do we slow down and focus on what really matters? I was sent a link to one of Eric’s blog articles, How to Keep Sane, In Faketopia. After reading it, I sent Eric an email and asked him to tell me more about the ideas from his article. In our conversation we talk about the fakery in social media, the idea that feeding the ‘social media beast’ doesn’t do anything to help our us reach our career goals, and how being real about what’s most important can help us get more out of life and work alike. In short, we’re talking about how to tidy up our list of priorities. Links  SmashLAB (where Eric works) http://www.smashlab.com/ Eric Karjaluoto’s Website (where he writes) http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/ The article we talked about today http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/blog/how-to-keep-yourself-sane-in-faketopia/ Eric’s Twitter is @karj Eric make products including Campnab, Officehours, and Emetti We are all famous to a few people — Having cancer on social media Go listen to Design Tomorrow (a podcast about design, technology and being human) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/design-tomorrow/id1433919260?mt=2 Find One Thing Real Quick on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@OTRQpodcast for all three) Subscribe and leave a rating and review at Apple Podcasts (or where ever you like to listen) Get audiobooks from Libro.fm (use the offer code OTRQ and get three for the price of one)

Eric Karjaluoto a Vancouver BC based designer. He’s one of the two guys behind SmashLAB, a small design studio which he co-founded 19 years ago. Clients include Arc’teryx, Saltspring Soapworks, The Nature Conservancy, The Vancouver Aquarium, and a bunch more. He’s written two books, The Design Method and Speak Human. And together with his business partner, Eric Shelkie, he’s built a handful of useful side projects, including Officehours, Campnab, and Emetti, to name a few. <h2>The Question: How do we slow down and focus on what really matters?</h2> I was sent a link to one of Eric’s <a href="http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/blog/how-to-keep-yourself-sane-in-faketopia/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">blog articles</a>, How to Keep Sane, In Faketopia. After reading it, I sent Eric an email and asked him to tell me more about the ideas from his article. In our conversation we talk about the fakery in social media, the idea that feeding the ‘social media beast’ doesn’t do anything to help our us reach our career goals, and how being real about what’s most important can help us get more out of life and work alike. In short, we’re talking about how to tidy up our list of priorities. <h3>Links</h3> <ul> <li>SmashLAB (where Eric works) <a href="http://www.smashlab.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.smashlab.com/</a></li> <li>Eric Karjaluoto’s Website (where he writes) <a href="http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/</a></li> <li>The article we talked about today <a href="http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/blog/how-to-keep-yourself-sane-in-faketopia/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/blog/how-to-keep-yourself-sane-in-faketopia/</a></li> <li>Eric’s Twitter is <a href="http://twitter.com/karj" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@karj</a></li> <li>Eric make products including <a href="https://www.campnab.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Campnab</a>, <a href="https://www.officehours.io/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Officehours</a>, and <a href="https://www.emetti.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Emetti</a></li> <li><a href="https://medium.com/@JoeWilsonTV/we-are-all-famous-to-a-few-people-having-cancer-on-social-media-6fc52ef16b69" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">We are all famous to a few people — Having cancer on social media</a></li> <li>Go listen to <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/design-tomorrow/id1433919260?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Design Tomorrow</a> (a podcast about design, technology and being human) <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/design-tomorrow/id1433919260?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/design-tomorrow/id1433919260?mt=2</a></li> <li>Find One Thing Real Quick on <a href="https://twitter.com/OTRQpodcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/otrqpodcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://fb.co/otrqpodcast" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a> (@OTRQpodcast for all three)</li> <li>Subscribe and leave a rating and review at <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-thing-real-quick/id1448979948" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a> (or where ever you like to listen)</li> <li>Get audiobooks from <a href="http://libro.fm/redeem/otrq" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Libro.fm</a> (use the offer code OTRQ and get three for the price of one)</li></ul>

Eric Karjaluoto – Designer & Author

All the Things I've Screwed Up So FarEric Karjaluoto is a founding partner of smashLAB, a Vancouver-based Digital Agency. He concentrates on helping groups communicate effectively through strategic design and brand strategy. Eric is a vocal proponent of pragmatic design and methodology on his blog ideasonideas, where he writes about design, brands, and experience. In 2007 he spearheaded Design Can Change to unite designers and address climate change—an effort recognized in TIME’s Design 100. Eric speaks regularly at industry events for groups including AIGA, SEGD, GDC, and Johnson &amp; Johnson. He received his BFA from Emily Carr ('95)  and recently released his first book, Speak Human: Outmarket the Big Guys by Getting Personal. Follow "karj" on Twitter.

All the Things I've Screwed Up So Far Eric Karjaluoto is a founding partner of smashLAB, a Vancouver-based Digital Agency. He concentrates on helping groups communicate effectively through strategic design and brand strategy. Eric is a vocal proponent of pragmatic design and methodology on his blog ideasonideas, where he writes about design, brands, and experience. In 2007 he spearheaded Design Can Change to unite designers and address climate change—an effort recognized in TIME’s Design 100. Eric speaks regularly at industry events for groups including AIGA, SEGD, GDC, and Johnson &amp; Johnson. He received his BFA from Emily Carr ('95) and recently released his first book, Speak Human: Outmarket the Big Guys by Getting Personal. Follow "karj" on Twitter.

Eric Karjaluoto, March 23, 2011