32: Why Letterpress Beats the Undo Button | Daniel Swartz Part 1

Daniel Swartz spent years as a digital designer and illustrator before trading the undo button for antique presses and vintage wood type. In Part 1, the founder of Hoosier Type Co. explains why he approaches letterpress as a designer rather than a fine artist, what every new design tool gives and takes away, and how he built his first typeface, Swartz Gothic, in a month.In this episode:- Why the undo button gave Daniel confidence, and eventually took the thrill out of the work- Files versus artifacts, and why it's important that freelancers get a physical sample- Every tool lowers the entry fee. Who still cares about taste?- Designing for the end product, not the artboard- How Daniel sets expectations on a handmade commission- The fonts we can't stand- Building Swartz Gothic in a monthCHAPTERS00:00 Cold open00:29 Intro: Daniel Swartz, Hoosier Type Co.01:40 Why go analog when everything went digital04:02 Files don't feel finished: the missing artifact05:03 Harley-Davidson, samples and keeping an archive06:42 Designer, not fine artist09:48 Designer, artist or craftsman?11:43 Why imperfect work reads as human12:54 The Starbucks logo isn't symmetrical14:01 Can anyone be a designer now?15:17 Every tool lowers the entry fee17:43 Homage, influence and design museums23:07 Designing for the end product24:27 A church commission, start to finish25:23 Setting expectations for handmade work28:26 The minimalist calendar29:20 Ouabache State Park: analog to digital30:24 Real texture vs. grunge fonts31:13 The fonts we can't stand34:30 The Times New Roman irony35:06 Building Swartz Gothic38:23 A font in a month38:51 Old lettering books and lost craft39:40 What's next for Swartz GothicGUEST AND HOST INFOFind Daniel Swartz: Instagram @hoosiertype.co · All of Daniel's links bio.site/hoosiertype.co Buy his Font Swartz GothicFind Joe: brandedbaron.com · markit2me.com Social Media at @brandedbaronGet the Mark It 2 Me newsletterRecommended episode mentionEpisode 10: How Do You Build a Career in Hand Lettering? | Jason Carne

AI made average free, which means great just got more expensive. In this solo episode, Joe Baron covers what he'd stand his ground on when it comes to AI, and what AI still can't do for your brand. From Coca-Cola's AI holiday ads to an apparel choice that flopped at Harley-Davidson, this one is about judgment, distinctiveness and knowing your customer: the parts of branding no prompt can hand you.In this episodeWhy Coca-Cola's AI holiday ads started a conversation about the tool, not the feelingWhat you're really paying for when you hire a brand designer instead of prompting a logoHow the Studio Ghibli trend shows what happens when everyone uses the same toolsWhy Google's AI summaries make being searched by name the SEO that still worksWhat Liquid Death and a Harley-Davidson hoodie teach about knowing your customerHow Airbnb's founders found their answer away from the dashboardWhen Joe leaves AI out of his own process on purposeChapters00:00 Cold/Open Intro00:48 AI made average free01:24 Coca-Cola's AI holiday ads02:18 AI logo vs. a brand designer03:00 Content nobody asked for03:48 Same tools, same brand05:35 Forgettable brands aren’t searched06:04 Chegg vs Google Lawsuit06:49 Focus on people not prompts07:36 The Harley-Davidson lesson08:18 What analytics can't show you08:59 When do you not use AI09:53 Practicing with Storyteller Tactics10:27 What AI didn't changeNotable quotes"If your logo, your copy, your feed, your images could come out of anybody's prompt, it isn't yours. It's rented.""Making it stops being the skill. Knowing what's worth making is the skill.""If you stopped posting for a month, would anybody message you asking where you went?""The best SEO strategy left is being a brand people search by name. That's not a marketing problem. That's a brand problem.""Anybody could be seen now. But being remembered is the job."Mentioned in this episodeEp. 19, "Why AI will NEVER be better than average" with Rocky RoarkPew Research Center: Google users and AI summariesStoryteller Tactics by Pip DecksCreditInspired by Daniel Murray's The Marketing Millennials newsletter.Work with JoeIf your brand is starting to look like everybody else's feed, let's have a conversation:Branded Baron: brandedbaron.comMark It 2 Me: markit2me.comInstagram, Threads, YouTube: @brandedbaronUntil next time, I appreciate you for listening. Stay Creative.

Jason Craig has been making things professionally for close to thirty years, and for the last seven of those he has done it entirely on his own in Augusta, Georgia. His work spans logos, illustration, murals and minor league baseball identities — which turned out to be the problem. Clients knew one version of him. So he printed a book, mailed it to a hundred people who already had his number, and waited. This conversation is about what came back, and about the parts of running a design business nobody says out loud: what to include in the first invoice, when to hand over more than you were asked for, and why we treat our own pricing like a state secret.EPISODE SPONSOR: Onigiri, simple invoicing for freelance designers and small studios. Clients pay by card from a link, and Onigiri takes no cut.Free graphic design invoice template (no signup):https://onigiri.one/invoice-templates/graphic-design-invoice-template?utm_source=markit2me&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=creators_2026q430% off the first year of PRO with code BARON30.CHAPTERS00:00 Cold open & Intro01:14 Why make a portfolio book05:18 Sixty-four pages, landscape, the size of a phone06:50 The two jobs the book brought back08:15 Jackie M’s Rebranding Was Not Quite As Expected09:50 Giving more than the brief without giving it away12:18 Logo that won best of show14:05 Being easy to work with14:35 Why applications belong in the first invoice16:42 Sponsor: Onigiri18:35 Diving Deep into Branded Murals21:04 Nobody takes a picture in front of a logo21:34 Designing for Minor League Baseball teams25:19 The Augusta Rams, the Azaleas and the Pink hat32:15 Why he’d rather work for one person a hundred times34:13 The Arts in the Park poster that started it38:22 Talent is overrated and raise your baseline40:50 Designers NEED to talk about pricing48:13 The experiential side of hiring a person51:28 Chicken bones, spider rings and the Merch logic1:00:28 Rapid fire Questions1:10:36 Thanks to OnigiriNotable Quotes"I’ve never had anybody take a picture in front of a logo that I designed.""Your average work, like what you show up and do every day, that’s who you are. It’s not your peaks or your valleys."Guest Info - Jason CraigWebsite - jasonthe29th.comInstagram - @jasonthe29th LinkedIn - Jason CraigHost - Joe BaronWebsite - brandedbaron.com  Social Media - @brandedbaronPodcast InfoWebsite - MarkIt2Me.comNewsletter for more info not included in the episode and to stay up to date - SIGN UP HEREInstagram - @mark_it_2_me_podcast

A design Francisco Reyes Jr. made out of boredom got away from him. The American flag, redrawn as a circus tent. It sat in his head for months, he drew it in an afternoon, and now it is on Etsy under other people’s names.That is where part two starts, and it turns into the clearest account of how a creative career actually compounds that I have had on this show.The LA Galaxy passed on him because his lettering read as cholo. That no led to LAFC, which led to the Kings, which led to Manchester City, which led to the Seattle Sounders.He walks through how a Chargers and Pepsi fee became the number he has negotiated from ever since, how donating shirt money put him in the room with CHIRLA, why the fastest way to not get a collaboration is to ask for one, and the part his parents played, the same people who signed him up for art school and then told him at 25 to go learn welding.It ends on why he refused to print a t-shirt for two years, and what happened to his work once big-box retail started writing the brief.CHAPTERS0:00  Cold open0:34  Intro, and Part 1 Recap01:57  Why the work feels dark right now04:44  The flag art everyone is stealing07:51  Where the circus flag art idea came from10:19  Collaborating with the Seattle Sounders10:39  Post your work you never know who’s looking11:51  The Sports Team that said No13:03  Clippers, Chargers, LAFC, Kings, Man City15:41  That’s my new baseline16:40  Pricing a poster versus a collection17:29  Designing CHIRLA’s 40th anniversary19:58  Immigrant parents and permission to make art24:14  How much does it pay25:09  From band dad to wearing every hat26:50  What makes a collaboration worth doing28:54  The fastest way to not get a collab31:16  Why he runs the collab contest32:11  Joe's Art Submission33:09  Hiring creatives and getting out of their way36:20  Logo fixes and design influencers40:02  Quark, five undos, and the old days41:26  Don’t burn the spot analogy42:20  Don't start a brand selling T-shirts43:08  What retailers do to your brand46:10  Next week Preview on Mark It 2 MeGUEST INFO*Francisco Reyes Jr. is a Los Angeles artist and designer working as Never Made. After eleven years at Shepard Fairey's Studio Number One he went independent, and now splits his time between Never Made and his design agency, Design Bedroom.Website - https://nevermade.com/Peace & Unity Tee as seen on Joehttps://nevermade.com/collections/shirts/products/peace-unity-tee-1https://www.instagram.com/nevermade*Host*Joe BaronWebsite https://www.brandedbaron.com/Unsure if you need a full rebrand or refreshdownload the free Brand Refresh Checklist: https://www.brandedbaron.com/rebrand-checklistBuy the Branded Baron sticker pack - https://www.brandedbaron.com/store/branded-baron-sticker-packEvery episode of Mark It 2 Me: https://markit2me.com/Sign up to the Mark It 2 Me Newsletter

Francisco Reyes Jr. aka Never Made has a problem with design influencers and it is that the shortcut skips the part where you build a point of view.He would know what the long way looks like as he's spent 11 years inside Shepard Fairey's Studio Number One, most of it he was pen-tooling references building a strong vector art library. Before that, four months of unpaid interning.In Part 1 of this conversation we get into the case for gatekeeping, why nobody digs for references anymore, and what being in the room with someone great teaches you that no tutorial can. Plus, the 1000 fan theory, and why he tells every major brand exactly where he stands before he signs anything.It ends with a stranger at demanding to know why his print said her anger was a gift.In this episodeThe case for gatekeeping, and why the shortcut hurt the people taking itHow Pinterest flattened everyone's references into the same boardWhat four months of unpaid interning taughtPen-tooling elements from archives to build Shepard Fairey's libraryWhy he will not sell a client his own color palette, and how that turned into collaborationsThe fork between calling yourself a designer and calling yourself an artistBobby Hundreds' thousand-fan theoryWhat he told students afraid of losing clientsWhy he discloses his politics before signing, and what brands keep saying backNotable Quotes"A million followers does not equate sales.""Art's not supposed to tell you what to feel.""To protect your brand, I'm just letting you know that this is my brand. And they're just like, that's why we want you."GUEST INFOFrancisco Reyes Jr. is a Los Angeles artist and designer working as Never Made. After eleven years at Shepard Fairey's Studio Number One he went independent, and now splits his time between Never Made and his design agency, Design Bedroom.Website - nevermade.comPeace & Unity Tee as seen on Joehttps://nevermade.com/collections/shirts/products/peace-unity-tee-1instagram.com/nevermadeHostJoe BaronWebsite brandedbaron.comEvery episode of Mark It 2 Me: markit2me.comSign up for the Mark It 2 Me newsletter to know more details and new episode releases.Chapters00:00  Cold open00:47  Intro01:38  The beef with design influencers03:41  Bring back gatekeeping06:27  Flea markets, Playboys, and crate digging07:10  What Pinterest and AI did to inspiration10:42  Advice for the 22-year-old creative director11:17  Why nobody wants to intern15:20  The pen tool, and eleven years next to Shepard Fairey20:05  Why the colors are not for sale20:51  Artist or graphic designer21:45  Making work nobody asked for24:36  The thousand true fans theory26:27  Where the protest work comes from29:45  Some Designers are vanilla31:42  Telling clients who you are before they hire you33:17  Do institutions want creatives to fail34:26  When to explain your work and when to shut up37:13  Your anger is a gift

Most business books tell you to fix your head. Guest Ryan Roghaar printed out a revenue goal, stuck it on his office wall, and read it every morning for a year. He ended the year exactly where he started and that's when he figured out belief was never the thing getting him into the room.Back on Mark It 2 Me for the first time since Episode 2, the author of The Lid and co-host of Eggs! The Podcast breaks down the two halves of what stops people who are already good at what they do: the internal story you carry about who you are, and the structural piece almost nobody talks about .He walks through the Threshold Loop, the six-step pattern that quietly returns you to where you started, and he is the example in most of it: a subscription model nobody asked for, version two of a product nobody bought version one of, a website refined instead of a sales call made. He also names the Social Lid (the people who love you and are still wildly accurate about who you used to be) and the Proof Move, the one action that gets you out.Key takeawaysBelief does not get you in the room. A year of reading his goal off the wall changed nothing. Sales calls, conferences, and asking would have.The lid has two halves, and most advice only treats one. Mindset is the half on every bookshelf. The other half is the map you do not have and the room you have never been in.Substitution feels like progress. The most dangerous step in the Threshold Loop is real, useful work done in place of the uncomfortable work that would actually move you.The Social Lid is well-intentioned. The people closest to you are not working against you. They are describing who you used to be — and pitching that version of you.The way out is the Proof Move. One action this week that the current version of you would not normally take. Thirty letters to thirty agencies. One yes.Guest Info - Ryan RoghaarRyan Roghaar spent 20 years running the creative and brand-strategy firm R2 and has co-hosted Eggs! The Podcast. He is the founder of RŌG Health, a commercial-readiness and decision-support firm for medtech and medical-device companies, and publishes The Path, a weekly business newsletter. His book, The Lid: The Invisible Barrier Between Here and What's Next, came out of a pattern he kept hearing in those conversations, capable people stalling right after things start working.thelidbook.com Find more info on Ryan's book and download the free first chapter.ryanroghaar.comeggsthepodcast.com - Ryan's Podcastthepathweekly.com - Ryan's newsletterroghealth.com - Ryan's consultancy agencylinkedin.com/in/ryanroghaar - Ryan's LinkedInHost Info - Joe Baronhttps://www.brandedbaron.com/ - Joe Baron creative agency siteMark It 2 Me Websitehttps://markit2me.com/ - Catch up on past episodes Sign up to the newsletter for more info not included in the episodes.

McLaren changed its logo and the internet reacted like the company was going under. The criticism is fair — but a new logo almost never hurts a brand, unless it erases the thing people recognize you by. In this solo episode, Joe breaks down what McLaren changed and kept, answers a skeptic’s “how?” with five reasons, reveals the line Gap and Cracker Barrel crossed, and shares four lessons for smaller businesses.Key takeaways• Loud isn’t right — outrage doesn’t measure damage.• Needing to explain a logo isn’t a failure. It’s the job.• A logo change hurts when it erases what people recognize you by.• The product is what people are loyal to — see New Coke.• Don’t rebrand because you’re bored.00:00 McLaren’s new logo and the internet’s reaction00:50 When does a rebrand actually hurt a brand?01:02 The rebrand outrage cycle: Jaguar and Cracker Barrel01:43 Why designers complain the loudest02:14 Why the McLaren critics have a point02:51 What McLaren changed and what it kept03:47 Needing to explain a logo isn’t a failure04:23 Does a logo need to show what you do?04:38 Telling the story: Ep. 11 and McLaren’s homepage film05:40 Does the new logo hurt McLaren?05:53 Answering “how?”: five reasons it won’t07:03 Nobody outside the room knows the brief08:41 When a logo change actually hurts09:06 The line: Gap, Cracker Barrel and New Coke10:39 What small businesses should take from this11:10 Four lessons: product, story, consistency, positioning12:24 Don’t rebrand because you’re bored12:40 Honor the past + the Brand Gut-CheckNotable quotes“The noise is loud, but the loud isn’t the same as being right.”“Needing to explain a logo isn’t a failure. It’s the job.”“A logo change hurts when it erases what people recognize you by. Evolving is fine. Erasing it isn’t.”Brand Refresh Checklist - https://www.brandedbaron.com/rebrand-checklistEpisodes to checkEpisode 15 - The Brand Gut-CheckEpisode 11 with Jason FrostholmMark It 2 Me website — https://markit2me.com/Sign up to the Newsletter for exclusive info and stay up to date on new releases.Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/mark_it_2_me_podcastHOST - Joe BaronBranded Baron — https://www.brandedbaron.com/Follow on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/brandedbaron/Follow on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/brandedbaron

Matthew Johnson has run Seventh.Ink by himself for nineteen years. Four years ago he moved his inventory into a warehouse. This spring he moved it back out. He breaks down why, what in-person sales actually look like right now, and how a monthly Patreon series became the only deadline on his calendar that cannot slip.Key takeaways—   Scaling up is only a good decision if you are willing to reverse it. The warehouse solved a real problem in year fifteen and created a different one by year nineteen.—   A subscription is a deadline before it is a revenue stream. The monthly pin and patch series is the only thing that cannot slip, so everything else organizes around it.—   Quality is the through line, not the theme. Customers arrive for one series and stay for the blanks and the ink — some of them buying a yellow shirt they swore they would never own.—   Convention sales came in at roughly half of last year across his entire vendor network. If your numbers are down, it is worth knowing it is not just you.—   Make the call before the math makes it for you. Wait too long and it does not shrink, it implodes.Chapters00:00Cold Open00:10Intro01:26Haunted Collection 1703:08Portfolio Book Archive04:58Bringing back old graphics without killing sales07:19Releasing Halloween in August09:21The four releases a year12:19The monthly pin and patch series13:27Designing for fans vs everyone16:20Promoting a Patreon page18:24Magic the Gathering, Lord of the Rings, and more Fantasy20:04Why pins and patches23:01DTG vs Screen printing24:59Color separation and why it matters28:56Art books, collectibles, and an idea worth stealing33:35The Warehouse - Having it then Giving it up37:14The Call with Johnny Cupcakes38:14Make the call before it makes itself39:39The Dip in Sales - The economy and convention truth41:54Wholesale, Retail, and a Brick and Mortar Store43:09Rapid Fire Questions47:40The Wrap upGuest bioMatthew Johnson is the artist and designer behind Seventh Ink, a one-man art and clothing brand he has run since 2007. A graduate of the Art Institutes International Minnesota, he is a graphic designer and web developer by trade and still freelances under Seventhfury Studios. Seventh Ink spans apparel, enamel pins, patches, prints, and original art, with an annual Haunted Collection now in its seventeenth year. He works out of Tampa, Florida.Links - https://seventhink.com/patreon.com/seventhinkinstagram.com/seventh.inkHost - Joe Baronhttps://brandedbaron.com/Social media- @brandedbaronShow Websitehttps://markit2me.com/Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mark_it_2_me_podcast

Most companies think they have a marketing problem. What they actually have is a brand clarity problem — and it shows up as fragmented messaging, shifting visuals, and campaigns that never compound. This episode breaks down why brand identity is a decision-making system, not a visual project, and what it costs when it's treated as the latter.Key takeawaysFragmented marketing is a clarity problem, not a creativity problem. Effort and budget are rarely the bottleneck. Undefined identity is.A brand identity's real job is speed, not consistency. It answers questions before they become meetings and makes creative decisions directional instead of subjective.Weak identity has four measurable costs: slower internal decisions, higher long-term creative spend, inconsistent customer perception, and trend chasing.Redesigning every 18–24 months isn't evolution, it's resetting — and each reset costs you accumulated equity on top of the invoice.Identity is a filter. New campaign, new partnership, new visual direction: does it build equity or reset it?00:00 The Clarity Problem00:11 Intro00:38 Doing Everything Right, Still Fragmented02:18 Systems That Scale Across Channels03:03 What Consistency Actually Does03:49 What Weak Brand Identity Costs05:27 Brand Identity as an Operational Asset07:04 Four Practical Principles08:19 Brand First, Marketing SecondAbout the HostJoe Baron is the Creative Director and Founder of Branded Baron, a New York branding and creative agency working with founders and business owners on brand strategy, visual identity, and content systems.*Links:*http://brandedbaron.com  ·  http://MarkIt2Me.com  · Sign up to the Mark It 2 Me newsletter to stay up to date on new episodes and read about exclusive information that didn't air.Follow on Social Media - @brandedbaron  ·  @mark_it_2_me_podcast*Download the PDF*Brand refresh checklist — brandedbaron.com/rebrand-checklist• Episode 15 — Do You Need a Rebrand or Refresh? The Brand Gut-CheckVisit the site to grab your prompt pdf - https://www.brandedbaron.com/what-a-founder-sharesThe Power of Core Graphics Article - Click here

Jimmy Bryant spent years trying to earn the approval of other designers before he figured out they were never going to be his customers. Now Atomicchild is in hundreds of retailers, he sells art on products for a living, and he just shut down a profitable airport store because it was eating his life. We get into stickers, markets, manufacturing, and what success actually looks like when you stop letting other people define it.Key TakeawaysThe creative community is not the market. There are not enough creatives to support all the creatives, and the people who buy art on products are not the people critiquing kerning.Do not optimize before you validate. Ignore margins, minimums, and wholesale math until you know whether anyone wants the thing at all.Stickers are the cheapest market research that exists. Under a dollar to make, six dollars to sell, and they tell you what to build next.Apparel is the trap. A maxed four thousand dollar credit card and ten sales was his own first lesson.Markets are a real economy. People are earning six figures at them without posting anything online.Scale is a choice. He built the warehouse and the team, decided it was not the life he wanted, and dismantled it on purpose.00:00 Cold open00:28 Intro01:38 What an Atomicchild shirt says about you03:23 They create products, we create art05:29 Keith Haring vs. Atomic Child08:54 Graduating into a market with no doors10:13 Five hundred cold emails a month11:47 Watching them make his fee in two seconds12:59 Why the client list stops mattering13:43 Nalgene and Times Square15:22 You are not designing for other designers16:15 Stop trying to appease other creatives17:22 Conventions versus the internet19:25 I'm a commercial artist. I make art to sell.21:42 Why you start with stickers22:25 Two thousand dollars in stickers in a weekend23:24 Listening at markets, and why apparel is a trap24:45 What a booth actually costs26:53 How he decides what to make27:54 The bag line he never planned30:32 Evergreen designs over drops34:06 Finding your niche festival35:22 Physical products in an AI world37:16 Getting your work stolen39:55 Trademarks and the cost of enforcing them40:30 Has running a company made him a better artist44:05 Scaling up, then scaling all the way back46:15 Is the money worth your time47:35 Sometimes success is survival47:52 Five sources of income52:27 Rapid fire QuestionsLINKSGUEST - Jimmy Bryantatomicchild.comStore: 179 North College Avenue, Fort Collins, Colorado — Thursday through SundayInstagram - @atomicchildesignTik Tok: @atomicchildHOST - Joe Baronhttps://www.brandedbaron.com/Social Media - @brandedbaronSign up to the Newsletter to stay up to date and read about exclusive info not aired.https://markit2me.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mark_it_2_me_podcast