Art and Communication Podcast Season 1 Ep.04 - Ashley Stokes

I talk to Steven Keir Harris, a music producer, drummer, gigging musician and recording artist who’s performed all over the UK and abroad, including sets at Glastonbury and Latitude. He’s the guy behind the 3by3 label, he’s one half of industrial electronic duo, Cloaks. He’s also producer and editor of my podcast and he created the Art & Communication Podcast theme tune along with the soundscape.

I have an expansive conversation with Orlando Wood, Chief Innovation Officer of the System1 Group, and author of the IPA’s best-selling and widely acclaimed publication, Lemon: a unique combination of neuroscience, cultural history and advertising research. Based on his extensive research, it’s Orlando’s view that the advertising brain has turned sour, and we really get into just why that is, where it all went wrong, why the different sides of the brain have something to do with it and why we should be afraid.

I interview Sofia Costaldi, Artist Liason at Gagosian Gallery, a gallery that exhibits some of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries including Pablo Piccaso, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, Francis Bacon, Tatiana Trouvé, Jenny Saville and Roy Lichtenstein to name a few. Sofia is also Co-Founder of ArtBasiC.

Mark’s a multi-talented guy, he’s the author of ‘Unleash the Power of Puerility, he directs TV adverts and runs his own agency, plus, he’s widely known as one of the most awarded art directors on the planet. I’d seen so many of his award-winning branding and advertising campaigns, TV adverts, Posters, Identity’s, and publications throughout the years without knowing until recently that he was the man behind it all.

Richard is the founder of Chadwicks Wealth Management, he’s a specialist in behavioural economics, and an advisor to Robot Mascot who helps entrepreneurs and founders consider their game plan, value their brand and exit their business. We chat about valuing the intangible assets in your business, high points, fuck ups and everything in between.

Rosalind is an artist, curator, mentor and author of What They Didn’t teach you in art school - A no-nonsense guide to everything you need to know to survive and thrive as a working artist. More recently she collaborated with Justin Hibbs and Jamal Sterrett for an ITV Ident that played to millions of viewers. In the past I was lucky enough to have my art selected for an exhibition Rosalind curated. In my interview with Rosalind I learn that the word brand is a bit like a swear word to an artist.

I speak to Glenn Ogden, Director of exhibitions for The Canadian War Museum, part of the Canadian Museum of History, which is Canada’s largest cultural institution. We chat about war, art, creativity, how to curate a museum show and national identity.

I chat to Award winning podcaster and Founder of The Unconventionalists Mark Leruste, who’s TEDx talk “What They Don’t Tell You About Entrepreneurship” is the most watched TEDxCardiff talk to date. I first heard of Mark through his inspiring talks, he later became a client of Robot Mascot. More recently I’ve hired Marks services to help with the development of my Podcast.

I discuss creativity, collaboration and methods and tips on how to write with Ashley Stokes, Author of The Syllabus of Errors and Gigantic his latest novel, Ashley’s writing has been described as ‘catnip for sapiosexuals’. On occasion, Ashley also works with me as a ghost-writer to help build the personal brands for some of our more distinctive clients.

James Church is an award-winning author and Robot Mascot COO, an expert who knows how investors think. Among other things, we talk through his winning methodologies that have helped entrepreneurs raise £millions for their ventures. James and I go way back, we’ve worked in branding and advertising agencies together in the past. And, back in the day, before we found the perfect formula, we even launched some businesses together that failed miserably.