We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brandon Moore a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Brandon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?
They know the value of Design, Marketing, and Advertising but are rarely willing to pay fairly for it. Most pro and collegiate sports teams are great examples of this. They pay terribly compared to agencies or similar in-house teams in other industries and expect a lot more. Working on weekends, nights, and getting a raise or promotion can be very hard unless you play the political, corporate games required. Like staying late (without compensation) being “a good look”.
Big corporation structure is also horrible for creating good Design or anything artistic. They are filled with middle people who only exist to water down the ideas of people who are actually doing the work and actually qualified to make decisions about it.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I graduated from Full Sail University in 2009 with a degree in Graphic Design. I’ve worked in 3 different in-house Design roles, including the Miami Dolphins. I’ve written a book on logo design and kept a blog called “Graphic Language” for over a decade. Now, I’m a fully independent Designer + Art Director + Illustrator.
Concept-driven Design is the foundation on which I build beautiful ideas. I admire artists like Jimi Hendrix for his blazing defiance of convention and brands like Converse because they’ll never go out of style. It’s that mix of audacity and timelessness which makes something classic. I strive for that in my own work as a Designer.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
i love that digital artists have a new means of selling their work and creating an audience that they’ve never had before. But for the majority in the space, this is not the art revolution that many think it is. its an expansion (both from creators and buyers) of the elite art establishment. it is driven mostly by the worst aspects of capitalism which produces lame art, and status-seeking buyers.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
i graduated college in 2009 when the recession was still going so finding a job was hard. it took me a year. i was living in Indiana and wanted more than anything to be back in Orlando where I went to college. i finally was hired by a small time-share company, designing web graphics and promotional materials. it wasn’t glamorous, but it was my way out of Indiana and a professional start in Design.
i had only a few hundred dollars at the time. it was enough to fly to Orlando and stay at a Motel 6 for a few nights and a $50/week motel infested with cockroaches for a month. i walked to work. at some point i sought out a family friend to stay at his trailer park home for a week. i took a bus there. i rode the bus about an hour to work that week. everything i had at the time was in a large suitcase and a computer bag. i dragged that heavy suitcase along from the closest bus stop to the trailer park for about 20 minutes in the hot, Orlando sun. at some point thinking about what all this is worth and when will things turn around, i thought of my grandfather. he fought in the Battle of The Bulge during WWII at 19 years old. i felt i had no reason to complain.
i had got my first paycheck finally on a friday, but it wouldn’t go into my account until Monday morning. i had $0 and staying at my family friends place that weekend, he went out of town for work. he had as much food as i had money; for Friday night—monday morning i stayed at that trailer watching TV and ate 1 can of beans and drank a LOT of water. (that Monday i walked to the closest gas station and devoured 2 subs).
i stayed at the $50/w motel for a couple more weeks until i finally had enough money for to move into an apartment in north Orlando. it had a direct bus line to work right outside my door. back then, rent was $700/M for that 1 bedroom apartment and its still the nicest place I’ve ever lived. once i moved in, i had some of the best years of my life. working nights on my own freelance projects and personal projects to build my portfolio. that was the beginning of getting to where i am now. it was worth every second.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bmcreative.net/info
- Instagram: @bmoorecreativ
- Twitter: @bmoorecreativ
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpvZ3cqFv0lKs3KVb6VeOvg