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krislammsidbtjournal · 3 years

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Creative-Problem Interviews

INTERVIEW 1

About Jay Josue. Jay Josue is Sr. Art Director in Los Angeles and currently works at Arcana Academy, an Ad Agency located in Venice. Jay is also a freelance concept and title designer. His selected work can be seen in The Current War (2019), Citizen (2016), Me and Earl and The Dying Girl (2015).

How do you generate ideas? (How, when, and where are you inspired? What inspires you?)

Jay is a big believer in completely submerging yourself in the world of your project. For example, when Jay was working on The Current War (2019), he engulfed himself in learning everything about the Industrial Age. He gained every bit of knowledge about the electricity titans that were Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla. Although Jay’s role in the project was more aligned with typography, he stressed that you need to dive into the world and sit with it. “Find an entry-level way to enter the world in any way, shape, or form. From there, you will begin to see the narrative pulled from the styles, history, and aesthetics of your research”.

When asked what inspires him, Jay answered, “Everything. Everywhere. Anytime.” Jay finds beauty in everything and draws on the emotional presence of his surroundings. He stresses that we often find ourselves strenuously seeking inspiration versus letting our subconscious do the work – it is why our greatest ideas come from the shower. An example of this is when Jay looks at a building, he not only sees the building holistically, but he draws his attention to the inner workings of the multiple layers that make up the building.

What obstacles do you face in coming up with a new idea, and how do you overcome them?

Due to the fast-paced nature of his work, Jay often finds himself challenged with what he calls “Trend Traps.” There is a time and place where a project can take the likings of the newest design trends. However, Jay always strives to come up with something more meaningful in his work.

When asked about overcoming challenges, Jay answered, “As cliché, as it sounds, thinking outside the box helps me combat trend traps.” He encourages always looking at the problem from different angles and allowing yourself to zoom out of the logical problem and think more emotionally. Jay concludes, “By giving yourself a broad perspective in problem-solving and sitting in the world, you will produce more meaningful work.”

What process(es) do you use to solve problems?  

Identify the task at hand.

Be comfortable with the information and sit with it.

Research and place yourself within that world.

Begin ideating through sketching, mood boards, scanning books, etc.

Start experimenting through mock-ups and prototypes.

Distill your best ideas and see what works (perhaps ideas 1 and 3 can be the immediate solution).

Execute and continue polishing your final piece.

Finally, deploy.

Jay shared that his process is akin to a fine-artist discipline. Sometimes, the process can hinder his creativity, so he seeks the delicate balance of building parameters broad enough where he can still play without limitations.

INTERVIEW 2

About Blake Hill-Saya. Blake Hill-Saya is a published author and is the founder of Tenacity Communications, a verbal branding agency in Los Angeles. Blake is also a professional opera singer and licensed physical therapist. Blake brings a unique perspective in her writing with her multifaceted career background.

How do you generate ideas? (How, when, and where are you inspired? What inspires you?)

As a verbal coach, Blake is inspired largely by the conversations she has with her clients. One of her foundational questions is, "Tell me about a time with your job where everything just went incredible and tell me how you were feeling." Blake explains that such questions do not often get posed on clients when attempting to find their brand. What she finds from that question is an interesting language where the brand's true essence comes out.

Blake's original work is inspired by the entire literary landscape and the panoramic view it offers. She habitually reads all day and spends her time listening to podcasts about writing, seeking inspiration by writing down new phrases she has not tried out before or looking to see where she could insert herself into the story. Essentially, Blake enjoys and is inspired by the journey in which it took the author to get to where they are and finds a way to find her journey.

What obstacles do you face in coming up with a new idea, and how do you overcome them?

When it comes to obstacles, "writer's block is a real thing," and for Blake, it manifests when she is either overwhelmed or burnt out. For Blake, it means it is time to get active. She goes on what she calls "writers walk," where she puts on an audiobook of some of her favorite authors or writers. "I like to restore my faith in good writing and feeling like I have a companionship." She can also be found with a notepad on these walks to help with her writer's block. Blake has also adapted the advice by the late author Ray Bradbury which is to read two short stories and one poem.

As a musician, Blake has found that one way to combat being overwhelmed is with a few minor mental tricks which can be applied to any problem. When she needs to learn a new music piece, she breaks them out into portions and gets to rehearsing. Similarly, she finds herself repeating to herself, "just write X number of pages" to get the juices flowing with writing. "You have to find a system that works for you and stick to that system."

What process(es) do you use to solve problems?

Listen and sit with your client. Do it gracefully and inquisitively. Make them feel cared for. Often with businesses, you can get bogged down with business jargon, but as a consultant, you're able to harness the power of listening.

Build a structure but remember to remain flexible. For example, come to a meeting with prepared questions, but don't structure yourself so much that you can still react at the moment. You want your client the walk away to feel like they've been seen and heard.

Always follow up with a thank you email and a personal touch to know that "Hey! I see and hear you, and I'm on your side!"

INTERVIEW 3

About Jourel Baello. Jourel Baello is a Site Merchandiser at MeUndies where he oversees the digital storefront of MeUndies.com, CA-based underwear, and loungewear company. Jourel brings a broad perspective on fast fashion with his unique career journey from traditional brick and mortar retail to eCommerce. Before MeUndies, Jourel worked at Guitar Center as their eCommerce Specialist and spent seven years at Cotton On climbing the corporate ladder from Sales Associate in-store to eCommerce Merchandise Analyst at their LA headquarters.

How do you generate ideas? (How, when, and where are you inspired? What inspires you?)

MeUndies is a key player in the subscription-based business model, so in order to stay ahead, Jourel looks to the industry for emerging trends to elevate their customer experience. He reviews the competitive landscape and finds opportunities other brands may have that MeUndies could bring to the table.

What inspires Jourel is that eCommerce is still relatively in its infancy compared to the larger scope of retail. “Being at the forefront of what eCommerce can become excites me as an early pioneer in the space.” Jourel is also inspired by the ever-changing playing field eCommerce brings. He concludes, “There is no wrong answer, just lots of testing and different ways to approach problems. Finding the piece of the puzzle that no one else can provide is such a fun challenge.”  

What obstacles do you face in coming up with a new idea, and how do you overcome them?

The biggest challenge Jourel faces is centered around bandwidth with the Developers and Engineers. MeUndies, like any eComm retailer, runs 24/7, 365 days of the year, which is great when collecting feedback on how to make the user experience better, but difficult when all of those changes become overlapping projects. Additionally, more pressure is added around seasonal promotions such as Black Friday where a set of new ideas are introduced. Jourel overcomes these challenges with transparent communication with his team. He reviews the project pipeline and identifies areas where things can be moved around. Then, with the blessings from his senior management, he optimizes new deadlines and manages deliverables. “I constantly revisit our roadmap because of how fast things are changing.” Jourel expresses that it is imperative to see the view of each project and its relation to how it may impact other projects.

What process(es) do you use to solve problems?

Ideating – What is the problem at hand? Are we able to come up with a hypothesis? What questions can we ask?

Cross Functional Discussions – Align with outside departments to ensure goals they have in mind are being addressed.

Internal Team Discussion – Discuss with the internal team about research and findings. Discussing what next steps are if it’s needed to go back to ideating phase.

Test. Test. Test. – Aggressively testing to see what options work and narrowing down solutions.

Analyzing Results – Reviewing test results and make implementation decision. At this stage, it can become iterative which helps drive clarity.

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abckidstvyara · 6 years

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Going to the dentist can be anxiety-inducing. Unfortunately, it was no different for me last week when I went to discuss Uniform Teeth’s recent $4 million seed funding round from Lerer Hippeau, Refactor Capital, Founder’s Fund and Slow Ventures.

Uniform Teeth is a clear teeth aligner startup that competes with the likes of Invisalign and Smile Direct Club. The startup takes a One Medical-like approach in that it provides real, licensed orthodontists to see you and treat your bite.

“For us, we’re really focused on transforming the orthodontic experience,” Uniform Teeth CEO Meghan Jewitt told me at the startup’s flagship dental office in San Francisco. “There are a lot of health care companies out there that are taking areas that aren’t very customer-centric.”

Jewitt, who spent a couple of years at One Medical as director of operations, pointed to One Medical, Oscar Insurance and 23andMe as examples of companies taking a very customer-centric approach.

“We are really interested in doing the same for the orthodontics space,” she said.

Ahead of the first visit, patients use the Uniform app to take photos of their teeth and their bite. During the initial visit, patients receive a panoramic scan and 3D imaging to confirm what type of work needs to be done.

Last week during my visit, Jewitt and Uniform Teeth co-founder Dr. Kjeld Aamodt showed me the technology Uniform uses for its patient evaluations.

In the GIF above, you can see I received a 3D panoramic X-ray. The process took about 10 seconds and it’s about the same exposure to X-rays as a flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles, Dr. Aamodt said.

“With that information, we’re able to see the health of your roots, your teeth, the bone, your jaw joints, check for anything that could get worse during treatment,” Dr. Aamodt said.

Below, you can see the 3D scan.

Next is looking in between the teeth. From here, the idea is to get a much more holistic view, Dr. Aamodt said. This is where things got interesting.

If you look at the bottom left of the photo, under my back bottom tooth, you can see a dark circle below the tooth. Dr. Kjeld gently pointed that out to me.

“That tells me there’s bacteria living inside of your jaw,” he explained. “A lot of people have this. It’s pretty common so don’t beat yourself up for it.”

This is when he told me I’d likely need to get a root canal to get rid of it. Mild panic ensued.

Dr. Aamodt showing me the infection.

Dr. Aamodt went on to explain that, if I were a patient of his looking to get my teeth straightened, he would recommend that I first get the root canal before any teeth movement. That’s because, he explained, moving teeth at that point could potentially result in further infection.

“The concern about that is when we move a tooth with that, the infection will get worse and you could risk losing that tooth,” he told me.

Although I was freaking out internally, I continued to move ahead with the process. Next up was the 3D scan, which results in something fancy called a 3D Cone Beam Computed Tomography. This, Dr. Aamodt said, is what really sets Uniform Teeth apart in precision tooth movement.

This process takes the place of dental impressions, which are made by biting into a tray with gooey material. I didn’t feel like getting my bottom teeth scanned, but below is what the top looks like.

At this point Uniform Teeth would share its recommendations with the patient. My personal recommendation was to go see my dentist and, if I’m interested in straightening my teeth, come back once my roots are in a healthy enough state.

From there, I’d receive a custom treatment plan that combines the X-ray plus 3D scan to predict how my teeth will move. After receiving the clear aligners in a couple of weeks, I’d check in with Dr. Aamodt every week via the mobile app. If something were to come up, I could always set up an in-person appointment. Most people average about two to three visits in total, Jewitt said. All of that would add up to about $3,500.

The reason Uniform Teeth requires in-office visits is because 75 percent or more of the cases require additional procedures. For example, some people require small, tooth-colored attachments to be placed onto the clear aligners. Those attachments can help to move teeth in a more advanced way, Dr. Aamodt said.

“If you don’t have these, then you can tip some teeth but you can’t do all of the things to help improve the bite, to create a really lasting, beautiful, healthy smile,” he explained.

Uniform Teeth currently treats patients in San Francisco, but intends to open up additional offices nationwide next year. As the company expands, the plan is to bring on board more full-time orthodontists.

“Right now, we’re an employment-based model and we’d really like to continue that because it allows us to control the experience and deliver a really high-quality service,” Jewitt said.

A lot of companies say they care about the customer when, in reality, they just care about making money. But I genuinely believe Uniform Teeth does care. After I left with my tail between my legs that day, I called my dentist to set up an appointment. The following day, my dentist confirmed what Dr. Aamodt found and proceeded to set me up to get a root canal. A few days later, Dr. Aamodt checked in with me via the mobile app to ask me how I was doing and to make sure I was getting it treated. I was pleased to let him know, as Olivia Pope likes to say, “It’s handled.”

Tech startups want to go inside your mouth

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nofomoartworld · 7 years

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[NSFW] 23 Neon-Soaked Nude Portraits Explore the Intricacies of Sex and Gender

There is a strange sense of exoticism you can't help but feel when looking at Maggie West's nude images in her latest photo book 23. It isn't an exploitative exoticism solely relating to the gender and sexuality presented by her subjects, but more of a futuristic exoticism, where her images seem to describe a cultural moment that is yet to come.

Bodies are draped in lights of the most vivacious colors; X-ray blues, UFO beam yellows, darkroom reds. These artificial lights ironically make her subjects more real or hyperreal, draping each person in an accentuated way. Each image allows you to grasp the personality of a subject, not through their body language as in typical photography, but through the way light manifests itself on each person's body. These images are just as much light paintings as they are photographic portraits.

23 isn't the first instance where Maggie West has used colored lights to magnificent effect, in what appears to be a long-term exploration in her work she says, "Color perception is such an essential part of our visual experience. I've found that when you dramatically alter the colors of a subject, it causes the viewer to stop and re-examine what they are looking at." West tells Creators, "In this way, I sought to challenge the viewer's perception of sexuality through the use of a visually intense color palette, to both literally and figuratively see gender and sex in a 'new light.'"

The focus of 23 is ultimately on the diversity of the bodies she depicts. "I wanted to make a book that had a more contemporary outlook on gender and sex. While looking at a lot of existing nude photography books, I noticed that most of them dealt with sexuality in a very binary way: masculine men, feminine women, and so on," she reveals.

"With 23, I wanted to showcase a collection of photos that were more inclusive to all genders and sexual identities. I feel like if you are going to make a photo book that is reflective of current sexuality, it would be absurd not to include LGBTQ individuals. I also feel like the nudity in the images accentuates the fact that gender and sexuality exist on a spectrum," West adds. Each body is unique and yet, the reader cannot help but notice the many similarities."

23 will be launching on April 26 th with an opening party at The Standard in downtown Los Angeles, with a special performance by drag performer Alaska Thunderfuck 5000. More of Maggie West's magically light images can be seen here.

See Flowers in a New Light in This Hallucinatory Photo Series

With Joyful Photos, a 19-Year-Old Artist Confronts Media Bias Against Black Male Teens

See All the Seasons of Norway in Panoramic 8K Splendor

from creators http://ift.tt/2npTmrt via IFTTT

#IFTTT #creators

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