545 - Bob Smith
Welcome to the wild world of west coast nostalgia master Bob Smith. Cutting his teeth at Nike for over a decade, Bob thrived with their boundless resources and struggled through being micro managed for optimal efficiency. His creativity is contagious throughout this interview covering everything from aiming high to the allure of 21 Jump Street to fighting through motivational anxiety. Nothing can stop this California Transplant from gnashing his teeth at the world and forging ahead with his latest endeavor, OreCal Sportswear. Bob has taken his decades of experience and honed in on his passion to create an immersive, high quality experience told through apparel and we get to hear about how he accomplished just that. He knows how to play and he knows exactly what he wants to say so be sure you listen to a master at his craft.
Talking Points
The difficult adjustment of Being dragged up to Oregon at ten years old.
Growing through difficulty and Sagmeister's take on happiness.
Los Angeles Nostalgia and all the special sorts of bat shit we hold onto.
The west coast story behind OreCal.
The insecurity of the creative mind coupled with the arrogance to know better.
Motivational anxiety.
Unpacking definitions of the stressors that are holding you back.
Building a Nike store inside Nike with a small budget and some blind faith.
Regional ads, tapping into the zeitgeist, and losing the sexy core of the company.
Ratcheting up your presentation each time you do it until the powers that be get the message.
The problem solving part of design that isn't design at all and the crucial ability to execute.
A decade of working in a formative environment that can show you what works.
Making a souvenir of the story you're told and what makes you hold onto something.
The importance of "Fuck You Money."
Blowing smoke up everyone's ass to keep an entire corporation on the same page.
Senior Troublemaker: Department of Office Confiscation.
The energy to innovate versus the energy to operate.
Feeling betrayed by Nike and bracing your ego for moving on.
Mid life creative crisis that might be linked to drop offs in testosterone.
Templates and gray spaces in education and learning how to learn.
The triple crown in Shoe City.
Pouring your life's experience into OreCal and the fuel of curiosity.
Aim high, be smart, and slowly working your way to the front of the plane.
Where is the profitability?
Developing sustainability in your brand while you go global with a brand based off two American states.
Growth arcs, spirit, and deliberately working the reoccurring patterns in your favor.
You know how to play, but what do you want to say?
Taking The Grateful Dead approach to a brand.
Telling your story and the importance of narratives.
"Design is a good idea."
Environments that give off great energy, compartmentalization, and overall management capabilities.
Is it better to not know who you're talking to?
The benefit of meeting your peers and leaving your creative bubble.
Developing the intuition to know how many bells and whistles your product needs.
The devil in the details and the social cues we make off appearance.
Can't versus won't and observation versus judgement.
Neglecting the imagery that feeds into the experience.
Finding your identity on 21 Jump Street in a town without any punk rockers around.
Protecting your bat shit and making connections.
Microchoices that effect your entire life and waxing poetic on a spiderweb of choices.
Getting aggressive and keeping your mind tuned up to the challenge ahead of you.
The Magic on the tape belongs to us.
Brian Flynn gives you a behind the scenes look at what makes good design that tells will put the why in your work and fuel your brand's storytelling.
Johnny Cupcakes has his own special type of batshit that he infused into his retail spaces that are as thought out as the retro store Bob built at Nike.
In this Breaking News the boys get into the same type of strategies Bob used ti start his brand OreCal at an international level instead of one local shop.