Alex has definitely been my favorite speaker this semester. When talking about his early work with bands, it made me think about how I should maybe reach out to more people here at USC for possible design and illustration opportunities. I’m sure there are student bands that need help, maybe, and that sounds really interesting to me.
Alex also seemed very humble, and I like that he talked about all aspects of his job. He talked about the miserable part of the Paralympics, even though it was an amazing opportunity. When he said that he was moving boxes in the heat, I thought it was really cool. Sometimes I feel like the design lecturers have this dream life that cannot be touched or attained, and he just seemed so normal. I really respected the way he was able to be vulnerable with us as well and talk about his setbacks with substance abuse. I really liked when he said that dysfunction should not be the source of our creativity or best work. So often, we look back on famous artists, like Picasso, with rose-colored glasses and forget how much harm they caused due to their dysfunction. I also would really like to give him credit for his emotional maturity. Although he said he didn’t have the best relationship with his dad, I thought it was very cool that he talked about morally grey areas and how his dad did the best he could with his work ethic when he was a kid.
I don’t know how to feel about Zappos being a very modern “milennial” type brand that has weird things in the office. Sometimes I see businesses like that as kind of a joke. My sister worked at Yik Yak in it’s height about ten years ago and they were like that. They went bankrupt. That’s neither here nor there, though, and who am I to judge. When he talked about the guitars in the office and a possible Strad in his future, I thought that was funny. I didn’t know Stradivarius made guitars. I played cello growing up and Strads were the top dollar instruments.
Something I wanted to ask him, but didn’t get the chance to was where he thinks design opportunities are, as far as cities go. It was interesting how he had so much love for Louisville, KY, and he kind of made me want to go there! I’m not sure that I want to move directly to a big city after graduating, or if I did, I don’t think I would want to stay there long term. I’d love to know where opportunities are for illustrators or design work in general.
I didn’t go into this talk knowing that he was a designer at Zappos, so when he started sharing his work I was really surprised, considering his band inspiration in his early years of designing. It became very corporate very quickly, and I guess it just shows how wide of a pool of inspiration you can have.
Of his tips at the end, my favorites were: you define your own success and design titles are fluid. Good reminder to not sell myself short, and apply for the things I think I can do!
November 12, 2022
