ArtsDesignBusinessEntrepreneurship

Creative Figures

Creative Figures is a long-form interview show about how creative people actually live and work. One guest per episode — artists, designers, illustrators, writers, filmmakers, makers of every kind — and no hurry: the practice behind the portfolio, the decisions behind the career, the parts that never make the highlight reel. Between conversations, occasional solo episodes on craft and creative independence.

Filmed in full — watch at creativefigures.fm, or listen wherever you get your shows.

Hosted by Alen Kapetanovic.
Formerly CAPTN OffScript.

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22 episodes
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Avg 39 min
English

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Wednesday · 7 min
E95 — Second Take: Gemma O'Brien, "What Flow Actually Feels Like"
Gemma O'Brien describes flow as a forgetting of yourself. Fully absorbed, at one with the work, no sense of time passing. Then the conversation turns to boredom, and that half is the sharper one. This is Second Take, a short format on the show. One idea, one guest, lifted out of a longer conversation. You do not need to have heard the original. Gemma talks about why flow arrives by surprise rather than on demand, the difference between being absorbed and being zoned out, and why filling in a mural outline does not count. She contrasts it with scrolling, which also makes time disappear but leaves you without any sense of agency or control. She is also open about the parts of her job that bore her. Admin, client emails, the middle phase of a project that is all small tweaks and colour changes. A few years ago she resisted all of it, on the logic that this was supposed to be her passion so it should all be fun. She does not think that any more, and what she says instead is the part worth hearing. Full conversation with Gemma: https://captnoffscript.com/s02-e35-gemma-obrien-bored-of-herself/ Find Gemma here: Website: https://www.gemmaobrien.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrseaves101 Find me here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript Website: https://captnoffscript.com/
August 18 · 7 min
E94 - Second Take: Mat Voyce, "I Hated Motion Design"
Mat Voyce makes motion work for Nike, Pepsi and Disney+. He also tried animation at university, hated it, and decided he would never do it again. This is Second Take, a new short format on the show. One idea, one guest, lifted out of a longer conversation. You do not need to have heard the original. Mat got one A across eleven GCSEs. It was graphic design. He dropped out of AS levels because the school would not keep him on for two subjects. He went to art college, did nothing but design for two years, and left with a distinction and student of the year. Then he got to university, dropped back to the bottom of the pack, and sat the animation module he still shows in talks as the thing he swore off. He also talks about the big brand names arriving, and the imposter syndrome that came with them and never really left. Full conversation with Mat: https://captnoffscript.com/s02-e08-mat-voyce-on-anxiety-creativity-and-finding-your-thing/ Find Mat here: Instagram: https://instagram.com/matvoyce Website: https://www.matvoyce.tv/ Find me here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript Website: https://captnoffscript.com/
August 14 · 4 min
Bonus 007 - Simon Flöter: His Grandfather's Love Letters & What He'd Make if Money Didn't Matter
This is the seventh Captn OffScript bonus, and the last one of Season 2. After a main episode spent in the trenches, I asked Simon Flöter one question that flips it all upside down: if you woke up tomorrow with complete financial stability, never worrying about money again, what would you work on? It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. His first answer: he'd finish things. And then he told me about the letters. His father found a bundle his grandfather wrote to his grandmother, from 1930s Germany onwards, love letters mixed with the small facts of daily life. Simon barely knew him. His dream is to turn them into what he calls an online timepiece: the letters sorted so they read like a book, searchable, with the old words and the history behind each moment explained as you read. Two people in love, talking to each other across the darkest of decades, with the human side of it, in his words, kind of beautiful. Also on the list: fusing his design, code and illustration into something that doesn't exist yet, a zine with friends, and the video game he's always wanted to make. In this conversation we talked about: What he'd work on if money stopped mattering His grandfather's love letters from 1930s Germany The online timepiece he dreams of building from them Fusing design, code and illustration into something new A zine with friends, and the video game he's carried for years The main episode this bonus extends: S02/E38 — Simon Flöter on Life in the Trenches & Not Making Decisions From Fear https://captnoffscript.com/s02-e38-simon-floter-life-in-the-trenches Find Simon here: Design: https://floter.design/ Illustration: https://floter.ink/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floter.ink LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/floter/ Find me here: Website: https://captnoffscript.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript If this resonated, listen to: Kristof Devos (S02/E31) — another conversation about making things for the joy of making them. This was the final Captn OffScript bonus of Season 2. Newsletter subscribers get every bonus on YouTube a week before it reaches the podcast feeds. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter to get them first when the show returns.
S2 · E38
August 4 · 57 min
S02/E38 - Simon Flöter on Life in the Trenches & Not Making Decisions From Fear
For the final episode of Season 2, I didn't want a victory lap. Simon Flöter is a German illustrator, designer and developer living in Amsterdam, and he told me early on: this is not a success story. This is from the trenches. His commercial illustration work vanished this year, and he suspects AI swallowed it. Money got extremely tight. He just landed a job that should carry him through the rest of the year. And through all of it, he kept drawing, the way he has since he was a kid tracing Batman comics and getting rejected from every art school he applied to. We talked about the trenches most designers are actually in right now, why the anger at AI is really anger at corporate greed, and his advice that gives this episode its title: never make decisions from fear. In this episode: Growing up in Munich, where nobody said the word artist Tracing Batman comics and Playboy pages to learn anatomy Getting rejected from every art school, and drawing anyway Germany vs the Netherlands: who asks for your diploma The year the illustration jobs vanished His Zwarte Piet website, and why traditions can change Why coding feels like a puzzle, and what AI took from it "We can do this now, but is it good? Do we have to?" Don't decide from fear, and separate yourself from your work The poster he made for his partner Tracy Find Simon here: Design: https://floter.design/ Illustration: https://floter.ink/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floter.ink LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/floter/ Find me here: Website: https://captnoffscript.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript The final Friday bonus of the season: I asked Simon what he'd work on if money stopped mattering tomorrow. His answer involves his grandfather's love letters from 1930s Germany, a zine with friends, and a video game. Newsletter subscribers get it first, a week before it's public. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. If you liked this episode, listen to: Martyna Wędzicka (S02/E33) — another conversation about holding onto your own way of working when everything pushes you to compromise. That's Season 2. Thank you for listening to every conversation, the big names and the trenches alike.
July 24 · 7 min
Bonus 006 - Halli Thorleifsson: Rebuilding Yourself Brick by Brick
This is the sixth bonus episode of Captn OffScript. In Halli Thorleifsson's main episode we covered everything he's built: the agency he sold to Twitter and rebuilt, the almost 2,000 wheelchair ramps, the tax he chose to pay. This is the conversation about what he's been rebuilding underneath it all, himself, in his words, brick by brick. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. When Halli stopped drinking, he stopped the numbing but never went looking for what he'd been numbing. It took more than twenty years to come back to it. The hard things in his life, his disease, losing his mother young, had each gone into a box he never looked into. A survival technique that worked as a kid, and quietly stopped working as an adult. So he opened the boxes: two to three years of therapy, physical and mental, and, gradually and with help, letting the numbness lift after two decades. He's honest that nothing is fixed, that he's holding himself together mostly, and that he's better equipped than he's ever been. This is his path, not a template, and he shares it with an honesty very few people manage. In this conversation we talked about: Why he needs many things to work on, and what happens when he doesn't Rebuilding yourself brick by brick The boxes he packed away as a kid and never looked into Two to three years of therapy, physical and mental Learning to feel everything again, slowly and with help Timestamps: No chapters for this bonus. The main episode this bonus extends: S02/E37 — Halli Thorleifsson on Building Ueno Twice & Designing Things People Actually Use https://captnoffscript.com/s02-e37-halli-thorleifsson-building-ueno-twice Find Halli here: Website: https://www.haraldurthorleifsson.com/ Ueno: https://www.ueno.co/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haraldurthorleifsson/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haraldur-thorleifsson-359aaa5b/ Find me here: Website: https://captnoffscript.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript If this resonated, listen to: Andy J. Pizza (S02/E30) — another honest conversation about the slow inner work behind a creative life. This was the sixth Captn OffScript bonus episode. Newsletter subscribers get future bonuses on YouTube a week before they reach the podcast feeds. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter.
July 17 · 7 min
Bonus 005 — Teresa Ferreira: Whose Voice Is That? Making Peace with Imposter Syndrome
This is the fifth bonus episode of Captn OffScript. When Teresa Ferreira and I recorded her main episode, we got into imposter syndrome and self-worth, and it was honest enough that I kept it back for this. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. Teresa's first point is the most reassuring one: imposter syndrome doesn't go away. Not with success, not with experience. You just get better at spotting it. Her tool for catching it is a question I've been repeating ever since, whose voice is that? Because the critical voice is almost never yours. It's usually something someone said to you growing up that you've disproved a hundred times since. We also got into why creatives tie their whole self-worth to their work, her brilliant line that nobody who looks after trees feels worthless when one doesn't grow, and the thing I admitted out loud: I check my stats most mornings before I've done anything else. The numbers don't measure you. They never did. In this conversation we talked about: Why imposter syndrome never goes away "Whose voice is that?" and how to catch it Why creatives tie their self-worth to their work Why your followers and earnings don't measure your value How the morning metrics check quietly steals your worth Timestamps: No chapters for this bonus. The main episode this bonus extends: S02/E36 — Teresa Ferreira on Digging Her Way Into Design & Letting Go of the Perfect Day https://captnoffscript.com/s02-e36-teresa-ferreira-digging-into-design Find Teresa here: Website: https://www.ferrgoodstudio.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teresaferrgoodstudio/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferreirateresa/ Find me here: Website: https://captnoffscript.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript If this resonated, listen to: Andy J. Pizza (S02/E30) — another honest conversation about self-worth and untangling who you are from what you produce. This was the fifth Captn OffScript bonus episode. Newsletter subscribers get future bonuses on YouTube a week before they reach the podcast feeds. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter.
S2 · E37
July 14 · 53 min
S02/E37 - Halli Thorleifsson on Building Ueno Twice & Designing Things People Actually Use
Haraldur "Halli" Thorleifsson built the design agency Ueno from nothing, sold it to Twitter in 2021, and made a decision almost nobody makes: he structured the sale so he'd pay as much tax as possible, in Iceland, on purpose. Because Iceland is the country that gave a kid from a poor family with muscular dystrophy the chance to build something in the first place. Then he started Ramp Up, which has put almost 2,000 wheelchair ramps across Iceland and is now expanding to Ukraine and Panama. And six or eight months ago, he rebooted Ueno to work on design in the AI era, because, in his words, he was bored, and his brain needs a problem to chew on. This was not the lightest conversation I've had on the show. It might be one of the most worth your time. In this episode: Why he chose to pay the tax everyone told him to avoid Growing up poor with muscular dystrophy Seeing the world as decisions people made, or didn't make Ramp Up: from 100 ramps in Reykjavik to almost 2,000 across Iceland The Musk moment, and what it taught him about perception vs reality Building Ueno twice, and designing beyond the text box in the AI era Getting humbled by users again and again, and going again anyway What AI means for young designers entering the industry The decision to stop drinking that changed everything Kids, independence, and the sweater he can't unravel Timestamps: 00:00 Meeting Halli Thorleifsson 00:40 Choosing to pay the tax in Iceland 06:40 Growing up poor with muscular dystrophy 09:29 Starting Ramp Up, and the world as decisions 12:06 Progress, and the case for impatience 14:52 The Musk moment, and perception vs reality 16:30 What he's building now, and getting humbled by users 18:59 Why he rebooted Ueno 24:05 What AI means for young designers 27:47 Sharing a studio with his artist wife 31:19 Getting sober, the decision that changed everything 33:13 New York, Tokyo and the cities that shaped him 35:03 What children force you to become 41:56 Creativity as building his own world 43:18 The sweater he can't unravel 45:54 What people should know about Iceland 49:15 Advice to eight-year-old Halli Find Halli here: Website: https://www.haraldurthorleifsson.com/ Ueno: https://www.ueno.co/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haraldurthorleifsson/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haraldur-thorleifsson-359aaa5b/ Find me here: Website: https://captnoffscript.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript This week's Friday bonus: Halli and I go deeper into the rebuilding: rebuilding yourself brick by brick, the boxes he packed away as a kid and never looked into, and what surfaced when the numbness lifted after 20 years. It goes to newsletter subscribers first, a week before it's public. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. If you liked this episode, listen to: Radim Malinic (S02/E34) — Halli says creativity let him build a world he wanted to live in; Radim's episode is the other side of that same coin.
S2 · E36
July 7 · 53 min
S02/E36 - Teresa Ferreira on Digging Her Way Into Design & Letting Go of the Perfect Day
Some people walk a straight line into design. Teresa Ferreira dug her way in, through archaeology. She was born in Lisbon, spent part of her childhood in Macau, has lived in London for nineteen years, ran design at the Financial Times, and now runs her own studio, Ferrgood. When I said she felt like the whole world in one person, I wasn't exaggerating. What I didn't expect was how much of this conversation would be about slowing down and letting go. Teresa was talked out of art as a kid, found her way back through archaeological illustration, burned out twice, and eventually learned to release the idea of a perfect day that had been quietly setting her up to fail every single evening. In this episode: Growing up between Lisbon, Macau and London Being talked out of art, and finding design through archaeology From museum graphics to head of design at the Financial Times Building brands that last, and why she thinks in centuries Leaving the safety of a big brand, and the self-doubt that came with it Burning out twice, and what finally made her leave The "perfect day" she chased that set her up to fail Choosing a slower life, and getting good at saying no The one drawing she'd keep if she had to delete everything else Timestamps: 00:00 Meeting Teresa Ferreira 01:25 Growing up between Lisbon, Macau and London 04:04 The unlikely path from archaeology to design 10:35 Moving into graphic design and the Financial Times 13:00 Building brands that last 16:50 Self-doubt, and leaving the safety of big brands 19:28 Burning out, twice 25:03 The perfect balanced day 29:48 Letting go of perfectionism 33:43 Choosing a slower life 40:24 Journaling and daily practice 46:13 The drawing she'd keep, and advice to young Teresa Find Teresa here: Website: https://www.ferrgoodstudio.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teresaferrgoodstudio/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ferreirateresa/ Find me here: Website: https://captnoffscript.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript This week's Friday bonus: Teresa and I go deep on imposter syndrome, why it never goes away, how to catch it by asking "whose voice is that?", and why the numbers have nothing to do with your worth. It goes to newsletter subscribers first, a week before it's public. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. If you liked this episode, listen to: Kristof Devos (S02/E31) — another conversation about slowing down, resisting the hustle, and building a calmer creative life.
July 3 · 10 min
Bonus 004 - Gemma O'Brien: Making Peace with Burnout & Studying the Flow State
This is the fourth bonus episode of Captn OffScript. When Gemma O'Brien and I recorded her main episode, we got into burnout and flow, and I held that part back for this. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. Gemma has talked about burnout in a lot of other interviews, so I didn't want to rehash it. What I wanted, as someone who leans towards overworking, was the thing underneath it: how she sees it coming, and what she actually does about it now. Her answer was calmer than I expected. She's made peace with burnout by treating it as information about her process rather than a catastrophe. She talks about a sweet spot, too much work and you burn out, too little and you're bored and understimulated, and about looking after the foundations: sleep, rest, human connection, nature. Then we got into flow, which she's now studying formally, reading neuroscience papers on the very thing she's spent her life inside. Her line on it: she's like a chef who cooks an incredible meal for someone else, then comes home and eats McDonald's. In this conversation we talked about: Why she's made peace with burnout The sweet spot between overworking and being understimulated The foundations that make high-level work sustainable Studying flow state from the outside, and why that's tricky Why flow matters more as AI makes everything convenient Timestamps: [Awaiting confirmation] The main episode this bonus extends: S02/E35 — Gemma O'Brien on Getting Bored of Herself & Refusing to Pick One Thing https://captnoffscript.com/s02-e35-gemma-obrien-bored-of-herself Find Gemma here: Website: https://www.gemmaobrien.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrseaves101 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/studiogemmaobrien/ Find me here: captnoffscript.com @captnoffscript If this resonated, listen to: Radim Malinic (S02/E34) — another conversation about overwork, the cost of doing too much, and learning to look after yourself. This was the fourth Captn OffScript bonus episode. Newsletter subscribers get future bonuses on YouTube a week before they reach the podcast feeds. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter.
June 26 · 6 min
Bonus 003 - Radim Malinic: The Sabre-Tooth Tiger in Your Head & Why You Can't Unlearn Fear
This is the third bonus episode of Captn OffScript. When Radim Malinic and I recorded his main episode, the conversation about fear came near the end, and it was good enough that I kept it back for this. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. It's short, and it's the most reassuring thing I've put out in a while. Radim used to think you could unlearn fear, get rid of it entirely, and then realised you can't. Fear isn't a fault in the system. It's the system doing what it was built to do. We've been wired by evolution to look out for things that could kill us, and that wiring hasn't changed even though the threats have. So when you think about sharing your work with a thousand strangers, your body runs the exact same programme it would run for a sabre-tooth tiger in the bushes. Same mechanism, same flood of fear. The line I'd want you to keep: when you freeze, ask whether the tiger is actually coming. Most of the time, it isn't. In this conversation we talked about: Why fear can't be unlearned, only understood Why your brain treats sharing your work like a sabre-tooth tiger How we're wired for survival but live in an era of pleasure Why the reward only comes after the difficult part Real risk versus the risk your body invents Fear as a sensation you can work with The question to ask when you freeze The main episode this bonus extends: S02/E34 — Radim Malinic on Creativity as Escape & Becoming More of Who You Already Are https://captnoffscript.com/s02-e34-radim-malinic-creativity-as-escape Find Radim here: Website: https://radimmalinic.co.uk/ Podcast: https://radimmalinic.co.uk/podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radim.malinic/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandnu/ Find me here: captnoffscript.com @captnoffscript If this resonated, listen to: CJ Cawley (S02/E32) — another conversation about doing the work and putting yourself out there even when everything tells you not to. This was the third Captn OffScript bonus episode. Newsletter subscribers get future bonuses on YouTube a week before they reach the podcast feeds. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter.
S2 · E35
June 23 · 54 min
S02/E35 - Gemma O'Brien on Getting Bored of Herself & Refusing to Pick One Thing
Gemma O'Brien is a lettering artist, a fine artist, a muralist, and most recently a student of neuroaesthetics. She's painted a billboard in Times Square, had work acquired by a museum, and she has a public Strava profile on her website, because running is as much a part of her as the lettering is. I'd been trying to get her on the show for a long time, and the hardest part was knowing where to start. So we talked about how someone ends up doing this many things at once, and why she has no intention of narrowing it down. The line that stayed with me: after ticking off every career goal she'd ever dreamed of, she went back to university because she'd grown "almost bored of myself." In this episode: Her intuitive path from law to lettering to neuroscience Why she has Strava on her website, and runs to galleries The 2008 video she uploaded by accident that launched her career Going back to school after a Times Square billboard and a museum acquisition Getting bored of herself, and wanting to feel fresh on stage again Where her love of lettering really came from Refusing to pick one thing, and making peace with the boring parts Still feeling imposter syndrome, and forgetting her own achievements The one word she'd keep if she had to destroy everything else Find Gemma here: Website: https://www.gemmaobrien.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrseaves101 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/studiogemmaobrien/ Find me here: captnoffscript.com @captnoffscript This week's Friday bonus: Gemma and I go deeper into burnout and the flow state, the hidden cost of doing this much, and what it takes to protect your focus. It goes to newsletter subscribers first, a week before it's public. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. If you liked this episode, listen to: Jessica Hische (S02/E21) — another lettering artist on building a creative life on her own terms, and why imposter syndrome never fully goes away.
June 19 · 7 min
Bonus 002 - Martyna Wędzicka: Posters Made of Yarn & Why Graphic Designers Don't Retire
This is the second bonus episode of Captn OffScript. When Martyna Wędzicka and I recorded her main episode, we spent most of it on the past and the present. But right at the end, I asked her where she's heading next, and the answer was so warm and so hopeful that I held it back for this. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. It's a short one, and a lovely one. Martyna noticed a pattern in her own career: roughly every four to five years, she rediscovers herself and her style. She thinks she's at the edge of one of those cycles right now, and the next thing turns out to be knitting. Her husband calls what she makes "her posters, made of yarn." She talks about fabric as another canvas, the same design thinking carried out in a different material, and about choosing the handmade on purpose as a counterweight to AI. And then the line I can't stop thinking about: graphic designers don't retire. In this conversation we talked about: The four-to-five-year pattern of reinventing herself Knitting, and why her husband calls it "posters made of yarn" Fabric as another canvas for the same design thinking Making things by hand as a counter to AI How she actually uses AI, and where she won't Why graphic designers don't retire Maybe becoming a fashion designer in ten years The main episode this bonus extends: S02/E33 — Martyna Wędzicka on Being Weird, Polish Design & Why You Can't Rush Your Style https://captnoffscript.com/s02-e33-martyna-wedzicka-being-weird-style Find Martyna here: Website: https://www.wedzicka.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wedzicka_com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyna-w%C4%99dzicka-obuchowicz-69343252/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wedzicka Find me here: captnoffscript.com @captnoffscript This was the second Captn OffScript bonus episode. Newsletter subscribers get future bonuses on YouTube a week before they reach the podcast feeds. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter.
S2 · E34
June 16 · 1 hr
S02/E34 - Radim Malinic on Creativity as Escape & Becoming More of Who You Already Are
Radim Malinic has been a role model of mine for years. He's a designer, a writer, a speaker, he runs the agency Brand Nu, he hosts his own podcast, and he's built a whole philosophy around the idea of daring creativity. I expected this conversation to be about all of that output. Instead it became one of the most honest talks I've had on the show, about the cost of the work and the years he spent hiding inside it. He told me he once thought he was the happiest person in the world while crying into his birthday cake from overwork. We talked about creativity as escape, growing up in Czechoslovakia and wanting to blend in as an immigrant, reaching therapy at forty, and the philosophy he built out of all of it: become more of who you already are, because everyone else is taken. In this episode: What daring creativity actually means Becoming "singular" and refusing to compare yourself Doing things before he knew how, an agency before he'd ever worked in one The immigrant who wanted to be called John Smith Looking like the happiest person in the world while burning out Creativity as a way to hide from himself Reaching therapy at forty, and unlearning the stigma he grew up with Radical accountability and the anger he didn't know he had Why he'd happily delete all his work and start the next mountain Find Radim here: Website: https://radimmalinic.co.uk/ Podcast: https://radimmalinic.co.uk/podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radim.malinic/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandnu/ Find me here: captnoffscript.com @captnoffscript This week's Friday bonus: Radim and I go deep on fear, why you can't unlearn it, and why your brain treats sharing your work with strangers like a sabre-tooth tiger in the bushes. It goes to newsletter subscribers first, a week before it's public. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter. If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful.
June 12 · 23 min
Bonus 001 - CJ Cawley & Alen: The Scripts We Were Given & the People Who Helped Us Change Them
his is the first-ever bonus episode of Captn OffScript. CJ Cawley and I recorded the main S02/E32 conversation for over an hour and twenty minutes, and somewhere around the hour mark it took a turn that didn't belong in the main episode and didn't deserve to be cut either. So we held it back. It went to newsletter subscribers first as a private YouTube link. Today it's available here too. This is the more personal part of our conversation. CJ talks openly about growing up on a council estate in London, leaving home at 16, and cutting ties with his family two to three years ago. I share my own parallel story for the first time in public — Bosnia, a relationship with my mum that I'm grateful for, and most of the rest of the family almost non-existent. It's a conversation about the scripts we were given as kids, the partners who helped us rewrite them, and finding home far from where we started. If this is one you needed to hear, I hope it does for you what it did for us when we were having it. In this conversation we talked about: The script you're given by your parents as a child Leaving home at 16 and living above a pub Cutting ties with family after years of trying The partners who saw the good part first Finding home far from where we started Why we wouldn't change it, even if we could The main episode this bonus extends: S02/E32 — CJ Cawley: Getting Cloned, Getting Married & Showing Up Anyway https://captnoffscript.com/s02-e32-cj-cawley-showing-up-anyway Find CJ here: Website: https://www.cjcawley.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cjcawleydesign Sticky Notes podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreStickyNotes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cj.cawley.design/ Find me here: captnoffscript.com @captnoffscript This was the first-ever Captn OffScript bonus episode. Newsletter subscribers get future bonuses on YouTube a week before they reach the podcast feeds. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter.
S2 · E33
June 9 · 55 min
S02/E33 - Martyna Wędzicka on Being Weird, Polish Design & Why You Can't Rush Your Style
Martyna Wędzicka is a Polish graphic designer from Gdańsk with one of the most distinctive styles working today. She's a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale, a two-time winner of the Polish Graphic Design Awards, and she built her entire body of work on something most designers are taught to avoid: mistakes. "I really wanted to destroy something," she told me. "That was my main goal." We talked about what that actually means, why finding your style takes ten years and not ten hours, and what it's like to be a designer from a part of Europe the rest of the world keeps overlooking. In this conversation we got into: Why she builds her style out of chance, error, and "organising mistakes" The truth she tells students about how long style really takes Leaving her own studio because she'd become a project manager, not a designer Why being "not Western enough" turned into her biggest strength Keeping a Polish name on purpose, and her mission to make Polish design visible Being the weird kid in a Polish village, and why that's where style is born 🎙️ This week's Friday bonus: Martyna shares where she's heading next — the reinvention pattern she's spotted in her career, why she's knitting now, what she's making with her hands in an AI-driven world, and why graphic designers don't retire. Newsletter subscribers get it first, as a private link. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 04:35 A Polish name, and making Polish design visible 07:33 Leaving the studio to design again 10:41 Why her style never stops shifting 13:38 What recognition actually took 16:37 Turning mistakes into a style 19:34 Why style takes years, not hours 22:27 Breaking into the global design world 32:27 Visual identity through an art-history lens 35:14 Finding what makes you different 39:55 Weirdness as the source of style 43:31 What nine years of art school did to her 47:04 Teaching, and how to give good feedback 50:24 Why she'd rather open minds than teach software Find Martyna here: Website: https://www.wedzicka.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wedzicka_com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martyna-w%C4%99dzicka-obuchowicz-69343252/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wedzicka Find me here: captnoffscript.com @captnoffscript If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. 🙏 If you liked this episode, listen to: Marta Cerdà Alimbau (S02/E26) — another European designer with an unmistakable, art-led personal style and a deep relationship with craft. For the conversations behind the episodes, including the occasional Friday bonus, subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter.
S2 · E32
June 2 · 1 hr 3 min
S02/E32 - CJ Cawley: Getting Cloned, Getting Married & Showing Up Anyway
CJ Cawley is having the strangest year of his career. Someone built a pixel-for-pixel clone of his website and replaced his face with theirs. A parody video of him triggered a wave of hate inside the design community. He's getting married this weekend. And through all of it, he keeps showing up on camera. This is one of the episodes I've been most looking forward to publishing all season. We recorded for over an hour and twenty minutes, and the conversation went so deep that the most personal part is going out as a separate bonus episode. The main one is here. The bonus drops Friday as the first-ever exclusive bonus episode of Captn OffScript, available only to newsletter subscribers for the first 7 days. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter. In this episode we talked about: The website clone called Delwox and his perfect retaliation The parody video and the pile-on inside the design community Getting married this weekend with a surf simulator and an aerial hoop Psoriasis, the camera, and why no one cares what you look like Sticky Notes and four years of private calls with Jack before pressing record The McDonald's theory of AI Knob head tax and interviewing clients before saying yes The loneliness of going freelance, and the friend who pulled him through it What he's most grateful for in the year before his wedding 🎙️ The bonus episode on Friday: CJ and I share the most personal part of our conversation, about childhood, family, and rewriting the script you were given as a kid. Newsletter subscribers only for the first 7 days. Subscribe at https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter. Timestamps: [Awaiting confirmation] Find CJ here: Website: https://www.cjcawley.com/ Studio (Seeside Studio): https://www.seesidestudio.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cjcawleydesign Sticky Notes podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreStickyNotes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cj.cawley.design/ Find me here: https://captnoffscript.com/ https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript If you liked this episode, listen to... Andy J. Pizza (S02/E30) — another deeply personal conversation about showing up on camera, working with what you've got, and cultivating yourself instead of trying to fix yourself. If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. 🙏
S2 · E31
May 27 · 1 hr
S02/E31 - Kristof Devos on Designing Watches That Tell You to Slow Down & the Art of Doing Nothing
Kristof Devos answered the call from his studio in a small town in rural Belgium, with a cat wandering in and out and his daughter's eighth birthday party happening that same afternoon. It felt like the right way to start a conversation about slowing down. Kristof Devos is an illustrator, a children's book author, a watch designer for the cult London brand Mr Jones Watches, and an art teacher in Bruges. For tax purposes he has two jobs. For himself, it's all one job. This one stays gentle the whole way through and still lands somewhere deep. We talked about a watch that tells you to slow down, a car crash that reshaped his entire idea of a life worth living, and why he'd rather write a long newsletter that takes fifteen minutes to read than chase likes on a platform he's come to distrust. In this episode we talked about: "A Perfectly Useless Afternoon" and the watch about doing nothing How a ten-minute window of confidence led to Mr Jones Watches Leaving art direction for a slower life in rural Belgium The car crash that changed everything, and the book that came from it Why he takes two years on twelve spreads His new book, Big Brother and Little Sister Quitting Instagram and building through newsletters Why AI might be a gift to human-made art What he hopes survives him in a hundred years Find Kristof here: Website: https://kristofdevos.com/ Newsletter (Brief uit het Atelier): https://kristofdevos.com/brief-uit-het-atelier/ Podcast (Podlood, in Dutch): https://kristofdevos.com/podlood/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristoftekent/ Find me here: https://captnoffscript.com/ https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript/ If you liked this episode, listen to... Luis Mendo (S02/E29) — Luis appeared on Kristof's podcast, and they share the same instinct: leaving social media behind, building through direct connection, and choosing a slower, more deliberate creative life. If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. 🙏
S2 · E30
May 21 · 1 hr 10 min
S02/E30 - Andy J. Pizza on ADHD, Self-Worth & Cultivating Yourself Instead of Fixing Yourself
Episode 30 of Season 2. The 80th episode I've recorded since starting this show. And honestly, I couldn't have picked a better guest to mark a milestone like that. Andy J. Pizza is the host of Creative Pep Talk, an illustrator, a children's book author, and one of the people who has quietly shaped how thousands of designers think about their own creativity. He's also the guy who chose to call himself "Pizza" because his real name made for an ugly URL. We started this conversation talking about goat cheese pizza in the UK. We ended it somewhere very different — talking about the cave you fear to enter inside yourself, about why his ADHD diagnosis at 25 first devastated him before it freed him, and about a line from his second podcast Right Side Out that I haven't been able to stop thinking about since. At the end of the recording, Andy told me this was the most personal interview he had ever done. In this episode we talked about: Choosing his own name and disobeying Yoda ADHD as a lens, not a deficit Cultivating yourself instead of overcoming yourself Right Side Out and the line that stops you The cave you fear to enter, Joseph Campbell, and self-acceptance Taste as the palette of your soul Why AI is ending the era of perfect — and why that's a gift Working with his wife Sophie, the Beatles, and why fighting makes the work better His dad's lesson: hard and bad are not the same thing The most personal closing of the season Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction & Three Illustrators in a Row 03:12 How Andy J. Miller Became Andy J. Pizza 05:53 Pizza Toppings, Goat Cheese & the Best Fries in the World 08:36 ADHD, Mental Health & Creative Work 09:44 Moving Around as a Kid & the Identity Crisis It Caused 15:30 The Seventh Grade Friend Who Loved Boy Bands 22:00 On Popularity, Connection & Being Less Cool 27:45 Taste as the Palette of Your Soul 32:29 Why Follower Count Doesn't Equal Success 33:33 Why Instagram Doesn't Taste Good Anymore 36:36 How Taste Changes Over Time 39:25 Collaborating with His Wife Sophie & the Beatles 47:20 Perfectionism, ADHD & the Case for Doing Things Imperfectly 58:51 AI, Human Creativity & Why Perfect Is Dead 01:01:49 Cultivating Yourself Instead of Fixing Yourself Find Andy here: Website: https://www.andyjpizza.com/ Creative Pep Talk: https://www.creativepeptalk.com/ Right Side Out: https://www.andyjpizza.com/rso Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andyjpizza/ Substack: https://andyjpizza.substack.com/ Find me here: captnoffscript.com @captnoffscript If you liked this episode, listen to... Sophia Yeshi (S02/E22) — another deeply honest conversation about self-acceptance, rejection therapy, and unlearning the fear of not being good enough. If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. 🙏
S2 · E29
April 28 · 1 hr 11 min
S02/E29 - Luis Mendo on Finding Your Value, Mundo Mendo & Why Social Media Is Dry Disgusting Bread
He grew up in Salamanca. Spent 20 years as an art director in Amsterdam. His father died. He boarded a plane to Japan for a sabbatical — and 14 years later, he's still there. Luis Mendo is a Spanish illustrator and the founder of Mundo Mendo — a personal membership project built on illustrated stories, shipped directly to readers with no algorithm in between. This is a conversation about finding your value, choosing happiness, and refusing to make salami for Zuckerberg. What we cover: His father's death and why it led him to Japan 20 years in Amsterdam — and why he finally chose to leave Almost Perfect — six years of welcoming artists into his Tokyo home Why social media is dry disgusting bread — and the salami analogy Building Mundo Mendo on Ghost, the anti-Substack platform Biking numbered, signed books to the post office himself Why he's building something that survives him Finding the value in your work — advice for young illustrators Japan's exploding independent print and zine scene AI is for laundry — and what he actually uses it for What he wrote in a letter to his daughter growing up in Japan Connect with Luis Mendo: Website: https://www.luismendo.com/ Mundo Mendo: https://www.mundomendo.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luismendo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luismendo/ Listen and subscribe: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5 More from Captn OffScript: Website: https://captnoffscript.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter If you liked this episode, listen to: Elliot Jay Stocks (S02/E25) — on building a direct relationship with your audience through newsletters, why human connection matters more than algorithms, and creating work that lasts. If you enjoyed this episode, leaving a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify takes less than a minute and helps more people find the show. I'd be incredibly grateful. 🙏
S2 · E28
April 21 · 1 hr 5 min
S02/E28 - Temi Coker: Put the Work You Want to Be Hired For & Everything Else Follows
He wakes up at 4:30am. Two kids under two. Three hours of work before the house comes alive. This is how one of the most sought-after artists in America currently operates. Temi Coker is a Nigerian-American artist and creative director based in Dallas, Texas. His work has appeared in campaigns for Adobe, Apple, ESPN, AT&T, and the Oscars. He launched a home collection with Walmart in 2025. And he will tell you, clearly and without drama, that none of it happened by accident — it happened because he kept making the work he wanted to be hired for, long before anyone asked him to. What we cover: Growing up in Lagos — limitations, bottle-cap football, and a love of colour Moving to Canada and then Texas at 12, navigating two Black identities at once Leaving biomedical engineering to pursue design — and why he doesn't regret either Seven years of head-down work before the Adobe Creative Residency changed everything How a pillow he made for fun led to the Walmart home collection Apple said no four or five times — he now has 20+ collaborations with them Financial literacy for creatives — the conversation nobody is having Running a photography studio, a clothing brand, and raising two kids under two Learning to actually accept a compliment Connect with Temi Coker: Website: https://temicoker.co Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/temi.coker Listen and subscribe: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captn-offscript/id1837469433 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nJ5dKTP2dQN5OwICKjTY5 More from Captn OffScript: Website: https://captnoffscript.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CAPTNOffScript Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/captnoffscript Newsletter: https://captn.myflodesk.com/newsletter

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