One Thing Real Quick

Evan MacDonald

A single question sparks a focused interview with a creative leader. Host and Graphic Designer Evan MacDonald invites a variety of creatives including designers, filmmakers, writers, musicians, photographers, and others who use creativity each day in their work. Each conversation sheds light on a small corner of the creative world. The show seeks to bring forward stories and insights relevant to all creative people in a spirit of inclusion and a belief that everyone has something to add to the larger conversation about design and creativity.

  • 52 minutes 3 seconds
    Lex Noteboom of The Deca Tapes (Part 2)

    We’re picking up part two of an audio documentary about an audio drama. Lex Noteboom is an independent podcast creator from Amsterdam. He’s the creator of an audio drama called The Deca Tapes. It’s a sci-fi-ish dystopian-future mystery show. In March of 2018, Lex quit his job and spent a year writing, directing and producing the podcast.

    In this second part of the story, we follow Lex’s process week by week as he works to build an audience for The Deca Tapes. Evan interviewed Lex before, during and after the release of all eight episodes, following his process for about 10 weeks. Listen for a break down of six things that Lex did to promote the show and hear the result of his work.

    The Question

    Same as the first part: How do you build an audience for a creative work?

    We talked with some other podcasters to tell this story. Indie podcast supporter, Zach Auld of a show called Podcast Junkie and podcasting veteran, Evo Terra. While we’re talking with a lot of podcasters, these principles can be applied to just about any other kind of creative endeavor.

    This episode was created and produced by Evan MacDonald. Edited by Evan with some help from John M. Craig, our associate producer. Sound design, music, and scoring by Evan MacDonald.

    Notes and Links

    31 May 2019, 7:00 am
  • 16 minutes 10 seconds
    Lex Noteboom of The Deca Tapes (Part 1)

    Lex Noteboom is an independent podcast creator from Amsterdam. He’s the creator of an audio drama called The Deca Tapes. It’s a sci-fi-ish dystopian-future mystery show. In March of 2018, Lex quit his job in advertising and spent a year writing, directing and producing the podcast. And then leading up to its March 2019 release, Lex started to promote the show.

    The Question

    How do you build an audience for a creative work?

    This is part one of a two-part audio documentary about Lex’s process of finding (or creating) an audience for The Deca Tapes. We interviewed Lex before, during and after the release of all eight episodes, following his process for about 10 weeks. This episode centers around a conversation we had in the week leading up to the show's debut.

    Links and Notes:

    • Listen to the Deca Tapes: https://fanlink.to/TDT
    • The Deca Tapes website: https://www.thedecatapes.com/
    • TDT Social Pages: Twitter & Instagram
    • The One Thing Real Quick website: http://onethingrealquick.com/
    • Find @OTRQpodcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
    • Write a review or leave a rating for OTRQ at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-thing-real-quick/id1448979948

    One Thing Real Quick is created and produced by Evan MacDonald. John M. Craig is our Associate Producer. Music by Evan MacDonald.

    24 May 2019, 10:24 am
  • 32 minutes 51 seconds
    Rachel Alina – Mixing Engineer

    Meet Rachel Alina, a Brooklyn-based mixing engineer, poet, and instructor at Berklee College of Music. She's been in the studio with Gabriel Garzon-Montano, Katy Perry, King Garbage, Selena Gomez, Greg Wells, Helado Negro, Stephen Marley and others. She's worked in some of today's legendary studios and learned from the best in the music business.

    The Question

    What role has mentorship played in your development as a professional creative?

    In this interview, we talk about Rachel's path from graduation from Berklee up through today, discussing her mentors along the way. Rachel's experience with mentors of all kinds has given her an open approach to receiving and giving mentorship.

    Notes and Links:

    • Visit Rachel Alina's website here: http://www.rachelalina.com/
    • Preorder her book of poetry, Locals here: http://smarturl.it/locals-ifyouswim
    • Follow Rachel Alina on Twitter: @rachalina : https://twitter.com/rachalina
    • And on Instagram: @rach.alina http://instagram.com/rach.alina
    • Learn about Berklee College of Music at: https://www.berklee.edu/ and https://online.berklee.edu/
    • You can watch Rivers & Tides, the film Rachel mentions in the interview, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WP2AfqyOsI
    • Find One Thing Real Quick on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@OTRQpodcast for all three)
    • Subscribe and leave a rating and review at Apple Podcasts (or where ever you like to listen)
    • Get audiobooks from Libro.fm (use the offer code OTRQ and get three for the price of one)
    13 May 2019, 10:57 am
  • 28 minutes 6 seconds
    Eric Karjaluoto – Designer & Author

    Eric Karjaluoto a Vancouver BC based designer. He’s one of the two guys behind SmashLAB, a small design studio which he co-founded 19 years ago. Clients include Arc’teryx, Saltspring Soapworks, The Nature Conservancy, The Vancouver Aquarium, and a bunch more. He’s written two books, The Design Method and Speak Human. And together with his business partner, Eric Shelkie, he’s built a handful of useful side projects, including Officehours, Campnab, and Emetti, to name a few.

    The Question: How do we slow down and focus on what really matters?

    I was sent a link to one of Eric’s blog articles, How to Keep Sane, In Faketopia. After reading it, I sent Eric an email and asked him to tell me more about the ideas from his article.

    In our conversation we talk about the fakery in social media, the idea that feeding the ‘social media beast’ doesn’t do anything to help our us reach our career goals, and how being real about what’s most important can help us get more out of life and work alike. In short, we’re talking about how to tidy up our list of priorities.

    Links

    • SmashLAB (where Eric works) http://www.smashlab.com/
    • Eric Karjaluoto’s Website (where he writes) http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/
    • The article we talked about today http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/blog/how-to-keep-yourself-sane-in-faketopia/
    • Eric’s Twitter is @karj
    • Eric make products including Campnab, Officehours, and Emetti
    • We are all famous to a few people — Having cancer on social media
    • Go listen to Design Tomorrow (a podcast about design, technology and being human) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/design-tomorrow/id1433919260?mt=2
    • Find One Thing Real Quick on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@OTRQpodcast for all three)
    • Subscribe and leave a rating and review at Apple Podcasts (or where ever you like to listen)
    • Get audiobooks from Libro.fm (use the offer code OTRQ and get three for the price of one)
    26 April 2019, 12:53 pm
  • 35 minutes 3 seconds
    Mary Kate McDevitt – Illustrator & Lettering Artist

    The Guest

    Mary Kate McDevitt is a designer, illustrator, and lettering artist from Philadelphia. Her unique and engaging style embraces the hand-made. Her work has been featured in various print and online publications. Clients include Smuckers, Sesame Street, Nike, AT&T, Target, Nintendo, Chronical Books, and way more. She has published multiple books on illustration and lettering and she teaches workshops online and in person. Go check out her work at marykatemcdevitt.com.

    The Question

    How does where you are, affect what you make?

    The Notes

    Our conversation is all about location. The context in which Mary Kate finds herself, and how living in different cities has impacted her career and work. We explore geographical locations and locations within her neighborhood and even within her studio space.

    We discuss remote working, the value of big and small cities, coffee shops, large work tables, tin cars and talking skeletons.

    Subscribe, rate and review this podcast now and you'll make our whole day.

    Links

    11 April 2019, 11:00 am
  • 18 minutes 52 seconds
    Brand Naming Expert Misty Johnson

    The Guest
    Misty Johnson is a brand strategist with a specialty in brand naming. She has nearly 20 years experience helping brands name, rename, merge, name products, name services, and name just about anything that has to do with brands.

    The Question
    "How do you respond when people react negatively to brand name changes?"

    The Notes
    This week we’re announcing a name change for the podcast. Okay, not really, but almost. We called in an expert to discuss process of naming companies and branded stuff, the pitfalls of renaming and how to do it in a way that makes it easier to be accepted by the people who loved the old name.

    Here some links to explore:
    https://www.ratebeer.com/beer/miller-fortune/246798/
    https://www.interbrand.com/
    http://www.onethingrealquick.com/ http://twitter.com/OTRQpodcast/ http://instagram.com/OTRQpodcast/ http://libro.fm/redeem/OTRQ

    29 March 2019, 11:00 am
  • 20 minutes 2 seconds
    Designing a Creative Culture

    This week on the podcast, we’re playing a presentation made by Evan MacDonald about creativity. Back in August of 2017, Evan was invited to speak at the International Design Conference hosted by the Industrial Designers' Society of America. He spoke about the role and importance of creativity in company culture, citing specific examples from his time as Design Director at Freefly Systems.

    The Question

    There wasn’t really a question, but here is some food for thought: “Who gets to own the label of ‘creative?’”

    Notes

    Find more about Freefly Systems at: http://freeflysystems.com
    Learn about the last big thing Evan did at Freefly here: http://gomovi.com
    Watch the Dronesurfing video mentioned in the talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuRf6r0LuL8
    Watch the full design talk, complete with visual aids at: https://evanmade.com/idsa-2017-talk

    Follow @OTRQpodcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

    Follow @evanmacdonald on Twitter and Instagram.

    The book Evan just started: audiobook | eyeballbook

    Get 2 free audiobooks from the best audiobook seller in the business (and support this podcast!). Use the offer code OTRQ at Libro.FM to get a screamin’ deal. Buy one book, get three for free. Cool!

    15 March 2019, 11:00 am
  • 29 minutes 54 seconds
    Dustin Lau – Film Composer & Producer

    The Guest

    Dustin Lau is a musician, songwriter, film composer and producer living in Redlands California, whose work appears on everything from feature length documentaries to short TV spots. He’s performed live on stages around the world, worked with other artists as a producer, and explored a broad pallet of styles and sounds in his compositions.

    The Question

    “How do you calculate the risks needed to live a creative life?”

    The Notes

    Like many full-time creatives, Dustin has made what appear to be blind leaps in pursuit of creative opportunities. From dropping out of college to leaving behind stable employment. In this episode, we discuss his risk analysis, or a lack thereof, and try to identify what elements or ingredients were present when taking risks that gave him the confidence to choose to live a creative life.

    Here some links to explore:

    Links for Dustin Lau:

    Listen on Musicbed: https://www.musicbed.com/artists/dustin-lau/43409
    Listen on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/dustinlau
    Twitter is @dustinlaumusic
    Instagram is @dustinlaumusic

    The new EP on Musicbed: https://www.musicbed.com/albums/the-way-we-see-the-world/4482
    Beyond Karma Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTV2VCxRxto
    Like We Don’t Exist Film: https://vimeo.com/260495758

    All about Musicbed:

    Website: https://www.musicbed.com/
    Work on a custom score with Dustin (or other composers): https://www.musicbed.com/custom-music

    Follow One Thing Real Quick:

    On Twitter at @OTRQpodcast
    On Instagram at @OTRQpodcast
    Follow the host at @evanmacdonald on Twitter
    And the same @evanmacdonald on Instagram.

    Please subscribe, rate and review this show.

    One Thing Real Quick is produced by Evan MacDonald. Editing help from John M Craig. Music this week by our guest, Dustin Lau. Learn more about the show at onethingrealquick.com

    Books!

    How Music Works by David Byrne (audiobook|eyeballbook)

    Use the offer code “OTRQ” atLibro.fmand get all three of those audiobooks for the price of one!

    8 March 2019, 12:00 pm
  • 29 minutes 55 seconds
    Niles Grey – Filmmaker

    Niles Grey is a filmmaker and director with experience working independently and on the content teams at both GoPro and Moment. His work at GoPro and Moment has given him a unique experience leveraging the every-improving technology found in small cameras, most recently, mobile phones.

    The Question

    “What attracts you to these little cameras?”

    The Notes

    This week we discuss the benefits of shooting films with a “small footprint,” as Niles puts it. While mobile phone photography and cinematography are paces behind what industry professionals use for major productions, the technology is advancing and shrinking at an incredible rate. With a little help from small hardware add-ons and apps that give users access to manual controls, people like Niles (and really, all of us) can create content that defies the expectation of such a ubiquitous piece of technology.

    In this episode, we also hear a little bit from Able Parris (AKA: Kamuter). Able makes music entirely on his iPhone, furthering the idea that mobile phones can be used for so much more than watching movies or playing games.

    Create With Your Phone

    The Moment App

    This one works with iPhone and Android. Access to log mode and raw photo mode. Great for still photography and video. Free with optional upgrade to “pro” via in-app purchase (for $4.99)

    Auxy

    App for iOS. This is what Able Parris uses for his Kamuter project. Mobile music creation studio with tons of sounds and effects. Free with limited demo sounds. Free trial with everything unlocked and a monthly subscription to use all the sounds. This one is addicting, even in “Demo mode.”

    More?

    If you have a favorite app for creating awesome stuff, tell us about it. Send us a tweet at @OTRQpodcast!

    Giveaways

    This week we are giving away a Moment Anamorphic lens, worth about $150! At the end of this episode, we’ll announce the winner of the giveaway from episode 007.

    Get all the info about both giveaways at http://onethingrealquick.com/giveaway

    Call us!

    Call 405 373 OTRQ (405 373 6877) and tell us any story about procrastination. We might just put your messages on a future episode.

    Here are a ton of links to explore:

    Links for Niles Grey:

    Twitter is @nilesgray

    Instagram is @nilesgrey

    Check out Niles’ reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYl66OvZkKM

    All about Moment:

    Moment website: https://www.shopmoment.com/

    Moment Invitational Film Fest. 20119: https://www.shopmoment.com/the-moment-invitational-film-festival

    Some cool videos shot on phones:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbyx37mMwpA

    https://vimeo.com/262779667

    https://vimeo.com/245597164

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBxyKWvZsqw

    Able Parris and Kamuter:

    His Twitter is @ableparris

    Instagram is @ableparris

    Find all things Kamuter at http://kamuter.world

    Follow Kamuter on Instagram at @kamuter.world

    Follow One Thing Real Quick:

    On Twitter at @OTRQpodcast

    On Instagram at @OTRQpodcast

    Follow the host at @evanmacdonald on Twitter

    And the same @evanmacdonald on Instagram.

    Please subscribe, rate and review this show.

    One Thing Real Quick is produced by Evan MacDonald. Editing help from John M Craig. Music this week by Kamuter. Learn more about the show at onethingrealquick.com

    Oh yeah! Books!

    Shantaram (audiobook link)

    The Winter of Our Discontent (audiobook link)

    12 Rules for Life, An Antidote to Chaos (audiobook link)

    Use the offer code “OTRQ” at Libro.fm and get all three of those audiobooks for the price of one!

    1 March 2019, 12:00 pm
  • 29 minutes 47 seconds
    Graphic Designer Seth Lucas

    Seth Lucas is an illustrator and designer with a BFA in graphic design. He is the co-creator of Ello There Outdoors, selling prints and accessories supporting the National Parks and outdoors. He lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with his wife and daughter.

    The Question

    “What do you do about unfinished projects?”

    The Notes

    Seth was the first interview I did for this podcast. Not this episode, but another attempt at an interview, was created a year ago. After this first draft of sorts was created, I sat on the project for almost a full year. And so, I’ve called Seth back to ask about his experience with projects that get stuck in limbo. Together we discuss some projects that Seth let sit unattended for a little too long, and a bit about how he got them back on track.

    If you have a project sitting in limbo, we want to hear about it. Call 405 373 OTRQ (405 373 6877) and tell us about a project that you know you should finish. Or share a project that you finally finished! We’ll put your messages on a future episode.

    You can see Seth’s work at www.ellothere.com and you can follow along on Instagram at @ellothereoutdoors.

    Here is a link to the National Park poster: https://ellothere.com/collections/national-park/products/national-park-checklist-map-1

    Here is a peep at the Baseball Stadium map: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg7I3NlHlLa/

    Here is a link to a YouTube video of our first interview (you really don’t need to watch this) https://youtu.be/qEISH4CBXY8

    Please subscribe, rate and review this show.

    One Thing Real Quick is produced by Evan MacDonald. Tweet him at @evanmacdonald or follow the show at @OTRQpodcast on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about the show at onethingrealquick.com

    Use the offer code “OTRQ” at Libro.fm and get three audiobooks for the price of one!

    22 February 2019, 12:00 pm
  • 27 minutes 8 seconds
    Leslie Chapman – Goldsmith

    Leslie Chapman is a Canadian goldsmith from Yukon Territory. In the 70’s she and her husband left Calgary Alberta as part of the “back to the land” movement, building their own home in an area that they would later discover was a gold mineral deposit. This would lead to another discovery, the art of goldsmithing.

    The Question: “How important is your connection with the source of your materials to your creative work and process?”

    Leslie shares some insights about what she calls a “chain of custody.” From environmentally conscious gold mining practices to hand forming each piece of jewelry, the objects she is designing pass from the earth, into her hands, and finally into the hands of her customers.

    Check out Leslie’s work at http://fortymilegoldworkshop.ca.

    One Thing Real Quick is produced by Evan MacDonald. Music by Evan. Editing help this week by John M Craig.

    Follow the show at @OTRQpodcast on Twitter and Instagram. Find Evan on Twitter and Instagram at @evanmacdonald

    Learn more about this podcast at onethingrealquick.com. Email us at [email protected] and now you can call and leave us a voicemail at 405 373 OTRQ (6877). “Why call?” you ask? Why not?!

    Support our sponsors. Use the offer code “OTRQ” at Libro.fm and get three audiobooks for the price of one!

    Oh, and that book mentioned at the end is called Blue Latitudes, by Tony Horwitz.

    15 February 2019, 1:00 pm
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