Interview with Josh Brill of the Lumadessa Art & Design Label

The work of Josh Brill, fellow Mainer and creative person, has been featured all over the web as of late. Read on for his thoughts on inspiration, business, and self promotion.

I don’t pretend to know a great deal about the illustration or print making world but when an artist presents us with a strong new aesthetic and a brilliant concept people take notice. This seems to be the case for the very striking style of the prints of Josh Brill, founder of the now quite popular Lumadessa label.

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As a Maine College of Art graduate with a degree in New Media Design, Josh was in the position of many young freelancers ; fresh out of school and full of creativity. Since that time Josh has set up a successful art and design label under which he can produce work that he loves and people will flock to it. With his successes and very bright future I thought he would be a valuable resource for young freelancers trying to make it big. He generously answered my questions below.

How did you make the move from being a graduate of Maine College of Art to starting your art and design label? What drove you to start Lumadessa?

Lumadessa evolved from a creative necessity to make something for myself other than client design work. I would dedicate a little time each day to working on a piece. Over time, friends began expressing interest in owning the artwork in some form. I guess it was seeing that passion for my work that opened up my mind to developing an art label.

What have you learned about the business side of design since setting up shop?

Shipping is a big one. I had a general knowledge of it, though not on a mass scale. I quickly learned to build systems and find ways to automate things. I remember when I first began shipping it was many long waits in the post office line with my handwritten packages. Now it’s online shipping, carrier pick-ups, digital receipts, printed labels, fragile stickers and bulk packaging shifts. It’s an ongoing evolution in make things simpler.

The other area I keep learning about is my customers — from what pieces they are most interested, where they are from, how they navigate the website and their personalities. I find this helpful for improving my business and improving on the overall customer experience.

What sources have influenced your very unique aesthetic and conceptual collections?’

In making a collection, I have an intuitive process in how it’s made. There is no set system. Sometimes concepts come out while making the artwork. Other times, a general concept comes first which influences the visual look of the collection. The only thing that is the same is that both, the form and concept are a back and forth process that help improve on each other.

In the case of the Flora Fauna collection, the concept is about simplifying the visual form of the subject. This brings out the unique character identity from which people learn and appreciate its existence. The visual look of the collection is graphic design meets character design. It has roots in typography, iconography, character design and field guides.

To what degree and by what means do you actively market and promote your work?

I primarily promote Lumadessa through blogs, Twitter and Facebook. I’ve been very lucky to have an audience that is vocal about my work. If they see something they like, they will blog about it or repost it. I try to find easier ways for people to share their interest in the work with others.

Was there any particular point that Lumadessa took off? If so what contributed to your success?

I would have to say being on multiple major design blogs at the same time with out my involvement in it.

The success is combination of quality work, preparation, putting that work in front of the right audience and being consistent about updating new work to that audience.

Do you have any advice for business minded creatives looking to start their own business?

I think the best advice is to understand that you’ll have failures at some point in running your business. Great success can come out of this because it forces you to focus your business to be stronger and adapt. Once you come to terms with this, you’re free to learn, to experiment and evolve as a business. This gives you a better opportunity to make a better product.

Thanks and Reactions

I wanted to thank Josh again for answering my questions. I really appreciate his responses and hopefully they can help you readers in thinking about directions for your business. Now it’s your turn to react. How important is knowing the business side of freelance to you? Is your aesthetic all your own or influenced by current trends? Are you a good self promoter?