541 - Brian Flynn "Start With Why And End Up At He-Man"

Brian Flynn Returns This Monday To Adventures In Design

Thank you passionate listeners for tuning into another warm hour with Brian Flynn of Hybrid Design and Super 7. Brian has used his passion as a compass to take him down the path of designing happiness into his entire life from his dream list of clients to his teenage passion project he just spent the entire year building up to it's next level. At the core of all his work Brian understands that starting with why is what can lead your project to the success it needs to be. Aesthetics take a back seat to purpose in the house of Flynn and you can see the longetivity and relevancy it has earned him. Excellence, commitment, and excitement are the cornerstones to all of Brian's work and he is here to explain the thought process that goes into every nook and cranny. He knows better than anyone that working in the creative field is a true privilege so hold on to the incredible moment you have right at your fingertips.

Talking Points

  • Shopping in a sneaker box and the level of design we all aspire to.

  • Using creative problem solving outside of pure aesthetics.

  • Developing a roadmap to results.

  • Clients who can't talk design and designers who can't talk client.

  • Imagining the unknown.

  • Balancing Hybrid Design and Super 7 and taking time away from what's already working.

  • Overhead, growth, and letting the work be more important for the paycheck.

  • Evaluating what success means for a small studio.

  • A stable and significant side project moves out of its teenage years.

  • Leveraging your opportunity to compete in your market.

  • Making the toys you want instead of being driven by outside sources or profits.

  • Keystones and the "So What" attitude behind being able to make something awesome.

  • Losing sight of the vision when budgets get involved.

  • Why He-Man?

  • Minutia, research, and pulling on the thread of what you love.

  • Approaching a project as the toy nerds that you are and finding the authentic reasons behind everything.

  • Making Skeletor's office, a whole new Masters Of The Universe cartoon, and turning He-Man on its ear.

  • Getting into the mindset to create the future you want.

  • Portfolio advice to up and comers with the punk rock mentality of figuring it out.

  • Youth Movements influences from Disco to Discord.

  • Reign in Blood and It Takes A Nation all swimming well together.

  • The time it takes to stay involved, connected, and up to speed with what stokes you out.

  • Finding your lane.

  • Sell through rates that distort what is considered as a failure.

  • Is going back giving up and what's the worst that could happen?

  • Insecurities, being touched by idiots, and the political climate we live in today.

  • Fear of the unknown and immigrant problems in Cincinnati.

  • Looking outside your comfort zone to get what you want in your priorities.

  • Starting your own team and running with your heroes.

  • Why Powell Peralta felt different than any other brand and sacrificing the sacred cow of skateboarding.

  • Destroying long term collectibility or bringing in a whole new cycle of collectibility.

  • A crash course in selling nostalgia.

  • Reissuing Battle Of The Planets and one more shot at Tron.