Tell us about a moment of inspiration, an ‘ah-ha’ moment, during one of your design processes.

I don’t know if that moment ever really comes around in perfect harmony…at least for me. Generally my moments of inspiration hit at an unexpected time, and the “ah-ha” moment hides until I’ve spent a lot of hours iterating, revising, and beating my head against the wall.

What type of images inspire you most? Film? TV? Posters? Photography? Etc. and what are three of your favorites?

I’m most inspired by mediums that I’m not comfortable with or that I rarely touch. I’m really impressed by great motion design and film as they become more abundant, and I really like hand-painted signage.

What are you working on outside of your day job?

My studio partner, Shayne Bruno, and I are working on a hyper-local blog called Ohlando. The content is specifically geared toward elevating and engaging our creative community. We’ve highlighted a handful of local creatives, started collaborating with others on content, and we have a lot planned for the second half of the year.

We’re definitely looking for contributors as well. We want anyone that feels the same way we do about living and working in Orlando and surrounding areas to get involved and be a part of what we’re trying to do. More information on that here.

If you could choose one word sentence to sum up the plan of action for your year, what would it be and why? 

Stop watching everyone else.

Our design studio is coming up on its two year milestone in July. We’ve got to the point where we realize that looking at other agencies is just a waste of time. Most of the time, they’re emulating someone else anyway. For us, this year is about really stepping out and owning our creative process—with clients and through self-initiated work like Ohlando.

Finish this sentence: If I could have been the designer of anything in history thus far, it would have been ________________. 

Recent History: The Orlando City Soccer Club crest

Less-recent History: The U.S. Dollar

Where can we find you?

http://smlfrtn.com

http://ohlando.com