“I like to write books that sound like someone telling the story over a campfire.”
“You learn something when you listen to books that way. You start to hear that music of the language.”
“When I experience something interesting, I need to compose it in words.”
Hey, how’s it goin’, friend? I’m Brendan O’Meara and this is my podcast, The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories. This is the last episode of 2018. We’ve averaged one episode a week for an entire year with no break and we’re finishing the year strong.
Debbie Millman, host of Design Matters, author of several books, and a titan in branding, joins me on the podcast. Photo credit: John Madere
By Brendan O’Meara
“Getting to know who someone is, going into their world, when I research someone I feel like I’m entering their world and almost becoming them and seeing the world through their eyes in an effort to figure out what’s important for them to talk about.” —Debbie Millman (@debbiemillman)
Welcome CNFers, I’m @BrendanOMeara, Brendan O’Meara in real life and this is @CNFPod, or The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories.
If you want to get better at the form, you’ve come to the right place. This is our little corner of the Internet. If you’re here for the first time, welcome, welcome, crack open a notebook, pour yourself a cup of coffee and settle in, CNFers. You’re gonna find we do things a little different on this show.
Where to start? My guest is Debbie Millman. Yes, you heard that correctly. Your ears did not deceive you. I didn’t bother digging too deep into Debbie’s origin story because there are several podcasts where she dives into that and I wanted to spare her from repeating herself. Maybe I was too timid in that regard, but I figured I’d steer the ship toward other things.
At this point in the introduction is usually where I riff on what’s going on, maybe offer some insights into how you can improve your work by sharing something I find helpful. But…sometimes the most helpful thing is getting the f*ck out of the way.
In seventeen words Debbie Millman is a writer, designer, educator, artist, brand consultant, and host of the podcast Design Matters.
But in a single word? Debbie is an inspiration. She made a name for herself as a graphic designer and branding guru after years and years of rejections, failures, and false starts. She’s persistent sometimes, she admits, to a fault.
Her writing is tight and playful. It’s deep, meaningful, resonant, and beautiful to look at as most of her essays are illustrated in her whimsical way of inking and penciling.
As for her career in branding, if you’ve seen the Burger King logo, various Pepsi products, Tropicana, Haagen Daas, and Twizzlers (totally twisted), then you’ve seen her work. If it makes the supermarket look prettier, odds are Debbie had a hand in that.
She was the president of Sterling Brands for 20 years, and under her stewardship grew the company from 15 employees to 150.
But after a decade of being a titan in her field, from 1995 to 2005, often at the expense of her own creative projects, her writing, her drawing, her painting, she was granted the opportunity to host an internet radio program that, I must add, she had to pay to produce, called Design Matters. This was in 2005.
Fourteen years later and she’s still doing it and for my money she, along with Joe Donahue of WAMC Northeast Public Radio, are the best interviewers around. I have a reason for this and I talk about this with Debbie.
She has interviewed Milton Glaser, Malcolm Gladwell, Anne Lamott, Seth Godin, Shepard Fairey, and hundreds more. Design Matters is a testament to her endurance and generosity. It wasn’t until she had done the show for several years that it really began to gain traction, win awards, and become the behemoth that it is today.
I could go on and on and I must apologize for my titanic nerves in this episode. I mean, I suffer from them all the time, but this one was especially bad, for that I’m sorry, but getting the chance to speak to Debbie for nearly an hour was such an esteemed honor that I had trouble keeping my you-know-what together.
Okay, I hope you dig what Debbie and I made for you. Enjoy….
If you haven’t already, consider subscribing to The Creative Nonfiction Podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher and subvert the algorithms across the social platforms. If you liked the show, share it with just one friend. Email them the link or share it on social media. And tag me @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod so I can toast to your awesomeness.
Consider leaving an honest review on iTunes as well. I want to see it hit 100 ratings. We’re gonna get there in 2019, but it starts with you. If you have five minutes to spare, please give the show some love.
Thanks to our sponsors in Goucher College’s MFA in Nonfiction as well as Creative Nonfiction Magazine.
Alexandra DiPalma, seen here on the set of her amazing Creative Live course.
By Brendan O’Meara
“It’s natural to most people to be like this needs to be perfect before I put it out into the world, but I think when you take that element away, it allows such a new level of productivity and creativity.” —Alexandra DiPalma (@LSDiPalma)
This is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling trues stories. I unpack their origin story, their rocky roads, their habits and routines, so you can improve your own work. Today you will get to know Alexandra DiPalma.
But first…
Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and wherever you get your podcasts. Visit brendanomeara.com to subscribe to my monthly newsletter. Once a month. No spam. Can’t beat that.
Lisa D’Apolito’s first feature documentary was the brilliant film “Love, Gilda.”
By Brendan O’Meara
“You’re whole life adds up to who you are.” —Lisa D’Apolito(@lovegildafilm)
“The most successful people create the best experience for the people on set.” —Lisa D’Apolito
You probably want to know who’s on the show this week. This is of course The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to bad-ass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories whereby I unpack their artist journey and tap into their routines and habits about doing the work.
