At some point in your creative career, the stakes shift.

We go from just making stuff… to overthinking. Obsessing. Optimizing. And it sucks the the fun out of the entire thing.

In this episode, we talk with illustrator and designer Mikey Burton about that shift. And honestly, it's refreshing, like talking to a design monk who makes everything feel like it's going to be okay.

From editorial work on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver to building a career across studios, freelance, and printmaking, Mikey shares a perspective that cuts through a lot of the noise around “getting better” as a creative.

We talk to Mikey about staying loose, staying human, and building a career without sanding off the parts that made your work interesting in the first place, including:

• The sweet spot. That moment before you fully “master” something is often where your best work lives
• Fight over-polishing. Why the final version is often worse than the sketch (and what gets lost in the process)
• Be more human. In a world of AI and optimization, why leaning into imperfection might be your biggest advantage.
• Sharing vs performing. How the shift from gatekeepers to social media changed what it means to “put work out there.”
• Careers aren’t linear. How timing, visibility, and just sticking around long enough still matter more than people admit

Later in the episode, Mikey talks about everything from building a body of work over years (not weeks), to why printing in his “basement dungeon” keeps things grounded, to the strange reality of contributing to something culturally massive without it being your “purest” creative expression.

Listen to this. By the time you're done you'll feel some fresh creative energy flowing through your spirit.

Hey, check out Mikey Burton!

View Mikey Burton's website here

Follow Mikey Burton on Instagram here

Buy his Pile O' Prints here (Brad and I did, and it's 100% pure awesome)

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Click here to get the five-part “Off the Record” email series

Note: If you're looking for hard-earned advice, resources from top creatives, and the products they can't live without, you're going to love this.

Brad Woodard

Brad is an illustrator and designer behind Brave the Woods, a full-service studio working with clients like PBS Kids, Ford, Target, and USPS. His bold, playful style and heart-led storytelling shine through everything from brand campaigns to children’s books.

View Brave the Woods

Dustin Lee

Dustin is the founder of RetroSupply, a shop for retro-inspired brushes, textures, and digital tools used by tens of thousands of creatives from indie artists to major studios. He shares what it’s really like to run a creative business while keeping it small, weird, and intentional.

View RetroSupply

Credits

Audio/video editing: Clara Wright
Cover art: Brad Woodard
Intro animation: Seth Austin
Intro music: “Snakes and Fire” (Instrumental) by Pär Hagström

What began as a personal shift toward plant-based living turned into a bigger question: what if your work could actually support the kind of world you want to live in?

We talk to Jeff about building a values-driven creative career, plus a lot more, including:

• Bringing your beliefs into your work. How a personal lifestyle shift turned into a long-term creative choice that influenced clients and brought personal fulfillment (as opposed to just financial fulfillment).
• Redefine “sustainable”. Sustainable doesn't have to mean monk-like discipline. See why small businesses and imperfect efforts still matter more than people think.
• Niche without limiting yourself. You can build a values-based studio without boxing yourself into a tiny market. Jeff digs into practices that are fulfilling (without alienating your market).
• True growth inevitably takes time. Why meaningful careers are built slowly (even if social media makes it feel otherwise)
• Human work still matters. I think we all agree on this, but it's important to get different takes. Jeff shares why people will always value things made by people.

Later in the episode, Jeff shares how his path from making Call of Duty graphics as a kid to running a purpose-driven studio was shaped less by a clear plan and more by following curiosity, interests, and a growing sense of responsibility.

If you’ve ever felt torn between doing work that pays and work that actually matters, this conversation offers a more honest way to think about both.

Join the Creative Slash Newsletter and Get the 5-Part “Off the Record” email series FREE

Click here to get the five-part “Off the Record” email series

Note: If you're looking for hard-earned advice, resources from top creatives, and the products they can't live without, you're going to love this.

Brad Woodard

Brad is an illustrator and designer behind Brave the Woods, a full-service studio working with clients like PBS Kids, Ford, Target, and USPS. His bold, playful style and heart-led storytelling shine through everything from brand campaigns to children’s books.

View Brave the Woods

Dustin Lee

Dustin is the founder of RetroSupply, a shop for retro-inspired brushes, textures, and digital tools used by tens of thousands of creatives from indie artists to major studios. He shares what it’s really like to run a creative business while keeping it small, weird, and intentional.

View RetroSupply

Credits

Audio/video editing: Clara Wright
Cover art: Brad Woodard
Intro animation: Seth Austin
Intro music: “Snakes and Fire” (Instrumental) by Pär Hagström

In this episode, we talk with illustrator and designer Tyler Pate. He has worked with brands like Adobe, Wacom, and StickerApp, and he’s built his career through steady effort, a clear process, and years of showing up for the work.

There are no shortcuts in Tyler’s story. It’s about making the work, getting better at it, and sticking with it long enough for that effort to add up, whether people notice right away or not.

We talk with Tyler about how to build a creative practice that grows over time, along with topics like:

• Staying busy on purpose, and why the work you make now can lead to opportunities years later
• Sharing your process, how that builds trust, and why there doesn’t need to be any "secret sauce"
• Using a back catalog and simple systems to stay visible without burning yourself out
• Keeping things *simple*, and how limits in your tools, style, and thinking can lead to better work

Later in the episode, Tyler talks about his path from a small town, where there wasn’t an obvious creative roadmap, to speaking at major events. He figured things out as he went, and in the process became the example he didn’t have when he was younger.

Follow Tyler (AKA The Creative Pain) on Instagram

Join the Creative Slash Newsletter and Get the 5-Part “Off the Record” email series FREE

Click here to get the five-part “Off the Record” email series

Note: If you're looking for hard-earned advice, resources from top creatives, and the products they can't live without, you're going to love this.

Brad Woodard

Brad is an illustrator and designer behind Brave the Woods, a full-service studio working with clients like PBS Kids, Ford, Target, and USPS. His bold, playful style and heart-led storytelling shine through everything from brand campaigns to children’s books.

View Brave the Woods

Dustin Lee

Dustin is the founder of RetroSupply, a shop for retro-inspired brushes, textures, and digital tools used by tens of thousands of creatives from indie artists to major studios. He shares what it’s really like to run a creative business while keeping it small, weird, and intentional.

View RetroSupply

Credits

Audio/video editing: Clara Wright
Cover art: Brad Woodard
Intro animation: Seth Austin
Intro music: “Snakes and Fire” (Instrumental) by Pär Hagström