Laurie Rosenwald (@RosenWorld) is an artist, designer, illustrator, writer, and all-around creative spirit. Throughout her careers, she’s managed to fly under the radar of New York’s design and publishing industries and still be recognised for her distinct style and wit.
Our conversation focused on her origins in the creative fields, her working style, and her new workshops. See some of Laurie’s work on her studio page, Rosenworld.com.
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- Download The Busy Creator Podcast, Episode 42 (MP3, 49:51, 23.9 MB)
- Download The Busy Creator Podcast, Episode 42 (OGG, 49:51, 41.4 MB)
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Show Notes & Links
- Amazon refers to Laurie as a “professional nonconformist”
- Intergalactic Arms Dealer, Bill Doran, previous guest on The Busy Creator Podcast
- Rosenworld, Laurie’s studio, which governs animation, design, illustration, and anything else
- “So I Fired The Shrink”, animation by Rosenworld
- Shouts and Murmurs, in The New Yorker
- Laurie splits her time with 20% dedicated to each painting, writing, illustration, design, & animation
- “The portfolio generation”
- The New York Times, The New Yorker, New York Magazine
- Laurie did the Target billboards in Times Square
- Thomson travel (UK)
- Bob Gill, founding member of Pentagram
- Forget All the Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design: Including the Ones in This Book by Bob Gill on Amazon
- RISD
- Fiorucci, cool jeans from the late 70s
- Lunch at the UN by Bob Gill
- Email is, frankly, a disadvantage.
- Email replacement software — could be anything that gets folks to stop emailing
- Laurie’s name came up on a previous podcast episode with Felix Sockwell
- Laurie never had a normal job
- At The New York Times Magazine, Laurie was “like a mascot”
- Antonio Lopez, the fashion illustrator
- Jean Paul Gaultier
- Jessica Lange
- Coffee Shop in Union Square
- Vogue Italia
- Condé Nast, on and off, but never on a masthead
- GQ
- Mademoiselle Magazine
- Paul Rand
- Alexey Brodovitch
- Zeitgest
- Purple + Teal, a definitive colour scheme of the early 90s
- Free electrons
“I like to do the work itself ... everything else, I have avoided.”
—Laurie Rosenwald
“My days are spent making stuff. Sometimes I get paid for it; sometimes I don't.”
—Laurie Rosenwald
- New York Notebook by Laurie Rosenwald on Amazon
- Chronicle books, San Francisco
- And to Name But Just a Few, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue by Laurie Rosenwald on Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
“Creating a book is organic. It happens because it has to happen.”
—Laurie Rosenwald
- Bloomsbury
- All The Wrong People Have Self-Esteem by Laurie Rosenwald on Amazon
“Everything is middle school.”
—Prescott Perez-Fox
- Abrams
- How to Make Mistakes on Purpose, forthcoming book based on Laurie’s workshops
- Post-It Notes, Penicillin, Viagra … all created by accident*
- Adam Harrison Levy, Producer/writer for the BBC and [previous podcast guest]
- Parsons, Pratt, NYU, CalArts, RISD, MICA — design schools in the US
- Camberwell — art & design school in London
- Jennifer, and extremely popular name in the 20th century
- AIGA, Art Directors Club, Google, Starbucks — places where Laurie has conducted workshops
- Erik Spiekermann, type designer in Berlin
- Laurie can’t type. She “hunts and pecks and suffers.”
- Marian Obando, up-and-coming designer and Laurie’s assistant
- Laurie Rosenwald is on Facebook, as a brand and also as a person
- Amy Porterfield is an expert in Facebook marketing and fbinfluence is her course
- Encaustic
- Challenge for the new year: make money
“Have your cake and eat it too ... and then have more cake.”
—Laurie Rosenwald
Tools
- Squeeze Bottle
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Freedcamp (now with Kanban view)
- Mod Podge, brand of glue
Techniques
- Use email to flirt
- Go on instinct (if your instincts are good)
- Write down ideas and save them for later
- Make something first, and find a place for it later
- Don’t start with a blank page: Make a blob or something
- Make your own pigments, paint, and gesso
- Draw with a squeeze bottle
- Photograph collages at various stages to add a digital component
- Use Photoshop & Illustrator in the most “baby” way
- Rent out your apartment when you’re traveling!
Habits
- Floss and use toothpicks (or those bristles things)
- Wake up early and enjoy being home
- Ride a bike whenever possible
- Retreat to a secret place, perhaps a library, for writing
- Write or paint to fill time between client projects
- Never sketch
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