Episode 91: Shane Mielke, Interactive Creative Director, H.S. Football Coach & Crossfit Athlete

08/16/17 • 86 min

"At the end of the day, I consider myself a creative person. I've taken the time to grow these skills slowly over time and I want to have as much fun as I can on all aspects of a project—whether that's design, animation, etc., to me it's all fun. That is what is going to stop me from burning out."

Shane Seminole Mielke does many things—from coaching big-time high school football, to being a Crossfit athlete, to being a designer, developer & animator; he is a jack of all trades. Shane is not, however, a master of none as the cliché states; instead, he uses his time effectively to master his many different interests which includes building websites and animations for movies such as "Suicide Squad", "Dunkirk", "Kong" and more; as well as working with Lucasfilm (on the "Star Wars" franchise), Blizzard Ent. and Riot Games.

He has won numerous awards which include: 6 Adobe Sites of the Day, 2 Awwwards, 36 FWA Sites of the Day, 4 FWA Mobile Sites of the Day, 2 FWA Sites of the Month and 3 Adobe Cutting Edge Awards.

In this episode, Shane discusses the value of time and how he balances personal life with growing in his many creative skillsets, as well as how we should deeply focus on one thing in order to master that thing before pivoting to the next.

We discuss the early days of the web and some interactive shops that were pushing the limits of technology. We also touch on how today interactive design has become very stale with a lot of the same stuff being created over and over and how at one point in time, the work made you famous, not your writing, tweets or Dribbble/Behance networking skills.

Lastly, we discuss Shane's book, "Launch It: 300+ things I've learned as a Designer, Developer and Creative Director". The book includes so much wisdom from Shane's career and we go in depth on some of that wisdom including discussing college degrees and if they are worth the time and money.

Mentions Include:

My next guest is Tal Lemming, a type designer working under his own foundry, Type Supply. He is also the creator of the typeface, United, an LSU alumnus and creator of many custom typefaces in sports & entertainment.

You can also show your support for the podcast by joining the community and keeping it sponsor-free.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

He has won numerous awards which include: 6 Adobe Sites of the Day, 2 Awwwards, 36 FWA Sites of the Day, 4 FWA Mobile Sites of the Day, 2 FWA Sites of the Month and 3 Adobe Cutting Edge Awards.

Mentions Include:

You can also show your support for the podcast by joining the community and keeping it sponsor-free.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

Previous Episode

Episode 90: MLC Connect Panel 2017 with Chin Wang, Joe Bosack, Todd Radom & Jon Contino

On this week's episode, I bring you a front seat at MLC Connect 2017 for "The Future of Sports Design" panel with Chin Wang (Creative Director, ESPN the Magazine), Todd Radom (Designer/Illustrator, Todd Radom Design), Joe Bosack (Creative Director, Joe Bosack & Co.) and Jon Contino (Creative Director, Jon Contino Studio)—all former guests of Makers of Sport.

The panel is short (about 30 min.), but a lot of knowledge and experience is shared as the panelists touch on how they build relationships, manage collaborating with creatives in multiple disciplines, mistakes they've made and more.

You'll hear Joe Bosack mention Tom O'Grady of Gameplan Creative and Bill Frederick of Fanbrandz who were in the audience.

Enjoy.

Mentions Include:

My next guest is Shane Mielke, an independent creative director and interactive designer in Southern California. Shane is a bit of legend in the interactive design space. Once a creative director for renown interactive firm of the early 2000s, 2Advanced Studios, Shane now freelances full-time, is a high school football coach at a prominent SoCal school and world-class Crossfit athlete. More on Shane can be found at his site.

You can also show your support for the podcast by joining the community and keeping it sponsor-free.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.

*Correction: I mentioned Todd's episode in this podcast as episode 3, it's actually episode 4.

Next Episode

Episode 92: Tal Lemming, Designer of United Typeface, Owner of Type Supply

"The main job of a typeface is obviously to convey some information; but the second part of that is that it has to convey information with a specific tone or a voice."

Tal Lemming, the designer of the sports industry's favorite typeface, joins the podcast to talk typography, designing fonts and type's role in sports design.

Having got his start as a graphic designer in the agency scene in Baton Rouge after gradating from LSU, Tal eventually moved to Delaware to become a print designer at renown type foundry, House Industries, where he designed print collateral by day and refined his type design skills at night.

He shares a few stories from his House Industries tenure; including working long hours, receiving blunt art direction from a House Industries co-founder and creative director, as well as the tough job of making things for graphic designers. Oftentimes which result marked up work being mailed back or vitriolic comments and unsolicited feedback.

Needless to say, resiliency is something Tal has built up throughout his career. We discuss how designers' need to build thick skin and remain resilient in this day of keyboard critique, especially sports designers.

Tal touches on how typefaces convey different meanings and how brands may use the same typeface; however, the pairing of images and color can make them feel very different.

Lastly, Tal gives some of his thoughts on the infamous United typeface and how it led to a project with the US Soccer as he discusses 90 Minutes, the custom typeface he built for the US Soccer Federation.

Mentions Include:

My next guest is Marissa McClain, brand specialist and senior designer for the Boston Red Sox creative services group.

You can also show your support for the podcast by joining the community and keeping it sponsor-free.

Did you enjoy this episode? Then please rate and/or write a review of the show on iTunes. Also, be sure to follow show host, @TAdamMartin and @MakersofSport on twitter and Dribbble.