The Mad Blog

One of the biggest mistakes I see on photography websites is actually really simple. There’s just too much. Too many images, too many projects, too many directions. And it usually comes from a good place… you’ve done a lot of work, you’re proud of it, and you want to show the full range of what […]

Most photography websites focus almost entirely on the work. Which makes sense. The work is the thing. But when someone is actually hiring you, that’s not the full decision. There’s a whole layer happening underneath that most sites don’t really speak to. Your client isn’t just choosing images they like. They’re thinking about who they’re […]

Most photography websites drop you into a mix of work or a long scroll of images and leave you to figure it out. On the surface, it looks fine. The work is strong. The images are beautiful. But when someone lands there, something important is missing. Not talent. Not quality. Direction. Your homepage isn’t just […]

The default setting for most photographers is simple. Put up a gallery.Show the work.Let it speak for itself. And on some level, that makes sense. Your work is the thing. But here’s where it breaks down. When you put up a huge gallery of images, just like every other photographer, you’re putting a lot on […]

I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes someone actually care about something. I’ve been coaching my son’s soccer team, and he’s the youngest out there. And he’s a bit of a wildman. He’s chasing kids instead of the ball, squirting water on his friends mid-game, fully in it… just not always in the way […]

One of the most meaningful lessons I’ve learned came from outside of design. Years ago, an acting coach I worked with talked a lot about ego. About how it often disguises itself as strength. Knowing. Certainty. Control. On camera, though, none of that reads as strength. The camera sees what you’re protecting. What you’re hiding […]

One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned in creative work is that you have to lean into the unknown. It is uncomfortable. Especially in professional settings where certainty is often mistaken for competence. There is pressure, on both sides, to arrive with answers already formed. To know exactly what the brand should be, where it […]

— Dr. Ralf Speth, former CEO of Jaguar Land Rover It’s common to feel surprised by the cost of good design. You see a number and instinctively compare it to other options. Faster options. Cheaper options. Things that promise to get you to the end result with less friction. That reaction is understandable. Especially when […]

Why I Built Templates, and Who They’re Really For Not everyone comes to branding at the same stage of their business. Some people need deep, fully custom work. Space to explore. A partner to think alongside them and build something from the ground up. Others need structure. Not taste. Not inspiration. Structure. That difference matters […]

Mood boards are often treated as a collection of things that look good. Personal taste. Aesthetic preferences. Visual inspiration gathered early on to set a mood. That approach misses what makes them useful. In my work, mood boards are not about taste. They are about direction. By the time we reach this stage, the work […]

Earlier in my career, I used to get lost when I designed. Not because I lacked ideas. Quite the opposite. A brand can go in a million beautiful directions, and once you open that door, everything feels possible. Fonts, colors, layouts, concepts. All strong. All viable. All competing for attention. Without a clear foundation, deciding […]

We don’t connect to products. We connect to stories.To characters. To emotion. To meaning. That’s why certain films / shows stay with us. Not because of plot twists or special effects — but because they make us feel something. They build a world so specific, so complete, that it pulls us in completely. Take the […]

Choose Carefully! Before someone reads a single word on your website…Before they know what you do…Before they understand your mission, your offer, or your strategy… They feel something. That feeling?It often starts with color. We don’t always realize it — but color does a lot of heavy lifting. It sets the tone. It establishes mood. […]

Design Is Just One Piece: Why You Need Brand Strategy to Win It’s easy to think of branding as just a logo. Or a color palette. Or a slick-looking website.But real branding goes way deeper than that — and if you want your brand to actually work (and give you a return), you need more […]

The Real Reason Most Brands Fail — And How a Simple Process Can Save You Years of Mistakes Most people think branding is about the final product — the slick logo, the polished website, the catchy tagline.The truth: Great branding isn’t just about what it looks like at the end.It’s directly related to the process […]

Typography Isn’t Decoration. It’s Communication. Typography isn’t about picking a pretty font. It’s not about what’s trending on Pinterest.It’s not about what “feels cool.” Type is voice.Type is attitude.Type is the loudest thing you’re saying — without opening your mouth. And when you get it right?It doesn’t just look good.It feels right. Typography is casting.Your […]

We live in a world where you’re hit with design every second of the day—scrolling through your feed, walking down a street in LA, grabbing something off a shelf at the grocery store. Branding is everywhere. Constant. Relentless. Most of it is forgettable. It blends together into one big visual blur. Same color palettes. Same […]

There’s this quiet space.Sketchbooks flipping open. Swatches laid out. Coffee in hand. Questions on sticky notes.And not just any questions—the real ones.The ones that pull truth to the surface. This is where the soul starts to show. The work before the work.The part no one sees—but everyone feels. We slow down.We zoom in.We listen.We sit […]