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Parlaying One Experience into the Next w/ Rich Tu
Episode 26 • 31st January 2023 • Works In Process • George Garrastegui, Jr,
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Welcome to Works In Process / Ep 26

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Doing quality work takes time:

Like I look at my portfolio now, I'm like, oh yeah, this is, it's really taken me a few years to get here. (as a designer,) you're building a different type of equation almost every single time.
There are so many other opportunities to really experiment and play, but as long as you're building out an interesting system.

That’s my guest, Rich Tu :

In this episode of Works in Process, host George Garrastegui Jr. chats with Rich Tu to discuss his First-Gen podcast, Mini Copper collaboration, and the MTV Music Video Awards exhibition. Rich also hosts the Webby Honoree podcast First Generation Burden, which focuses on the intersectionality and diversity within the creative industry. He is also the co-founder of the Colorful Grant with the One Club, dedicated to creating opportunities for early-stage BIPOC creatives. Rich graduated from the SVA Illustration as Visual Essay program.

In our conversation, Rich talks about his ability to turn his experiences into new ones by connections, collaboration, and his creative network. Finally, he shares why he created the First-Gen podcast and why James Cameron is an inspiration…

It was great to have an in-person conversation at CUNY’s NYC College of Technology and vibe off each other energy. Enjoy!

Enjoy!

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Mentions

Follow Rich Tu via:

Rich's Website / @rich_tu on Instagram

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Credits

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Like what you just heard? Support the process and rate us on Apple Podcast and Spotify!

About the Works in Process Podcast:

A podcast series by George Garrastegui, Jr. — designer, educator, and curator. Works In Process is a collection of discussions that explore the creative process. I interview individuals to gain more insight into the ways they work and the projects they produce.

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Transcripts

Rich Tu:

Like I look at my portfolio now I'm like, oh,

Rich Tu:

yeah, this is it's really taken me a few years to get here, I

Rich Tu:

think it's easier to as a designer, such because you have

Rich Tu:

more pieces you can affect. And there is more like, more more

Rich Tu:

pins that you can put on the board. You know, as, as an

Rich Tu:

illustrator, it's very specific. And it's also really based in

Rich Tu:

style as well. And they're coming to you, because you have

Rich Tu:

a specific math problem. And you'd like to or you have a, an

Rich Tu:

equation that you know, how to solve a variety of problems with

Rich Tu:

if that makes any sense. So with design, it's, you know, you're

Rich Tu:

building a different type of equation almost every single

Rich Tu:

time especially, you know, when it comes to like higher level

Rich Tu:

like brand identity, which is like its own like really wild

Rich Tu:

rubric, a pie to solve. I know just mixing my my data

Rich Tu:

metaphors. But yeah, there's so many other opportunities to

Rich Tu:

really experiment and play, but as long as you're building out

Rich Tu:

an interesting system.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Hey, what's up everyone? Welcome to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

work some process, the podcast about uncovering creative

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

methodologies from people doing inspiring work. In each episode,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

whether I'm talking to a designer, and educator or

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

entrepreneur, we learn how the hows and whys behind what they

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

do. Through experiences and determination. My guests explore

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the techniques and inspiration that have helped them navigate

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

their creative careers. I'm your host, designer and educator

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

George Garza, Jr. and join me as I continue to elevate the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

creative process by shifting the focus to how we work over what

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

we produce. On today's episode, I want to welcome rich two,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

which is a first generation Filipino American and award

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

winning designer and artist residing in Brooklyn, New York.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Currently, he is the group Creative Director at Jones know

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Richie, and has previously held the roles at MTV entertainment,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and Viacom, CBS and Nike. In addition, he hosts the Webby

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

honoree podcast first generation bird, which focuses on the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

intersectionality and diversity within the creative industry.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

And he's the co founder of the colorful grant with the one club

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

dedicated to creating opportunities for early stage

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

bipoc creams, which is a graduate of SBAS illustration as

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

visual essay program and received the ADC younguns Award,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

which recognizes the world's best creatives under 30.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Creatively, his focus is on emerging audiences and energetic

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

brands that benefit from the eclectic and unique point of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

view.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Hey, rich, welcome to the working process podcast.

Rich Tu:

Hey, George.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Hey, man, thank you so much for

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

joining me today I CUNY is in New York City College of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Technology in Brooklyn. I cannot wait to talk to you about the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

first gen podcast your Nike drops the MTV Music Video

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Awards. Before we do that, I want to dive in and clear your

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

mind. So I like to start every episode with a fun icebreaker.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

You ready?

Rich Tu:

Yeah.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Cool. Coffee or tea?

Rich Tu:

Coffee,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

eggs or cereal?

Rich Tu:

Eggs,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

artist or designer?

Rich Tu:

Artist.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Insights or opportunity?

Rich Tu:

Opportunity?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

bipoc or POC?

Rich Tu:

Ooh, I think they're both imperfect terms. bipoc by

Rich Tu:

virtue of addressing various communities. Awesome.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I like one of them. I always make

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

somebody think that what oh, wait, this is gonna be easy. And

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

now some quick water associations, right? Just the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

first thing that comes to your mind when you hear these words.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Creativity. Always determination. Yep. Business.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Pleasure. Failure. Inevitable.

Rich Tu:

I know. Right? Community. Love education. Brain

Rich Tu:

mistakes. Huh? small and big. Skills. Hands. History. A future

Rich Tu:

opportunity. Preparedness. Accessibility. Necessary. Future

Rich Tu:

history feel like we're running in circles. Process. Important,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

right? I just love doing this. I love

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that you're actually, you know, closing your eyes. And like, you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

know, thinking about not like just clearing your mind,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

actually. But I like to kind of using this as a method to kind

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

of just start every episode fresh for sure. And not go into

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

with any preconceived notions of what is supposed to be right.

Rich Tu:

Because also, it's worth noting that we're doing

Rich Tu:

this live. And we've also probably had like full day's

Rich Tu:

recordings of the evening. So it's, I think it's good as an

Rich Tu:

exercise to just completely clear

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

my mind. Exactly. Right. So this is

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the first one I'm doing actually, you know, live with

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

rich next to me, instead of being on a zoom call, which is

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

awesome. So it's great that we're both in New York City and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

in the Brooklyn area, we get to like link up, so I appreciate

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that. Absolutely. That's what's up. Yeah, we heard a lot about

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you and your bio right at the top of the show and get a sneak

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

peek of what you've done. But now let's find out about your

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

origin story. Let's give the listeners a glimpse into how you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

were introduced into art and design. So where'd you grew up?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

And where you creative as a kid?

Rich Tu:

So I grew up in South Orange New Jersey, Jersey. Yeah,

Rich Tu:

there you go. Jersey boy in the house. And yeah, I was always

Rich Tu:

creative. Like my father was an architect. And he was an art

Rich Tu:

Tech flew from for almost 3040 years of his life. Right? Wow.

Rich Tu:

And that was his way of just communicating with the world.

Rich Tu:

And he helped build a lot of important infrastructural

Rich Tu:

buildings in the tri state area from like, you know, schools,

Rich Tu:

hospitals, jails, even Say what you will, but it was like a lot

Rich Tu:

of governmental type of structures that he helped

Rich Tu:

create. But you know, that meant he was working all the time,

Rich Tu:

because there's always work to do. If you ever run an

Rich Tu:

architect, they have a very specific way of drawings, very

Rich Tu:

much like a continuous line type of draw. I remember his process

Rich Tu:

pre AutoCAD. So he was I spent, oh, he spent a lot of his days

Rich Tu:

when I was a young child hunched over a drawing desk, you know,

Rich Tu:

with very long rulers a lot of tools at his disposal. And, you

Rich Tu:

know, he kind of acclimated me into that world, or it helped

Rich Tu:

familiarize me with a lot of that creative process. So when I

Rich Tu:

started to, you know, show a lot of skills in that way, where I

Rich Tu:

was essentially drawing ninja turtles as like an eight year

Rich Tu:

old. And then I have that first drawing of Leonardo. I'm like,

Rich Tu:

hey, well, that actually looks like my toy. My dad's like,

Rich Tu:

yeah, that she does look like your toy. You know, like, there

Rich Tu:

was a lot of support there, which is great. And he brought

Rich Tu:

me to a lot of hobby shops, like comic book shops, I spent a lot

Rich Tu:

of my youth reading sequential imagery, and like having that be

Rich Tu:

a part of the way I understand like a narrative process. And

Rich Tu:

I'm really grateful to him for that. So long story short, I

Rich Tu:

kind of took myself for granted, actually, when it came to like

Rich Tu:

wanting to do something creative as a career. So I went to

Rich Tu:

undergrad and I love records. By the way, shout out to Rutgers.

Rich Tu:

So I went to Rutgers without the intent of doing exploring a

Rich Tu:

creative career. Had a great time, though. I will say it was

Rich Tu:

a state school, we were doing what we got to do. And then or

Rich Tu:

it was like, essentially a party school records as a party

Rich Tu:

school, school, shout out to the a bus, and Bush campus, college

Rich Tu:

if so, I graduated with an undergrad degree in

Rich Tu:

communication, and I minored in psychology. And I knew I wanted

Rich Tu:

to take that into some sort of creative world, but I just

Rich Tu:

didn't have the fundamentals. And I didn't give myself the

Rich Tu:

infrastructure of like the creative process and also

Rich Tu:

surrounding myself with a great community. So I reached out to

Rich Tu:

my brother in law. Jason naughty Enza, who was also former young

Rich Tu:

gun winner, and like, is very prolific in advertising as well

Rich Tu:

as an artist. He's great. And at the time, he spent many, many

Rich Tu:

years at BBDO. As an art director, he graduated from

Rich Tu:

school of Visual Arts and he told me like, Hey, Rachel, if

Rich Tu:

you're really serious about pursuing this, here's a couple

Rich Tu:

of ways you could do it. So I took a bunch of night classes,

Rich Tu:

continuing education classes, School of Visual Arts for three

Rich Tu:

years, I basically never stopped going to school. During the

Rich Tu:

daytime. I was a kiosk manager at Willowbrook mall in New

Rich Tu:

Jersey on route 46. Or I was a just in case nobody knows.

Rich Tu:

Because no one knows where Willowbrook mall in New Jersey

Rich Tu:

is with the defunct XM Satellite Radio kiosk I was a manager. So

Rich Tu:

yeah, I was there or I was a substitute teacher actually at

Rich Tu:

the high school, Columbia High School in Maplewood, South

Rich Tu:

Orange, where Sousa went to actually and Lauryn Hill Sousa

Rich Tu:

was actually a student Solana row was a student when I was a

Rich Tu:

substitute teacher. And I saw her a lot. And I put together a

Rich Tu:

portfolio that consisted of design work, illustration work,

Rich Tu:

I had a lot of affinity towards illustrations, so much love for

Rich Tu:

illustration. So that was like my easiest way, my fastest way

Rich Tu:

in not easy, Nothing's easy. And then I was able to parlay that

Rich Tu:

into a first couple of pieces, published pieces in the New York

Rich Tu:

Times called Steven Heller within the last six months of

Rich Tu:

his tenure at the time, so when he was still doing the book

Rich Tu:

review, and he was wanting to see almost any portfolio, he saw

Rich Tu:

my portfolio, he basically, you know, shit on 90% of it. I

Rich Tu:

thought 10% of it was good. And he said, Hey, well, rich, you

Rich Tu:

know, stay by your email. Tomorrow, I'll let you know if

Rich Tu:

something comes in. And then he had to spot illustrations for

Rich Tu:

me. And then I was off to the races. And then I parlayed a lot

Rich Tu:

of that work into a portfolio to get me into a master's program

Rich Tu:

at School of Visual Arts with Marshall. erisman, Mirko Ilic.

Rich Tu:

See, Carol Fabrika Tori, a lot of awesome legends and got to

Rich Tu:

really take myself seriously when it came to this creative

Rich Tu:

journey.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

So I will say, you're also a pocket

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

host, you've basically answered in sequential order. The next

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

couple of things I was about to ask, you know, in your journey,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and I didn't have to because you just kind of flowed through. And

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it seems like this idea of parlaying, right, just using one

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

thing to get to the next thing that you're doing. I mean, it

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

just want to just, you know, put it out there that you know, you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

just randomly called Steven Heller, while you still have the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

time. And Steven Heller's, like 90% of your portfolio is crap,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

but I'm still gonna give you a call

Rich Tu:

heart beating out of my chest. But that was the time

Rich Tu:

when you could just get a list of all the art directors and

Rich Tu:

design directors from the New York Times, and then you could

Rich Tu:

just cold call them. You could go to the times after this 2006

Rich Tu:

By the way, so you could go to the times in 2006, and like drop

Rich Tu:

a bag of dog shit. I feel like here it is my portfolio like in

Rich Tu:

theory, it that's how opened the door was right. And also Steven,

Rich Tu:

you know, kudos to him. I don't know whether we're just by

Rich Tu:

virtue of his tenure, or by virtue of his trust in emerging

Rich Tu:

artists, because I think he's been great about that.

Rich Tu:

Throughout the course of his career, he had a lot of like,

Rich Tu:

willingness to experiment and give someone a chance. And that

Rich Tu:

was always, I was always super appreciative of that, even

Rich Tu:

though it's weird whenever I see him to thank him, even though

Rich Tu:

I've done it, but I'm like, oh, it's he's done this to so many

Rich Tu:

people. It's almost odd.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I know. But I mean, I think it's gotta

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

be actually kind of invigorating to have that moment to say, I

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

can actually pinpoint the person who's helped me in my career.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

And sometimes, it's too late to say that to some people, because

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you didn't realize it until they're gone, that they were

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

they're really that impactful person. And the fact that you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

really want to say that, and even though it is odd, because

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

like you said, de facto, he's been doing this. And that's just

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

kind of his MO, but it's still you're not taking it for

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

granted. Yeah, absolutely. So with all this parlaying and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

everything like that, when did you consider yourself a

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

creative?

Rich Tu:

Oh, it was in that illustration program. And that

Rich Tu:

was a I think about this a lot. Actually, that was a gift that I

Rich Tu:

had to give to myself, you know, like being able to say like,

Rich Tu:

Hey, I'm an artist, hey, I'm a creative, hey, I'm a designer,

Rich Tu:

those are all things that those are titles that are imaginary

Rich Tu:

fabricated concepts, say what you will, but you really have

Rich Tu:

to, like lean in, in order to have the confidence to pursue

Rich Tu:

the XYZ, you know, so I really accepted my who I was, which was

Rich Tu:

a creative problem solver, a creative thinker, an artist, a

Rich Tu:

designer, like, you know, whatever, multi hyphenate. XYZ,

Rich Tu:

that was something I really took on, thanks to Marshall erisman.

Rich Tu:

And that SVA as illustration program.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

So seems like that visual essay

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

program is really what got you thinking beyond just the doing.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yeah, stuff, right?

Rich Tu:

Yeah, they were really good about building in a

Rich Tu:

fundamental process into your work, were one, you know, you

Rich Tu:

have two years to really think about your own creative juice,

Rich Tu:

and also like what your creative authorship is, but within this

Rich Tu:

realm of illustration, but also they expose you to so many other

Rich Tu:

amazing creative thinkers, who are also designers, design

Rich Tu:

leaders, people that could critique your portfolio. So you

Rich Tu:

were forced out of your own mental bubble, in order to

Rich Tu:

essentially think about your work from so many other

Rich Tu:

different angles, they were really great about, essentially

Rich Tu:

testing every day challenge really, all the time.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Wow, it seems like such a great way

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

almost like kind of throwing you in the pool and see if you can

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

swim. Yeah, you know, but with a group of people that are there

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

to support you. Yeah, not gonna let you drown. They're gonna

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

actually gonna let you record they are teaching you along the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

way. Right. Yeah. So thank you for that kind of nice condensed

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

version of how we're getting to where we are today. And I

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

followed you a while on social. And as a AIGA, New York

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

supporter, I've been aware of what you've been up to, right.

Rich Tu:

Stacy Panasonics.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Stacy, Stacy. Stacy is the best, the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

executive director of AIGA, New York, and like probably most

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

people, right, I think they know you for your first gen podcast,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

which we'll get into, mainly because they see your face,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

right. And as we know, designers are kind of like behind the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

scenes, and we don't really like you know, sign our work. So a

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

lot of stuff that we do, right. But over the years, what I've

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

noticed is navigating the streets of New York, I cannot

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

help but see something that you've worked on, right? Whether

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it's the airMAX 270s, the Mini Cooper collaboration, the MTV

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

VMAs, and so many things that I wasn't even aware of right. And

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I did notice something even like my last guests were interviewed

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

make Lewis bold colors are so tied to your visual style. Yes.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Why?

Rich Tu:

I think that was a confidence that took time to

Rich Tu:

build. I think bold colors are usually a sign of some type of

Rich Tu:

creative confidence, right. But also, simplicity is also a sign

Rich Tu:

of creative confidence, too. I just happen to swing towards a

Rich Tu:

certain end of the spectrum. In the beginning, I was very much

Rich Tu:

about like, an austere type of presence, and less and like

Rich Tu:

trying to look for moments within the moments like I had

Rich Tu:

very much like a quieter aesthetic, I think back in the

Rich Tu:

day. But as my confidence grew as as I started to accumulate

Rich Tu:

more work and kind of work with more clients than it just became

Rich Tu:

more about like energy, energy, energy. And then I started to

Rich Tu:

find a lot of projects that were winning with energy. And those

Rich Tu:

started to resonate a bit more. And then, you know, kind of

Rich Tu:

going into an entertainment world. Even pre MTV, like when I

Rich Tu:

was at Nike that was about energy, energy. And even before

Rich Tu:

Nike, I spent a couple of years as an art director at a at an

Rich Tu:

entertainment firm that specializes in Broadway. So if

Rich Tu:

you look at Broadway, that's all energy, right? The event

Rich Tu:

happening on the stage, the narrative happening on the stage

Rich Tu:

has to be communicated in so many different permutations, not

Rich Tu:

just from front of house to like a singular poster with some sort

Rich Tu:

of expressive design system associated with it. So that's

Rich Tu:

when I started to unlock bright colors, bolder palette. At, as

Rich Tu:

well as you know, kind of being very forward with, you know, a

Rich Tu:

type of graphic sensibility that also allows for to be messaging

Rich Tu:

first.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

So for energy, is that for you, the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

project or client you're working on or what you bring to it? Or

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

is it a symbiotic thing? We're like, one feeds the other?

Rich Tu:

I think it's the ladder. That's yeah, before, you

Rich Tu:

know, you're searching for like your your clients, right? Like,

Rich Tu:

who's in your strike zone of clientele that you can continue

Rich Tu:

to work with forever? And ever. One of my earlier clients was,

Rich Tu:

you know, web Geo, the gestation at a point three,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

no, I mean, maybe if I just like by

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

listening, but not by the call letters?

Rich Tu:

No, no worries, I can. They're one of the oldest jazz

Rich Tu:

stations in the tri City area. They're based in New York. And I

Rich Tu:

worked with them early, early for a jazz symposium. I did

Rich Tu:

their identity for a Jazz Fest at Lincoln Center. Right? So

Rich Tu:

Lincoln Center jazz, right? Like, there's a lot of diagonals

Rich Tu:

happening there. Right? And it was very quiet, austere,

Rich Tu:

illustrative, simple typographic sensibility. But that was

Rich Tu:

aligned to jazz, essentially. But it was like, I remember at

Rich Tu:

the time thinking, This isn't who I am. But I feel confident

Rich Tu:

in my execution of this because of the pieces are working in a

Rich Tu:

different type of concert, right? But then, you know, you

Rich Tu:

get more tricks up your sleeve. And then you start working with

Rich Tu:

clients that are asking for like, more and more and more,

Rich Tu:

bigger, bolder, we need to stand out XYZ, then that, like, you

Rich Tu:

know, plays like MTV, or the swoosh. Or let's say, you know,

Rich Tu:

Reebok is a client. I'm having a board doing a special project

Rich Tu:

with right now. Like, they're looking for things that that

Rich Tu:

will cut through the noise

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

to cut through the noise, right. So not

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the status quo, not the same old, same old and obviously, you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

know, as somebody who's worked I love it. You call it the swoosh?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yeah. When you're in you can now call Nike the swoosh. Yeah, it's

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

no longer just the, you know, Nike Inc. It's special coastal

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

swoosh. Just the swoosh. Yeah. Well, it

Rich Tu:

goes, it's super political over in Portland over

Rich Tu:

in Oregon. Because yeah, it's the, it's the sportswear capital

Rich Tu:

of America. Actually, if anyone of your listeners have has a

Rich Tu:

wonderful opportunity to ever work in Nike, in your first day,

Rich Tu:

you will be greeted by one of the first one to five employees

Rich Tu:

in Nike, that will tell you the story firsthand of their journey

Rich Tu:

through the swoosh. And then they'll tell you how jogging as

Rich Tu:

a recreational activity came to Oregon started in Oregon. And

Rich Tu:

then that started the proliferation of sportswear and

Rich Tu:

that entire culture. So North America Adidas is there. Who

Rich Tu:

else is there Under Armour has a presence there leaning the

Rich Tu:

Chinese footwear and sportswear companies have a presence there.

Rich Tu:

And like the two Mecca is are probably Oregon and Boston.

Rich Tu:

Boston has do balance Converse? Yeah, a few others. It's very

Rich Tu:

small, insular world where people just jump around just

Rich Tu:

these two places. So it's about lifestyle, not just about a

Rich Tu:

brand. It's a vibe. Oh, it's

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

definitely a vibe. It's absolutely about I

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

know, when I look at some of the stores and look at some of the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

stuff in the campus and things like that and what they're

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

trying to produce, right. It's a total feeling, yes, that you go

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

through and like you said, sitting with one of the 25 first

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

employees, that's gotta be like a bunch of hippies. Yeah,

Rich Tu:

a bunch of hippies that smoke weed. That's literally all

Rich Tu:

it is. Like, what I remember when I first moved there, that's

Rich Tu:

when recreational weed was legalized. I was like, Oh, this

Rich Tu:

is all everyone does out here.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

So it seems like what you're talking

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

about, right? Where, you know, obviously, shifting from the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

jazz. Yeah. And that and then clients starting to look to up

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the ante look to be different. And what it seems to me is with

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

this boldness, right, there's parts of you that are peeking

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

out, it seems like those things are starting to say, Well, cool,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I can actually show myself in that work, because they're all

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

actually allowing me to go there. But how have you been

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

able to do that in the work you create? Is it easier as an

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

illustrator or a designer?

Rich Tu:

Oh, I think Well, it's funny because as an illustrator,

Rich Tu:

like, I don't really get to do a lot of projects now where I'm

Rich Tu:

just solely an illustrator anymore, which is interesting,

Rich Tu:

right? Because when I think about illustration, now, I think

Rich Tu:

a lot about like a more of a, like a symbiotic relationship

Rich Tu:

with an art director that is also driving my work towards the

Rich Tu:

editorial essentially, okay, you know, and not you know, which

Rich Tu:

would be where I would have been as an illustrator like in my

Rich Tu:

early days, because I wasn't a book person. I wasn't a

Rich Tu:

children's book person. I wasn't also like a like the cover

Rich Tu:

illustrator designer person, although I always wanted to be

Rich Tu:

there was always like kind of a fantasy mind. But when it comes

Rich Tu:

to the myself peeking through that is like I think the

Rich Tu:

authorship coming through over time so you know in those first

Rich Tu:

couple of gigs when you're thinking oh, yeah, is this where

Rich Tu:

I can really take a stand here and, and, you know, inject that

Rich Tu:

that high energy color palette or play With these Neons are

Rich Tu:

playing with these jewel tones or have like a really bold

Rich Tu:

headline, headline typeface that that stands out in a sea of sans

Rich Tu:

serif Fs was that stands out, like, you know, in the sea of

Rich Tu:

Helvetica wannabes out there. Essentially, like, that's kind

Rich Tu:

of where I've noticed, like, where it where it's all come

Rich Tu:

together, like I look at my portfolio now I'm like, oh,

Rich Tu:

yeah, this is, it's really taken me a few years to get here, I

Rich Tu:

think it's easier to as a designer, essentially, because

Rich Tu:

you have more pieces you can affect, and there's more like

Rich Tu:

more pins that you can put on the board. As an illustrator,

Rich Tu:

it's very specific. And it's also really based in style as

Rich Tu:

well. And they're coming to you, because you have a specific math

Rich Tu:

problem. And you'd like to, or you have an equation that you

Rich Tu:

know, how to solve a variety of problems with, if that makes any

Rich Tu:

sense, right? So with design, it's, you're building a

Rich Tu:

different type of equation almost every single time, right?

Rich Tu:

Especially, you know, when it comes to like, higher level,

Rich Tu:

like brand identity, which is like its own, like, you know, a

Rich Tu:

really wild rubric of a pie to solve. I know, I'm just mixing

Rich Tu:

my my data metaphors. But yeah, like for that it's, there's so

Rich Tu:

many other opportunities to really experiment and play. But

Rich Tu:

as long as you're building out a interesting system,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

well, I like the idea that you're also

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

delineating the fact that Illustrator is kind of almost

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

limiting in the fact of what you're getting from a CD or

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

somebody in to say, well, we're picking you because of your

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

style. And this is that. So the input you have is very directed

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

by somebody else. Yeah. So the illustrator aspect is, you don't

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

really get a chance to do that, because it's already been told

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

of why we are coming to you. And it seems more that the aspect of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you as artists, we get a little bit more to challenge that and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

interject because you're both a creative as a designer, but also

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

an artist, right? who's able to make these decisions and work

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

with clients versus somebody just hiring you for this little

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

specific one thing you do, right? And let's just use you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

for that. Right, you're kind of in, it seems like as an artist,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you're in the room making these decisions with people. Yeah,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

versus being told what to do.

Rich Tu:

Yeah, as an illustrator, I was always

Rich Tu:

inspired by the words. So that was always my starting point. As

Rich Tu:

an artist, I like to it's more process oriented for me, where

Rich Tu:

I'll just want to create something beautiful or something

Rich Tu:

with impact, I don't even call them all, all my pieces

Rich Tu:

beautiful unnecessarily. But something that will get a

Rich Tu:

reaction of the people, but also isn't intent to solve a problem

Rich Tu:

necessarily, then when I put my design hat on, I'm really trying

Rich Tu:

to solve a problem for the client, and do it with them. And

Rich Tu:

then my authorship comes with the type of energy that I inject

Rich Tu:

into it, and like the essentially the personality.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

So I mean, we see that and when I

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

show you in the show notes, we're about to talk about where

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you collaborated with Mini Cooper, to bring this. I think

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it's Hiraga. to life. Yeah, right. It's a custom graphic

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that would go on the roof of a mini, right. And it's all about

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

culture and symbolism. And when you look at it's really just,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it's an image of two overlapping circles, forming an eye on a

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

hand and kind of similar to the, you know, Hamsa, right. And as

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you mentioned in the video that's on your website, that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

word means the fruit of one's hopes and dreams. And so one, as

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

many as an iconic brand that usually has the union jack on

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the top right? How were you able to get your art on the top of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

those cars as an option for us to buy?

Rich Tu:

Yeah, well, they called me so that was like step one,

Rich Tu:

get a call. Yeah. Well, okay. For them, they were working with

Rich Tu:

the American Immigration Council. And they were also

Rich Tu:

working with two other artists, Shane Griffin at GRF, my homie

Rich Tu:

Shane, and also Sean x. So three artists that were either first

Rich Tu:

gen, immigrants or immigrants themselves, Shane came from

Rich Tu:

Ireland. And it was just like you said, it was an opportunity

Rich Tu:

to create a custom illustration or custom piece that would sit

Rich Tu:

on the top of Mini, which usually has a Union Jack. So

Rich Tu:

they want to give provide a an inclusive, global thought of a

Rich Tu:

new art piece that could be bought for new mini owners. So

Rich Tu:

like, it was a wonderful opportunity. And also, one of

Rich Tu:

the easiest approvals I've ever received was like this is, this

Rich Tu:

is great. I wish it was like this all the time. And they were

Rich Tu:

super gracious to you know, they were really willing to go along

Rich Tu:

with the process. And I gave them a lot of sketches about the

Rich Tu:

you know, the deeper meaning of of the image was the palette,

Rich Tu:

red, white, blue, yellow, like that's those colors are rooted

Rich Tu:

in the Filipino flags on what to tell that story. And also the

Rich Tu:

hand what the eye was really about identity, and also finding

Rich Tu:

oneself and acknowledging oneself. I mean, also, you know,

Rich Tu:

even going down to the name of Hurayrah, like the fruit of

Rich Tu:

one's hopes and dreams, you know, it was really about self

Rich Tu:

actualization, and paying respect and homage to your

Rich Tu:

heritage, your family, your indigenous self even. And it's

Rich Tu:

the kind of thing where all these reference points Don't

Rich Tu:

wouldn't always intersect naturally. But when you add them

Rich Tu:

all up into this one piece, you can really go through the deeper

Rich Tu:

levels of storytelling on top of having something that's, you

Rich Tu:

know, aesthetically beautiful. Very,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

yeah. I mean, and you can see that it is

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it. Is it aesthetically beautiful piece. And I

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

wondering, why do you think many was a good partner to self

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

actualize this stuff on that large of a state?

Rich Tu:

I think it was their partner with the American

Rich Tu:

Immigration Council, you know, like, when you believe in the

Rich Tu:

client's cause, then you know, everything just kind of falls

Rich Tu:

into place. Right. And, and also they weren't, and shout out to

Rich Tu:

the team at appear Odell like that was the agency that helped

Rich Tu:

put it together. And also shout out to Sunday afternoon, like

Rich Tu:

who, who helped me as an artist, like everyone was really into

Rich Tu:

the idea of individual authorship. And also, it was no

Rich Tu:

holds barred there. Were being precious about anything. All I

Rich Tu:

knew was that there was a blank canvas, and there was a lot of

Rich Tu:

opportunity.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

You just mentioned in the individual

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

authorship. I think that's a great segue, because I wanted to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

talk about the art installation you did for the VMAs. Oh, God.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

And when you look at that, right, I was researching and so

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

was or my research assistant, were researching about or shout

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

out to or, and we were looking at that. And one of the things

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that struck me the most at your time dealing with that was, it's

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

more of an art exhibition. And when you think about the VMAs,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and the promotions they do, it's more about branding, the event

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that happened to be at the Barclays Center that year.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Right. So it looks like you're Yeah, pandemic year. Right. And

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it looks like you're curating this art exhibition in the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

subways. Yeah. Highlighting bipoc creatives. Yeah. Very

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

different than a normal traditional kind of advertising

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

an event. Yeah, it's individualizing authorship. Yes.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

How did that come about? Because I think that is something that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

your role being an MTV, did they allow you to shift that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

conversation? Is that something you bring to the table? Or is it

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

because you just happen to know, amazing artists that you're

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

like, we're gonna make this happen?

Rich Tu:

There's a little bit of both. So the way that all came

Rich Tu:

about like it was, it was the craziest two months of my life,

Rich Tu:

I think, and the long story short, so the Barclay Center,

Rich Tu:

like you said, that was going to be the original location of the

Rich Tu:

Video Music Awards, hosted by Keke Palmer, in 2020, the or the

Rich Tu:

pandemic, and the way that those events are booked, they'll book

Rich Tu:

the location. And then they'll usually book a massive media buy

Rich Tu:

right nearby, right, so that particularly or Barclays, and

Rich Tu:

then the Atlantic Terminal, right next to Barclays, which is

Rich Tu:

a massive subway station for anyone who doesn't live in

Rich Tu:

Brooklyn or New York City. So pandemic happens, and then

Rich Tu:

Barclays is shut down. But the by the ad by four Atlantic

Rich Tu:

Terminal was still valid. So in some checks, you don't just get

Rich Tu:

back. Right? You got to use it, you got to use it. So the show

Rich Tu:

itself shifted production to a virtual production. That

Rich Tu:

happened, it was it was by the water, right. So it was by the

Rich Tu:

water, and it was not in front of an audience. But for Atlantic

Rich Tu:

Terminal, there was opportunity there. So my SVP at the time, he

Rich Tu:

reached out to me, and it was like, Hey, rich, we want to

Rich Tu:

would you be down to help curate put together a show an art show

Rich Tu:

that will celebrate the community artist of color. We

Rich Tu:

were trying to really do something that was mindful of

Rich Tu:

the time because it was right after George Floyd right after

Rich Tu:

breonna Taylor. And also, the Barclays Center had become a

Rich Tu:

place of protests, it was a place of respect to it was high

Rich Tu:

collared ground for, for community activists. So you

Rich Tu:

know, we were being very mindful. Also, you hear all

Rich Tu:

these horror stories of these brands, with misguided attempts

Rich Tu:

to reach out to the black and brown community at the time. I

Rich Tu:

had a meeting about it on July 3, right before July 4 weekend,

Rich Tu:

and I was like, Shit, I have to think about this right now. And

Rich Tu:

it was long one really gonna spill out to here. I didn't want

Rich Tu:

to work on the VMAs here, because you work on one tentpole

Rich Tu:

and I've done a couple of temples by this time. You give

Rich Tu:

up your summer, essentially. So you know, it's people need other

Rich Tu:

opportunities. They want to work on them. And also, you know,

Rich Tu:

it's kind of one of those things, where do you want to

Rich Tu:

sacrifice all of your time into this one massive thing, right?

Rich Tu:

So I didn't want to work on the VMAs. But you know, but I want

Rich Tu:

to help out and also seemed like an interesting opportunity. The

Rich Tu:

way was originally phrased to me, by the team holistically was

Rich Tu:

he wanted to do an art show and I was like, Okay, what does that

Rich Tu:

even mean? And Hamilton had just released on Disney plus, and

Rich Tu:

Hamilton is an amazing show. That makes me cry. So I spent a

Rich Tu:

lot of the weekend crying, watching Hamilton. Oh, my

Rich Tu:

podcasts are talking about like, I'm in my early 40s on sort of

Rich Tu:

scroll down. So I watched I was watching Hamilton crying that

Rich Tu:

weekend. And really, you know, beating myself up over, like,

Rich Tu:

what is this show gonna be? And I called and Tony Baker, who was

Rich Tu:

the Director of Marketing at the time, shout out to Antonia. And

Rich Tu:

she, she was a Twitter for a number of years after she left

Rich Tu:

MTV. I was like, hey, I need help with this. Like, is this

Rich Tu:

something that that makes sense? How do we do this for the

Rich Tu:

community? Everything's so crazy right now. And she's like, Oh,

Rich Tu:

hey, I was wanting to put out the idea of doing on our

Rich Tu:

shelves, like, Oh, my God, thank you. So and also Antonia is

Rich Tu:

black. She's amazing. She's brilliant. You know, she, and

Rich Tu:

also she's outspoken. She's a leader, you know, she talking to

Rich Tu:

her about it made me feel better about what we're bringing to the

Rich Tu:

table. But what we're, you know, offering. So then it just became

Rich Tu:

a question of, are we comfortable with the mechanics

Rich Tu:

of how we're doing this? Are we comfortable with the way we're

Rich Tu:

approaching this, where it's like not going to be a brand

Rich Tu:

play, we're going to downplay the brand, we're going to we're

Rich Tu:

going to play up the community play up thank you New York for

Rich Tu:

another for being the host for us. Thank you to all the first

Rich Tu:

responders, right? It just became another type of

Rich Tu:

situation. And then for the artists reaching out to artists

Rich Tu:

that could actually get us to work because we none of us could

Rich Tu:

leave our houses, we couldn't even visit the site. So there

Rich Tu:

was 100 individual art placements in the subway alone

Rich Tu:

that were all different unique things. So like ever walk in the

Rich Tu:

subway, and you'll just see, like a massive wall cling, like

Rich Tu:

imagine, like 100 of those that were all specific, built to the

Rich Tu:

space. Right. So we had to create a virtual pipeline that

Rich Tu:

could get it to the MTA because the MTA also has to prove

Rich Tu:

everything. So we worked with artists that were that lived in

Rich Tu:

New York, but were also artists of color artists out also from

Rich Tu:

an international world that like Word, you know, there was I was

Rich Tu:

very adamant about making sure that it was representation at

Rich Tu:

the forefront of this right, so no, homies like Qurban

Rich Tu:

Brousseau, who at the time was at Ball 49 He came through

Rich Tu:

Bronson far photographer, a bizarre photographer must see

Rich Tu:

the ponzu who else Black Power Barbie mica Cooper my homegirl

Rich Tu:

like so many others that were just willing to contribute

Rich Tu:

Marcos key remark? Oh, Marcos key. Yeah, exactly. So John, and

Rich Tu:

while and while contribute a lot of work. So we for a week, it

Rich Tu:

was curating the artists creating the art and we were

Rich Tu:

actually buying a lot of the art essentially. So a lot of was

Rich Tu:

already pre created. So really curating some artists and

Rich Tu:

photographers wanted to make original pieces. And we're, you

Rich Tu:

know, open to that. Oh, Eugenia mela also who did the

Rich Tu:

illustration to my podcast, she contributed a beautiful piece.

Rich Tu:

So they create a digital pieces of art that could just go right

Rich Tu:

to the design firm that was creating all the individual

Rich Tu:

units, we did virtually over the course of saving two hours. Very

Rich Tu:

fast, very fast, very fast. And then that went right to the MTA

Rich Tu:

for approval. Yeah, so we create a virtual pipeline. So no one

Rich Tu:

had to do a site visit even though we wanted to, and went

Rich Tu:

right to the MTA for approval, and it was up for two weeks, we

Rich Tu:

actually beat the opening of the MoMA by four days, we the only

Rich Tu:

public art space in town. And the way we built it was we were

Rich Tu:

inspired by our basil freeze, the Armory Show really wanted to

Rich Tu:

make like a public art exhibit for locals who had to take the

Rich Tu:

MTA. For individuals that felt like they wanted to just be

Rich Tu:

around art in a new space. It was crazy. It was you'd walk

Rich Tu:

around the subway, and there would be like five people in it.

Rich Tu:

But they'd be enthralled with the walls. Right?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I mean, when you look at just the spaces

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that they were in, and because Atlantic Terminal is so huge,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

but also so weirdly situated where, you know, you'd have one

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

wall that's probably like five feet by like 20 feet. Yeah. And

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you're like, and some walls that are kind of like normal, just

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

subway buildings, right? So like, you have to create these

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

moments for all that. And I think even the I remember the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

one of the the happy smiley face that while creating Oh, yeah,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you know, just the yellow and the end. And you know, the smile

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and like everything that just happens with it seems so

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

personal, because it was like a personal response to this space.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yes. And I think it was intentional. Yeah. And I think

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that's a great like you said, even for those five people who

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

had to be in the subway, it was kind of like a very personal

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

effect for them. And the fact that you beat mama as far as

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

like an opening Artspace

Rich Tu:

Yeah. Oh, and I didn't even say the craziest part. So

Rich Tu:

the way that we positioned the art or the way that we

Rich Tu:

positioned the exhibit that had to you know, you have to present

Rich Tu:

that up to up the chain, right. You can't just like do things

Rich Tu:

willy nilly, because that's the further investment. So the

Rich Tu:

weekend that I was watching Hamilton cry my eyes out and

Rich Tu:

also like really think about this thing. I put together a

Rich Tu:

deck of that was 80%. This is why we shouldn't do this. It was

Rich Tu:

like here this is why this is problematic. This is why this

Rich Tu:

could be perceived as racist. This is why this could be

Rich Tu:

perceived as insensitive. This is why this could this is our

Rich Tu:

all the ways this could go wrong. And here are current

Rich Tu:

examples of misguided attempts from brands to do what we're

Rich Tu:

trying to do. And then there was an addendum. But if we do do

Rich Tu:

this, this is how we do it. And then there was a one pager of

Rich Tu:

artists that were essentially my rolodex of friends. Like, these

Rich Tu:

are people that we can trust to get it done. And also, these are

Rich Tu:

people that are from, you know, communities of color that also

Rich Tu:

locals. And also these are the inspiration points that we have

Rich Tu:

to lean into. And we can't make this about the brand. This has

Rich Tu:

to be about the art, the community, and all these other

Rich Tu:

things that matter right now here in 2020. And that went up

Rich Tu:

to the CMO and even the President and everyone was very

Rich Tu:

receptive. And it also gave us the runway to do creatively what

Rich Tu:

we needed to do because after we got the thumbs up, then the work

Rich Tu:

had to get done. And after that, it was just you know, sleepless

Rich Tu:

nights for about two months.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

God and so let me ask you, right when

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you're creating this deck of the why we shouldn't do this. Yeah,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I read that as a multi layered we Yes, right? Is it we MTV? Is

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it we as people who are not black is it we as you know, who

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

has the right to talk about this in that summer of 2020? Where

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

we're like, everything is literally burning? And why are

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

we adding fuel to the fire? Right, who has the right to be

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

talking about this conversation? And when you said when you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

talked about your Antonia that because she was black? You kind

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

of had this like sense of okay, cool. Now we are all on the same

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

page that I know what your intentions are, who's the week

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that we're talking

Rich Tu:

to the way it was the brand, essentially and also the

Rich Tu:

team I get, and you know, not for nothing too, but you would

Rich Tu:

hear again, you hear the horror stories about emails being

Rich Tu:

passed around are being screened, grabbed and sent like

Rich Tu:

from artists and potential collaborators like you want me

Rich Tu:

to, to create what for what, like, essentially trivializing

Rich Tu:

Black Lives Matter, right, trivializing BLM. And I would

Rich Tu:

have me and Antonia we were coming at it from a space of how

Rich Tu:

can we help? And how can we transform a space? So it was

Rich Tu:

really wanting to be protective of not just directly our

Rich Tu:

personal reputations? Because you know, one slip or one wrong

Rich Tu:

email all of a sudden, it's lights out, right? And it just

Rich Tu:

goes everywhere. But also it was for the brands like, do we as a

Rich Tu:

brand, want to make this statement? With a more trivial

Rich Tu:

mechanic with a more trivial creative inspiration point? How

Rich Tu:

do we make sure that we're being respectful, and also doing

Rich Tu:

something that at least bring some modicum of happiness or joy

Rich Tu:

or calm to this crazy time right

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

now? Right. And I think the idea of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

like, you know, the intentions is one thing, right? The impact

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that you may have, with all good intentions could be totally

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

different. Oh, god. Yeah. And I think the idea that you just

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

mentioned, right, how do we bring happiness and joy? If

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that's the intention? Yeah. That's with love. That's with

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

respect. Yeah. Right. Versus, oh, we're trying to elevate a

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

brand at this crazy time. Right. And I think, coming from that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

perspective, that's where it changes how it's being viewed.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Right. And I, and I think that's really smart. Because you're

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

giving the brand literally 80% of the way out, right? Yeah,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you're like, look, we don't, and we shouldn't do this. But if

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you're gonna do this, right, there's only one way feels very

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

end game ish. There's only one outcome. And this is the way

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

we're going to do it. I don't like my head's vibrating. I'm

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

just like, but it seems like then you're going to trust us?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yeah. But you got to do it the way we say it's going to be

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

because of your reputations because of what's going to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

happen and potential. What could happen, right? Like you can't

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

even predict the future. And like you said, One screengrab

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

one, this one wrong tweet, you know, and then everything

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

shifts, everything shifts, right, because then that becomes

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

a narrative. Yeah, the narratives taken away from you,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

because somebody else ran with

Rich Tu:

absolutely 100%. And then you know, me Antonia became

Rich Tu:

a part of the internal narrative of you know why this was

Rich Tu:

important. It was it was a really special moment. I mean,

Rich Tu:

it was, if I had hair, I'd be pulling it out. But I'm so

Rich Tu:

grateful that it went down like that, because at the end of the

Rich Tu:

day, the team was so supportive, I think they would all consider

Rich Tu:

it like a solid of a win. Sounds like it's trivial, but it was a

Rich Tu:

win.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Well, I mean, pulling from that personal

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Rolodex seems like an amazing Rolodex, we need to see that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

list of people. But you've taken this mission of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

intersectionality and diversity way beyond the visual you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

produce, and have created outlets and opportunities.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Right. You're the founder of the podcast, first generation

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

burden, and the colorful grant with the one club. I want to get

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

into those definitely. But when did you have this aha moment of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

noticing the lack of representation in the creative

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

industry?

Rich Tu:

I think I've always seen it, but just never

Rich Tu:

vocalized it you know, I'm sure you see it all the time, right.

Rich Tu:

And it starts early, it starts when, you know, starts in the

Rich Tu:

academic space, it starts when he moved from academic to

Rich Tu:

professional, right. They're like, they're just barriers and

Rich Tu:

barriers and barriers, doors and doors and doors that are either

Rich Tu:

open or not open to certain individuals. And you know, those

Rich Tu:

are things that I've always noticed that I never quite

Rich Tu:

articulated. It really became really cogent to me, in the

Rich Tu:

Trump years. You know, like in 2016, right? When Trump and

Rich Tu:

Hillary were really going at it. And I was living in Oregon also,

Rich Tu:

I was feeling a bit disconnected from my community because I just

Rich Tu:

relocated from New York, I felt apart from my friends, my

Rich Tu:

family, and there was all this really terrible rhetoric about

Rich Tu:

the immigrant community, specifically, people from going

Rich Tu:

to quote shithole countries, right, like all that stuff. So

Rich Tu:

that just hurts my heart hurts my soul. And I wanted to respond

Rich Tu:

to it, but in a way that was also productive. That not just

Rich Tu:

you know, created an outlet for myself when an elder from my

Rich Tu:

peers because a lot of my peers are creatives who either

Rich Tu:

immigrants first gen immigrants, creators of color, I just, I

Rich Tu:

felt that there was possibility in giving a voice to this wider

Rich Tu:

community. So in 2016, I put together or I assembled the

Rich Tu:

first couple episodes of first gen burden and the word like

Rich Tu:

they were recorded very like loosey goosey. The first one was

Rich Tu:

with my dear friend amay clink, co founder Sunday afternoon. And

Rich Tu:

then second one was with Juan Colesberg, and also a co founder

Rich Tu:

Sunday afternoon, and we're done like hotel rooms and like Echo

Rich Tu:

we conference rooms, right? It's like the audio is terrible. But

Rich Tu:

I sat on them for like a couple of months, didn't know what to

Rich Tu:

do with them. And then fast forward to Trump winning on

Rich Tu:

November 7, or whatever it was in 2016. And then I'm like,

Rich Tu:

okay, release, release, release. Oh, yeah. It's just like, well,

Rich Tu:

this is it. I sat in bed thinking like, oh, I need a

Rich Tu:

level of catharsis. So it was released, released and then

Rich Tu:

became first season was six episodes, and then I've started

Rich Tu:

doing it with more regularity. And we're now we're on Season

Rich Tu:

Eight. Yeah, we're doing 12 episodes this season. Shout out

Rich Tu:

to Tim Simonson, who played with gym class heroes. He's currently

Rich Tu:

my producers amazing partner right now. And we've had so many

Rich Tu:

amazing creatives, like just released a Jeff staple episode

Rich Tu:

today. Talk to Ben and Bobby hundreds melody Asana, you talk

Rich Tu:

to Walt gear, talk to let's see a butta I was listening to an

Rich Tu:

edit of the Mamadi Dimboola episode. He's amazing

Rich Tu:

photographer. Right now he's one of the Forbes 30 under 30. So

Rich Tu:

it's really turned into like a wider community. And what I love

Rich Tu:

is hearing not just the stories of creatives that, that have a

Rich Tu:

journey, like explicitly a journey of how they got here.

Rich Tu:

But also, you know, everyone has their own individual path. And a

Rich Tu:

lot of my listeners are students probably not unlike this

Rich Tu:

podcast, and they like hearing the different ways in and also,

Rich Tu:

you know, those little asynchronous stick journeys

Rich Tu:

that, you know, will help inform their own life paths.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I mean, when you think about right, like

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the Rolodex and who you're able to contact and have these

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

stories, right season. Ah, right. And I did see today that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the Jeff staple, and the read space, and all of that, right,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the pigeon dunks and all things that Jeff is all about, right

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

now. Yeah. You know, like, it's just like that, to me is just

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

New York to kind of like quintessential white sneaker

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

culture, just like what it was to like, wait in line for, you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

know, a drop. We all need to learn anymore. No, it was

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

literally talking to a group of SVA students. And we had this

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

whole conversation about like sneaker drops and the whole

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

craziness that bots control it now. Yes, we're going off topic.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I could talk about that for hours. Well, we should we should

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

after, but at all those stories, I ate seasons, right? I think

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

today is 75 or 76. Oh, congratulations, 76 What stories

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

still resonates with you today? Which one of those 76 And I know

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you've had more than 76. Right? These are, you know, these are

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

only the conversations that you've had recorded. Right? You

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

You know, like this week, you know, I've had conversations and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I'm like, oh shit, I wish I would have recorded that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

conversation because I would have been an amazing thing to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

share with other people. But what stories you know, stick out

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

to you from your own seasons.

Rich Tu:

One of my favorite stories, honestly was from my

Rich Tu:

friend VEDA portal over at Spotify. And she told the story

Rich Tu:

of escaping Bosnia Herzegovina in the 90s and living in as a

Rich Tu:

refugee for a couple of years before she landed in the States.

Rich Tu:

Then she landed in, like in the Midwest, and it was just such a

Rich Tu:

wild story that was also so unique and to see how she's all

Rich Tu:

the success that she has now. It makes me think like, wow, who am

Rich Tu:

I to complain about anything? She was also an architect is

Rich Tu:

really funny. She was one of the creatives that ideated on the

Rich Tu:

Drake sprite ad where he space opens up and like, yeah, he

Rich Tu:

totally covers that. Exactly. Yeah, like, the transformer

Rich Tu:

Drake ad sounds like wow, that that was you. That's crazy. So

Rich Tu:

like, you know, stories like that really resonate. I did a

Rich Tu:

live MTV episode, where, you know, one of the guests told a

Rich Tu:

story there about being physically assaulted. Growing up

Rich Tu:

in Russia. I was like, like so many. You know, it's a truly

Rich Tu:

emotional weather. It wasn't like a dry eye in the room.

Rich Tu:

Sometimes you get stories like that. I'm thinking like, Man,

Rich Tu:

this feels like something that people need to hear, because

Rich Tu:

stories like this are valid, you know, and also hearing just the

Rich Tu:

creative journey of someone who's super talented, and I kind

Rich Tu:

of, you know, kind of plink going up, blink going

Rich Tu:

vertically. You know, like, those are really interesting to

Rich Tu:

like, I love hearing. Let's see here, wild gear. So while gear

Rich Tu:

like he was like chief design experience officer, female y&r,

Rich Tu:

he's been at so many amazing places. And he's essentially

Rich Tu:

kind of talking about parlaying, he's parlayed every experience

Rich Tu:

something that's greater than sum of his parts every single

Rich Tu:

time. So you know, he's someone who's a mazing. At that, hearing

Rich Tu:

those like, and to me, it's like a masterclass thing, like I love

Rich Tu:

I keep trying to recreate my graduate school experience. So I

Rich Tu:

just want to learn more here or find out more just not for my

Rich Tu:

own edification. But you know, so other people can learn. Like,

Rich Tu:

those are the things that really stuck with me, it's like this is

Rich Tu:

how, like the well, one, every path is different to success can

Rich Tu:

look like anything, you can look like anyone. And also three,

Rich Tu:

when it comes to seeing representation in practice, and

Rich Tu:

also seeing leaders operate in a space that's so important. For

Rich Tu:

this emerging class of decision makers coming up, I get so many

Rich Tu:

messages of like Apollo, thank you so much for that episode.

Rich Tu:

This was a great conversation, I learned this from Episode This

Rich Tu:

than the third. That type of energy is what keeps me going

Rich Tu:

even though content is so hard.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

We had this conversation earlier. Yeah,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

content is it is taught in a very difficult thing to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

maintain. What's interesting is also you talked about how the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

stories that you're hearing from the individuals right are

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

impactful and how the audience's are going to be receptive to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

them. I also think that the story is important for the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

storyteller as a cathartic moment of like sharing something

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that maybe in certain conferences, they don't talk

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

about. Right, like, right, you're talking about first gen

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

as a creative, right. Yeah. And I think when we think of first

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

gen, creativity is usually not where we go with that, because

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it's like, most likely, your parents came over for this

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

better life, but to be doctor, lawyer, something that is

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

understandable that will make money. Right, and creativity is

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

never usually on that list. Right? So it also could seem to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

me just from listening to versions, or even my own guests,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the ability for them to share this first generation story.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yes, commingled with the creative story. Yes. It goes

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

back to what you're saying. We exist in multiple locations,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

right? We're not just first gen. And we're not just creative.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

We're allowed to be both. Yeah. And don't take that away from

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it.

Rich Tu:

Yes, absolutely. I think it's about the multitudes.

Rich Tu:

And also you know, that the complex identity that you're

Rich Tu:

allowed to have, and also really, you know, I love the

Rich Tu:

idea of validating identity, and not stigmatizing. You know, so

Rich Tu:

we spent so many years, I think, kind of tamping down, what makes

Rich Tu:

us special, especially for designers, I'll say that

Rich Tu:

designers, oftentimes, we said it before they step behind the

Rich Tu:

cameras that behind the microphone, often recess into

Rich Tu:

the, you know, into the inner workings, like, which is fine if

Rich Tu:

one wants to do that. But, you know, I like the idea of being

Rich Tu:

out there loud and proud of, you know, showing who you are. Yeah,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

why not? Definitely. Well, you're

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

talking about this next generation of content makers and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

decision makers, right. And want you to talk to me about this and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

as a multi layered question, right, like, so, I want you to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

talk about the colourful grant. I wanted to talk to me about

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

your tie with Trey seals. Right? And the one club right? Yeah, we

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

know you're a young gun winner, but I like who approached who

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

How did this come about

Rich Tu:

how to happen? Oh, so 2020 It's crazy. Like 2020 20 is

Rich Tu:

like you're like 2020 was a great year, you know? Honestly,

Rich Tu:

like the I feel like the pandemic just was, for some

Rich Tu:

people it was a bit of an unlock by virtue of new opportunity

Rich Tu:

that happened. Like just it's a bit of an aside, I realized that

Rich Tu:

in the Zoom era, I had more access to rooms that I didn't

Rich Tu:

have access to when I was physically in a space, so that I

Rich Tu:

could hear more about, like what leaders were seeing about

Rich Tu:

certain things, I could hear more about how they were

Rich Tu:

articulating certain things. Like, it was harder when we were

Rich Tu:

all physically together, because certain rooms just would not be

Rich Tu:

open. So the pandemic era was tough, difficult for so many

Rich Tu:

reasons. If there was any sort of silver lining it was that,

Rich Tu:

that the table that we all sit at was set slightly differently,

Rich Tu:

right. But going back to colorful, so I had a

Rich Tu:

relationship or have a relationship shout out to

Rich Tu:

Russell's reserve. They're a bourbon brand. They're part of

Rich Tu:

the wild turkey family. I just, I had a wonderful time in

Rich Tu:

Louisville, Kentucky, touring the distillery over in for a

Rich Tu:

wild turkey.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

That's what I need, I needed to get a

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

relationship like that.

Rich Tu:

Totally, they reached out. And it was a very

Rich Tu:

straightforward, creator partnership where, Hey, rich, we

Rich Tu:

would love to partner with you on on social posts for the year.

Rich Tu:

And a part of that partnership is, you know, not just creating

Rich Tu:

content for us with us. But also we would love to donate to a

Rich Tu:

charity of your choice, you know, son of a community, a kind

Rich Tu:

of a Community Give Back. So I was like, interesting. And at

Rich Tu:

the time, I was like, Oh, this sounds like another job. But

Rich Tu:

it's actually ended up being so much fun. So they had, they were

Rich Tu:

like, Hey, we are going to donate $5,000. So I was like,

Rich Tu:

okay, cool. What if we didn't donate it to a charity, but we

Rich Tu:

donated it to or we created a grant or a fund with a trusted

Rich Tu:

partner like the one club. And that went to creatives of color,

Rich Tu:

didn't have like the mechanic for it at the time didn't have

Rich Tu:

the framework or structure for it. So they're like, Hey, we

Rich Tu:

love that idea. And then I reached out to Bret McKenzie,

Rich Tu:

over at the ADC good friend over there. I've known him since he's

Rich Tu:

joined the ADC. And you know, the with the one club out there,

Rich Tu:

they're just homies of mine. So they were a natural reach out, I

Rich Tu:

said, Hey, I have $5,000 I don't know what to do with, I would

Rich Tu:

love to set up like some sort of Fund grant, even if it's just

Rich Tu:

for this year. And then Brett was like, That's a great idea.

Rich Tu:

Let's call it colorforms. like, Great, let's call it colorful.

Rich Tu:

And then we set up the timing of it, like being a precursor to

Rich Tu:

young guns, because young guns, you know, is like one of the

Rich Tu:

preeminent portfolio based emerging creators awards are for

Rich Tu:

multidisciplinary creatives, you know, especially in New York,

Rich Tu:

but also with with a global audience. And one of the gripes

Rich Tu:

and I agree with this gripe with young guns is that for amount of

Rich Tu:

time, the winners were almost exclusively white creatives.

Rich Tu:

Right. So that was a knock on young guns, and I think

Rich Tu:

rightfully so. And I think that's criticism that was heard

Rich Tu:

and felt by the ADC and one club, kudos to them. And they've

Rich Tu:

done a lot of great work to turn that around. And also just

Rich Tu:

create awareness of not have the award itself within a wide swath

Rich Tu:

of the larger creative community. Right. So I think

Rich Tu:

that's slowly shifting, but in my mind was like, well, we can

Rich Tu:

always do more, and Brett like, totally aligned. So we turned it

Rich Tu:

into a precursor to young guns, essentially, mirroring the young

Rich Tu:

guns submission process. So it's a portfolio based award. Mine

Rich Tu:

also there's a video submission component to it, where you have

Rich Tu:

to speak about identity and kind of we're going to talk a little

Rich Tu:

bit about what your intent would be for for the grant if you get

Rich Tu:

the grants like obligation free, you can play around with I don't

Rich Tu:

care, you know, or you know, you can give it to your parents like

Rich Tu:

that's cool either way or pursue a passion project. So we put

Rich Tu:

those measures in place and then we made it a free submission to

Rich Tu:

and for the reason for that was I love the idea of breaking down

Rich Tu:

perceived barriers in elite creative awards. Cuz when you're

Rich Tu:

young you don't have a lot of money to submit your stuff to.

Rich Tu:

But in order to get more creatives of color into these

Rich Tu:

elite awards, they have to they we have to start doing it

Rich Tu:

earlier and feeling safe in the process. Right so that's what

Rich Tu:

colorful was there for. And, you know, Russell's reserve was was

Rich Tu:

great about putting that together then for the first

Rich Tu:

year. In 2021. SHAN Wang won the award of the 3k Award. He's

Rich Tu:

amazing filmmaker. And this year or second year, we had four

Rich Tu:

winners and four cash prizes. There was a 3k for the first

Rich Tu:

prize was won by Danica Tandel June 2 prize with 2k was the

Rich Tu:

filmmaker Sebastian Hillis brand and then there are 242 1k

Rich Tu:

winners for third place and also you know two people one young

Rich Tu:

guns and also two people one young guns a year before like

Rich Tu:

and next year we're gonna do it against and there's more, more

Rich Tu:

funds coming in. So next year we've already gotten commitments

Rich Tu:

from let's see Sunday afternoon, they're gonna commit a nice lump

Rich Tu:

sum and also mental glue in the CCO of Ogilvy, he's, he's

Rich Tu:

committing, and I'll Russell's reserve is going to come in

Rich Tu:

again. And I'm going to come in again from personal funds. We're

Rich Tu:

just going to keep going for it.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Nice. Nice. It sounds like an amazing

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

opportunity. And I, I love that building the model of what the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

young guns does, but also making a free to enter. Yeah. Because I

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

think with all these design schools, right in the country,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

public, private HBCUs HSI is right. It does feel like

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

competitions is really access driven by who can afford to get

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

in. Yes. Right. And I think that, especially for black and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

brown communities, yeah. And yeah, and this is geared towards

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

bipoc communities like black and brown, indigenous people of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

color inclusive of Latin X and API, like that's really our

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

target audience. And for those emerging creatives,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

multidisciplinary under the age of 30.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

So usually, with those type of schools, yeah. The connections

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

to these industries, right, like an HBCU or HSI is connection to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the one club may not be as great, right as compared to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

these these larger schools. Right. So the pipeline is not

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

there sometimes, right? And what it is, and even in our school,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

right, it really depends on faculty who know about these

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

things being the one who shares this opportunity, but it's not

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

this like, systematic approach that when the young ones comes

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

out or younger, and awards come in come out, it is part of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

curriculum, it is this we're all going all in right to that. How

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

do you think something like colorful or at least connections

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

with the one club can help bring more exposure to those type of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

smaller schools who you're actually trying to get more

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

stuff from?

Rich Tu:

Yeah, well, you I think you hit the nail on the head. I

Rich Tu:

think that first step is really, you know, working with the

Rich Tu:

faculty, working with the faculty so that the faculty

Rich Tu:

like, you know, start making it a part of curriculums or like,

Rich Tu:

you know, mentioning it essentially, like, what does

Rich Tu:

that logline what does that elevator pitch that can codify

Rich Tu:

what colorful is and also like an outline the opportunity,

Rich Tu:

right? I think that's key. And I think also within the other sub

Rich Tu:

chapters that are part of the one club. So the one club is

Rich Tu:

also inclusive of the art directors club, and also the

Rich Tu:

type directors club. I'm probably forgetting, like one

Rich Tu:

other old like New York club associated with it. Right.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I think that's the end ADC, the type

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

directors club, the one club club,

Rich Tu:

I think that's yeah,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that's all they've taken over so far.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Which is a lot

Rich Tu:

when one shows what they used to be. Yeah, one show.

Rich Tu:

Yeah, one show. Yeah. And yeah, so I think those other sub

Rich Tu:

communities are key in, in communicating it to the

Rich Tu:

individuals who qualify.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yeah, cuz I think that's really, part

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

of the issues that I tend to see is just the the pipeline being

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that light barrier, right? It's always like, without even

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

knowing about it exists that can go over your head, because it's

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

there for you. But you're just not aware.

Rich Tu:

Absolutely. And that's the thing. It's like we want

Rich Tu:

everyone to apply. We want to make it hard on the judges, you

Rich Tu:

know, put them to work and all the judges are, at least last

Rich Tu:

year, past two years, all former young gun winners as well, a

Rich Tu:

jury of their peers, also, all jurors who are creatives of

Rich Tu:

color also multidisciplinary. So we're really trying to have a

Rich Tu:

level of rigor on the curation side, the jury side that is in

Rich Tu:

line and in league with the other awards of the one clip.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

That's great, because I also think with

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that there's a shift in what is considered good yes, work right?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I'm err, quoting right now, because what is good work? And

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

who, who deems certain things good quality, right? How is it

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

viewed based on the old European Western canon? Versiv, all of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

these things that we all talk about are hitting,

Rich Tu:

you're giving them my trigger words. Right,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

right. Canon Western,

Rich Tu:

European, Euro century. Yeah.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

But you know, how do we now look at

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

something that traditionally from other people were judging

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

would look at it and go, Oh, that looks rudimentary, that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

doesn't look this. Why are the colors clashing a certain way?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

And there's younger people understanding who we're bringing

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

culture into the way they do their art form, their design,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

their thought process, right? You're allowed to explore and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

say, there's something there there's wrongness there

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

absolutely. 10

Rich Tu:

culture is an input, right? I think we're only

Rich Tu:

realizing that a culture is an input, right? But you don't

Rich Tu:

realize that until you're in that position of power to make

Rich Tu:

those decisions and look at a body of work and go, Oh, this is

Rich Tu:

something else that they're bringing in from nothing that it

Rich Tu:

learned in school, nothing that they learned here, you know, has

Rich Tu:

nothing to do with grids and hierarchy and the typography

Rich Tu:

that was, you know, like you said, the Helvetica is of the

Rich Tu:

world. It's something totally, like instinctual, right? It just

Rich Tu:

kind of comes with the territory for them. Right? And they're

Rich Tu:

trying to show that and they just need somebody to be able to

Rich Tu:

say, Oh, we see you. Yes. And it really is about that, like, oh,

Rich Tu:

we see you. Also Yes, your culture is valid. And the thing

Rich Tu:

that I've always hated about that The traditional Eurocentric

Rich Tu:

lens that tends to shut down or tamp down individual culture.

Rich Tu:

And also, you know, essentially the creative work of people of

Rich Tu:

color is that when culture is a part of the creative, like

Rich Tu:

intrinsically tied the creative, and then a Eurocentric opinion

Rich Tu:

or Eurocentric trained, I, essentially unvalidated or kind

Rich Tu:

of cast that creative aside, you're telling someone that

Rich Tu:

their culture isn't valid. And that part just has never sat

Rich Tu:

well with me. And I love the idea of opening up that aperture

Rich Tu:

of influence, so that we can say like, yes, these are just as

Rich Tu:

valid as what we have here thought of as tradition. And

Rich Tu:

there's a whole community of practitioners that are also that

Rich Tu:

speak that language.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yeah, it's just interesting to now

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

have this language that we all understand and take away from

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the fact that like, design now, intrinsically, does have a

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

signature. Yeah, in the sense of either your culture coming out

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and your style coming out and things like that, where the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Eurocentric model was to strip that all away, right. It was

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

about the client, it was about the work. Yeah, right. You may

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

have known some of the high end people who did it, but it was

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

really, you know, you knew that because of a specific style. And

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it was kind of a clean, right? That whole like alignment. It

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

was Yeah, it wasn't, but now it's about being like, Oh, this

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

is this person's work. Who happens to be a designer? That's

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

awesome. Right? Before it was like, oh, it's the brand, right?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

It's it's Wyden Kennedy, it's like a&r, it's all these people.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

It's like, no, no, now it's, it's the individuals who are

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

bringing that level to this brand, that they happen to have

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

all this power and influence with that are now working with

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that. Yes, I love the way that's shifting from just big brands

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and agencies, to the individuals who are then representing those

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

big brands. That agency. Yeah,

Rich Tu:

absolutely. We're getting there. I know, slowly,

Rich Tu:

but surely,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

slowly, what needs people like you to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

keep on pushing that envelope? As we're closing up, and I think

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

this is going to be like my Murray's episode where I can

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

literally talk to rich for forever. As an artist, designer

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and practitioner, what is something new that you want to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

explore creative lives?

Rich Tu:

You know, I've been thinking about a lot lately, I

Rich Tu:

want to do, I haven't done a show in a long time,

Rich Tu:

essentially, like a self curated show that, you know, straddle

Rich Tu:

the line between design, fine art and also technology. So I

Rich Tu:

think that's something that I'm probably going to try to push in

Rich Tu:

2023. I've been thinking about a series, that would also be

Rich Tu:

illustrative typographic, and maybe have like an AR lens

Rich Tu:

component to it. So that's a bit of a teaser, if I could give you

Rich Tu:

a vague or tease. But in terms of like something that I've just

Rich Tu:

never quite done before ever. Oh, man, I probably gaming, I

Rich Tu:

would love to, you know, tackle that. That industry in some way.

Rich Tu:

I mean, I've dipped a toe. I've done a couple of things in it.

Rich Tu:

But I want to do something that's very entrenched in a

Rich Tu:

narrative experience within a game.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Right. All right. Yeah. If there is

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

one, yeah. What shift Are you seeing currently in the creative

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

industry?

Rich Tu:

I think there's a culture shift. I think the way

Rich Tu:

that we look at authorship, and also the validity of influence,

Rich Tu:

right, like, like everything that we just talked about, I

Rich Tu:

also what else is there? I think the general practitioner shift

Rich Tu:

is like a meteoric one where now a lot of designers are willing

Rich Tu:

to be personality forward, but also willing to be product

Rich Tu:

designers, typographers illustrators kind of attack it

Rich Tu:

from several different angles. So we still have specialization.

Rich Tu:

But the general practitioner, I think a lot of kids are coming

Rich Tu:

out of school now with that approach and willingness to to

Rich Tu:

push it there. What else is there? I think there's also the

Rich Tu:

general shift of a lot of newcomers or a lot of emerging

Rich Tu:

creatives wanted to go brand side, start brand side before it

Rich Tu:

was like agency satellite. Let's fuck shit up with an agency

Rich Tu:

that's willing to be disruptive. But I think a lot of young kids

Rich Tu:

are actually want some type of stability that a brand can give

Rich Tu:

them. I mean, I'm the sick bastard that left stability and

Rich Tu:

went back agency side because they wanted the thrill, you

Rich Tu:

know, so I don't know what what do you see happening? Like

Rich Tu:

you're closer to it when it comes to young?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I mean, I think the shift is kind of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

owning your own story. Yeah, I think a lot of it and some of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the things I teach is really being you know, we're the people

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that they're marketing to. Right. Yes, but the fact is that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

At the we're not usually the people who are in control of

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that marketing. And a lot of that stuff is is me trying to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

advocate for people to bring themselves as much as they can

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

to the stories that they want to tell. Because then you can push

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the unique narrative that you understand, right, versus the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

narrative that maybe only sells more milk, you know, you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

understand the cultural reasons why we need this versus just the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

bottom line. Yeah. And so I think the shift is, is just the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

way we need to approach that. We shouldn't just be people who do

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the work on behalf of other people, you'd be doing the work

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

on behalf of what we think is important.

Rich Tu:

Yeah, no, I agree. Do you see that a lot of the

Rich Tu:

students in your class now have embraced entrepreneurship? I'm

Rich Tu:

seeing that so much more now?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I think they do because of how social

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and things allow you to like be brands. Yeah. But I think the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

problem is sometimes is that it looks so shiny and perfect, that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

they don't understand what goes into it. And so it seems easy

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and attainable. And it is, but it's also a lot of hard work.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yeah. And behind the scenes, right, that we don't get to see.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

And that to me is always the problem with social is the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

veneer that's put up of what it's supposed to look like.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yeah, versus the hours and ages that it takes to actually create

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that 10 seconds of content that 32nd commercial, right, that two

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

minute little video, you know, or even the, you know, the VMAs,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

even though it took you 72 hours to do like whatever approval

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

process, whatever, but you said it was two months of, you know,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

just intense Yeah, intense hence, intensity, right? So,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

somebody, here's, oh, I can do that. That's cool. Like, and I'm

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

like, no, no, two months of intense things, where you're

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

also putting yourself out there, you're risking your reputation

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

with clients, with friends with fellow crew

Rich Tu:

within the organization to like, yeah, you're it's

Rich Tu:

basically swimming upstream where your roller skating uphill

Rich Tu:

so often. Yeah.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

So I think those are the things is

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the entrepreneurial nature is there. But because of the lack

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

of understanding of how much things actually cost,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

understand, take time, there's a disconnect. And I think the more

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

people like you or other people start to inform students what it

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

really is to do the work. Yeah, that's where it takes, right,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

because like you said, your podcast is probably being

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

listened to by students, such as mine, I hope as well. And the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

fact that learning from those stories is where you get to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

understand. Okay, I could get there was gonna take me some

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

time. Yeah. Yeah. And I think one of the things I just I hear

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

in your story is, you know, it all falls into place. You know,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you've mentioned you had some struggles, and you mentioned

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

that understanding that the lack of diversity was always put in

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

your face. Right. But the story you tell is very like, hey, it

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

all kind of just worked out.

Rich Tu:

Yeah, well, I mean, but that's also like the veneer like

Rich Tu:

the Polish at the end. Like who knows, like, who's still

Rich Tu:

noticed, at the end of the day, like, there's still more highway

Rich Tu:

to drive.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Right. But it just seems very, very

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

lucky and fortunate the way that your dad being an architect, you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

understanding that and coming into it, I think you said you

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

had a brother in law who was already at an agency, right? So

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

like, yeah, those things aligned for you, that you were able to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

parlay. And it seems not that you didn't put the work in?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

That's definitely because you just said you had spent three

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

years at night school to, you know, go to, but I mean, it just

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

seems like that's a smooth, smooth as a, you know, air

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

quotes term, but like a smoother transition. And a lot of people,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

let's say, who don't have that same access that early age,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

yeah, who are always getting up a hill, right. You know, almost

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

every Yeah, you know, you're

Rich Tu:

totally right. It's like, I'm super fortunate, and

Rich Tu:

that there was the barriers for me, were slightly different

Rich Tu:

they, and I found a way to navigate the barriers, but there

Rich Tu:

were a lot of open doors to, you know, so I've kind of made it

Rich Tu:

one of my life's missions to create more of those open doors,

Rich Tu:

and also to set an example of like, what is possible.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

And that's amazing. That's amazing,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

because I think that that is a testament to all the things that

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you're doing as being while you're doing them, right,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

understanding where it came from, and how to shift that into

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

how to move those things. So lastly, yeah, I'm starting this

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

new ending to my show where I'm calling it pay it forward. Okay.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Right. And so who do you think I should have on the show and what

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

one question about their process? Should I ask them

Rich Tu:

Oh, whoa. Oh, man. Is this like, just robbed your next

Rich Tu:

fantasy factory right now? Can I just throw a toss on Eddie named

Rich Tu:

you,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

whatever this is, all you.

Rich Tu:

Let's see, one person you could have on the show.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

And what would one question about

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

their process? Should I ask them basically from you if I Yeah, I

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

get to talk to them. And I'm like, Hey, rich wanted me to ask

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you this.

Rich Tu:

Yeah, okay. Damn, I would want to talk to Jim

Rich Tu:

Cameron. Maybe, because I love entertainment. And I love film.

Rich Tu:

And you know, I don't even think Jim Cameron is the greatest

Rich Tu:

filmmaker of all time, or just he just top of mind because I

Rich Tu:

was thinking about avatar to the way of water earlier today. I

Rich Tu:

don't even care about the movie, but I'm interested in watching

Rich Tu:

it just because I feel like some sick obligation to be aware of

Rich Tu:

pop culture. So I would want to talk to Jim Cameron. But also,

Rich Tu:

I'd want to ask him, essentially, what is the line

Rich Tu:

that that he's willing to cross for filmmaking? Because you hear

Rich Tu:

all these stories about a guy like him, like, almost killing

Rich Tu:

his actors, you know, just going way over the top on a product

Rich Tu:

that he's super passionate about when maybe a lesser filmmaker

Rich Tu:

would have relented when even for Avatar to he's like, for

Rich Tu:

this thing to break even it has to be like one of the top five

Rich Tu:

grossing films of all time. So the bar is pretty high. Like

Rich Tu:

where that is the level, can you imagine that level of pressure

Rich Tu:

for a human being is like, I don't give a shit. They're crazy

Rich Tu:

in that crazy. So I would love to get a peek into his mind and

Rich Tu:

hear like, what is the level he's really willing to cross if

Rich Tu:

there was no holds barred? In terms of filmmaking?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yeah, that seems intense. Right? Where

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you're where? I mean, he's also put that level upon himself.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Yeah. If he's like, I have to be the top five grossing film.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Right. And and no, he's done it before. Yeah, but it's but it's

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

like he's like Dr. Dre, though. Yeah,

Rich Tu:

cuz I remember Dr. Dre was like, after the chronic

Rich Tu:

after chronic 3000 left. It's like It's like the pressure on

Rich Tu:

top of Dr. Dre. Like depression on top of James Cameron. It's

Rich Tu:

like, he it's only been up and he hasn't had a shit movie. Like

Rich Tu:

we haven't we don't really think about it. He hasn't had a bad

Rich Tu:

movie yet.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Can you imagine? Right? Right. But he

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

also doesn't do that many movies. Now. He doesn't. Right.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Right. Assault on level, right?

Rich Tu:

The escalation. Like even a person like Martin

Rich Tu:

Scorsese, is willing to experiment, do things that are

Rich Tu:

somewhat misses, you know, but ya know, do like James Cameron.

Rich Tu:

It's like, all right. All right. Like what is your brain? Like?

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Can't literally can we dissect this

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and just kind of see what it is? Yeah. And how things operate and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

where things pulse and like, yeah, you know, because there

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

needs to be some sense of bravado to be like,

Rich Tu:

I need to put that much that amount of pressure on

Rich Tu:

myself. Yes. To make this a success. Yes. Like a Kubrick in

Rich Tu:

level of like intestinal fortitude. Yeah. But Kubrick was

Rich Tu:

like, I don't give a shit. Whether you watch this, like,

Rich Tu:

fuck, you know what I mean? But James cameras, like everyone has

Rich Tu:

to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

still has to watch this. Because

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

otherwise, then I am a failure. Yeah, we're probably long. But

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

what advice would you give a younger self,

Rich Tu:

I don't believe in advice. And that's always my

Rich Tu:

preface for what I do give this piece of advice. I believe that

Rich Tu:

you should chase your curiosity, like everything we talked about,

Rich Tu:

chase your curiosity, because passion is the thing that's

Rich Tu:

going to be your driver in this industry, there are so many

Rich Tu:

barriers, and not even like, the barriers we were talking about

Rich Tu:

that are for all that suddenly shut out communities. But like

Rich Tu:

barriers of like just the normal everyday barriers, have a

Rich Tu:

difficult client of difficult feedback of a project that maybe

Rich Tu:

just not may not be what you want to work on right now.

Rich Tu:

There's all that normal stuff. So really, you get out of this

Rich Tu:

industry, what you want to put in, right. And if you're not

Rich Tu:

chasing your passion, and if you don't love what you do, then

Rich Tu:

really, this may not be the industry for you. So I would say

Rich Tu:

pursue that passion with passion and do it in earnest. And, you

Rich Tu:

know, if you have the energy to do the legwork, do as much as

Rich Tu:

possible. And that's something that I've always stuck to. And

Rich Tu:

that's helped me parlay my own career into something that has a

Rich Tu:

modicum of success today. And I hope to continue, you know, just

Rich Tu:

to kind of do my thing and do what I love.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

So what's up next for rich to tell

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

our listeners where they can find you, and all the things

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you're up to? Okay,

Rich Tu:

so let's see. First generation burn the podcast.

Rich Tu:

It's a series of conversations with creatives, immigrants in

Rich Tu:

the creative community that isn't currently in season eight,

Rich Tu:

you can find that anywhere you find podcasts, and also

Rich Tu:

colorful, colorful awards, year three and 2023. So be on the

Rich Tu:

lookout for that, you know, we really want to, you know, let

Rich Tu:

the judges put the jury to work. Really, truly, it's free entry.

Rich Tu:

As long as I'm involved, it will always be free entry. I don't

Rich Tu:

give a shit. It's good to know. Yeah. So you know, please do it.

Rich Tu:

It's an amazing opportunity to not just kind of Uh, enter these

Rich Tu:

types of awards, but also be seen by a jury of your peers.

Rich Tu:

And let's see, check out some of the work at Jonell's Ricci,

Rich Tu:

where I'm currently a group creative director, and what else

Rich Tu:

we have coming out by Mini Coopers

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

environment? Well,

Rich Tu:

those groups are still available. So checkout Mini

Rich Tu:

Cooper, and I think just Google my name and Mini Cooper, and I'm

Rich Tu:

sure there'll be some sort of link to purchase, I think those

Rich Tu:

cars actually start hitting the road at some point this winter,

Rich Tu:

which will be exciting. I've seen some of the rooftops

Rich Tu:

actually get like, you know, place. And I, I know that

Rich Tu:

there's a bit of a backorder of doing a small capsule collection

Rich Tu:

for Reebok in 2023, for the 50th anniversary of hip hop. And

Rich Tu:

that's, I think, some T shirts and maybe a sneaker piece.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

I'm not sure the four elevens are gonna

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

do a bunch of those.

Rich Tu:

I don't know like, it's an act of conversation. So I did

Rich Tu:

see like the final like T shirt capsule, and like some of my

Rich Tu:

pieces in there, like look pretty dope. So yeah, for one

Rich Tu:

find me. Rich too. You can find me on social media for the most

Rich Tu:

part at rich underscore to you, and find first gen br and the

Rich Tu:

podcast at first unburden one word on Instagram. And that's

Rich Tu:

where I'm most active. Awesome. George, this has been amazing.

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Thank you so much. Rich for all the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

gems, the side conversations, the segways the the slight

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

interview of me I love that I was like, Wait, am I the one

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

doing this podcast? Or is i My enriches. You know, I really

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

love to hear the way you were able to honestly, as you say,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

parlay and connect one thing to the next. And it seems very

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

natural, how these client collaborations or moving from

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

different agencies in house to, you know, agency side wanted to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

deal more with the creativity. I mean, the craziness, actually,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

and the energy, and how you're just driven by the love and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

passion for what you do. So thank you so much. I really

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

enjoyed that. And once again, it was an amazing way to be back

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

live and, and being face to face rather than just zoom. So thanks

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

so much for this conversation. Awesome. Thank you, George. This

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

has been works in process. Once again, I wanted to say thanks to

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

rich for venture in the City Tech and chatting with me today

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

in the pearl building. He's been blending how designers and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

artists are being represented via their work and their

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

stories, which advocates for Diversity and Community. And

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

it's prevalent in the projects he produces. He's changing the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

way creatives are viewed and who's being seen and I just

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

wanted to say thank you. If you want to learn more about the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

various projects people organizations mentioned in our

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

conversation, please check out the show notes in our podcast

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

player or the website wi P dot show. The works in process

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

podcast is created by me, George Gary stiggy, Jr. The content and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

transcriptions it'd be reviewed by horse shuffling or in this

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

episode has been produced and edited by RJ Sileo. You can find

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

the works in process podcasts on all media platforms such as

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Apple, Spotify, Google, and more. And if you like the

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

episode, feel free to give us a five star rating on Apple

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

podcasts and or Spotify. And if you're extra generous write a

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

review. It really helps. Just subscribe on whatever player

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

you're listening to right now. It's that easy. Follow us on

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

Instagram or LinkedIn to stay up to date on new releases of every

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

episode. I appreciate you taking the time and journey with me and

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

hope you enjoyed this conversation. Until next time,

George Garrastegui, Jr.:

remember your work is never final. It's always a work in

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