Podcast appearances and mentions of John B Johnson

John B. Johnson is an identity architect and principal of A Small Studio. He works with corporations and scaling startups, using A Small Studio's identity design framework. John and his team also work with creatives to bring peace to people's lives. Today, John and I talk about corporate and individual identity design, why people are more important than process, and intersectional design leadership.   Listen to learn about: Defining identity Identity design The intersection of brand/identity and authentic design   Our Guest's Bio John B. Johnson is a brother, a son, a husband, a friend, and the founder, principal, and Identity Architect of a small studio. a small studio is a collective of creatives who use their design gifts to improve lives through branding and product design. They believe every design project starts with Identity. In less than 3 years, his team has built over 40 brands worldwide. John leverages his Master's Degrees in Architecture and Business Administration to help people, start-ups, and enterprises benefit from infusing their identity into the work they do and what they offer the people they serve.   Show Highlights  [01:20] John talks about his path into the work he's doing today in identity design. [01:39] Design thinking is a core principle of architecture. [03:06] John's fascination with the people in the built environment and designing buildings with an eye towards the human interactions occurring there, and how that led him away from architecture. [03:34] Leaving architecture behind to focus more on community and the human equation. [04:45] Lessons learned during John's first startup business. [05:25] John discovers his passion for branding. [06:10] John's co-founding of a small studio, and a move to Seattle. [07:43] Authentic design and how it feeds into brand and identity design. [08:39] John defines identity. [08:49] What happens during the branding process. [10:39] The importance of frameworks and processes for John's work. [12:28] John uses deeply personal stories and moments to help build powerful visual identities for clients. [12:59] a small studio's Identity Architecture workshop — for individuals, teams, and corporations. [15:25] Moving fully into remote work during the pandemic. [17:24] The challenges of building a business. [18:46] Time is a key factor when it comes to going virtual. [19:55] The benefits that have come from folks needing to work remotely. [21:35] Remote work has sparked creativity and innovation in ways we've never experienced before. [22:36] Working remotely has led to more acceptance of the humanity of one another. [26:00] John talks about his life and experiences being a Black man and a Black designer. [28:27] His experiences being the only Black person in his education and work spaces and the unique way of seeing the world that came because of it. [29:47] How his life has motivated him to be a connector and a bridge between people and communities. [31:51] Intersectionality is the ethos of design and design thinking. [33:55] Dawan and John talk about bringing what is unique to us as individuals more deeply into our professional and personal lives, especially as a designer. [36:11] Bringing your full, whole self to every situation. [39:10] “Constant becoming,” and intentionally designing a good life. [41:47] Where to find out more about John and his work. [42:45] Books and resources John recommends.   Links John on LinkedIn John on Twitter John on Medium John on Instagram John's personal website A Small Studio Everything Starts Small podcast Design Thinking Isn't Just for the Privileged Brighton Jones Talent for Good Interview Series: John B. Johnson Book Recommendation: Community: The Structure of Belonging, by Peter Block Book Recommendation: The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron Book Recommendation: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, by Eckhart Tolle   Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like From Branding to Design + Teaching Design Teams + Leading Summer of Design with Karen Hold — DT101E13 Redesigning a Design School + Designing Higher Ed with Jason Schupbach — DT101 E30 Rethinking Service Design + Student Projects + Community Systems with Amy O'Keefe — DT101 E56   Fluid Hive Resources Download Fluid Hive's Innovation Shield — a guide to avoiding innovation traps by asking 9 of Fluid Hive's Design Thinking Questions Innovation Smart Start Webinar — Learn new ways to Ask Like a Designer and take your innovation projects from frantic to focused by working smart from the start. Fluid Hive: Learn — A growing collection of courses, webinars, and articles for people expanding their design thinking, service design, and human-centered design skills – people who want to think and solve like a designer.

John B. Johnson is an identity architect and principal of A Small Studio. He works with corporations and scaling startups, using A Small Studio’s identity design framework. John and his team also work with creatives to bring peace to people's lives. Today, John and I talk about corporate and individual identity design, why people are more important than process, and intersectional design leadership.   Listen in to learn more about: Defining identity Identity design The intersection of brand/identity and authentic design   Our Guest’s Bio John B. Johnson is a brother, a son, a husband, a friend, and the founder, principal, and Identity Architect of a small studio. a small studio is a collective of creatives who use their design gifts to improve lives through branding and product design. They believe every design project starts with Identity. In less than 3 years, his team has built over 40 brands worldwide. John leverages his Master’s Degrees in Architecture and Business Administration to help people, start-ups, and enterprises benefit from infusing their identity into the work they do and what they offer the people they serve.   Show Highlights  [01:20] John talks about his path into the work he’s doing today in identity design. [01:39] Design thinking is a core principle of architecture. [03:06] John’s fascination with the people in the built environment and designing buildings with an eye towards the human interactions occurring there, and how that led him away from architecture. [03:34] Leaving architecture behind to focus more on community and the human equation. [04:45] Lessons learned during John’s first startup business. [05:25] John discovers his passion for branding. [06:10] John’s co-founding of a small studio, and a move to Seattle. [07:43] Authentic design and how it feeds into brand and identity design. [08:39] John defines identity. [08:49] What happens during the branding process. [10:39] The importance of frameworks and processes for John’s work. [12:28] John uses deeply personal stories and moments to help build powerful visual identities for clients. [12:59] a small studio’s Identity Architecture workshop — for individuals, teams, and corporations. [15:25] Moving fully into remote work during the pandemic. [17:24] The challenges of building a business. [18:46] Time is a key factor when it comes to going virtual. [19:55] The benefits that have come from folks needing to work remotely. [21:35] Remote work has sparked creativity and innovation in ways we’ve never experienced before. [22:36] Working remotely has led to more acceptance of the humanity of one another. [26:00] John talks about his life and experiences being a Black man and a Black designer. [28:27] His experiences being the only Black person in his education and work spaces and the unique way of seeing the world that came because of it. [29:47] How his life has motivated him to be a connector and a bridge between people and communities. [31:51] Intersectionality is the ethos of design and design thinking. [33:55] Dawan and John talk about bringing what is unique to us as individuals more deeply into our professional and personal lives, especially as a designer. [36:11] Bringing your full, whole self to every situation. [39:10] “Constant becoming,” and intentionally designing a good life. [41:47] Where to find out more about John and his work. [42:45] Books and resources John recommends.     Links John on LinkedIn John on Twitter John on Medium John on Instagram John’s personal website A Small Studio Everything Starts Small podcast Design Thinking Isn’t Just for the Privileged Brighton Jones Talent for Good Interview Series: John B. Johnson Book Recommendation: Community: The Structure of Belonging, by Peter Block Book Recommendation: The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron Book Recommendation: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, by Eckhart Tolle     Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like From Branding to Design + Teaching Design Teams + Leading Summer of Design with Karen Hold — DT101E13   Redesigning a Design School + Designing Higher Ed with Jason Schupbach — DT101 E30   Rethinking Service Design + Student Projects + Community Systems with Amy O’Keefe — DT101 E56     Fluid Hive Resources Download Fluid Hive's Innovation Shield — a guide to avoiding innovation traps by asking 9 of Fluid Hive's Design Thinking Questions   Innovation Smart Start Webinar — Learn new ways to Ask Like a Designer and take your innovation projects from frantic to focused by working smart from the start.   Fluid Hive: Learn — A growing collection of courses, webinars, and articles for people expanding their design thinking, service design, and human-centered design skills – people who want to think and solve like a designer.

If you were a part of last week's State of Black Design conference, then you've already been introduced to this week's guest -- John B. Johnson. As the principal of A Small Studio in Seattle, he leads a team of creative professionals that specialize in authentic digital design. We spoke about how his business has changed through the pandemic, as well as his process with new projects (such as DOSE). He also talked about growing up in Cleveland, studying architecture, and how these experiences led him to start his studio and his moves until settling in Seattle. This is a really thoughtful and deep interview, and I hope John's story resonates with you all! Links John B. Johnson on Instagram John B. Johnson on Twitter A Small Studio DOSE Sponsored by Brevity & Wit Brevity & Wit is a strategy and design firm committed to designing a more inclusive and equitable world.We accomplish this through graphic design, presentations and workshops around I-D-E-A: inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.If you’re curious to learn how to combine a passion for I-D-E-A with design, check us out at brevityandwit.com.Brevity & Wit — creative excellence without the grind. Like this episode? Then subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite shows. Subscribe and leave us a 5-star rating and a review! Thanks so much to all of you who have already rated and reviewed us! Revision Path is brought to you by Lunch, a multidisciplinary creative studio in Atlanta, GA. It is produced by Maurice Cherry and engineered and edited by RJ Basilio. You can also follow Revision Path on Instagram and Twitter. Come chat with us! And thank you for listening!

What's the first word of your story? In this episode, we talk with identity architect John B Johnson from a small studio. He shares with us his understanding of how everything starts with identity. We discuss what's in a name, how to design from a place of understanding, and what it means to be an identity architect. To learn more about John B Johnson and a small studio, visit @johnbcreating on Instagram and https://asmallstudio.com To learn more about the Hive at the Claremont colleges and this podcast, visit @hive_5c on Instagram and https://colleges.claremont.edu/thehive/ If you like this podcast, be sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

John B. Johnson explores how people take their ideas and transform them into success stories

How do we become self-aware? How do we know who we are? How do we find our identity? It may very well be that we’ll never find who we are because identity is fluid. It’s always changing based on our environment, culture, the people we surround ourselves with, the perceptions and beliefs you take in, the questions you ask and the answers you decide to listen to. So who we are today will likely be different than who we were even just last week, or who we will be 5 years from now. So rather than spending time looking for our identity, what if we can create it instead? How can we design ourselves to do what we want to do, to be who we want to be? I talk to a friend and mentor, John B. Johnson, about his entrepreneurship journey in creating his own identity in both his personal and business lives and how this self-awareness is a crucial part of emotional intelligence and understanding ourselves. ------------------------------------- Timestamps: [7:01] John's background [10:45] The transition from architecture school to entrepreneurship [13:08] Change frees you to explore an identity that's more true to who you are [17:06] What is an Identity Architect? [21:16] Similarities and differences between architecting business identity vs personal identity [26:21] Good business requires deep personal introspection [31:20] How emotional intelligence is used to reveal personal identity [35:09] Developing emotional intelligence requires us to shed the external masks that cover up who we are [42:53] Self-discovery comes from exploration [47:55] 5 Core emotions ------------------------------------- Resources: John’s branding agency: http://asmallstudio.com. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbcreating. 1MillionCups for early-stage entrepreneurs to get vulnerable: https://www.1millioncups.com. 2-day Launch Camp in Seattle, Seed Spot: https://seedspot.org. ------------------------------------- Subscribe to get your free list of 11 Emotional Resiliency exercises and to get updates on this podcast and blog at http://victorung.com/subscribe. Become a Patron to support this content: http://patreon.com/humanup. Clap for me on Medium: http://medium.com/@victorung. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/victorung/message

Sam talks with John about his remarkable journey from the streets of Cleveland - to the world of architecture - to a failed entrepreneurial leap - to a successful creative studio. He opens up to share the challenges he faced and conquered as a fatherless, African-American young man and the bond that he forged with his brother in prison as they simultaneously discovered greater meaning and purpose in life.

Sam talks with John about his remarkable journey from the streets of Cleveland - to the world of architecture - to a failed entrepreneurial leap - to a successful creative studio. He opens up to share the challenges he faced and conquered as a fatherless, African-American young man and the bond that he forged with his brother in prison as they simultaneously discovered greater meaning and purpose in life.