Podcasts about tinlun studio

This week on the Brand Your Passion podcast, I was joined by Terence Tang, A.K.A Tinlun Studio, a hand-lettering artist and designer from Houston, Texas who creates murals and other lettering pieces, has his own apparel store, runs the HumanKind Project, and more! Terence has collaborated with brands like Nike, created custom pieces for NBA players, and been featured in lettering books like Goodtype and Typism, alongside running his apparel store, creative commercial client work, and cultivating his own lettering practice.In this episode we talk about being authentic in your brand, letting go of things that take away from your creativity, and the realities of growing a creative business, among other fab things. We also get Terence’s top tips for business and life as a creative entrepreneur!LinksTinlun studio store: https://shop.tinlunstudio.com/Terence’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinlunstudio/Tinlun lifestyle Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinlunlifestyle/Tinlun Studio website: https://www.tinlunstudio.com/

Tinlun Studio on Leveraging Failure & Passion Projects to Thrive & SurviveSo many people love pizza but hate the crust. I’m here to tell ya you gotta learn to love the crust.The first few bites of a slice of pizza are when you’re high on life and things seem to be working in your favor. The crust is the low moments of adversity and failure.You can’t have pizza without the crust, and you can't appreciate the highs without the lows.The crusty times test our character and mold us into the next version of ourselves. It’s up to us on how we respond, so we can evolve into the version of who we want to be.Someone who’s dealt with waves of crust and always comes back bigger and better than ever is my homie Terence Tang of Tinlun Studio, aka The Tenacious Turnip aka Tinman the Terrific.Terence and I go back a for a few years now, and I’ve seen his lowest moments set him up for something great each time he responds with a positive attitude.He’s one of the best humans I know, and his story is sure to inspire you to love and use your crust as part of your story to inspire others as well.Terence is a full-time freelance lettering muralist making moves out of Houston, TX, and empowers humans to be a little bit nicer through his Human Kind initiative.He’s also a low key wizard in calligraphy and photography and has a sneaker collection that is certainly bigger than the Kardashian sisterhood’s shoe collection combined.In today’s episode, Terence and I go deep on:Using failure to fuel your next movesLeveraging passion projects to attract future workShowing yourself in your work by picking buckets for your brandCreating your own merchSteering parked cars, taking action, NBA logos, beards, and moreIf you feel lost, stuck, and caught up in your own crust, this episode will push you to take some serious action.ShownotesConnect with Terence: Instagram | WebsiteDownload your FREE Side Hustler's War ChestGet your FREE audiobook download from AudibleJoin our Private Global Facebook Community of CreatorsListener of the Week: _drewsomethingushudto_USAPodcast Editor: Aine BrennanShownotes Editor: Paige GarlandVideo Editor: Colton BacharPodcast music: Blookah—Want to Support the Show?Become a backer on PatreonLeave an Apple Podcast Rating and ReviewShare the show on social media or follow the Perspective Podcast InstagramSubscribe via your favorite podcast player:Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle Play MusicOvercast

Our Houston homie Terence Tang aka Tinlun Studio aka Tinny-Tin is on the podcast this week and he's a gem of a person! We talk about his beard, his shoes, his love of sports, his fam, him business as a letterer, and much much more! He's a man of many skills and a fun dude to talk to!!

The preface of this episode stems from some recent free work I was selected to create. I feel this could yield some value to you if you ever get stuck in the same situation. Recently, a local pizza joint, Urban Pie, opened up close to me and they put out a call to local creatives through Facebook. They asked for help in designing their massive chalkboard menu as well as their cornerstone quick bake pizza oven. By now you need to know that I’m weirdly passionate about pizza art so I figured why not inquire for more details. It came back as exposure work… If you’re like me then you’re not a fan of crowd sourcing artists and paying them in exposure. A lot of companies do this to try and position it as they are benefiting the artist when in reality; they are the ones who are winning. Before you go rolling your eyes I want you to hear me out. After consulting my mastermind group and asking the question, “When do you think it’s okay to do free work?” I got a ton of great responses. I thought packaging up their answers would make a great episode incase you ever got in this position yourself. Safe to say I took the job. I couldn’t be more excited about it because of several factors that I share in this episode that benefited me in doing free work. Free Work Can Lead to Bigger Breaks or Help Someone in Need I get it, you want to build a career of doing the work you love. Why would you ever want to do work for free? I’m at a point in my creative career where I’m making a big transition in taking my freelance game to the next level. There are plenty of bills and loans laying around that need paid and my time is sacred outside the day job. A part of me tells myself that I shouldn’t be donating any of my work for free as it’s not paying the bills. Then again, there is another part of me who sees the value you in it…depending on the situation of course. I’m not telling you to do free work all the time and get taken advantage of—I respect the creative hustle. Not everyone is going to agree with me on these and that’s alright. This is about the 7 ways free work may be in your best interest. I’m looking for the win-win scenarios here. When You’re Just Starting Off A great time where free work helps you out is when you’re just beginning to pursue your work seriously. During this time, you’re still developing a style and name for yourself. It’s rare that people are going to throw a lot of money at someone who doesn’t have a body of work showing what you’re capable of. You have no leverage. Doing projects for friends, family or other acquaintances can help you: decide quickly which type of work you do and don’t want to do more of. get familiar with the client process…even if they aren’t the best clients. learn how to handle situations like feedback, revisions and handing off work. develop your skills and get word of mouth for future jobs. You have to start somewhere, and that means doing free work in the beginning. When it’s Work You Create in Your Free Time If there is a specific style of work you’re already doing in your spare time, this could be a great opportunity to show what you’re made of in a more professional setting. For me, I already create pizza art on the regular and the project I took on gave me a chance to do this with more intention. When it Aligns With Your Goals This was a driving factor for why I chose to take on the project. I have a list of goals written down and it just so happens this projects hit 3 birds with one stone: to get my first pizza related client to do 1 of 5 murals to build a strong creative presence in my community When something aligns with your goals, I’d take the opportunity as you don’t know what it could lead to next. When it Could Lead to More of the Same Work But Paid This plays off #2 & #3. If you aspire to do something and you’re already doing it for yourself in your spare time, doing it for free could open the window to do more of this same work, but paid. Getting an opportunity to show off my pizza / mural skills in a highly trafficked public setting could lead to bigger pizza or mural projects (as of this writing, I’ve already received 4 local requests for murals and it has only been a week since I completed this project). For even larger reach, I highly recommend: documenting the process pushing it through social media adding it to your portfolio making a case study on your website This will dramatically improve your odds for attracting similar clients that will pay for this style. When You Have Complete Creative Freedom Sometimes having complete creative freedom can be a mind fuck. Restrictions have a way of breeding creativity, but sometimes having the freedom to do whatever you want within reason is amazing. It circles around to showcasing your skills that you’ve been crafting behind closed doors in your sketchbook. Now you can let your creativity explode on whatever canvas you’re asked to create on. In my case, this was a chalkboard and oven. When it’s for a Charity That Resonates With You There may be times where you believe in the cause that a charity or organization promotes. In this case, your work could serve a larger purpose that surpasses the value of money. A great example of this is my brother Terance Tang of Tinlun Studio. He donates his time and artwork to a local Chinese Youth Camp in Houston, Texas. Terance states, “The first year I volunteered at CYC, I immediately saw the enormous positive impact it has on the kids - personal growth, teamwork, leadership experience, social skill building, and most of all, unforgettable memories. I knew then and there that this is a special organization that truly makes the world a better place. I definitely want my kids to have the CYC experience.” Another great example of how artists donate their work for a larger, and in these case a smaller cause is with Inch x Inch. This is a monthly button club operated by Bob Ewing and Drew Hill that features well-known artist’s work. The duo believes small things (like buttons) can make a big difference. 65% of the proceeds of each monthly subscription go to funding youth art education programs. Some of the design juggernauts they’ve featured include Draplin, Allan Peters, Clark Orr, Brian Steely and Kendrick Kidd. What’s even better is that is that they recently donated $5,000 split between Art with a Heart (Indianapolis) and 826CHI (Chicago). Creating free work for a good cause makes a bigger impact than you think. When You Can Help Someone Out in a Pinch When you become a known design source, your friends and family will inevitably hit you up for work. You can’t help everyone—saying no is just as important as saying yes…unless it’s your mom asking then you have to say yes. However, sometimes you may be in a position to help someone get that break they deserve. A great example of this is Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co. and his logo design for Cobra Dogs. Cobra Dogs was a food cart that used a copyright logo and was on the verge of losing everything. DDC came in and created a new logo for them, helping the entrepreneur recover and do what he loves: selling dogs from his food cart. There will be random opportunities when you could doodle on a kids cast, create a logo for your little cousin in-law’s youtube channel or create some branding for your friend's music festival. Making time to lend your time and gift could be another person’s blessing. Conclusion You see, there are times where doing free work can be a win-win scenario. I feel when you look at an opportunity from this perspective, it can be worth doing it for free. Again, I’m not saying to do this for every project. You have bills to pay and exposure doesn’t put food on the table. As an artist, you have to pick and choose those right situations where it makes sense. Consult people close to you if you’re unsure like I did. It brought a lot of clarity which let me package this up and share with you if you get in this situation. Not all free work is created equally, but sometimes that exposure or person you’re helping out just may be worth it. Key Takeaways You can’t do every project for free, you have bills to pay and exposure doesn’t put food on the table. It’s rare that people are going to throw a lot of money at someone who doesn’t have a body of work showing what you’re capable of. You have no leverage. Doing something for free could lead to more of the same work but paid. Documenting and repurposing your free work can dramatically help attract clients that will pay for this style. Creating free work for a good cause makes a bigger impact than you think. You can’t help everyone—saying no is just as important as saying yes Making time to lend your time and gift could be another person’s blessing. Not all free work is created equally, but sometimes that exposure or person you’re helping out just may be worth it. Shownotes Urban Pie Terance Tang / Tinlun Studio Inch x Inch Bob Ewing Drew Hill Draplin Draplin Design Co. DDC  Cobra Dogs Blookah Music

Notify the Universe and Show the Work You Want to Get I can remember way back during the bowl cut and JNCO days as a kid and how lit Friday nights were. I’d lounge on the couch watching TGIF and have a whole frozen pizza to myself. Ya, those were the good days. It sparked my obsession with pizza because I grew up picky with a small desire to try other foods. Don’t get me wrong, a frozen pizza is still a delight, but I’ve graduated to delivery and I’m not talking Digiorno. I’ve been doing little pizza doodles forever yet I never really started sharing them till the past few years. I’m learning to embrace this little quirk of mine because: it reminds me that I don’t always have to take myself so seriously it reminds me to have fun and constantly experiment While the context behind this seems random, I assure you there is a point to this all. I recently came across this sweet Dominoes Pizza box design. The craft and attention to detail blew my mind. You would’ve thought this $10 Large 3 Topping Take Out only pizza would’ve cost like $40! It’s crazy the subjective value art can bring to something and I want the opportunity to do this. Seeing this pizza box inspired me to create this type of subjective value for a brand. This is where I’m getting to my point. How would anyone know to hire me for a custom pizza box design if I don’t show this in my artwork? I’m a huge advocate for showing the work you want to attract and be known for. I put my money where my mouth is and went on Amazon and purchased 50 pizza boxes to get to work (I’d like to thank Terence Tang of Tinlun Studio for the idea). This episode is me shouting to the universe what kind of work I want to attract. It may not happen immediately, but if I continue to show how much fun I have in creating clever pizza art, I have no doubt over time it will be seen by the right person who will give me that chance. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get paid in free pizza for life? Without further ado, here are 11 life lessons learned from loving pizza. Fair warning, these can get pretty cheesy. Pun intended. 1. You can’t make everyone happy, you are not pizza Stop focusing on seeking everyone’s validation. It’s impossible to please everyone and have everyone like your work. Put out work you’re enthusiastic about and the right people will resonate. 2. Pizza always has my back Life is full of highs and lows. During the lows, it’s important that you have people around you who have your back. Surround yourself with people of high character and who aren’t assholes. It doesn’t have to be pizza. 3. Don’t step on my pizza Everything holds something of value to someone. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean you can’t accept them and what they like. And for the love of everything good in life, don’t disrespect someone and step on their pizza. 4. Slice life It’s hard to believe that life isn’t all about pizza, but I’m a strong believer in having something you’re passionate and driven about in life. What purpose are you fulfilling? Where can you bring value to yours and someone else's life? 5. Pizza on my mind all the time I don’t know about you but when I have a good idea or riding a lot of momentum in life, I have a hard time turning my mind off. When you have that one thing you can’t stop thinking about, I feel it’s your intuition giving you an internal pull in the direction you’re supposed to go. Trust your gut, even if you ate too much pizza. 6. I will draw for pizza I desperately want you to understand that it’s possible to generate an income doing what you enjoy the most. For me, this is drawing and I never in a million years would’ve thought it was possible to make a living off it. It’s possible and you are capable and I’m determined to show you. 7. Little slice of heaven Plain and simple—enjoy the little things in life. Whether you found a dollar bill on the ground or have a delightful frozen Jacks pizza all to yourself—showing gratitude for the little things in life makes life a lot more enjoyable. 8. Pizza is life Life is all about you, yet it’s not all about you. First off, I believe you can only help others if you take care of yourself first. Secondly, I believe we exist to serve others and make a difference. Cultivate your talents and put them towards a significant need in the world. The more 'good' you do for others the more 'good' comes to you. It’s called Karma. 9. Pizza lovers unite After experiencing being in the middle of a flood back in September, I was blown away to see how the community rallied and bonded together. We weren’t born to build barriers and divide due to religion, political views or race. Underlying all of that crap is timeless principles and the ability to love one another. We are all team human in the end. 10. You wanna pizza me? I grew up biting my tongue when I felt I had something important to speak out about. It spawned from my desire to please everyone and to avoid confrontation. The person I am striving to become realizes at times you have to speak out and fight for what you believe in—no matter if it creates uncomfortable situations. At least at the end of the day, you can sleep knowing that you spoke what was on your mind. 11. I hate when people steal my pizza I’ve stolen things in the past and I feel like a dick for doing it. I’ve lost respect for myself even if it was over petty things like taking someone else’s Bud Light out of their cooler during a tailgate party. These things still haunt me and I’ve spent years trying to redeem myself for it. Everything in life must be earned and it’s a crude act taking something that isn’t yours that you didn’t invest precious time in your life to deserve. Show the Work You Want to Get What is it that you urge to do but think it’s impossible? If you’re a skater and want to make art for a big time skating brand, you should be blowing up your social feed with amazing skate deck art and tagging / using every hashtag with every brand. The universe can’t deliver you the job of your dreams if you’re not actively showing it that you’re wanting it. Your dream isn’t going to be delivered to your front door like a hot, piping pizza. You have to put in the work and show the work you want to get. Who knows what will come out of this episode or all these pizza drawings? At least I’m being intentional and having a blast doing something I love and that I feel I’m good at. Showing the work you want combined with the following 11 life lessons is sure to get you to a point where you will be fulfilled by doing great work for great people…….and filled with a full stomach. It will never happen by wishing and not doing. Key Takeaways Art can bring massive amounts of subjective value to something Show the kind of work you want to get and attract. Be enthusiastic about the work you’re putting out. Let the universe know that this is the type of work you’re wanting back in return. No one is going to know you are passionate about doing this type of work if you don’t let it be known. Cultivate your talents and put them towards a significant need in the world. The more 'good' you do for others the more 'good' comes to you.