WIP I was thinking it'd be nice for our audience to hear about that period between the beginning of The Brand Identity and when you saw a real potential to market it and actually make money from it. What kind of help did you get at that period to put together some systems or some services that you could monetise?

EPM I think the first thing was a couple years into running The Brand Identity, around 2017/2018. I decided to make our first book in the Process series, which featured unseen, unused work from 10 studios. I don’t think we even had an online shop, but I asked a developer I was working with to quickly build one so we could try selling it. I had no idea how to package or ship anything. Then we launched, and a couple weeks later we had 200–300 orders. I spent evenings wrapping books in tissue and printing labels, things I hadn’t thought about. But you figure it out. That was the catalyst for monetising the project. We released more books and started earning monthly revenue through features with studios, type foundries and brands. To be honest, I waited too long to go full-time, I was scared to lose a salary. But once you make that jump, you realise what putting all your time into something can do. It’s hard to leave a stable job, but it always pays off when you commit.

WIP Many young designers look at The Brand Identity not only for inspiration but also to understand what good design is. As the curator of The Brand Identity, how is it shaping the new standards of the industry today?

EPM Sure, I think to be honest, that’s not something I think about in too much detail. I think just by being a fairly good person, with focus on good design, working with good people, and sharing good work in good industries. But you can’t please everyone. For example, I’m a fan of AI tools when used to support and not shortcut your work. And when we’ve promoted that kind of thing, it hasn’t always resonated. So it’s about making choices, putting our opinion out there, and giving people options. That’s a big part of what The Brand Identity is showing what’s out there and letting people decide what’s valuable to them.

WIP With the initiatives like The Brand Identity Jobs, you're not only showing work, but you're shaping conversations around the industry and trying to foster a certain transparency in the industry that a lot of people don't really have access to. What changes would you like to see in the future and what changes are you already noticing regarding this?

EPM I think I’ve always been passionate about transparency and having people at all levels talk openly, whether it’s struggles, or top agencies sharing how they find it hard to get clients. That kind of honesty is important. That applies to jobs too. We launched our jobs page with mandatory transparent salaries, which was tough because not everyone wants that. But it’s something we stand behind. If we all share more, whether it’s salaries or personal struggles, it only helps others and helps ourselves. It connects people. And if we keep hiding behind old ways, it probably won’t lead anywhere good.

WIP Did you ever get any challenging feedback or have some people been unhappy with what they read on The Brand Identity? And do you feel a sense of responsibility in terms of people finding their information and resources from The Brand Identity?

EPM Ten years in, and one negative Instagram comment or annoyed email can still upset me. We always try to do things with good intentions. Like I said earlier, if we feature an AI image generation tool, it’s because we think it’s interesting and worth exploring. That kind of post might get 500–1000 saves, but the one negative comment is what you see first and it feels like we’ve done something wrong. You don’t always hear from the people who agree with you. So those moments are tough. But we’ve learned we can’t appeal to everyone. I’m lucky to have a broad taste, which has helped us grow a wide audience. The curation isn’t too broad, but not too niche either, just that sweet spot. Still, someone will always dislike a featured studio or project. So it’s hard, but we keep going. That’s the way.

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