The Busy Creator 37 w/guest Felix Sockwell

Felix Sockwell is an illustrator and graphic designer based in New Jersey. Following a storied early career in some of New York’s top agencies, Felix changed direction to pursue his solo practice as an illustrator. For him, setting up outside the City didn’t mean obscurity; instead, he’s developed a unique signature style and works with a varied of high-profile clients like Facebook and The New York Times.
See more of his work on his website, FelixSockwell.com
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Felix Sockwell for WQXR, his signature continuous-line illustration style, click to enlarge

Show Notes & Links

Felix describes himself as both a designer and illustrator, from a family background in design, illustration, and advertising
“Illustrative Designer” Von Glitschka
East Texas State University, Felix’s almost mater
DDB Needham/Tracey-Locke, ad agency in Dallas
The Richards Group, communication agency in Dallas
Brian Collins
Ogilvy‘s Brand Integration Group (BIG) in New York, known for their 16-hour days
Rick Boyko
Laurie Rosenwald
Luke Hayman
Tom Vasquez
Alan Dye
Felix’s style is continuous vector line illustration
Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall, cover artwork by Felix Sockwell
T.S. Monk — one of Thelonius Monk’s similarly-named sons — lives in South Orange, NJ 
Charles Anderson
Eric Johnson
Starwood Hotels
Le Méridien, a Paula Scher/Pentagram client at the time 
Christine Blackburne, photographer and previous podcast guest
Highlights Puzzle
Pushpin Studios, an influence for Felix
Prescott worked with Seymour Chwast
Norman Rockwell‘s style
Joe Marianek, formerly of Michael Bierut‘s team at Pentagram and past guest on Design Matters with Debbie Millman. (Bierut and Millman have both been guests on The Busy Creator Podcast, by the way)
karlssonwilker
Paul Sahre
South Orange “feels like Williamsburg, Brooklyn” (according to Felix, at least)
Felix’s recent calendar poster for NPR – 
Jonathan Selikoff, founder of Vote for Letterpress in South Orange, NJ
“Squirrels are our friends”
Kyle Webster, illustrator

Tools

iPhone
Adobe Illustrator (not Photoshop, not InDesign)

Techniques

Work with a rep/agent only when it’s a really big job

Habits

Save tedious or intricate pieces for yourself, for later use (ex. drawings of hands)
Embrace the slow evolution of your own style
Build a personal zone, which can involve coffee, music, or weed

Get The Episode

Download The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 37(MP3, 36:49, 17.8 MB)
Download The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 37(OGG, 36:49, 32.3 MB)


Subscribe to The Busy Creator Podcast on iTunes
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