Cameron Moll can’t sit still for too long. But that’s what makes him such a talented designer and entrepreneur.
After building out an extensive portfolio, this Florida-based designer tried his hand at entrepreneurship. Cameron started started Authentic Jobs, a place where creatives can find awesome jobs at companies, large and small.
Cameron believes that business owners, like himself, have the power to make an impact not only on their own lives, but also on the lives of those around them.
Read on to learn more about his creative process, who inspires him, and three tips for aspiring designers, or really anyone starting out their career. Don’t forget to check out Cameron’s awesome prints and designs in his Spotlight.
Tell us about yourself.
You could say I’m an accidental designer and accidental CEO. Neither of these things were in my sights growing up. I fell into web design during college, and I never intended for Authentic Jobs to become a business. But I was always tinkering with my hands, whether music (drums), woodworking, and lots of other tomfoolery that often frustrated my parents because of all the messes I made in our garage. But they were good sports about it, and I owe a lot to them for who I am today.
You’re a leader in design and UX. What are 3 pieces of advice for a person about to begin or just starting off in their design career?
- Reach out to your heroes. It’s pretty likely they might reply. 20 years ago it seemed unfathomable to hear from those we admired most. Today they’re only a tweet or email away. Personally, I love responding to beginner designers whenever I can make time for it.
- Visual hierarchy is one of the toughest things to master as a designer. You’ll spend your entire career trying to figure it out.
- Acting honorably, when the world around you does not, is the best advice I can give to aspiring designers, business owners, really just about anybody.
Describe the most exciting project you’re working on this year (or hope to work on).
Spoken.co! We like to think of it as the Instagram of audio. We’ve been at it a year, and given most of the projects I’ve been involved with take two years to gain any traction, maybe this year will be the year it makes a significant impact in the lives of people around the world. (See this post.)
Who inspires you?
Anyone, really. I know that sounds like a trite answer, but I find inspiration in so many walks of life and in so many mediums and from so many people. If I had to pin down specifics, I’d probably say composers of film scores like Thomas Newman, John Barry, James Horner, James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer, etc. I love their creative output.
Your typography prints on Type Structures are beautiful. What’s your creative process like from ideation to final product?
Probably not much different than other creative processes:
“This is the best project ever. Let’s do this.”
“This is fun.”
“This is tedious.”
“I hate this project.”
“I can’t believe I signed myself up for this.”
“Wait, it’s finally done? Wow, this turned out nice.”
“I’m really glad I did that. But I’ll never do it again.”
“New project, same as the last one? Sign me up.”
“This is the best project ever…”
Honestly, that’s how every one of my typography prints have evolved. I select a subject, super excited to start, then I find myself wondering why I agreed to work on something that would consume 50 to 300 hours of my time, and then I couldn’t be more pleased with the result when it’s all done. And I don’t know how many times I’ve told myself, “I’ll never do that again.”
You’re a big proponent for acting honorably in the workplace, specifically in running your startup. What does this mean for you and why do you think it’s important?
I’m turning 40 this year. Lately I’ve found myself wondering what I’ll be doing when I’m twice that old. Sometimes I imagine myself sitting in a rocking chair on a large porch, and then I’m like “Hahaha I’ll never do that” because I can’t stay seated for very long. I get bored quickly and have to have my hands in something. I don’t see myself ever retiring, but if that day comes, repeatedly I’ve found myself asking the question, “What will matter most when I’m seated in that hypothetical rocking chair? Will I be proud of how I spent the past 8 decades?”
They say the softest pillow is a clear conscience. I can’t imagine living with myself if I’ve treat everyone or everything around me dishonorably throughout my career, throughout my life. So yes, this is important to me, and I think others with a significant amount of power at their disposal, i.e. business owners, owe it to society to use their time and money well to benefit not only themselves but those they impact, too.
I could say much more about this, but I hope my efforts with Authentic Jobs and charity: water in this regard will do the speaking long after I’ve stopped talking.
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Zoë Björnson is an Editorial + Social Media Coordinator with about.me. She is a graduate of Tulane University. You can find her on Twitter @kzoeb.
