In this episode, I chat with my friend, author & podcaster TJ Tooley of 4 The Love of Story (also hosted here on Anchor) and Everyone & Their Brother fame. We talk about believing in yourself and dreams of the impact our creativity can have on the world.
In my last blog post, I wrote about how I wanted my friends to tap into their creative reservoir. One of my friends who is doing just that is one TJ Tooley. TJ is the host of For The Love Of Story podcast, which I have designed for in the past. He has recently used the podcast as a vehicle to tell fantastic multi-part stories for your listening pleasure. The Author and Leapers are two such stories. Both stories were in need of artwork that I was happy to provide.
We are each blessed with gifts and talents. These talents we possess are to be cultivated and used in a life of true service, driven by purpose. It would be a crime to sit on these gifts or only use them for selfish gain. I say all this to say: If you’re a designer and you’re not helping your friend brand their brand spanking new podcast, then what are you doing?
My creative writer/storyteller TJ Tooley had an idea for a podcast called For The Love of Story and he wanted my assistance in helping bring the visual identity of it to life. I am always thrilled to be able to help friends in their creative pursuits in any way possible. The For The Love of Story podcast is a show where TJ takes you through his writing process, reads his creative work, discusses the stories of his life and the lives of others, and more!
The process of building the brand started with some dry erase markers and a whiteboard. We talked about what the podcast concept would be and how he wanted that visual represented. The main For The Love of Story logo is a result from that conversation. The quill, the representation of the writer, is what we build the identity around. The custom quill I drew in Adobe Illustrator was the first element created for the podcast. With the text, I had the idea to have the name of the podcast going down the left side of the logo. In the name, I knew STORY was the most important part so I had that written out in a cursive and connected it with the quill to make it seem like it was written with it.
With the main logo designed, we began discussing the different segments on the show. TJ had the plan to have different categories of episodes, allowing him to express the mission of the show is diverse ways. Thus far, the podcast episode types have included Yours Truly (personal tales and perspective of TJ), Impromptoo (TJ reads a short story he has written based on a writing prompt), and Story Time (TJ interviews people and invites them to tell a personal story of their own). Each different type of episode has its own logo that I crafted to help him promote the show in a unique way. Yours Truly has the text written in the same font as “Story” from the main logo with the quill connection. Impromptoo features the quill standing in as the captial I and the word PROMPT featured with an underline. For Story Time, I actually illustrated the very microphone TJ has been using to record his podcast, the Blue Snowball. There are more segments to be revealed in the future.
This project is a fun one. I’m proud of TJ jumping into the podcasting life and sharing his creative brain with the world. Be sure to listen and subscribe to the For The Love of Story podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
