Brand Design Masters - Personal Branding, Creative Entrepreneurship, Small Business Marketing & Career Success for Designers and Content Creators

John Gleason: Inside the Client-Agency Marriage

In this episode of Brand Design Masters, I sit down with my old friend John Gleason, someone I've known for more than 15 years going back to my Landor days in Cincinnati. John spent two decades at Procter & Gamble running Clay Street and managing outside agency relationships, then another twenty years as an independent consultant working right where corporate design teams and their agencies meet. He calls it matchmaking and marriage counseling, and it's the best description I've heard for what he does.
We cover a lot of ground: how John built one of the strongest networks in the industry (without a website, which I had to call him out on), where the client and agency relationship tends to break down, and some eye-opening data on why design is losing ground inside big corporations. We also talk about why agencies rarely run a competitive audit on themselves, the eight things virtually every agency says about itself, and how enterprise companies are really using AI right now.
If you're an agency owner, freelancer, or in-house design leader who wants a clearer view of what's happening behind the curtain, this one is for you.
In this episode, you'll learn:

Why empathy is the foundation of real relationship building, and how John's "five new people a day" habit shaped his consulting business
The mantra "collect the dots before you can connect the dots" and how staying curious keeps your aperture open to opportunity
A repeatable networking approach for introverted designers, including warm introductions and making every conversation about the other person
How to reach out during a career transition without leading with the job ask
Where the client and agency marriage breaks down, from power dynamics to agencies failing to leverage their cross-category experience
Why clients so often choose the "safe" agency over the right one
John's data on design's decline: 40% of the companies he tracks have eliminated the top one or two levels of their design function, and in roughly two-thirds, design is buried several levels below the head of another function
Why "impact" and "effectiveness" land better than ROI when you're defending the value of design
The "blame the consumer" technique for defending creative work with senior leaders
Why revenue problems are symptoms, not problems, and how to build success metrics into the brief
Why agencies skip competitive audits on themselves, and why relevance will always win over difference
The trick question hidden inside "How are you using AI?" in RFPs
How some agencies are building AI brand guideline agents that create a competitive moat
John's guiding principle: seek to serve, not to sell

Notable moments:

"You have to collect the dots before you can connect the dots."
"Stop trying to scream about how different you are and start learning how to whisper how relevant you are."
"If you've never had an argument with your client, you're not pushing them hard enough."
"Seek to serve, not to sell."

About John Gleason:

John is the founder of A Better View Strategic Consulting, president of THE FUTURE OF... conference and The D Event, and a board member of the Design Business Association. He has looked inside more than 150 major corporations and 2,500 agencies, and he tracks the organizational structure of nearly 250 companies to benchmark the state of design leadership.
Connect with John:

Email: john@getabetterview.com
LinkedIn: John Gleason https://www.linkedin.com/in/johngleason/
THE FUTURE OF... conference: https://www.thefutureof-conference.com/

Connect with me:

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____________________________

Philip VanDusen is a branding consultant based in New York. A highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management, Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on building successful brands for themselves and the clients and customers they serve.

The One Career Skill No One Talks About

What's the hardest thing in a long creative career? It isn't starting something new. It's letting go of something you've already built.
In this short solo episode, Philip makes the case that knowing when to walk away is the most overlooked career skill there is. The things that helped you grow in one chapter can quietly start holding you back in the next, and career longevity depends on your willingness to subtract.
Philip gets personal with two stories. He explains why he recently closed a Facebook group he'd run for seven years, one that peaked at almost 9,000 members. Then he goes back to his late twenties, when he un-stretched his canvases, boxed up his paints and shut down his life as a fine artist. It felt like betrayal at the time. In hindsight, it freed up the energy that launched thirty years in design, creative leadership and brand strategy.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Why success makes letting go harder, not easier
The question to ask yourself: is this still serving me, or am I just afraid to let it go?
Why focus creates power, and why you can't focus while holding onto everything you've ever built
What "career insurance" means and why every creative pro needs it
How to build a V-shaped skillset: deep expertise at the center, surrounded by communication, business, technology, financial literacy, storytelling and leadership
Why careers work like webs, not ladders
What the arrival of desktop publishing in the 1980s tells you about thriving through AI
Why optionality is the real goal of a long career
How your network acts as a learning system, and why you shouldn't navigate transitions alone

Key takeaway: 
Letting go is rarely the end of the story. Often, it's the moment that creates the space for your next chapter to begin.

Who this episode is for: 
Graphic designers, brand strategists, freelancers, agency owners and creative professionals who are thinking about a career pivot, feeling spread too thin, or wondering how to stay relevant as AI reshapes the industry.
If this episode resonated with you, follow Brand Design Masters so you don't miss the next one, and share it with a creative friend who's holding onto something a little too tightly.
____________________________________

WEBSITE
https://www.philipvandusen.com

BRAND•MUSE NEWSLETTER  
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TUBEBUDDY: The best YouTube plugin
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____________________________

Philip VanDusen is a branding consultant based in New York. A highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management, Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on building successful brands for themselves and the clients and customers they serve.

The Hard Truth About Becoming a Creative Director

Most creatives think the creative director title is the ultimate creative job. It's usually the opposite. The higher you climb in your design career, the less your job is about design, and that catches a lot of talented people off guard.
In this episode, I talk about what the creative director role really involves. I cover why great design skills stop being enough at a certain point and what you need to build to keep moving up. I draw on 40 years as a creative executive and a lot of coaching conversations with designers and art directors stuck at that exact ceiling.
In this episode, you'll learn:

What creative directors actually spend their days doing
Why your value shifts from execution to leadership, strategy, and business fluency
The "Up or Out" reality and how ageism plays into creative careers
Why most promotions happen before you get the title
How visibility and perceived leadership shape who gets promoted
Why frustrating corporate jobs can be "getting paid for your education"
Why leadership skills carry across industries and creative execution skills often don't
How AI is pushing creative value toward judgment, strategy, and taste

Key takeaway:
The path to creative director is bigger than becoming a better designer. You need to lead people, work your way through organizations, and build trust at higher levels. That's the real job.
If this episode helped you, please follow the show and leave a rating or review. It helps other creative professionals find Brand Design Masters.
#CreativeDirector #DesignCareer #CreativeLeadership #GraphicDesign #ArtDirector #BrandDesignMasters

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____________________________________

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TUBEBUDDY: The best YouTube plugin
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____________________________

Philip VanDusen is a branding consultant based in New York. A highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management, Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on building successful brands for themselves and the clients and customers they serve.

Building a Personal Brand Won't Fix Everything

There's a dangerous idea floating around right now: that you can just "build a personal brand" and skip the hard part of actually becoming good at what you do. In this episode, I push back on that.
I spent over 20 years inside global branding agencies and corporations before I ever picked up a microphone or camera. I talk about what that path taught me, the good and the bad, including getting laid off three separate times and learning firsthand that corporate loyalty only goes one way.
I also get into why personal branding only works once you've actually got something worth amplifying. It's not a shortcut around expertise. It's a way to make expertise visible. And in a market where AI is commoditizing production and job boards are basically broken, visibility matters more than it used to, but it can't replace the real thing.
If you're trying to figure out whether to go traditional or go independent, or how to think about building your reputation while you're still earning your stripes, this one's for you.
In this episode:

Why the traditional career path still matters, and why I'd tell young creatives to spend real time inside organizations first
What getting laid off three times taught me about corporate "stability"
The real relationship between expertise and personal branding, and why one without the other falls apart
Why I believe every creative professional should be building two careers at once
If this episode hits home, subscribe to Brand Design Masters so you don't miss what's next.
____________________________________

WEBSITE
https://www.philipvandusen.com

BRAND•MUSE NEWSLETTER  
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CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL COACHING
https://philipvandusen.com/oneonone

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____________________________________

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BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP: Adobe Training with Daniel Scott
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GO HIGHLEVEL: All-in-One CRM
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TUBEBUDDY: The best YouTube plugin
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____________________________

Philip VanDusen is a branding consultant based in New York. A highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management, Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on building successful brands for themselves and the clients and customers they serve.

7 Skills Designers Need in the Age of AI

AI can generate a hundred logo concepts in thirty seconds. It still can't tell you which one is right for the brand, the market, or the moment. That gap is exactly where your future value as a designer lives, and in this episode I break down the seven skills that live inside it.
I'm not talking about prompt engineering or tool tutorials. I'm talking about taste and curation, strategic thinking, client communication, systems and brand strategy thinking, creative direction applied to AI output, personal brand and reputation, and adaptability as a habit you actually practice.
If you've felt that mix of panic and curiosity every time a new AI tool drops, this episode gives you something more useful than reassurance. It gives you a real answer to the question I keep getting asked in coaching calls and in my community: what actually matters now?
Production work is shrinking. The ceiling for everyone who can operate above pure production is rising. This episode is about making sure you're one of them.
In this episode:

Why AI is a production tool, not a judgment tool, and what that means for your career
The seven skills keeping designers valuable, relevant, and in demand
Why personal brand and reputation matter more as output gets commoditized
The one practical step to take this week instead of trying to fix everything at once
____________________________________

WEBSITE
https://www.philipvandusen.com

BRAND•MUSE NEWSLETTER  
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CREATIVE PROFESSIONAL COACHING
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THREADS
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____________________________________

AFFILIATE PARTNERS:

BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP: Adobe Training with Daniel Scott
https://www.byol.me/philip  

GO HIGHLEVEL: All-in-One CRM
https://www.gohighlevel.com/philipvandusen

TUBEBUDDY: The best YouTube plugin
https://www.tubebuddy.com/philipvandusen

____________________________

Philip VanDusen is a branding consultant based in New York. A highly accomplished creative executive and expert in brand strategy, graphic design, marketing and creative management, Philip provides design, branding, marketing, career and business advice to creative professionals, entrepreneurs and companies on building successful brands for themselves and the clients and customers they serve.