Workbook Radio

Back in October, Workbook SVP Heidi Goverman hosted a panel with APA New York to ask Creatives: How can commercial artists stand out to creative buyers to get work seen, recognized and ultimately get hired in 2022? 

In first part, Heidi talks website dos and don'ts with panelists Jason Gan (SAD, Droga 5) Jana Jarosz (CD, FCB Health), and Michael Kaminski (EP, Dir. of Production, JUICE Pharma Worldwide). 

About the Panelists:

Jason Gan is a 2021 Adweek Creative 100. He started his career as an intern while still in school at space150, Mistress, WFT Creative and The Fantastical. After graduating he quickly moved into an Art Director role at Arnold Worldwide working with companies Progressive, Carnival, Avocados From Mexico, Santander Bank, National Association of Realtors.

Jason then moved to Goodby Silverstein & Partners working on Adobe, BMW, Doritos, Pepsi and HP before landing in his current role as Senior Art Director with Droga5.

Jana Jarosz is a hybrid creative thinker, maker, designer.

Whether working to shift the boundaries of inclusivity, diversity, and cultural standards to build a brand with a social impact point of view across all platforms or creating content by hand and by pixel, Jana's working process celebrates the agility of design thinking applied to ideas, a disciplined curiosity, and the joyful spirit of endless innovation—from the post-it with the big idea to the social posts.

After content creation hours, Jarosz spends her time sharing her creative expertise with students at CUNY’s City Tech, Manhattan’s only full-time night high school, and with creative-preneurs at the New Museum’s tech incubator, New Inc.

Michael Kaminski is the EP, Director of Production at JUICE Pharma Worldwide, and leads the agency's internal B12 Studio.

Well versed in creating content while making an impact, it's no surprise that you can find him mentoring students in the NYC SALT program or teaching photo & video workflow at SVA when he's not busy meeting client deadlines.

About the Moderator:

Heidi Goverman began her tenure with Workbook in 2014 as the West Coast Regional Representative and is now Senior VP of Development and Client Relations. At Workbook Heidi introduced the popular FaceTime (now ScreenTime) portfolio events, produces panel events as well as the Workbook webinars Where Are We Now series and Minding Your Own Business. Heidi is a talker but also a good listener who likes to solve problems and connect people.

About APA NYC:

APA is a non-profit trade organization built by photographers for photographers. Now in our fourth decade, APA exists to provide business tools and creative inspiration which help photographic artists of all levels run a smarter, more creative, and profitable business.

Jonathan Rice is a poster artist, illustrator and designer. Jonathan has years of experience working for some of the country’s largest agencies and brands like Y&R, Tracy Locke, Pepsi, and P&G. But Jonathan’s heart was always drawn to making great, visually interesting Illustrations, art and design that everyone can appreciate and love.

On this episode we talk about Jonathan’s career of many hats, how he’s gotten back to illustration, and his advice to other who think it’s too late to pursue what they love.

To view Jonathan's portfolio, click here. 

To view Jonathan's webiste, click here.

More on Jonathan:

On this episode, Stephen finishes discussing the Nick Cave: Forothermore exhibit at MCA Chicago, then shifts gears to discuss the reimagined Who's Hungry Magazine, his new project Images for Artisans, and more. 

About Stephen:

Stephen Hamilton is a food and beverage director and photographer whose work has appeared almost everywhere you see images of food—on television, in national magazines and cookbooks, on packaging, and across seven seasons of Bravo TV’s Top Chef (as well as appearing as a guest judge on Top Chef Masters). Stephen built his career showcasing ingredients in all their organic, beautiful reality. His natural lighting style and tight taste appeal let food’s honest, fresh allure speak for itself.

Drips, pours, crumbs, bites — flaws aren’t necessarily flaws. Less is more in terms of styling; more is more in terms of exploration. Stephen brings a visual feast to life by taking an integrated, sensory approach to his subjects. This holistic perspective has garnered the attention of numerous agencies, international food companies, and restaurants. His work has won numerous awards over the years, including top honors for his “food porn” series at Graphis International, with seven images featured.

In recent years, Stephen has grown his photography business into a full-service production company. Stephen Hamilton combines his talents with those of an on-staff producer and editor as well as a roster of skilled photographers. Flexible, generous studio space accommodates multiple simultaneous shoots, offering clients start-to-finish capabilities from pre-production to in-house retouching.

For more on Stephen, visit:

On this episode, Stephen finishes discussing the Nick Cave: Forothermore exhibit at MCA Chicago, then shifts gears to discuss the reimagined Who's Hungry Magazine, his new project Images for Artisans, and more. 

About Stephen:

Stephen Hamilton is a food and beverage director and photographer whose work has appeared almost everywhere you see images of food—on television, in national magazines and cookbooks, on packaging, and across seven seasons of Bravo TV’s Top Chef (as well as appearing as a guest judge on Top Chef Masters). Stephen built his career showcasing ingredients in all their organic, beautiful reality. His natural lighting style and tight taste appeal let food’s honest, fresh allure speak for itself.

Drips, pours, crumbs, bites — flaws aren’t necessarily flaws. Less is more in terms of styling; more is more in terms of exploration. Stephen brings a visual feast to life by taking an integrated, sensory approach to his subjects. This holistic perspective has garnered the attention of numerous agencies, international food companies, and restaurants. His work has won numerous awards over the years, including top honors for his “food porn” series at Graphis International, with seven images featured.

In recent years, Stephen has grown his photography business into a full-service production company. Stephen Hamilton combines his talents with those of an on-staff producer and editor as well as a roster of skilled photographers. Flexible, generous studio space accommodates multiple simultaneous shoots, offering clients start-to-finish capabilities from pre-production to in-house retouching.

For more on Stephen, visit:

On this Episode, we talk with food photographer and director Stephen Hamilton about how he got into food photography, his thoughts on having a "distinct point of view" in you work, and how he became a part of the Nick Cave: Forothermore exhibit at the MCA Chicago.

About Stephen:

Stephen Hamilton is a food and beverage director and photographer whose work has appeared almost everywhere you see images of food—on television, in national magazines and cookbooks, on packaging, and across seven seasons of Bravo TV’s Top Chef (as well as appearing as a guest judge on Top Chef Masters). Stephen built his career showcasing ingredients in all their organic, beautiful reality. His natural lighting style and tight taste appeal let food’s honest, fresh allure speak for itself.

Drips, pours, crumbs, bites — flaws aren’t necessarily flaws. Less is more in terms of styling; more is more in terms of exploration. Stephen brings a visual feast to life by taking an integrated, sensory approach to his subjects. This holistic perspective has garnered the attention of numerous agencies, international food companies, and restaurants. His work has won numerous awards over the years, including top honors for his “food porn” series at Graphis International, with seven images featured.

In recent years, Stephen has grown his photography business into a full-service production company. Stephen Hamilton combines his talents with those of an on-staff producer and editor as well as a roster of skilled photographers. Flexible, generous studio space accommodates multiple simultaneous shoots, offering clients start-to-finish capabilities from pre-production to in-house retouching.

For more on Stephen, visit:

We’re back on the subject of NFTs, this time with VSA Partners Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Lent and Chief Creative Officer Curt Schreiber.  On this episode, Sarah and Curt discuss the creative origins of NFTs, how VSA Partners is creating opportunities out of this new technology, and how artists (and really anyone) can start taking advantage of this new frontier. 

About this episode's guests: 

Sarah Lent (Chief Marketing Officer) leads growth efforts across VSA, including business development, marketing, public relations, brand leadership, content creation, and strategic partnerships. A seasoned marketing executive with 20 years of experience in branding, digital innovation, design, communications, and media, Sarah fosters growth at VSA by combining the rigor of a strategic consulting practice with the entrepreneurial and creative spirit of design. Her career has been fueled by a deep passion for taking emerging technologies and coupling them with world-class creativity to contextualize them in the real world. She continually looks for the leapfrog moments
of change and leads with empathy while taking clients on a journey into the unknown. Sarah has lived and worked across several continents, including Australia, South Africa, and the UK, and her career has included work with Interbrand, R/GA, and Essence.

Curt Schreiber (Chief Creative Officer) is the heart of VSA design. He currently guides VSA’s creative philosophy, and is responsible for establishing the office’s design standards and offerings. Throughout his 30-year tenure with the company, Curt has been essential in the agency’s transition from a boutique design firm to a brand-led customer experience agency. Curt has decades of experience working with internationally-recognized global brands, and his client list includes VSA’s most prominent clientele. He also serves as an influential thought leader within the creative industry. Most recently, Curt was named one of Chicago’s most influential designers and included in AIGA’s This is Chicago. Curt’s work has been recognized by more than 100 international design and communications organizations, publications and competitions including the AIGA, Cannes Lions, Cooper Hewitt, Communication Arts, Graphis and the Society of Typographic Arts. His work is also included in the permanent collection of the U.S. Library of Congress.

Click here to learn more about the Ripple $250M Creator Fund.

On this episode I’m joined by Artists Agents Tim Mendola of Mendola Artists and Jodie Hein of Rapp|Art to talk about Animation and Illustration in 2022.

Tim and Jodie talk about how they take on illustration and animation artist promotion in 2022, what artists can themselves to stand out, and what trends advertising and editorial work has in store down the road.

On this episode, we're joined by Artist Agents Tim Mendola (Mendola Artists) and Jodie Hein (Rapp|Art) to talk about Animation and Illustration in 2022. In this first part, Tim and Jodie talk about the artist-agent relationship, how they navigate clients, and what (if anything) shifted post-pandemic in the art and animation world. 

More on Tim:

Tim took over the family business back when paintings were actually hand-delivered to art directors and portfolios consisted of 8×10 transparencies. He has led the agency’s transformation into the technological age of tablets, Instagram, and zoom meetings. When he’s not manning the helm at the firm’s intergalactic headquarters in SoNo, Tim enjoys spending time with his wife and three daughters and playing golf in Redding Connecticut.

More on Jodie:

From being an Iron man to an award-winning editorial agent, there are few things Jodie can’t do. As a former Art Buyer, she intimately understands the needs of her clients and has a knack for making any budget or timeline work. Outside of the office, Jodie enjoys training for her next adventure, race or powerlifting competition, dying her hair funky colors, and being a mother to her teenage son and bulldog.

About Mendola Art:

Since the very beginning, Mendola Artists has sought out the best talent from around the globe, establishing relationships with the country’s top ad agencies, package design firms, editorial publications, and toy companies.

Clients Include Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Scholatic, Hasbro, Mattel, Fisher Price, Dunkin Donuts Coffee, McCann Health, and BBDO.

About Rapp|Art: 

Rapp Art is a United States-based illustration agency, representing nearly 100 award winning artists from around the world. Client list includes The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Meredith, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Apple, Adobe, and Deloitte Financial Services.