Sticky Notes with CJ Cawley and Jack Chitty
by Cj Cawley / Jack Chitty
Latest episode
Would you sell your design studio for $1,000,000?
Would you sell your design studio for $1,000,000?
About this podcast
Sticky Notes is the podcast hosted by CJ Cawley and Jack Chitty. Two brand designers sit down each week and unpack the reality of running a creative business. No fluff, no gatekeeping, no pretending they've got it all figured out. We talk about the wins, the failures, and everything in between. From niching (or not), finding clients, pricing your work, and building a brand… to creative blocks, self-doubt, and the messy side of freelancing that no one really shows.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 28 episodes
- Would you sell your design studio for $1,000,000? · 1 h 2 min · Episode 23This week, we’re asking each other the awkward questions others might not usually answer, from money and self-worth to creative process, client mistakes and whether either of us…
- Design school vs. Self-taught: who goes further? · 1 h 3 min · Episode 22Do you actually need a degree to become a good designer? Or can you teach yourself everything you need to know? We get into: 0:00, Introduction05:42, Do you need a degree to…
- Is running a branding studio actually worth it? · 1 h 2 min · Episode 21This week, we’re doing something a little different. No big topic or case study. Just an honest conversation about why running a creative business feels really hard sometimes…
- Designing a brand with zero personality · 59 minThis week, we’re going behind the scenes of one of CJ’s favourite brand identity projects to date: the complete rebrand of Mike Lane. Mike has spent the last 10 years building…
- Would you rather lose half your clients to AI or… · 44 min · Episode 19This week, we’re doing something a little different and playing a game of Would You Rather: graphic design edition. Some of the questions are stupid. Some get surprisingly deep…
- Are design influencers ruining the industry? · 1 h 3 min · Season 1 Episode 18This week, we're getting into the uncomfortable conversation you have to have with yourself when promoting your business on social media. The line between marketing yourself as a…
- Design client red flags · 1 h 5 min · Episode 17This week, we’re talking about the red flags we look for before agreeing to work with a new design client. Finding clients is one thing. Finding the right clients... well that's…
- Being a good brand designer isn't enough anymore · 1 h 0 min · Season 1This week, we’re talking about everything it takes to run a successful creative business that has absolutely nothing to do with being good at design. We share the skills, traits…
- Designing A Retro-Futurist Brand · 35 min · Season 1This week, we’re continuing the case study series with a look behind the scenes of Jack’s latest brand identity project for Verdex - a premium all-wheel-drive robotic…
- I Deliberately Designed a Boring Logo · 44 min · Season 1This week, we’re doing something a little different and taking you properly behind the scenes of a real brand identity project.CJ breaks down the identity he created for…
- A$AP Rocky vs Allan Peters · 1 h 4 min · Season 1 Episode 13Using the recent Allan Peters and A$AP Rocky situation as a case study, we're taking a look at social media, self-promotion, and what it actually takes to market yourself as a…
- The BEST Logo I Ever Designed · 1 h 9 min · Season 1 Episode 12This week, we’re talking about the projects that never saw the light of day. We're talking rejected ideas and identities that were maybe signed off but never launched. We share…
- This One Mistake Cost Me £4,000… · 1 h 6 min · Season 1 Episode 11This week, we’re talking about how to protect yourself as a freelance designer.We're talking contracts, payment terms, scope creep, unlimited revisions and difficult clients. We…
- A "Design" Company Stole My Work To Train Their AI · 1 h 5 min · Season 1 Episode 10This week, we’re finally talking about AI... but not as a hypothetical debate about what might happen to the creative industry one day.We’re talking about something that has…
- What Is It REALLY Like To Run A Global Design Studio? · 1 h 14 min · Season 1 Episode 10This week, we're back after a short break, catching up on everything that's happened.Jack opens up about losing confidence in his studio, comparing himself to other designers…
- How Much Should I Charge for Creative Work? · 1 h 3 min · Season 1 Episode 7This week, we tackle one of the most uncomfortable conversations in the creative industry: money.How much should you charge for your first logo design project? We talk honestly…
- Every Creative's Worst Nightmare · 58 min · Season 1 Episode 7This week, we get into the thing that separates work with soul from work without it. From copying the designers we admire to chasing critique over praise, we unpack what it…
- Why Clients Keep Rejecting Your Work · 1 h 1 min · Season 1 Episode 6This week, CJ and Jack get into the one thing that makes or breaks a creative career — getting your work signed off. From presenting ideas in front of a class for the first time…
- How to Find Graphic Design Clients · 54 min · Season 1 Episode 5This week, CJ and Jack unpack the reality of finding clients as a freelance designer. From saying yes to everything in the early days, to learning how to attract the right…
- I Quit My 9-5… Now I Can’t Stop Working · 1 h 2 min · Season 1 Episode 4We quit our 9-5's to work 5-9. This week, CJ and Jack unpack the guilt that comes with being a freelance creative and finally putting your 'out of office' on. We get into: 👉 Why…
