PP 033: Not Giving Up When it Makes You Happy ft. Brooke Robinson of Goodtype
How a Side Project Transformed into a Global Platform for Creatives
Brooke Robinson is an Austin, TX native who fell in love with letterforms. Over the years she has taken that love for letters and type and transformed it into a global type powerhouse Instagram account called Goodtype.
Her love of letterforms started after taking a class in college. From there, she began collecting resources around her, not to mention the art around Austin played a role in her interests as well.
Not Giving Up When it Makes You Happy ft. Brooke Robinson of Goodtype
This love led to her wanting to surround herself with the amazing work she would find online and throughout social media. She began screenshotting all these beautiful works to come back to later. Her phone began to fill up so quickly that it sparked the idea to unload all of these images onto an Instagram account.
She would share those images and credit the artists. It started as a thing just for her but it quickly grew into something much more than that as the #Goodtype hashtag began to take off. There was an evident interest in the world in hand lettering and her Instagram page quickly became the hotspot as creatives would make a piece and begin tagging Brooke to catch a feature.
Next thing you know, she has a following of over ten thousand people and that's when I became aware of the account and got one of my first features. From that feature, it sparked the validation I needed to know I could do something with my art and I'm certain it was the same spark that many other creatives received as well.
Doing What Makes You Happy
It's safe to say that starting and curating Goodtype has changed her life.
It's allowed her to:
interact with thousands of creatives all over the world
produce a book uniting the best lettering artists internationally
create the Goodtype Scholarship Fund
make a transition from her day job at Tyler's to pursuing Goodtype full-time now
It's been pretty awesome to watch her build this successful platform that was once just for her. Now she is in a position to give back to so many creatives who are looking to take their work to the next level.
Things haven't always been easy as there is plenty of stress that comes with working a day job and trying to pursue your side project. She's dealt with plenty of issues that usually revolved around time but when you love something, you find a way to make time to pursue it.
One of the most recent struggles was figuring out how to create, curate and ship the first Goodtype Book Vol. 1. She had to figure out how to internationally ship these as sometimes it would cost $60 for global shipping which is insane.
However, she made it happen and is already in the works of creating Vol. 2!
Strength in Letters
At the heart of Goodtype is its motto: "Strength in Letters."
The tagline was inspired by someone who created a quick drawing that used the hashtag and it caught her attention. She marinated on it and knew that it needed to be the motto.
Brooke states, "We truly are strength in letters in our work and communication within the lettering community. The positivity and encouragement that takes place within this lettering world are amazing."
With the growth of this community, it's recently given her the opportunity to bring Goodtype to SXSW in 2017. Here she got to be on a panel discussing "Good Type and its Influence on Style" and how the history of typography and lettering played a monumental role in our modern design.
Along with the panel, she organized two hand lettering workshops which were taught by the homie Adam Vicarel. The panel and workshops were a hit and there will no doubt be a bigger Goodtype influence in future SXSW.
The Future Vision
When asking Brooke what she had planned for Goodtype in the next 5 years, it was clear she had a vision.
Due to the awkward void of accessibility in the education side of things, she wants to transform Goodtype into a physical space where creatives can:
attend or teach workshops
display artwork
learn lettering, type and calligraphy
find resources on artists or other types of design
With know Brooke and her drive, I have no doubt this will all take shape.
Words of Advice to Struggling Creatives
In closing, I asked Brooke: "What’s one piece of advice you would give to creatives just starting off or in a creative funk?"
Her answer is one that can resonate with any creative from amateur to pro.
She states, "Stop comparing yourself and focus on yourself and what you’re doing. If it’s making you happy then keep doing it because if you don’t stop, you’re going to improve. Stick with it, and if you have to compare yourself, do it from a way that you’re learning and improving. If it makes you happy then why would you ever give up?
Key Takeaways:
"You can always find a way to pursue your passion in whatever capacity." - Brooke
You’re on the exact time schedule you’re supposed to be on when pursuing your work.
Don’t get caught up in the lows, in the end, the challenges help you learn and get ahead.
You don't even realize that there are people comparing themselves to you right now.
If it makes you happy, keep doing it, you're going to improve.
Shownotes
Brooke's personal Instagram: BrooketheSunsurfer
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CREDITS
Music - Blookah
Executive Assistant - Paige Garland
Photo & Video Specialist - Colton Bachar
Social Media Coordinator - Hannah Schick
Animation Specialist - Greg D'Amico