Cold Email Cold Email

Welcome back to Cold Email! After a much-needed break, we're here, and we’re answering YOUR questions. Basia and Olive discuss burnout, the useless things we learned in art school, ideal workspaces, and of course, the importance of taking breaks.

In this rather unusual episode, Olive and Basia take you behind the velvet rope and onto a production phone call of Cold Email. No edits, no cuts!!! We reveal the secrets of writing and producing an episode of Cold Email. We also answer everyone’s burning question: through weddings, funerals, Covid cases, etc., & plagued by supply chain shortages, how and why do you continue making this podcast?

Is success as an artist determined by the number of likes you get on Instagram? Spoiler: NO!!!!!!! ❌ So, why does it feel that way? In this episode, we discuss the long-simmering trend of social companies pivoting from photo to video, debate if Instagram is dead, and attempt to figure out how to have fun online again. Amy Bravo @_amybravo_ & Bettina Makalintal @buttina speak to us about their relationships with social media and being “online,” comparing yourself to others, and the trap of reading your post metrics as successes and failures.



Bettina Makalintal: makalintal.com + @buttina on instagram + @bettinamak on twitter

Amy Bravo: amybravo.com + @_amybravo_ on instagram



Articles:

Did I do something to anger the Instagram algorithm? 

The Instagram We Loved Is Dead Why Instagram’s Creatives are Angry About Its Move to Video

* briefly mentioned: On The Internet, We’re Always Famous

Have you ever felt debilitatingly anxious about the success your creative practice? If so, you are not alone!!! AND WE CAN HELP!!!!!!!! In this special “Basia & Olive” episode, we take you through “The Spiral,” otherwise known as the phenomenon in which creative people suddenly find themselves feeling burnt out, afraid, unsuccessful, unskilled, etc. We’ll talk about The Spiral’s causes and symptoms, as well as how to prepare for a spiral and how to actually manage it when it inevitably happens.

In this very special Valentine’s Day episode, we’ll reveal how to get freelance jobs and find true love!!!!! Yes, we are in fact, giving away the secrets. Later on, we get a chance to catch up with our former roommate & every pop punk band’s favorite illustrator, Stephanie O’Byrne, & chat about about full-time freelance, working in the music industry, and the value of being brave enough to say your dreams out loud.

Maintaining a work/life balance is wildly difficult, in no small part due to contemporary expectations of “the workplace,” as  well as largely-held societal ideals about how, when, & how often work happens. In the pandemic, the expectations and definitions of labor have become even more fraught. In this episode, we out ourselves as cultural Marxists (lol) and take a deep dive into the ethical rights and legal protections workers (including freelancers) are entitled to. We also remind ourselves why we shouldn’t take these rights for granted (see: “Ya gotta be alive in order to make work!”).

Later, we get to speak with two incredibly insightful illustrators — Jamiel Law (jamiellaw.com / @jamiellaw_art) and Xia Gordon (xiagordon.com / @carefulblackgirl) — about maintaining the balance between working a full-time design job at the same time as freelancing for major publications and publishing companies.