David was one of my first friends here in Portland, OR. He is a Parkour coach, craftsman, and an avid lover of all things to do with letters, type, and calligraphy. He is in the middle of a 30 day personal lettering challenge right now – inspiring stuff! Dribbble just featured him on their blog & I am excited to feature him on my blog through an LFC!
Not sure what LFC is? Read this!
Enjoy these beauts of photos from our chat!
Pro Tip: Wear your glasses upside down.
What is your name?
David Grimes
What do you for a living?
I’m a freelance designer!
How do you know Jehn/David?
JG: David & I met at Startup Weekend here in Portland, OR.
DG: We met at PDX Startup weekend last November
What has inspired you lately?
Sean McCabe, Seb Lester, Evgeny Tkhorzhevsky.
One word to describe how you feel about this project:
Potential
What did you eat for breakfast today?
JG: A banana and some Chai Tea
DG: Water. =(
What did you two talk about today in the LFC meeting?
JG: We talked about how life choices influence the progress you make in life. How the people you surround yourself with, the individuals you look up to, how you spend your time – how those factors are what make who you are and are what drive you to become who you want to be.
David hand-letters everyday and usually posts his results. He is currently posting something everyday over on his Instagram. It has always been something I have admired about him – His ability to focus on that same objective day after day after day and the crazy progress he has made in his hand-lettering. He mentioned that he listens to Sean Wes’ Podcasts and one of them talked about how Sean ships what he is working on even if it is only at 90%. He used this metaphor:
Someone who writes a book that has a typo is more respected and admired than someone who has a book idea in his head.
It was overall a very refreshing conversation – Sometimes I get to wrapped up in what is happening in my work life, that I forget to stay grounded and present and how to focus on the sole reasoning behind what I am doing and why. For example, David was talking about various aspects of his life and what is going on with them & I noticed a reoccurring theme.. he has an intent for everything he does in his life, both personal & business. I overall think I am a generally balanced person, but I get caught up in the stress and I forget to let go and let be sometimes. Listening to David talk about having intent and focus grounded me today.
DG: Jehn talked about showing up, and how it’s important for us to be reliable and participate in the local design community. She’s excited about the next PDXSW and Design week next week!
I talked about a concept I had heard @firstname_galo on Twitter talking about called “making moves” and how I’m doing a 30 day streak where every day I’m going to publish a piece of lettering or calligraphy artwork. I think it’s important to preserve momentum when you’re a creative and always stay moving forward.
Did you learn anything?
JG: Today reminded me how important it is to take steps back from time to time to refocus and remember why I am doing what I am doing.
DG: That Design Week Portland has a flaw in it’s website where registering on their site doesn’t actually register you for an event…
One word to describe today’s meeting:
JG: Refreshing
DG: Overdue
Any additional comments?
JG: Show up & Make it Happen
DG: I love Jehn, she’s amazingly talented and I’m looking forward to spending more time around her. (Editor note: Awww shucks!)
Connect with David:
Website
Twitter
Dribbble
Not sure what LFC is? Read this!
This is wonderful, Thanks for having me, Jehnny!
Anytime, David! As a fellow freelancer – I throughly enjoy learning from you! Thank YOU for doing LFC with me! :)