Obviously I can’t share all the secret things I’ve been working on at my job at YouTube. However, I did want to give you guys something, so I got permission to share the poster I designed for a few events that happened in the office this past week. This was a really fun, quick project for me, and it was the first time I’ve done print work in quite a while, which was a nice break from my main job responsibilities as a UX web designer.
(Apologies for the terrible quality of my cell phone camera – but check out that awesome stage!)
The two events were part of the Tune Into YouTube 2012 conference which took place at the YouTube office. First up on Wednesday was a lunchtime concert featuring Karmin and Paul Dateh. I saw Karmin perform at VidCon, and it was awesome to see them again in a smaller venue. They are seriously some of the most talented, gorgeous people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.
Then on Thursday was a panel featuring Michelle Phan, MysteryGuitarMan, Richard Ryan, Meghan Camarena (Strawburry17), and Cory Cotton from Dude Perfect. The panel was really interesting and trust me, the panelists made their concerns with broken sub boxes known to all the engineers in the audience.
After the panel I had a chance to speak to Coby Cotton from Dude Perfect (twin brother of Cory, who was on the panel). He gave me a copy of their new book Go Big: Make Your Shot Count in the Connected World, which I proceeded to read in it’s entirety that night.
Dude Perfect’s videos mainly consist of trick basketball shots, which isn’t necessarily a niche I would usually be drawn to. However, the story of their YouTube growth which is documented in their book was fascinating, since it’s so different from my and my friends’ experiences on the site. I definitely recommend the book to anyone who is trying to grow their channel on YouTube, or really trying to succeed in any entrepreneurial venture. The strong religious themes in the conclusion didn’t resonate with me as much as they probably will for others, but the rest of the book was incredibly inspirational. It’s hard to believe that a group of college boys could go from shooting basketballs in their backyard to building a brand and making incredibly high-production, sponsored videos in only two years. With chapter titles like Get Excited, Own It, and Blink Later, Cory Cotton spells out the lessons they learned while doing it.
I’m so glad I had the opportunity to attend these events at YouTube and design the poster to help promote them. I love meeting other video creators, especially people who are on the same site but in completely different communities within it. It gives a fresh perspective to the user experience designs I work on, to meet and speak with other people who will actually be using them.
Between the events this week and reading this book, I’m also so inspired to continue making high-quality videos for my own YouTube channel. Look out for a new video early next week!
Thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment below, email me, or tweet at me me with any questions or comments!