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Q&A with Suzan Bond

Co-Founder / Creative Director / Writer

Hi. I’m Suzan Bond. I’m a creative director, writer and am the co-founder of Code Confab, a consulting company which marries marketing and development. I live in Brooklyn.

How did you get started as a creative director?

I’ve always considered myself a creative person first, a business person by accident. Growing up I played 5 instruments, was a classically trained singer, had a radio show and wrote voraciously. While I started college as a music major, I finished with a degree in Psychology and Sociology while filling my electives with every writing, english and film class I could take. I’ve filled many roles throughout my career: chief marketing officer, business strategist, project manager and executive coach. All of these experiences inform the work I do today.

What hardware and software do you use for your work?

Hardware

  • Macbook Air 13 inch
  • iPad Mini
  • iPhone (I once wrote an entire article using only my phone)

Software

  • Evernote (my absolute favorite writing tool ever)
  • Less Accounting
  • Spreadsheets
  • Sublime
  • Shoes (I’m learning to code in Ruby)
  • Marked (to generate beautiful PDFs using Markup)
  • Slack - client communication
  • Flowdock - internal communication
  • Twitter (for connecting and for finding inspiring content)
  • Pinterest (for inspiration)
  • Dropbox
  • Google Drive
  • Google Calendar
  • TripIt Pro
  • Pocket

Analog

  • Papermate sharpwriter pencils
  • A glass sand turner (for time boxing projects)
  • Paper calendar (personal planning)
  • Notebooks - blank, never lined (too confining)
  • Big sticky post-it notes

What are you working on now?

I just finished directing the design of the cover and illustrations for a book and the creative direction of a robot for exercism (designed by Louisa Barrett). I’m currently developing a brand for a technology consulting company and one for a personal passion project (A Bellissima Life). I’m also working several essays and two books: Developer’s Guide to Branding + Developer’s Guide to Marketing.

What is your ideal work environment?

A coffee shop with a steady bit of background noise and enough characters dropping through for entertainment breaks. I also have a home office with a lovely reclaimed wood desk and an Aeron chair.  On my desk are trinkets from my travels and an iMac though I confess I use it mostly to watch action movies while doing research, spreadsheets or filling my Pinterest LINK pages for inspiration. Because I travel so much for work and to feed my wanderlust, I’ve learned that it’s really about finding the creative zone wherever you are. I’ve been known to work from hotel rooms, on planes and once even curled up in the window of a cafe.

Who are the creatives you admire most? 

I’m inspired by creatives who know “the box” is there but ignore it in favor of their own intuition. From an overall creative perspective, Ira Glass  Andy Stone and Grant Blakeman. From a writing perspective I love experimental writers & poets including Claudia Rankine, Jenny Offill and Rebecca Solnit.