How I Work: Radim Malinic, Creative Director & Author at Brand Nu
Radim Malinic works in the outskirts of London, designing for some of the world’s biggest brands. Images courtesy of Malinic. Design by Barbara Cadorna.
At this point in his career, everything in Radim Malinic’s creative journey has fallen into place: Born in the Czech Republic, he first encountered his love of the arts in the world of death metal bands. After dipping his toes in music journalism, business and economics, and commercial illustration, he found his love of art and graphic design in the UK. There, he founded Brand Nu, a multidisciplinary award winning studio in South West London. These days, you can find him working from his home studio in the outskirts of London.
As a creative director and designer, Malinic has worked with some of the world’s biggest brands, including Harry Potter, Adidas, and the London Film Museum. He recently published two books, Creativity for Sale and Mindful Creative, both based on his first-hand experience on how to approach creative careers and mental health. The former provides a roadmap to transform your creativity into a thriving business, while the latter shows you how to cultivate a mindful presence and develop resilience amid the stresses of a creative career.
Here, Malinic shares how he works, including why he ditched the suit and tie look; how he does the world-building in his work before zooming in on the details; and the way his family life resembles Home Alone.
These two books tackle the subjects of optimal conditions for creativity and how to build life-changing careers. Images c/o Radim Malinic.
1. Rise and Shine
One of our two little people will wake me at 6:20 a.m. with the precision of a Swiss clock. Soon after, I’ll start my hardest client negotiations of the day — working out what they would like to eat for breakfast, and what they’ll actually eat for breakfast. Waking up gently to meditate and drink green tea while pondering the meaning of life will have to wait another 15 years.
Even though we’re up early enough to get ready, we often resemble the McCallisters in Home Alone, rushing to get out of the house. An ideal morning is when no part of anyone’s school uniform is missing and we get to sit and watch a couple of episodes of Bluey together.
2. Work Uniform
When I was young, I thought it looked cool to dress up in a suit and tie for work. Then I grew up and realized that it’s not for me. I spend most of my time looking like a lost surfer, wearing hoodies and shorts and padding barefoot around my studio. When it’s too cold for shorts (which, this being Britain, is far too often for my liking), I reluctantly put on a pair of black fitted trousers (although these are often rolled up above my ankles) and a pair of Cloudnova Undyed shoes. I have been known to only wear odd socks. The more colorful the better.
3. How I Structure My Day
I used to think that keeping a loose routine was what I needed for my soul. Only relatively recently, with my life the busiest it’s ever been, has the presence of a more formal routine helped. I feel I can handle everything on my plate without spinning into burnout. A creative soul dreams of freedom, but work and life don’t favor such lofty ideals. I’ve had to be realistic and make some changes, but I love how it’s working out.
School run done, I either get out for a cycle or do a workout. I start work at 9:30 a.m., checking emails, socials, making calls to web dev teams, and giving feedback on works-in-progress to illustrators and other collaborators. I have two podcast recording slots: one mid-morning and one after the kids’ bedtime. I make discovery calls at 1 p.m. every day. No other time. I’ve made it a rule, and I’m sticking to it. All my scheduling is automated; I don’t need to get involved in any email tennis about rescheduling for 15 minutes later or for another day.
The rest of my time is filled with client work or working on my own brands and books. I collect the kids from school mid-afternoon and get back to work around 7:30 p.m., after family time and bedtime. A few days a week, I also record a podcast at 9 p.m. to suit North American and Australian guests.
Radim recently presented at OFFF in Spain, on the topic of “No Risk, No Story.”
4. Playlist Favorites
I love music and how it can make us feel. Before finding my true calling in visual art and design, I played in bands as a teenager, then moved on to DJing and music production. During the writing and production of my two most recent books, I set up a playlist for each one’s theme. The idea was to add 14 tracks every two weeks, but they quickly swelled to hundreds of tracks. The Mindful Creative playlist focuses on meditative moments, with thoughtful downtempo vibes. Creativity For Sale is livelier, with mid-tempo tunes for that spontaneous lunchtime boogie at your desk.
Additionally, I’ve found that the best playlists for productivity feature “ambient dub techno” tracks that seamlessly blend all three genres at once. When the spaciousness of ambient music meets slow 4/4 grooves, it feels perfect for finding focus. My podcast, also called Creativity For Sale, takes up listening hours too, as I proof-listen to episodes throughout the day.
5. Tools of the Trade
We’ve built Brand Nu as a branding and creative studio that provides tailored visual storytelling solutions for a variety of clients worldwide. You can often find us getting dirty with acrylic paint, photographing stuff, illustrating in analogue and digital, and even building elaborate visual scenes in 3D applications that will often be animated for video output.
For my publishing projects, the process is often more fluid and less reliant on the studio space. To get started on ideas and sketches, I use the Notes app on my iPhone. In situations where you find yourself wedged in the middle seat on a long flight, it can help you capture ideas, write articles, or expand on chapters.
As a visual designer, I can stay focused in the middle of messy creative battlegrounds. When it comes to handling a lot of words, however, I struggle with never-ending Word or Google Docs files. I find even a few pages of copy overwhelming. To help me feel more in control of the process, I’ve switched to using Scrivener, which works like a dream. It’s a great writing application for managing elaborate or intricate processes with an easy-to-use interface and management tools, especially for someone like me who decides to write two books at once. It’s not perfect, but it does the job magnificently.
Sometimes it is good to get out of the office; Malinic’s children like to bike in the outskirts of London.
6. Dream Studio
These days, a dream studio is anywhere that allows me the time and space to focus. I’ve recently moved to the outskirts of London, so I’m back working from a home studio after having a rented studio space in South West London.
When I first moved to London, I wanted to live in Piccadilly Circus (the British equivalent of Times Square), a place full of activity and energy. I wanted to be right in the middle of it all. I’d always lived in busy places, and I used to crave that fluttering chaos that comes with crowds of people and the energy they generate. Twenty years later, my current location couldn’t be more different. I look out of the window and I see treetops and the sky. That’s dreamy enough.
7. One Unique Thing About My Work Process…
As a former commercial illustrator working in advertising, I still see every new project or idea as a visual storyteller first and foremost. The packaging comes before the product; the brand visuals before the identity. I love to do the world-building before I zoom in on the details, and I feel I need to visualize a project’s narrative before I can give it any direction.
8. Mantra
"Everything is a work in progress.” If something doesn’t work today, so be it. We always have another chance to try again later or on another day. I feel too many people worry too much without thinking about the bigger picture and where we fit in. Do things to the best of our abilities and fix what you can tomorrow. Own your process and enjoy it.
9. My Brightest Idea that Never Saw the Light of Day
I run a workshop called Unlocking Creativity: The Art of Color Language. It encourages participants to embark on a journey and explore the world of colors not merely as visual sensations, but as rich, evocative, and versatile linguistic tools. It has been running for a while, but my idea to turn it into a book still needs time to percolate.
10. To-Do List Item that Keeps Me Up at Night
My next four…no, five books! I’m always working on sketches for them, putting ideas in folders, planning the release schedule, pondering the content structure, and all the additional products and courses that will add to the bigger picture. There’s no such time as the right time to start writing a book. It happens little by little every day. I haven’t found my passion; I’ve found my healthy obsession!
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