Meet Scott Saslow

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Scott Saslow a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Scott, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

I’d be lying if I said I completely overcame imposter syndrome but what helps is simply doing the work, and the more work you do, the more work you get. Sooner or later, you realize, “Hey, I might be pretty good at this” and the imposter syndrome, if it doesn’t completely go away, at the very least recedes into the distance.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a freelance graphic designer specializing in home video packaging, theatrical key art, alternative movie posters, and assorted geekery.

My clients include Arrow Video, Kino Lorber, Fun City Editions, iam8bit, Eureka Entertainment, Carlotta Films, Shameless Films, La-La Land Records, Notefornote Records, Turbine Media, and more. I’ve collaborated with agencies like Rhubarb Agency, Leroy & Rose, and MELT.

My work has been exhibited at SXSW, Creature Features in Burbank, and The Old Street Gallery in London, and can be seen in several of Printed in Blood’s art books as well as Thomas Olivri’s Total Geek-Art: Une anthologie artistique de la pop culture.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Perseverance is certainly one quality. You have to keep going. The work might not be great but eventually you’ll get there. And you’ll meet like-minded people along the way.

Patience… definitely patience. There are clients I’ve wanted to work with for years who won’t give me the time of day. All I can do is keep going and hope my work is seen by the right person at the right time and hopefully all the planets align. This also applies to individual projects… for my alternative posters, if I can’t get it right, I’ll put it aside and work on something else.

And kindness… it sounds corny but a little kindness goes a long way.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

Before starting any new design project, I often look through three books for inspiration: How To by Michael Bierut, The Moderns: Midcentury American Graphic Design by Steven Heller and Greg D’Onofrio, and Saul Bass: A Life in Film and Design by Jennifer Bass and Pat Kirkham. It’s always good to research and you can learn, not just from your heroes, but who their heroes were. Bierut talks about simple problem-solving and the advantage of working with limitations. The worst projects are often the ones where the client says, “Do whatever you want.” That never ends well.

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