Inside Everyone's Favourite Creative Substack, Art Direction with Zoë Yasemin

"If everyone draws from the same pool of images, but they don't know why they're drawing from that, the work becomes the same." - Zoë Yasemin

Welcome back to Process the Podcast. This week, Arielle sits down with Dutch-based creative director, researcher, and the brilliant mind behind the viral, globally ranked Substack: The Art Direction, Zoë Yasemin. 

While previous guests have masterfully explored the mechanics of still-life curation and multimedia stop-motion, Zoë’s strength is the depth of her reference pool. In this expansive dialogue, Zoë and Arielle dissect "aesthetic flattening" - the dangerous cultural cycle where creators pull from the exact same surface-level internet algorithms, leading to an inevitable sameness in modern brand output. From bidding on rare, vintage indie magazines on eBay to studying the historical representation of the female form, Zoe shares an elite masterclass on how to bridge the gap between a beautiful mood board and world-class execution.

Inside the Episode:

• 00:00 — Intro 
• 05:22 — Decades of Visual History
• 11:43 — What is True "Taste"?
• 17:10 — The 57K Substack Secret Blueprint
• 22:53 — Sourcing References Beyond Pinterest
• 28:22 — The Visual Curriculum Framework
• 33:10 — Finding Unexpected Creative Fuel
• 38:10 — Heritage Brand World-Building
• 43:49 — Inside a 3-Day Editorial Marathon
• 49:04 — Embracing Human Craft Over AI

Connect with our Guest:

• Zoë Yasemin on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3TixD4k
• The Art Direction School on Instagram: https://bit.ly/4vgZgrZ
• Art Direction on Substack: https://bit.ly/4gsNWp3

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