Sutton Long is an award-winning graphic designer based in San Francisco. Sutton specializes in working with entrepreneurs, small companies and independent magazines across the country. She considers herself a “word nerd” and having studied Latin for five years, enjoys figuring out the etymology of words based on Latin vocabulary. Combining her love of Latin with her penchant for type fonts, she has, over the last several months, become quite handy in the art of hand lettering which you can find copious examples of on her blog at www.suttonlong.com.
When she’s not working at her desk, you might find her walking her rescued hound dog, Chloe, and taking photos, many of which you can find in her Etsy shop or on her Instagram feed.
In this episode, Sutton talks about the power that art and creativity have to sustain us – to buoy us up in hard times as well as good times. “We can get stuck in the idea that life is hard, but life can actually be everything at once.” Creative entrepreneurship is the wave of the future – the artist in control of what she produces and how she markets it to the world, Sutton believes. “Your art is your own to make, promote, sell. There are no gatekeepers anymore.”
Like yoga, life is a practice, Sutton believes. We have to keep trying all the time. “You’ll find what works eventually. Believe in yourself.”
“My tendency has been to say, ‘Of course, I can do that – and I can do that right now,’ but that’s not always true and it doesn’t always serve me the best – and it doesn’t always serve my clients the best. Because if I’m worn out and I’ve got too much on my plate, I’m not going to do my best work.” ~ Sutton Long
