A short bonus episode showcasing a few standout moments from this week's guest interview with Mat Voyce ~

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Radim: Hey, welcome to another bonus episode of the Daring Creativity Podcast. This is episode number 50, which means this is the last bonus episode of the season. However, I've got a couple of surprises for next week. Normally, with these episodes, as you might know, I come back to unpack some of the gems from this week's conversation, pulling out those moments that deserve a second look and dig deeper in what makes them special.

This week, I spoke to Matt Voyce, a type animator who trained in graphic design, taught himself motion, and built a career most freelancers only dream about. He did it entirely in the hours nobody was watching. In our conversation, we talked about the long game of sampling everything, knowing which jobs to turn down, and 

why one public post about his anxiety gave him more real answers than years of therapy ever had. 

The episode published a few days ago was titled "Dare to Be Honest About the Life Behind the Work," and I believe the title really says it all. if you haven't checked out a full episode yet, let me share with you these four standout moments.

Mat: And then as time progressed, motion soon became part of that like mass toolkit of mine. And as I got into the industry and got myself into design roles within teams and started learning more about the programs, I always felt like I would put my all into those kind of day jobs and to really apply myself.

to put myself forward and to try and do the very best each day. But then I'd get home after doing like a full day's worth of work and I just would feel there was more to get, there was more to have. So I would just sit on the sofa next to girlfriend, who's my wife now, and just start making something.

And it'd it started off as just like single letter designs and that then progressed into words and phrases, which I would essentially try and sell online to fund, like a side hustle. So trying to use those like day skills, but then make something of it for myself. And don't know.

I've never really fully known why type was the thing that chose in those first instances. I think it felt like it was the most organic thing for me to create, and I loved putting the words together and designing the letter forms, and it just felt very natural. And that kind of then slowly progressed and snowballed moved along my career and to different agency roles really.

There's always something so reassuring when I hear these people's stories because it resembles one of mine, it might even resemble one of yours, where you go and do six, seven, eight hours for somebody else, only to come home and wanting to do more, because I believe, where the true passion lies.

I'm always conflicted about, you know, the word passion because it's a long-term commitment into something. But even in Matt's situation, he wasn't unhappy in his day job. He was good at it. He gave it everything. But as soon as he came home, the creative engine was still running. That relentlessness wasn't a dissatisfaction per se.

It was a signal when you think about it. so many creatives mistake that feeling for burnout or greed when actually it's just the clearest possible sign that they haven't found their real work yet. Matt didn't fight it or feel guilty about it.

He just sat down and made something night after night, and that quiet, unglamorous habit, no audience, no brief, no guarantee, it's what's built his entire career that followed, and is one of the most origin stories you will ever hear

Mat: I can talk about it in my head, but then I can just be triggered or I can think about something and my mind switches again. So it just never helped. And dunno really know where I heard about medicine before, but I just, I talked to my GP tried me on, one medication and I started in October and it's been like a long process. And the great thing about saying it publicly was that you can Google things all you want. You can Google like how long it's gonna take to kick in, how would it make me feel? But this Google, and most of the time now you're getting given like the AI answers, which summaries of, and it wasn't real information that I felt was like palpable or information that I could almost count on.

So when I put it publicly and I got real advice and real information from more so creatives who were designers who had similar thought processes to me or who were creative individuals, when I had that information, that felt like it was a game changer. And I'm so glad that I released that out put that out there because.

I would've just been Googling stuff and just going down those rabbit holes instead of getting real information from real people that I respect and care for and know and can rely on. So it was an absolute game changer for almost like self medication in a way.

 You don't have to be on social media for too long to stumble across posts that show in some way, information about mental health. Some of it's really helpful. Some of it, it's a bit scary. Some of it, uh, you can almost question why do people post it?

But not in Matt's case. 

 when his entire public identity is built around beautiful, joyful, technical type animation is a real act of vulnerability. What came back surprised him because designers he admired, people he'd followed for years, quietly going through the same thing.

The internet is full of curated highlights. Matt punched a hole in that and found a community on the other side. It's been a practical reminder that Google and AI summaries can't replace lived experience from people who think like you. Real information from real people who've been there is irreplaceable, and the only way to get it is when you're brave enough to ask.

yeah, it's definitely better. I definitely feel more optimistic. I'm a massive overthinker, like that kind of ties in with the whole anxiety and going down rabbit holes. Not when things have maybe triggered me in the past, like if they're happening now, I might think about it for a second, but I'm not then going oh, what if this happens?

Mat: What if this happens? So it's definitely almost quiet and that part of my personality or my brain, which has then helped. And I have found, it's made me a bit more assertive as well, which is nice because I was never assertive before. And now if something's in my head, it comes out of my mouth easier.

Whereas before I would just be so damn quiet and I, if I had a thought, it'd just stay in my mind. Whereas now if there's something there, it comes out, which is nice. So it has changed aspects of my personality for the better. I think. I really do think it is for the better. Overall good place and from what I've heard from the community outpouring is it just gets better.

You just maintain and you just constantly improve and just do you and, keep positive,

Simple words, but coming from someone who spent years in an anxious spiral, catastrophizing, overthinking, watching patches of his hair fall out from stress, they land differently.

Matt isn't offering a cure or a framework. He's offering something more useful and that is, and that is evident. He went through it, found something that helped, was honest about it, and came out on the other side more assertive, more optimistic, and more himself than ever before. For anyone sitting with anxiety and wondering if it ever actually shifts, this is the answer.

Not a dramatic transformation, just a quieter reminder, just a quieter mind and a little more confidence and a slow realization-- and the slow realization that you are always going to be okay

Mat: I think I have not a system, but I have sometimes red flags that pop up on certain jobs. And I normally get that from, I guess conversations I have with the designers or the design directors or whoever it is that's briefing on the job. And it's normally certain aspects of doing type design making it move that I really lend into my style and it's why I normally get brought onto jobs.

But there's been some briefings and jobs in the past where it's been a bit of type design, but then they've also started to shoehorn in other things that I know I'm really not comfortable doing. And that's the point where I could probably do this and. it's gonna be really tough, like to do, and I might learn some things about it, but I don't wanna be doing this for every job.

I wanna stick to the type design and the type motion, and that's what I'm interested in. the passion they have for it the ideas they have involved, but it's just not right for me, basically.

 as the previous moment mentioned, uh, Matt's learned to be more assertive, more looking after himself because even though these are simple words, 

 in Matt's case, He's built such a clear picture of what he does and why he's good at it, and that he can feel a wrong job coming before the brief is even finished. That's not, of course, that's not arrogance.

That's a hard-won self-knowledge. Knowing your limits isn't the same thing as limiting yourself. It's how you protect the quality of the work you actually care about. For anyone who's ever taken on job that slowly drained them, Matt's red flag system is something worth building for yourself. Thank you for joining me on this 50th bonus episode of the Daring Creativity podcast.

I would normally say thank you for joining me and I'll see you next week. There is a couple of surprises, but yeah, I'll see you then.