NiceWork

Emmett Shine is the founder and president of Gin Lane Media. I asked him a whole lot of questions about creating innovative media content and the best conditions for generating ideas.

Emmett grew up in South Hampton, Long Island, with an artist mum who encouraged him to be creative. He began studying photography at NYU in 2002 just as the ‘whole industry transformed’ and ‘digital cameras started outselling traditional cameras’.

Emmett was struggling to pay his way through college and realized he could use these new digital platforms to make money. ‘I was doing photography, design work, interning, I had my own T-shirt skateboarding line, just entrepreneurially doing whatever I could do’. 

After college Emmett was doing a lot of freelance graphic design, photo shoots and websites, but he was struggling to get paid. He invented a company named Gin Lane, after the richest street in the Hamptons, and added media at the end because it ‘sounded legit’.

After that people took him more seriously and paid on time, ‘so I kept the guise going’.

Emmett ‘got introduced to a lot of artists and photographers that had needs for web presences. We would work with a lot of people who were talented but may not know how to run a website. We'd build simple systems.' 

Jobs with Adidas and Stella McCartney followed.

The company has now evolved into 'helping product-centric start up brands that want to disrupt pre-set verticals or industries’.

‘I less like working with traditional fashion houses,' Emmett says. 'They'll want us to come in, make something cool and innovative, but they have all these legacies and systems and they're like closed box solutions.’

‘I'd rather work with the Bonobos Group or Warby Parker or some of the Venture Capitals in New York that have incredible start ups in their portfolio that are trying to do the most innovative and progressive, best experience work.’

‘A lot of times we're working with early to mid-stage brands. They've built a product, they have it vetted, they've got some funding or capital, and they'll come to us.’

Currently Gin Lane has 22 full time employees, a large proportion of which are engineers and designers. As well as their Manhattan office, they have a studio in Brooklyn where they shoot web content to be interactive.

The company has a design aesthetic which Emmett describes as, ‘minimal, clean and simple’. He says with this style, ‘it can last a lot longer and be more approachable and useable’ than an interface that’s overly complex or technology-driven.

Transitioning from founder to leader of the company has meant an evolution of sorts for Emmett.

He believes the number one thing employees value is the culture and the people they work with, and says they always ‘try to take in projects where we think we can learn a lot’.

'The best businesses and technologies come from the people who can collaborate the best'. 

'You have to have confidence to persevere into the unknown. You have to be extremely thoughtful and agile on your feet, because it's going to change many times'.

'I really like focusing on the innovation and the creative parts of the work'. 

On Saturday I watched so many people skate over Williamsburg Bridge for Go Skateboarding Day. It's not really work, I mean some people do it for a living...but it looked like a lot of fun!

Jason Calacanis is a successful internet entrepreneur and angel investor. The Phat Startup teach entrepreneurship through hip hop.

Calacanis spoke at a recent Phat Startup event 'The digital hustle: monetizing on your ideas and efforts'.

Here's my top ten quotes from the evening about how to succeed:

Keep trying. You gotta be right once. Don't give up. Just sticking with it - those are the people who win.

Get online. Learn a skill. The world only cares about skills today.

Nobody gives a shit about where you're from or what your parents did. Skills, skills skills, you can learn it all.

The industry keeps moving. It's about who will not stop learning. You have to fall in love with being constantly inquisitive.

It's the age of excellence now. It's about who can build something beautiful and elegant.

You only need one person to say yes. You don't know unless you try.

Most days are a grind. The people who succeed are the ones who can stay motivated.

100% of my success was that I was willing to fail. 

Skills and the product you create are what matters. 

The world just knows good shit. Make good shit.

Co-working space Con Artist, in the Lower East side of Manhattan, boasts a roomy box on wheels. I spent time in it with founder Brian Shevlin.

Con Artist came about because 'I wished something like it existed', says Brian. With a background as an artist, zine maker and magazine publisher, he also worked in restaurants for a number of years, developing a pretty sound head for running a business.

Brian worked different jobs to raise funds to start the Con Artist co-working space, which began in the basement of the building he has lived in for the past 9 years, but recently extended to a street level shop-front with gallery space.

The Con Artist Collective put a lot of thought into the design of the space, which is intended to inspire collaboration and evoke a sense of play. 'What I think is really awesome and fun is when people collaborate - and it's not forced, it's a normal, organic thing,’ he says.

The interior design allows for reconfiguration of the space for different events. Tables fold up against the wall or roll sideways, display stands are movable, and the box on wheels can be rolled into the window for installations, or function as a phone booth or interview studio. 

Aside from spatial design, Con Artist encourages collaboration by holding events, exhibitions and regular social get-togethers. 

Brian lists knowledge-sharing, skill-sharing, increased motivation and productivity as the key benefits of co-working for creatives and describes how just seeing the work of others or hearing conversations can inspire people in a way that working alone cannot. 

Con Artist, located in Manhattan's Lower East Side, is a creative co-working space for artists and designers. The space was designed to inspire and encourage collaboration.

At street level it features a gallery shop front, computers, work benches and a large adaptable 'box on wheels'. The modular furniture can be reconfigured for exhibitions, events and meet ups.