Last summer in my dad's garage, I dug up a cardboard box full of hand-drawn punk show flyers from like 1985. Every single one was a mess of typed text, marker scribbles, and glued-on pictures. I used to hate how cluttered they looked, but holding them, you could almost hear the noise and feel the crowd. It totally changed how I see layout now, where empty space isn't always the answer. I scan those flyers sometimes and drop bits into my projects to break up the neat grids. There's a raw truth in that old chaos that smooth vectors just don't have.

That early money stress really sticks with you, doesn't it.