A selection of the 70+ online classes I’ve produced while working at Skillshare, earning over 500,000+ enrollments to date and 10 million+ minutes-watched.
I also co-produced Skillshare's most successful Facebook video of all time, spotlighting "the squirrel whisperer" Konsta Punkka and receiving 49 million views.
See more videos at vimeo.com/zkinslow
I wrote and produced this online video class with award-winning software company Affinity Designer and acclaimed illustrator Jonathan Ball to increase downloads of their new vector program. (collaboration with Fat Free Media)
Level up your vector illustration skills by learning illustrator Jonathan Ball's friendly, step-by-step process for designing playful, surreal characters based on simple geometric shapes.
In this one-hour class, UK-based illustrator Jonathan Ball (aka POKEDSTUDIO) draws on his experience illustrating characters for Nickelodeon, Playstation, Mattel, Disney, and Activision to share his design and illustration process in bite-sized steps.
From concept and sketch to creating vectors and shading in the Mac app Affinity Designer, you’ll learn how to start with geometric shapes and ultimately end up with something from another dimension.
This 3D-illustration class is perfect for illustrators, designers, and visual artists of all levels who want to learn vector skills and unlock a whole new world of surrealism and detail in their work.
Some prior knowledge of vector design software may be helpful, but is not required. Everyone who loves sketching and doodling will love this fun project!
Working with designer Ricardo Gonzalez (aka @itsaliving), I developed and produced an online video series unveiling how he creates his signature, graffiti-inspired lettering style.
In this popular class, lettering artist and designer Ricardo Gonzalez teaches you the tricks of lettering his iconic monoline wordmarks, mixing digital and physical techniques to create depth and detail!
While traditional calligraphy has strokes of varying weights ("thicks and "thins"), monoline lettering has a uniform thickness throughout the pen stroke. Using a rounded-tip pen or graffiti marker instead of a chiseled nib creates a distinctive, graphic look that lettering artists are sure to love adding to their artistic arsenal.
In this 70-minute class, you'll walk through Ricardo's creative lettering process, including:
* warm-up exercises
* sketching
* inking
* photographing and Photoshopping the finished lettered piece
Every lesson is a true behind-the-scenes into the work featured on his popular Instagram account, @itsaliving!
Perfect for designers, illustrators, and type enthusiasts alike, you don't need any prior knowledge in calligraphy or lettering to get started. Beginners welcome! By the end of the lessons, you’ll be able to create and share a monoline wordmark of your own.
I produced this online video series with MailChimp at their Atlanta HQ, educating entrepreneurs about the possibilities of email marketing for e-commerce.
Eager to take your email marketing to the next level, and start increasing sales? This tactical 25-minute class with MailChimp’s Director of VIP Services, Ariana Hargrave, shares tools and tips you can put into action today to send better emails and achieve your business goals.
Ariana walks through three key concepts to boost your business through email – Automation, Optimization, and Personalization – and several helpful tactics and visual examples within each.
Automation – Onboarding, Abandoned Carts, Purchase Followups, Best Customers
Optimization – A/B Testing, Inbox Preview, Timewarp, Send Time Optimization
Personalization – Merge Tags, Product Recommendations, Segmenting/Targeting
By the end, you’ll have the tools to reach your customers more effectively, learn from your data, and increase revenue in a quick and easy way.
Whether you're kicking off a new email marketing campaign or looking to revamp your existing strategy, these lessons are key to growing your small or medium-sized business.
I produced two online classes with the Noun Project in LA — an online dictionary of visual language — to demonstrate creative applications for icons and grow brand awareness for the platform among designers.
The first class spotlights co-founder and chief creative officer, Edward Boatman, illustrating the importance of visual communication and how to make a pictogram sign both digitally and physically.
CLICK TO WATCH "KINDSIGN DESIGN" CLASS.
Ever get annoyed at your housemates for leaving dirty dishes in the sink? Or want to change something about your surroundings using visual communication? This 45-minute class with the co-founder of the Noun Project — a crowdsourced visual dictionary of 150,000+ icons — will teach you how to design your own "KindSign" based on your environment and beliefs.
From concept to context, sketching to vectoring, and even some DIY tips and tricks to build a physical version of your finished piece, you’ll walk away from this class with a fun, custom icon that creates action. This iconography course is perfect for graphic designers, web designers, art directors, and illustrators who want to put some purpose in their pictograms, and ultimately turn art into action.
CLICK TO WATCH "KINDSIGN DESIGN" CLASS.
The next class is taught by Noun Project product designer, Kimi Lewis, focusing on her unique style and specialty of incorporating icons into stunning repeat patterns.
CLICK TO WATCH "FASHION PATTERNS" CLASS.
It's all about idioms and icons in this 30-minute class on designing a repeat pattern!
Kimi Lewis, artist and product designer at the Noun Project, will walk you through her process of creating a pattern in full repeat — one that you can apply to clothing, bags, accessories, wallpaper, or practically anywhere you’d like.
You’ll start with picking an idiom or cliché that you love, and turn it into an illustrated story using pictograms. Kimi draws inspiration from the vibrant colors and patterns of Mexico, merged with her passion for the Bauhaus movement — but your pattern can come from anywhere!
The class will guide you through simple steps in Adobe Illustrator to make your pattern repeat perfectly and translate to print. No prior knowledge is necessary — this class is perfect for beginners as well as experienced designers and illustrators.
I wrote and produced this online class with cinematographer Ryan Booth, known for his work on The Revenant documentary.
Learn how to shoot with soul and make your videos look more professional in a quick and easy way, thanks to celebrated cinematographer / DP / director Ryan Booth.
Best known for his documentary feature on The Revenant — a project personally commissioned by Academy Award-winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu — Ryan's approach to filmmaking fuses the commercial and video world with a distinct documentary style.
In this inspiring 40-minute class, Ryan walks you through his creative process of how to make something look beautiful, intentional, and of higher production value in a quick and easy way – essentially, making a video look like a movie.
Lessons include:
* Key terms for aspiring filmmakers
* Simple tools to make the most of natural light
* How to maximize your location
* Shooting a documentary-style piece and shaping light along the way
No need for fancy equipment, technical know-how or a large film crew; Ryan gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how anyone can walk into a location and bring it to life in the most compelling way possible.
By the end of this class, you’ll have the confidence and inspiration to film your own cinematic moment like a pro.
Special shoutout to John Carl at Duck Duck Collective for the space!
I worked directly with Twitter's Business Team to develop a series of instructional videos for entrepreneurs, guiding them through how to achieve their business goals through Twitter marketing.
Using Twitter strategically can have exponential effects on your business – growing your customer base, amplifying your marketing reach, and building your brand in a way that truly impacts your bottom line.
Drawing from experiences with thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs, Twitter’s Marketing Manager (and the voice of @TwitterBusiness), Sandra Vega, has just the class for you.
In this 35-minute class packed with strategy, tips, and insider data, you’ll learn:
* Get started – setting up an effective profile to represent your brand
* How to grow your following and interact with customers online
* What to Tweet – getting creative with your marketing content
* When to Tweet – best practices around timing and frequency
* Measuring your results to gauge what works best
If you’re a business owner or marketer looking to grow your brand and customer base through social media, this class is a perfect place to learn straight from the source.
I wrote and produced a behind-the-scenes video class about how to turn your photography hobby into a viable revenue stream, in collaboration with Snapwire and photographer Blake Bronstad.
This video series was an important marketing tactic for Snapwire as they rallied equity crowdfunding investment under Title IV of the U.S. JOBS Act.
What makes lifestyle photography so attractive? How can you tap into its booming popularity to make money on the side?
This fun and interactive 50-minute class with photographer Blake Bronstad and Snapwire will show you how you can take the photos you already love Instagramming and sell them online.
Blake begins by showing you his creative process for shooting lifestyle photos, including:
* Top down food shots and tablescapes
* People interacting with food
* People interacting with products and other people
He then shares pro tips on the business side of photography – from knowing your rights and maximizing your revenue, to when you should use a model release.
You'll even learn Blake's editing process in Lightroom for evoking a warm, aspirational vibe.
By the end, you'll master the techniques to capture your very own lifestyle shots, and turn them into a viable source of revenue.
I worked closely with Kickstarter's Director of Community to write, develop, and produce an online video series about how to successfully launch a project into the world and strategically build a following around it.
Join Kickstarter’s Director of Community Education Stephanie Pereira for a strategic 35-minute class on how to get people excited about your next creative project!
Building on Kickstarter's experience with 100,000+ project launches, Stephanie walks through essential steps, including:
* Identifying your goals and audience
* Writing key messages
* Relationship building (before you need it)
* Developing a communication plan
This inspiring class is perfect for inventors, entrepreneurs, artists, and everyone eager to launch their idea.
I produced three documentary-style video classes with Toronto-based street photographer, Jamal Burger (aka @jayscale).
From scouting locations around New York City, to coordinating all logistics, resources and personnel (at magic hour), to acting as line producer for any security questions on-location (near some pretty touchy city buildings), to directing the shots and guiding the editor in post-production — I was in charge of every step in the creative process.
WATCH 1ST CLASS
Cityscape Photography: Shooting with Symmetry and Perspective
WATCH 2ND CLASS
Photo Editing in Lightroom: Make Your Cityscapes Stand Out
WATCH 3RD CLASS
Understanding Aperture: Add Drama to Your Street Photos
During this project, I successfully pivoted the team mid-production when Skillshare's content strategy evolved into "bite sized learning," reworking the footage in post to form multiple smaller classes (e.g. Shooting and Editing) rather than one long course that includes both.
See what the co-founder and CEO of Skillshare had to say about my work with the company:
