Brandon Forant

Bio:

I came to Brooklyn after living in Philadelphia for 6 years. I was young, looking for opportunity, excitement, and of course complete and utter debauchery. Somehow, I ended up with a career instead. Funny how that works. Now I am a Partner and Art Director at Alchemy50, a Brooklyn-based digital agency specializing in mobile application design and development. When I'm not at A50, I'm a rough & tumble critic of the local bloody mary slingers through my blog bloodybloody.com.

• Title: Partner / Art Director, Alchemy50
• Age: 28
• Location: Brooklyn
• Contact: @_bloodybloody_

What do you miss most about Philadelphia?  How did you end up choosing to move to Brooklyn instead of Manhattan?

Philly was a great place for me to grow. The raw, timeless nature of the city; the intensity of the culture....So many things were great, and inspirational.  I really think, however, that I miss the intimacy the most.  The feeling of familiarity and closeness with the city fueled a much stronger relationship between Philly and I. New York is so dense that I still feel like a stranger, even though I've lived here for 6 years.  I guess this also applies to my choice of boroughs.  Brooklyn, reminds me of Philly in many ways...and I suppose I've never really gotten over it. Sometimes, I call Philly late night and ask if she'll take me back after all these years....then I come to my senses and just tell myself its the booze talking.

Do you have any personal tricks for yourself if you’re ever having trouble finding design inspiration for a project?

I think the most helpful moments I've gotten is from brainstorming discussions with friends or coworkers.  I find that bouncing ideas around with different people helps me consider answers to the questions I wasn't even asking. I also find that clarity really helps. If its not a crunch job, its really nice when I can take some time away to clear my head.  I find that design blocks are compounded when you end up trying to force the same solutions over and over again.  A lot of times its easier to find inspiration for a project when you get as far away from it as possible.

What’s your favorite bloody mary in New York?

My favorite bloody mary is typically the one that is so stiff I end up streaking through the parking lot of a police station in broad daylight on a Monday. If I were to consider other features beside alcohol, my favorite bloody in overall inventiveness and taste, would be one of the bloodies at Pine Box Rock Shop in Bushwick.  The 'My Bloody Valentine', as its called, is blended with gin, V8, black pepper, and Chardonnay; all while topped with a skewer of pickled pineapples.  This thing is amazing.  Pure genius.