Field Notes Podcast by Brand Shepherd

The episode contains a few genuinely useful practitioner tips - particularly the Pantone/Adobe licensing dispute and its practical implication for print workflows - but the bulk of it is padded with entry-level color theory (RGB vs CMYK) and completely generic timing advice that any print buyer would already know. The signal-to-noise ratio is low for a 10-minute runtime.

“if you're a printer who's invested in the Pantone system, they're going to ask you to um, your brand to spec a Pantone color not out of the best interest of your brand, but out of the best interest of them getting the most out of their license”

“the common thing I hear is that our colors look muted, it doesn't look as vibrant, all this stuff. And that's to be expected”

'Print is making a comeback' is a well-worn narrative and the three tips presented are standard prepress knowledge recycled without a fresh angle. The Pantone/Adobe split is the only semi-original observation, but it is recounted as industry gossip rather than a developed argument or counterintuitive insight.

“it's, you know, the aftermath is difficult to say who, who shot first, but there was, there was a tiff between, there was a, uh, there was a fight between Adobe and Pantone and the designers, the design community, the creative community ended up being the losers”

“print design is making a comeback because people want something tangible”

This is a solo monologue by a branding agency owner who claims 20 years in business, giving him some practitioner credibility, but the content does not reflect depth of experience at scale - it reads as introductory advice rather than insights from a senior operator who has run large print programs.

“My name is Dan. I own Brand shepherd. This is our 20th year in business, 2026, that is.”

“print is how I got my start in, in this world, in this industry”

There are a handful of named references (Tide, Coke, Apple; Adobe Illustrator; Pantone) but they are used only as vague illustrations, never supported by actual data, case studies, campaign outcomes, or dollar figures. The timing estimate of 'a week or two' is the only concrete number offered.

“brands that you see every day, like I don't know, Tide or Coke or Apple or whatever, the colors that you see on product packaging is not as vibrant”

“I saw yesterday, uh, two different brands on LinkedIn promoting, uh, their latest brochure”

This is an uninterrupted solo monologue with no guest, no questions, no follow-ups, and no pushback - so conventional conversational craft cannot be evaluated. The host's own framing is loose and filler-heavy, with frequent hedging and verbal stumbles that reduce the instructional clarity of the content.

“I like to just pop on here and, and in around 10, 15 minutes, give you an update on what I see happening in the world of brand building and give you some tips”

“There's a lot more that could be said, a lot more than just uh, three things about the print world”