Benjamin Palmer leads barbarians. In other words, he is the visionary leader of one of the coolest interactive advertising agencies on the planet — The Barbarian Group. Benjamin is cofounder and CEO of the shop, which was recently recognized by Fast Company as one of the world’s 50 most innovative companies. As a testament to his creative and cultural fortitude, Benjamin was just elected as the Art Directors Club’s new president, where he will undoubtedly push the needle forward with his signature spark. See what inspires this digital guru in Benjamin’s 10 Answers below.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Making quality internet.

2. Who is your creative role model?
Brian Eno.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
A little bit more of everything.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
New York City!  It’s the most motivating place in the world.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
I think I’d like to direct an episode of The Muppet Show.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
Do photo-books count as home made?

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
An original 1959 Godzilla poster.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
My friend Paul Lavoie told me “Don’t let short term greed get in the way of long term greed.” I think this applies to more than just money.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
I don’t find too many marketing sites inspirational for raw ideas – I do keep up with industry news and work, but for pure inspiration I like metafilter.com the best.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
When you know you need to stop and start working on the next thing.

When it comes to capturing people’s beauty, nothing is out of the picture for Geoff Green. The NYC-based photographer constantly explores new neighborhoods and people with his camera in tow, always aiming to depict the moments when subjects from sidewalk dwellers to Art Director’s Club judges to mega celebrities are at their most enthralling. His work has earned features in publications like The New York Times and Der Spiegel, and his talents have been employed for the advertising campaigns of clients ranging from NYC theater companies to AT&T. See what keeps this stunning photog focused in today’s 10 ANSWERS.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
I’ve always felt uncomfortable describing my work, but – honest, personal and careful.

2. Who is your creative role model?
Robert Frank, Walker Evans, many of the old masters. Jay Maisel, my mentor and former employer, who continues to amaze me every time I stop by his studio. My friends.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Complain there still isn’t enough time in the day! Then get some editing done and finish that New Yorker article.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
NYC – the place I live.

Finding opportunities to photograph or be amazed is around the corner, certainly within a subway ride. I recently took a job shooting in Brooklyn, the subject matter not being very interesting, but the neighborhood and people living there are fascinating – I am just getting to know them.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
Astronaut or a contender in the Tour de France. Both require different, but brutal and intense training.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
Prints, most often as postcards.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
The Bed. I built a bed frame and headboard a number of years ago out of steel pipe and speed-rail connectors. It was quite comical as half a dozen 20′ sections of pipe were delivered to a small west village walkup. Cutting them down to size on the ground floor next to the mailboxes using a WWII era, enormous, manual pipe cutter was the only solution. The afternoon was spent dripping sweat as the neighbors passed by shaking their heads.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Sometimes it is better to shoot and apologize later, then to ask permission first and be turned away.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
The New York Times.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
When the shutter clicks. But, then comes the process of editing and compiling your work into something cohesive. It is always daunting and never seems to get finished.

Ever imagine what inanimate objects would say if they could speak? Marc Johns does. His simple, whimsical drawings explore the fabricated personalities of pens, blobs, fish, and even a pipe that’s trying to quit smoking. These charming and humorous illustrations have been featured in the New York Times Magazine, WIRED, Newsweek and his own beautifully designed book, Serious Drawings. Hear what this animated artist has to say about inspiration in his 10 ANSWERS below.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Drawings, sometimes funny.

2. Who is your creative role model?
My influences are constantly changing. Right now it’s Maurice Sendak.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Read, write more, draw more, learn web coding, get organized, sleep… Wait! Can I have more than an extra hour?

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
Hornby Island. It’s so beautiful and unspoiled and peaceful, it’s awe-inspiring and rejuvenating.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
Since I spend my days sitting down in front of a computer scanning and blogging images, or at a table drawing, I think it’d be nice to do something physical for a change. My brother is a carpenter, so it’d be great to do what he does for a day.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
Drawings, of course!

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
My art books. They’re like super talented friends that I like to visit every now and again for a big dose of inspiration, or a kick in the butt.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Be yourself. Your uniqueness is a thousand times more fascinating and valuable than your ability to conform.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
Twitter, for all the wonderful links that are shared every day.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
I often feel that an idea sketched out in a notebook is pretty much done, and the challenge I have during final execution is to not over-refine it. When everything is balanced and it effectively tells the story I set out to tell, and nothing more, then it’s done. When I start thinking about adding extras, I have to put the drawing away.

Daniel Friedman does complete, floor-to-ceiling revamping of New York City apartments. Daniel can turn ordinary lightbulbs into one-of-a-kind chandeliers and mundane walls into floor-to-ceiling artwork. And Daniel used to be unknown – that is, until Alli Goldberg convinced him that a blog showcasing his creative designs would help promote his work. Now, Alli has gone from Daniel’s biggest fan to his one-person PR department. This is great news for the rest of us, who can now view Daniel’s inventive remodeling and original pieces as he continues to establish himself as a maven of interior architecture. With affordable rates and tremendous results, Daniel is consistently transforming ho-hum apartments into ooh-la-la abodes. Hear from the artist himself on where inspiration comes from, and what keeps giving Alli something to write home [renovations] about.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Everyday spaces, re-imagined.

2. Who is your creative role model?
Samuel Mockbee. He ran an innovative design studio in Alabama pairing inexperienced architecture students with poor landowners in desperate need of new housing. He taught me sustainable design continues to evolve long after the designer is hands-off. The most elegant spaces are those refined and matured by the people who enjoy them.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
I’d work a little slower.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
Northern Canada. (Yes, I’m Canadian.) I’ve taken remote hiking and canoe trips in Temagami, Wabakimi and the like, and when you look out, you get this incredible sense of discovery — that you’re potentially seeing something no one’s ever seen before.  That feeling is harder to replicate in the US. In my designs, I like making unexpected choices so my clients can experience that sense of revelation too.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
I’d like to apprentice making men’s suits on Saville Row.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
Lights. I’m kind of obsessed with improving the quality of light/life in our homes and not just accepting what NYC landlords give us.  I like constructing copper or brass chandeliers for those I know will appreciate them.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
An Impressionist painting of an empty village during snowfall.  I’m a cold-weather guy.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
It came from my freshman physics professor. I was having difficulty getting accepted into an architecture program and was contemplating giving up. Though he barely knew me, I asked his advice and he said: “Everybody who’s anybody is well acquainted with rejection.”

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
I find websites less inspiring than books. I enjoy sitting down at a bookstore with a coffee and three or four tall stacks of design books. The volume of possibilities quickly recharges my creative senses.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
I generally stop working when my client’s super happy, but in truth, I’m never done. In my head, I’m still developing designs for apartments I technically completed years ago.

If you’re looking to take an intimate journey through multiple areas of East Africa in a single day, look no further than Shannon Jensen’s stunning photographs. She’ll show you the emotions of ethnically Southern Sudanese returning “home” after decades of being displaced, the jagged hilltops of Uganda’s Rwenzori mountains, and the emerging basketball culture of Southern Sudan (their unusually tall height makes them a natural fit). Her artistic talent, ability to capture personal moments and innate storytelling abilities have earned her publications in the New York Times, Die Zeit and The Guardian. Get a picture of what inspires this phenomenally gifted photographer in today’s 10 ANSWERS.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
I aspire to create work that is compelling, insightful and worthwhile. Definitely not there yet.

2. Who is your creative role model?
People who creatively inspire me include brilliant storytellers like Ira Glass and Brian Storm, art photographers like Taryn Simon and Chris Jordan, and many photojournalists – most recently Stephanie Sinclair’s child bride work and Moises Saman’s coverage of the Arab spring, particularly under tough conditions in Libya.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Write more emails, mail more postcards. I spend a lot of time away from home, so maintaining relationships requires diligence.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
Wilderness, in the company of those who care about it.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
Biologist on a deep sea exploration mission, where there still is truly uncharted territory and important discoveries to be made.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
The obvious: photographs, if that can be claimed as homemade at all.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
Various items picked up in antique markets in Shanghai, China, where I worked during the summer of 2004 and so loved wandering.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t be shy & it can’t hurt to ask.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
Longform.org for great magazine writing, TED for fascinating ideas, Burn Magazine for photography, Mediastorm for unparalleled multimedia storytelling, Photojournalism links for a weekly roundup of interesting work on the web.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
Never, or when its good enough. Trying to move from the former to the latter a bit more.

Blake Lively,  Elizabeth Banks and Tina Fey are just a few of the notable actresses who have donned Christian Cota’s designs, which has put his career in the spotlight as well. This rising star founded his eponymous fashion label in 2007, and was named a CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Finalist by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Vogue in 2010. One peek at his Fall 2011 collection and it’s easy to see why he’s raking in the accolades. His funky details, unusual mix of textures (think fox fur & lamb skin) and precise tailoring make him a talent to follow. After all, if you can’t look like Eva Mendes you might as well dress like her. Rack up inspiration with Christian’s 10 ANSWERS below.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Artistic. Sophisticated. Passionate.

2. Who is your creative role model?
Karl Lagerfeld.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Visit parts of the city that I don’t have time to otherwise.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
Mexico because it has so much diversity in nature, history, culture and traditions.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
When I was little I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. Whenever I was in a discussion, I always won the argument.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
Chocolate chip cookies!

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
My bathtub, water always relaxes me.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Always be true to yourself.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
National Geographic, Getty Images and Style.com.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
My work is never complete. I am constantly editing, refining, and perfecting each piece.

“When in doubt, go to nature” is the best advice illustrator Jesse Tise ever received. Looking at his psychedelic illustrations, featuring images of mythical robotic creatures running through the jungle, it’s clear he took this wisdom to heart. All of Jesse’s boldly colored pieces – whether they are prints, paintings or 3-dimensional toys – incorporate organic elements with a zany twist. He always pushes himself to explore imagery in new mediums, like the 26-page booklets he created to showcase the his ‘Flora, Fauna, and Freaks‘ series of illustrations or the set of Six Sculpey Figures he created to bring his odd characters to life. Learn how Jesse’s preternatural character designs come naturally in his 10 ANSWERS below.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Colorful, bizarre, playful. Slippery, slimy, and squishy works too, though.

2. Who is your creative role model?
Flying Lotus. If I could channel my thoughts and imaginings into music, it would probably sound like this guy’s woozy, electronic / instrumental haze.  I always play his stuff while I’m working.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Finish reading Roald Dahl’s Omnibus of short stories. I still have about three quarters left of it.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
The oceans. The flora and fauna of the seas continues to amaze me. So many patterns and colors that simply don’t exist anywhere else on the planet. Its unbelievable to me that so much of the ocean is relatively unexplored too.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
I actually wouldn’t mind joining the ‘World’s Deadliest Catch’ guys for a day. Hauling in huge netfuls of crabs and slipping and sliding around on the deck of a ship in ice cold temperatures with waves crashing everywhere around – sign me up!

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
I like giving my art booklets and zines to friends and family. They are staple bound with love. I also enjoy making mono-printed cards for special occasions sometimes.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
A new, full bag of fresh coffee grounds. The day just isn’t complete without at least five to ten cups of coffee.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
“When in doubt, go to nature.” Best advice I’ve ever received in art school. Changed my art and my whole take on life itself. Thank you, Steve Turk.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
I usually keep a reference binder chock full of inspirational images, in addition to a ton of books, but the blogs ‘But Does It Float?” and “Booooooom!” always provide an excellent source of fine art, photography and film works. I try to avoid looking at other illustrators for inspiration.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
With some exceptions, I just don’t feel right about a painting or drawing if I don’t use every color under the sun in it somewhere. If the color isn’t working for me, I start the entire piece over from scratch. Otherwise, I usually have a pretty clear picture in my head of what the finished piece is going to look like.

“Didn’t think he would go there.” So goes one of the many Six Word Story Every Day projects from designer Anne Ulku and her writing partner, Van Horgen. The two collaborated to generate beautifully illustrated six-word tales with stunning typography. The duo has completed their yearlong endeavor, and have now opened the project to outside contributors. In addition to fun daily projects, Anne puts her talents to good use with colorful and type driven logos, patterns and identities. Hear how Anne gets inspired (in more than six words) in today’s 10 ANSWERS.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Typographic. Vibrant. Patterned.

2. Who is your creative role model?
I’m not sure there is only one person that I consider a role model. I’m influenced by creativity and culture around me, and by what my peers are making. I strive off of others ambition – if that may be considered a role model.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Ideally, my answer should be sleep. But that would waste about 15 days a year; I could complete a whole new project with that time. Instead, I would like to just sit there, daydream, and absorb thoughts. Because it – like sleeping – would reenergize and refuel your mind. I’d have a pen and sketch book, and jot down and illustrate every thought, phrase, word or idea that comes to mind. Like documenting dreaming while awake.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
Living in my workspace has been very inspiring to me. I thought I would have troubles separating the life/work balance- but it has only made me realize more that it’s not just work to me, it’s a lifestyle, and naturally a part of my day and night. My studio [in Minneapolis] reminds me of the little forts I used to build as a child where I’d read, color, sleep and hide my favorite things. The space is a place surrounded by things I’ve made and feel inspired by, and where I’m able to come up with any idea, and experiment with any material I wish to.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
I would never change what I’m doing, but if so, I would probably pursue dance. I’ve always wanted to be a performer on Broadway or a Rockette (not tall enough) and be able to sing and dance at the same time (don’t ever ask me to sing). Some day in the far far future, I’m sure I’ll be one of those 80 year old grandmas tap dancing with a cane, top hat and fringe skirt.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give? 
Things I’ve made – such as, books, cards, posters, and baked goods. I mostly just like wrapping gifts and decorating packages like they should set on a shelf for display. I actually used to work as a professional gift-wrapper at a toy store, in my very early years of employment.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
I love my plants (when they’re alive). Having plants or flowers or herbs growing in my home is always so fresh and rejuvenating.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
“Be your own worst critic.” If you have the right amount of ambition and drive for your work, you are the one who is hardest on yourself. You learn from the mistakes you make, you work on something until you push an idea as far as it can go. You put enough pressure on yourself to make everything that much better than the last. Though it’s good advice, it’s troubling at times because it’s hard to feel a sense of completion with any project because it could always keep on going. And you become your own worst competitor.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
I tend to find a lot of inspiration from color palettes. And usually color coming from photography- particularly, photography of architecture, nature and landscape, food, and also street fashion. No specific website or blog, my inspirations are all over the place whether it be from my own snapshots from my surroundings or travels, or random Google searches.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
It’s hard to say. I feel a sense of satisfaction even when I just get an idea sketched out. Once in a while, with some projects, I find myself going to back, taking pieces and bits and extending or repurposing the elements of the project for personal use, or just to see how far the project could reach, conceptually, without a client budget. But I suppose, since I do a lot of print work, once it’s printed and signed, it is complete. And thinking in the sense of client work- when the client’s expectations have been fulfilled and when they are excited about it, I feel complete.

Super-foodie Amanda Hesser humbly began her culinary career delivering bread at dawn from a bakery. It would be an understatement (and probably a bad pun) to say that her career has risen incredibly since then. Her first book, The Cook and the Gardener, catapulted Amanda into the role of food reporter at The New York Times. While there, she wrote more than 800 food-related stories and went on to publish her The Essential New York Times Cook Book, which won the 2011 James Beard Award in the General Cooking category. Through the experience writing her blockbuster book, Amanda (with co-founder Merrill Stubbs) conceived of her current project, Food52 – a social hub for food lovers to share projects, recipes and more. Get a taste of what inspires Amanda in her 10 ANSWERS below.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Connections. Ideas. Humor.

2. Who is your creative role model?
Ted Meuhling. If I could create food the way he creates objects, I’d be happy.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Talk with my kids. Hug my husband. Work more. 20 minutes each!

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
I’m inspired by any change of environment. Every time I travel, whether to a new country or to a new neighborhood in New York, I find ideas. I feel comforted by cities. Los Angeles makes me really happy. But a place like Sri Lanka, where I went with my husband a few years ago, re-booted my brain.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
I’d like to a.) be able to sing well (not like an asthmatic frog, as I do now), and b.) be the lead singer in a band. Would love to experience entertaining people with simply the power of my voice.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
My mother-in-law’s almond cake, because it pleases everyone. And it travels well – I’ve shipped it cross-country many times.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
A tennis doubles trophy that my husband and his brother have won 9 times. Every year they’ve won the tournament, they each keep it for 6 months, and one of them is responsible for engraving their names in it. The trophy, which is heavy and regal, represents the culture of traditions and competition and the great style that his WASP family has – all the things I’ve been interested in since I was very young, but have never really had in my own life.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t ask for permission. I was told this by my then professor, and now friend, the food historian Barbara Wheaton.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
Tumblr. I like to see how people shape and design their view of the world.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
I never do.

“Furniture is a natural progression for me as a designer,” explains interior designer, Curtis Popp. That’s why the celebrated architecture and interior decor guru – who’s had work featured in Interior Design, Dwell, and Interni & Décor magazines – has begun directing his home-related design talents towards producing beautifully crafted furniture. The first offering in production by his CPopp Workshop is the Soft Side Table from the Soft Collection. The table and collection get their names from the items’ lack of hard edges, which Curtis designed to make the pieces feel more accessible. Welcome your week with Curtis’s inspiration in today’s 10 ANSWERS.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Thoughtful, timeless, playful.

2. Who is your creative role model?
Nick Cave for his darkness Erroll Morris for his honesty, Mies for his rigidity and Philippe Starck for his sense of humor.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Read.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
Lake Tahoe, because of its sheer size and beauty and it is a place where I spent much of my youth.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
A chef because I love to eat and make others happy.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
A mix CD.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
The many paintings my artist father has given me over the years.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Never abandon your dreams, no matter what the naysayers say or think.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
Not sure I use websites for inspiration, but I like to read local blogs about food, music, design and art.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
Not sure I ever do, inevitably I see something I would or should have done differently.

Twin-sister tag-team designers Maricor and Maricar Manalo like to create things by hand. Their obsession with paper and patterns has led them to create funky paper cut-out illustrations and mesmerizing sewn artwork. Their hand-embroidered typography, like their  ’Go Play’ header for ESPN magazine, demonstrates the girls’ attention to detail and mastery of color, while their paper illustration for Anorak Magazine’s Food shows their sense of humor. Get two times the inspiration with their two cents in today’s 10 ANSWERS.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Intricately textured visuals.

2. Who is your creative role model?
Neil Gaiman, he’s not a designer, but a writer. We wish we were as witty and could weave imaginative stories like his.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Cook. Or read a book, preferably outdoors away from our workspace.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
It’s hard to pin point one particular place, London is amazing and there are so many things happening here it’s hard to keep up. But a trip to Tokyo played a major part in our decision to establish MaricorMaricar and started us off on the journey we’re on now. The creative energy of the city inspired us to pick up a pencil/brush/needle again and get our hands dirty making things away from the computer.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
A food critic, I’d love to be able to travel to sample world’s best restaurants.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
Mixtapes.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
We left most of our things back in Australia so our flat felt really sterile like a hotel for a while. We found a colourful knitted throw at a market and it instantly made our place feel like home so that’s my favourite object right now. It’s crazily coloured and patterned.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
You get nothing without asking. Oh and that it’s all about the percentages so be persistent.  I read somewhere that a 10% response rate (positive and negative) is normal when you send out cvs/portfolios etc. You have to be prepared for a lot of knock backs, but it’s not personal.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
Synaptic Stimuli, But Does it Float, Twitter.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
With our embroideries we’ll start a piece and worry that the colours aren’t working together, but we’ve learnt to resist the urge to unpick everything and just continue adding the rest of the colours  and eventually the combinations start to sing.  When that happens in a project it feels like everything just clicks into place and all the pieces you’ve been struggling with all knit together. It might not be finished yet, but I know it will work.

“I lived for 18 years in a brown townhouse in the middle of the San Fernando Valley.” says artist Brianna Harden. With that simple fact Brianna’s seemingly odd combination of palm-tree and traffic motifs makes perfect sense. Her delicate illustrations and watercolor paintings that depict scenes from a childhood in Los Angeles caught the eye of GOOD Magazine, leading her to complete a lovely series of illustrations for their online articles. See what else Brianna has been up to in her 10 ANSWERS below.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Deliberate, detailed, designed.

2. Who is your creative role model?
I have a few, and they’re always changing as my personal goals change. A consistent one has been Maira Kalman—all of her work seems to be created from a place of happiness and purity of the spirit.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
I have a handful of hobbies that I never get to spend enough time with, yet somehow I’m always taking on more. I would probably rotate between sewing, writing and photography. I also enjoy gardening, and I’m trying to learn how to play the ukulele!

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
When I was younger, my family would frequently go camping up and down the coast of California. One of the most magical trips was one we took to Big Sur. The beauty of the coastline paired with the lush redwood forest made for an incredible experience, and I can’t wait to revisit it.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
I’ve always been curious what it takes to run a bakery. I enjoy making desserts, and it seems to be a great mix of food and craft. I’ve also never done any other form of art under a deadline besides drawing, and I’d be curious what that’s like.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
When the weather gets cold, I habitually pick up knitting and crocheting with an intensity that I can only attribute to animal instincts. Because holidays and cold weather coincide, I typically give out handmade scarves and hats.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
I inherited an old wooden library card catalog file from a previous neighbor. He was a teacher and they were throwing it out at the school he worked at. I pulled out the cards and hardware and converted it into an organizer for my art supplies.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
When asked how artists find their personal style, a teacher of mine responded: We must always stay true to our personal experiences, as these define who we are as individuals. I constantly remind myself of this.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
I tend to look at photography, interior and graphic design more than I look specifically at illustration. Some favorites are FPO, ApartmentTherapy, Box and Line, and Booooooom. I use Twitter for motivation.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
I have a very short attention span when it comes to my own work. After I’ve spent two or three sittings with something, I’m usually done with it. If more than a week has passed since I’ve worked on a piece, it automatically becomes finished because I’ll never get myself to touch it again!

What if eating delicious desserts like chocolate chip cookies was actually good for you? Just ask Emily Dubner, who’s has made eating sweets good for everyone with her company, Baking for Good. The online bake-sale provides irresistible treats tailored for every occasion (July 4th cookies are on sale now!) and gives 15% of every purchase to the charitable cause of your choice. Every item is baked fresh for your order and delivered in charming, eco-friendly packaging that is almost as cute as the goodies inside. A homemade batch of brownies plus a donation to your favorite charity…what’s sweeter than that? See Emily’s 10 ANSWERS below, which are as delightful as her business.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Good, sweet, delicious.

2. Who is your creative role model?
Martha Stewart.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Make things. Crafty things. I would reupholster chairs and decoupage.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
Manhattan between Rockefeller Center and Time Warner Center. No matter how many times I sit in traffic or fight my way through throngs of tourists, the buildings and bustle always remind me of how much has been built and created in New York.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
I would work for the Today Show. I’m pretty obsessed.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
Cookies! And cakes and pies.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
I have a great big farmhouse table that I bought when I first moved into an apartment on my own. I love that I can serve ten friends around it for dinner or spread out all my stuff when no one’s around.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
When I was in high school, my mom told me that one day I would find a way to turn my passions into a career. I think about this often, and I like to think that it helps me shape my decisions.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
Tastespotting, Oh Joy!, Pinterest.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
When every last bite has been enjoyed.

Richard Catchweasel can certainly see the wood for the trees. Using traditional cabinet-making techniques and UK native solid timbers, he designs and manufactures beautifully crafted handmade furniture. Through his eponymous British-based company, Richard creates one-of-kind pieces like chairs, end tables, cabinets and more in his distinct self-described modern English folk style. And thanks to a collaboration with a Kent-based tree surgeon, most of the lumber he uses comes from within a 30-mile radius of his South London workshop. Richard carefully chooses the most engaging pieces of timber to bring warmth and character to all of his custom work. Each of his creations are quirky and charming, just like his 10 ANSWERS below.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Honest, strange and accidental.

2. Who is your creative role model?
I don’t think it’s a furniture maker or designer. It’d be the mongrel offspring of a 1960s Michael Caine and the director Terry Gilliam, mixed with a bit of unknown Mediaeval craftsman.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
I’d spend more time riding my push bike downhill at high speed.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
There is one village (well, two houses) at the end of a blind valley in the middle of Wales. The place is called Penant Mellangell and there’s a tiny ancient church, which is a shrine to Saint Mellangell. She was a 7th Century hermit who sheltered a hare under here cloak from a passing hunting party. She’s the patron saint of hares – for what it’s worth. I’m an atheist, but there’s an undoubted sense of tranquility there. The place is full of very tame ‘wild’ animals. When I first visited the place, about twenty years ago, the church was nearly derelict, but about ten years ago it was renovated. It needed doing but there’s now a ‘spiritual centre’ there too full of dreamy spiritual types. It’s not what it was but it’s still a beautiful place if you can try and tune them out.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
It’s tempting to say something glamorous, but I think I’d like to try doing the other job I’d really like to do – which is welding bicycle frames. I’d really like to do it, but I know what I’m like and if I got into it I don’t think I’d ever finish a piece of furniture again.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
I make good pies, filled with fish that I cure at home using woodshaving from my workshop. Do pies count? Otherwise I’ve made some of my Paperhounds for people as presents.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
It’s a close run thing between my wife and my bicycle. My wife.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Hmmm. I think it’s probably ‘always tell the truth’. Boring, but for me a clear conscience is the way forward.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
I don’t really use them – unless a client wants me to copy something. AAAAaaaah. I’m not meant to say that am I? See above.

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
When I did my cabinet making training, my very smart tutor, emphasised the importance of our work being ‘good enough’. I think quite a lot of furniture makers are perfectionists, but there is a point when you have to stop and say that’s it – time to deliver it to the client.