About The Author
Kendra Lively

After gaining a decade of experience as a Creative Director, Kendra joined Phase 3 with the acquisition of Brand Fever in 2015. The lynchpin of the Phase 3 creative team, she guides projects from beginning to end, overseeing design innovation and execution to ensure it solves the defined business problem through creative excellence. With expertise in branding, integrated marketing campaigns, design systems and user interfaces, Kendra is a talented leader who inspires work that is individually motivating and collectively influential.

OnBranding Episode 16: Wild Measure, Part 1

By Kendra Lively
February 14, 2017

Every once in awhile, you meet a designer who was, truly, born to do what they do. To them, designing is like breathing. It’s something they have to do in order to even exist. Charles Eames, Massimo Vignelli, Milton Glaser – these are people whose names are ubiquitous with branding and design, people who are – and were – truly one with their craft.

It just so happens that Megan and Mike Gilger are those people – they work together, they live together, they share a life together, and they design together too as Wild Measure.

The pair, once based out of Traverse City, Michigan now call Raleigh, North Carolina home. They work as Wild Measure, a name they chose to represent their wild spirit-yet-strategically grounded approach to building brands through stunning visual identities – Megan is especially gifted in hand-drawn typography, Mike has a natural talent for photography. Their latest work was in collaboration with iOS app Over, to create Obaby – something we’ll talk about in more depth in this episode. Not only do Megan and Mike ‘make’ brands, but they curate brands too – for the likes of Gap, Madewell, and McClure’s.

On top of their design prowess, the duo have an impressive community built around their own identities as designers. Megan is close to 1 million followers on Pinterest, where she pins the best of art, design, fashion and home decor from her favorite brands and things she hand-picks to share based on her gut and good taste. Their blog, The Fresh Exchange, is a beloved part of the online design community, with posts that share their travels, recent projects, and advice for likeminded creatives.

Our conversation was so rich and worth noting, that we’ve decided to split these episodes into two parts, so you can absorb it all. Join us for part one, as we talk about creative challenges, the importance of balancing processes, and how to be a better freelancer…