Christine: Don, you’re a busy man! Tell us a little bit about yourself, and what all the different tasks you juggle.
Don: That question depends entirely on what efforts you’re asking about. I do all kinds of things for Pandamoon, including creating book covers and leading strategic research for educating our Pandas. Outside of this, I run a thriving educational consultancy that specializes in teaching creatives how to get the most out of their career. So, if we want to get into the nitty gritty, I have roughly fifteen students that each have unique needs, goals, desires, and learning styles. I have fifty Pandas that each have unique and interesting challenges for their book covers, collateral materials, and educational needs. Amusingly, I did not expect to effectively be a life coach for my clients and students, but that’s the majority of the job. Helping them get out of their own way, and discovering a path alongside of them filled with learning and exploration. Beyond this, I have four furry overlords who completely and totally captivate my every bit of existence. Between you and me, it’s for their sakes that I work as much as I do.
Christine: What inspires you?
Don: Living. So long as I am alive, I can make a difference. So long as I am alive, I can make a change. So long as my feet hit the floor when I wake up, I can keep moving forward. Life. Living. Everything that comes with it, the good and the bad alike.
Christine: If you could be a cat, what would you look like, and where would your purrfect place to roam be?
Don: People have likened me to a lion, a tiger, a leopard, a Maine Coon, and more. Comes with the territory when you are a cat dad. But me? What would I consider myself to be? I don’t really know how it’d look, but I know how it’d feel. I believe I have solitary loneliness of a leopard, the ferocity of a tiger, and the spirit and roar of a lion, all trapped within the fluffy and overly lazy body of a Maine Coon or Norwegian Forest Cat.
Christine: What current project are you working on?
Don: Currently, I am helping five different students build successful companies and new careers in entirely new fields. I am building a new creative consultancy and education company dedicated to artists, programmers, and everyone else required to make great dreams come true. As far as Pandamoon goes, I am finalizing training for our new audiobook coordinator, Sarah.
Christine: Who is your hero, and why?
Don: My brother John works in a kitchen twelve or more hours a day, seven days a week. He’s an award winning chef. Now he’s the executive chef of a very prestigious hotel in Denver, Colorado. He’s spent fifteen years, completely destroying his body for his art, his dedication, and his passion. Often times I think that he got the work-a-holic gene from my father, that I very definitely did not get. He is my hero, because despite everything, he makes time for me. He excuses my own schedule, and loves me without reservations. He inspires me to work harder. He inspires me to want more. He inspires me to expect more out of my life. He is my hero. He is my best friend. He set the bar I am always jumping to reach.
Christine: You’ve created several beautiful book covers for Pandamoon Publishing. Tell us a little bit about the book cover creation process.
Don: It’s seventy five percent me, twenty five percent the author. Typically, when making a book cover for them, I livestream or private stream the entire creation process and we knock out the initial working file in one to two hours. They get to give a ton of feedback during this time. Obviously, I’ve had projects take ten or more hours too, but most times I can do the work pretty quickly, especially if I have a captive audience from my author!
Christine: What was your favorite project to work on and why?
Don: When you ask me my favorite project, I have to give two answers. One is relative to book covers for Pandamoon, and another is an entirely unrelated project.
My favorite book cover I ever worked on was for Laura Ellen Scott. Instead of designing Crybaby Lane’s cover for her one on one, live I’ve done in the past, I used it as a training seminar for our Pandas and livestreamed the entire creation process of the cover in front of ten different Pandas. They all had the opportunity to give feedback, learned a lot and it ended up being my absolute favorite book cover because of this.
Now, let’s go outside of Pandamoon and tell you my all time favorite project I ever worked on. I would have to say that it is one of my students, Jamie Jeans. He and I have worked, tirelessly over the last two years and change to transform him into an absolute confidence monster. I wont get into too many details, as it’s his personal business to share, but his is by far the most profound and tear-jerking student story I have. He’s gone from questioning if he’ll ever create anything worth showing to the world, to craving art, photography, writing, and creative pursuits with every fiber of his being. Watching him grow has been the single most rewarding thing I’ve ever done with my teaching career, followed very closely by another student named Mika. Mika came to me nervous, unsure about her artistic future, to getting into a four year college of her choice, becoming a fantastic artist, and inspiring the heck out of me.
Christine: What advice would you give to anyone that’s just starting out in your field of work?
Don: It won’t be easy. It won’t always be fun. You might even have entire months that aren’t the least bit fun. But, goodness sakes, it is rewarding beyond measure. You are literally making people’s dreams, hopes, and bucket list items come true. You are literally changing people’s lives!
Christine: What services do you currently offer to the public, and where can we find you on social media?
Don: Currently, I am only active via Facebook. You can find me there as Don Moore Kramer. I offer business and life mentorships to creatives who want to get more out of their lives, their work, and so forth. I also offer consultancy services if you are not interested in an long term educational situation.
Christine: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
Don: Cats rule; dogs drool.
