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I started writing *The Dropout Manifesto* as a junior in high school. I worked with an incredible editor, [Steph Spector](https://stephspector.me), who turned a wily 17-year-old's voice into something worth publishing.

In May 2018, I published the book, and ten days later, dropped out of high school.

Without college. Without a real high-school diploma.

*The Dropout Manifesto* set my path for the future. It was a defining volume of hundreds of books I had read up to that point, hoping to solidify my belief in myself that I *could* go about life a different way. And I wrote it to remind you that you can, too.

It’s not a book convincing you to ditch school. Rather, by the end of this book, you should put it down and say, “The obstacles are not real. I can distort reality.”

After all, that's what a piece of paper is trying to do.

*The Dropout Manifesto* is about dropping *in* to your own education, your life, your real goals.

[It's available on Amazon.](https://www.amazon.com/Dropout-Manifesto-educational-institution-schooling/dp/1980887683)

The Dropout Manifesto

Designer, Founder

I published this 173-page treatise before dropping out of high school at the age of 17. It outlined a an approach to self-education and growth outside of institutions, and aimed to be a guide for young people navigating their early-adult life.

Medium Brand Identity

Joining COLLINS at 18, and How to Keep Gen-Z Talent

Diego Segura and Brian Collins in conversation with Rob Meyerson

Vellum applies smart contracts on real contracts, and build financial transactions directly into the legal agreements they are tied to. Created in collaboration with Gerald Gallagher, a Web3 lawyer-turned-product-builder, Vellum aimed to be a utilitarian, consumer use of smart contracts for more than DeFi.

Product & identity

Working with co-founders Armaan Kalsi and Brihu Sundararaman, we redesigned the Lore Explorer. The changes are progressively rolling out during their beta.

In less than 30 days, Lore's redesigned block explorer received 67,000 signups, and on the momentum of Lore's progress, in August 2023, they raised a $2.3MM funding round from SALT, Arca, Balaji Srinivasan, and Floodgate.

Digital advertising is making a climate mess — and it’s completely in our control. Scope3 has set out to right the course, and now after 18 months launch a new brand and product to reveal some groundbreaking tests that show how strong of an impact Scope3 is already making for both advertisers and publishers to clean up their ad stacks.

While at COLLINS, I worked on Medium's 2021 brand identity, which included a new — and controversial — logo, typographic illustrations, and a new layout system.

Brand Identity

Bestselling author, speaker, and organizational leader Simon Sinek publishes many ideas through The Optimism Company. With COLLINS, we worked through the naming of this new publishing arm, wrote the brand strategy, and designed the identity system.

Independent brand identity work for Bonside, a breakthrough in alternative financing for brick & mortar businesses.