Connor Franta

Never think you can't do something. I definitely never thought I could write a book, and even after I started writing it, I was like, 'Oh my God, how am I gonna write a book?' Just set your sights high and reach for the stars. Go live your dreams, and never think you can't.

When taking a photo, I tend to look for one of the following: depth, symmetry, color or contrast. All of those things catch my eye to the point where I stop dead in my tracks to capture whatever it is that I've seen.

On Common Culture, you'll find coffee, clothing, and compilations. So many C's!

The work I've done through my Common Culture Music series has enabled me not only to share my joy of music at scale but also promote the artists I love.

Making YouTube videos while I was in school, I was fortunate enough not to really have any negative repercussions from it. I had a lot of positive feedback from my friends, who thought they were great and thought they were funny and that what I was doing was really cool.

YouTube is so quick and so instant, and you make a video, and you can upload it the same day, whereas with a book, you have to go through a lot of time and a lot of people and a lot of processes. So it was weird to sit down and work with other people on projects, because I'm so independent with YouTube.

Using the correct apps can completely change how your photos look. It's really exciting because once you've already taken a good photo, it can become 10 times better if you use the right combination of apps. My favorites are VSCO Cam, Afterlight, Facetune and SKRWT.

The first time I got recognized in public was at a movie theater. It was at the 'Lord of the Rings' movie premiere. I was at the movie theater, and someone came up, and it was so weird to me, because I had never been recognized by a viewer, so I thought that was scary.

For someone in an alternative job, an alternative lifestyle, it's very hard to explain what I do. So I sometimes try and dumb it down as much as possible, so I'm changing what I do every time! So sometimes I'm in an Uber, and they ask, 'So what do you do?' and I say, 'I'm a comedian,' or, 'I'm a graphic designer.'

I think it's kind of a scary time we're getting into - like, when you're hanging out with people, they'd rather be on the phone than talk to you.

I could Photoshop for hours. I spend way too much time making thumbnails. I spend, like, two hours on my thumbnails sometimes just because it's, like, fun.

I'm a little bit shy and from the Midwest, so to be so open and honest with millions of people is pretty difficult. To have people constantly having an eye on you and very interested in what you're doing at all times - it can be a little stressful at times.