Lovely Time Interviewing Cami Lovely

I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use her name as a pun, but getting to know Cami truly has been lovely. I’m consistently amazed at the willingness of the creative community to show interest in young people trying to get into the business. Cami is the perfect example of this. I’ve appreciated her keen eye for design details and her positive outlook on the industry. So give it up for Cami, joining Cassie Medema in representing the XX chromosome pair on Brenni Fresh Creative.

Introducing: Cami Lovely, Graphic Designer at HenkinSchultz

Tell us about your path to this point.

After starting out as a bio major and switching to graphic design – and college-hopping from Drake to USD to SDSU, I graduated from SDSU with a bachelor of science degree in graphic design in 1997. Right out of college I started as a graphic designer/video editor/set designer/marketing assistant at KSFY-TV. I was there for about a year and a half. In 1998 I started at HenkinSchultz and have enjoyed 11 years of designing with a fun team.

What are your ambitions/goals?

I want to keep growing as a designer – start my own trends. I want to take in all that is cool and new and keep up with changing times. I want to learn from other designers, new and seasoned.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

My first direction in college was medical illustration. I was going to draw body parts!  I also tried art teacher and occupational therapist. But I landed in graphic design and haven’t looked back.

Who or what influences you?

I look to architecture, sculpture, art history – I enjoy Degas and Renoir. Close to home – past professors, past bosses & my son. Mike Hay, fellow designer, ADwerker.

Favorite and least favorite typeface?

I’ve always liked Clarendon, and I like Blue Highway. I really don’t like the Shelley fonts.

Best part about the industry?

Getting away with goofy, day-to-day antics. Where else can all the employees stop what they’re doing, line up in front of the windows facing a flag and start singing the national anthem. Also, random flash mobs!

Worst part about the industry?

Time constraints

What advice do you have for up and coming designers?

If you are trying to come up with a new concept, it’s good to look at current design magazines for inspiration. But most of the strong trends you see in those magazines come from art history. It’s good to do research so your design is strong.

If you could wake up and only check one website, what would it be?

Lately I’ve been checking The Dieline. Cool package design.

High point of your career/ favorite piece of work?

I had a great time in Toronto at a broadcast design seminar. Learned so much! It’s just interesting to see my career unfold and experiences build. It’s always changing. I know there’s more to come.

One thing you wish you would have done to prepare yourself for your career?

It’s important to know how to deal with many different personalities – clients and co-workers alike. You need to know how to get what you need from people in order to get your work done.

Toughest Critic, Interviewing Myself

Someone recently pointed out that I have been subjecting the designers in this series of interviews to questions that I had not even answered myself. So, I thought I would give myself a taste of my own medicine. After all, a little introspective soul-searching never hurt anyone.

Introducing, me, Andrew Brynjulson, freelance graphic designer, illustrator, social media/advertising/marketing enthusiast.

Tell us about your path to this point.

I was born, raised and still reside in lovely Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

I graduated from Augustana College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication/Business and Art emphasizing in graphic design, marketing and public relations.

While in school and up until recently, I had the great pleasure of honing my crafts as the Special Teams Coordinator/Director of Design for Deep Bench, a research, strategy and social media marketing consultancy.

I’ve now moved to a full-time freelance role as Brenni Fresh Creative doing contract work for various agencies, businesses and organizations in Sioux Falls and beyond.

What sort of ambitions or goals do you have?

As much as I enjoy the freedom and variety that freelancing has to offer, I am seeking full-time employment. I recognize that this early in my career I need to surround myself with the best so I can become the best.

Philanthropy. My ultimate goal is to become very rich, and then spend the rest of my life giving all the money away. Unfortunately, philanthropy is a tough gig when you’re poor.

So to allow me to do that, I will need to make money hopefully as a creative director, public speaker, screen printer, standup comedian or any combination of the above. I have a lot of interests.

Greg Land and Terry Dodson

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a singer until I hated my choir teacher. A professional basketball player until I realized I was short, fat, and built for football. A Nike shoe/uniform designer until I didn’t know the first thing about producing an item of clothing. A comic book illustrator until I realized I wanted to impress girls. A firefighter until I was afraid of heights (fire pole). An architect until I realized there was more to it than The Sims 2. Finally, I figured out that there was a way for artists to make money without having to starve in their parents’ basement, so I pursued design.

Who or what influences you?

My sophomore/junior year review in college earned me some puzzled looks from faculty and students as I explained that my influences had always been Stan Lee, Jack Kirby,

Ghost Ship by Daniel Danger

sports logos, etc. They wanted to hear Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Rafael, of course, but not the Teenage Mutant Ninja variety.

People that get me all jazzed up to design are David Carson, Stefan Sagmeister, Dan McCarthy, Daniel Danger, and any infinite number of things I discover on Twitter and RSS.

Architecture, gig posters, and good photography.

Favorite and least favorite typeface?

Comic Sans, Papyrus, Mistral, and Zapfino infect the world. Helvetica and Century Gothic keep the Earth in orbit for me right now.

Best part about the industry?

Stand By Me by Dan McCarthy

Creativity and innovation give us the power to transcend mediocrity and do something novel, meaningful.

Worst part about the industry?

The quest for money. As a naïve youngster, I once asked an agency executive, “What would you say if I said business is raping the creative world.” Forever the journalist, asking tough questions, I guess. I maybe should have kept that to myself.

What is the coolest thing you’ve seen lately or work that you’ve liked?

The first thing that comes to mind is the autistic artist, Stephen Wiltshire, that drew an 18ft New York cityscape from memory. Also, lately I’ve been enthralled by Brains on Fire igniting movements, sustainable building, a the trend toward honesty and transparency in business.

If you could wake up and only check one website, what would it be?

Besides Twitter, e-mail, and RSS, I’m going with Design You Trust for sheer quantity and variety.

New York City from memory Stephen Wiltshire

High point of your career/ favorite piece of work?

My favorite piece of work has been for Mrs. Dude’s Boob Fund. A lot of creative control and a chance to work on something I truly could throw myself into.

If you are indeed human, what are you bad at?

Sometimes I have a very skewed sense of self-belief. It probably comes from constantly measuring myself only against those who are the best. It will always make me better, but the unfortunate truth is that technically I’m always coming up short in comparison to the best. It can wear you down. Luckily, I wouldn’t be making those comparisons in the first place if I didn’t believe I had some sort of potential.

One thing you wish you would have done to prepare yourself for your career?

Started blogging sooner, drew more, dabbled in web design right away, and overall started to fail early and often to get the big ones out of my system.

Advice for up and coming designers…

You’ve been given the God-like gift to create something out of nothing, use it. Don’t settle for recycling other people’s ideas so that you can “fit in” when you could be bucking trends and living on the forefront of innovation. Network. Remember that academia should only get more intense after you graduate, so don’t stop learning.

Interviewing Eric Raasch, meeting of the Flaming Minds.

I’ve spent a lot of time jabbering with other young designers about the toils of being young, the uncertainty that lies ahead, or how I’m going to pay for dinner. That is why it has always been refreshing to talk to a real professional, seasoned in the industry and wise beyond his years. For me that person has been Eric Raasch. He has been able to offer perspective on the industry and encouragement in the face of calamity.

Introducing: Eric Raasch, owner of MindFlame Design & Marketing

Tell us about your path to this point.

I applied for the Graphic Design program at Iowa State University. I was accepted, and remained utterly absorbed in all things visual until receiving my BFA.

After graduation I spent a decade or so at St. Cloud, Minnesota ad agencies, enjoying the broad variety of client industries and assignments available in smaller firms that don’t really specialize. Every day seemed to bring a new opportunity to stretch and learn something new. Serving as President of the Central Minnesota AdFed may have been my best learning experience of all.

In 1998, shortly after my wife made me a proud father for the first time, a client contact recommended me for a job at what would become the world’s largest fishing tackle company, based in the Lake Okoboji area. As a lifelong angler, being asked to lead the in-house creative department at Pure Fishing, home of PowerBait®, FireLine®, Trilene® and Ambassadeur® reels seemed like a fantasy. For six years, my unofficial title was “Kid in a Candy Store.”

In 2005 I made the jump to Lawrence & Schiller in Sioux Falls, having worked closely with them while at Pure Fishing. I remained heavily involved with the Pure Fishing account for a year or so, before being asked to help evolve the look and feel of South Dakota Tourism’s advertising.

In July 2008 I scratched a 20-year-old itch to start my own firm. And MindFlame Design & Marketing was born.

What ambitions or goals do you have?

To be the best husband and father my family has ever known or could wish for.

To help companies and organizations succeed with outstanding creative marketing.

If I succeed at the latter but not the former, I will have failed. (Good thing juggling personal and professional life is easy peasy then…oh, wait…)

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A professional bass angler and/or a federal migratory waterfowl stamp illustrator. (Way to be original. Every kid’s dream.)

Who or what has influenced you?

Personally: My dad, Robert Raasch; my uncle, Ernest Raasch; and my grandfather, W. Foy Clark.

Professionally: Bradbury Thompson, Charles Spencer Anderson, Sharon Werner, Michael Mabry, Michael Bierut, Kit Hinrichs, April Greiman, Larry Tople

Favorite and least favorite typeface?

Favorite: Gotham

Least Favorite: 1. Comic Sans 2. Brush Script

What’s the best part about the industry?

The opportunity it provides for misfits, the semi-literate and the occasional genius. (Do you fall under one, none or all of those categories?)

Worst part about the industry?

Its inherent instability.

What is the coolest thing you’ve seen lately or work that you’ve liked?

Locally, I’ve admired Eva Hofer’s envive work from the first day it broke.  And just about anything Spark Letterpress runs through its proud old presses. South Dakota’s own Josh Spies is insanely talented, with a legitimate international following. Nationally, I’ve recently rekindled my romance with wine labels. It’s great to see vintners breaking so many rules in a traditionally restrained discipline.

If you could wake up and only check one website, what would it be?

My iGoogle custom page.

High point of your career/ favorite piece of work?

Opening MindFlame has to be the high point of my career so far. It was certainly the biggest decision I’ve ever made.

One thing you wish you would have done to prepare yourself for your career?

Taken an accounting class. The left side of my brain is shamefully under-developed. (For clarification, you said ACCOUNTING, not A COUNTING.)

Advice for up and coming designers…

How well you listen is more important than how well you speak. (What if I love to listen to myself speak?)

Interviewing Kiel Mu…Mut…Mutsch…Kiel.

The first real graphic designer that I could ever say I personally knew and could put a name to was Kiel Mutschelknaus. He was two years ahead of me in school and has the distinction of being the only designer with a scarier last name than Brynjulson. Kiel sets a great example for young designers in his loyalty to his fine art roots, a characteristic that manifests itself in his work. He puts the creativity in creative and keeps the industry honest.

I’m turning over a new leaf in these interviews from here on by adding my own commentary in italics. It’s my prerogative.

Introducing: Kiel Mutschelknaus: graphic designer, Fresh Produce

Tell us about your path to this point.

I graduated from Augustana College in 2007 with an Art major. I started working at Fresh Produce the following January (2008) as a designer and have been ever since.

What sort of ambitions/goals do you have?

I’d love to get my Masters in Art eventually. I’d also like to start a print subscription biz of some sort. And I want to push practicing mediums outside of using a computer. And I want to learn more origami. I enjoy chipboard sculptures too. I don’t know, I have a long list of things to do, not enough hours in the day.  (Kiel is an excellent example of how to take design beyond the computer.)

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Architect, Astronaut, Astrophysicist. Anything starting with an ‘A’ I guess. (Abominable snowman, ABBA member, ant farmer.)

What is your favorite and least favorite typeface?

Favorite: Futura, because it was invented tomorrow, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from Cape Arcona, namely because of the name, but also because it’s pretty wonderful.

Least favorite: Rosewood Std, because I used it way too much as a youngster.

Best part about the industry?

Having to do the most wonderfully random and different things each week.

Worst part about the industry?

Going from 0 to 60 several times a week/day. But on the other hand that’s kind of the best part too. Okay, the worst part of the industry is making the logo bigger. (Watch this video on making the logo bigger to experience joy and sadness simultaneously.)

What is the coolest thing you’ve seen lately or work that you’ve liked?

We recently made a 12-foot tall tetrahedron that opened up to reveal a free internet stand.  That was awesome. I also recently drew our office as a spaceship, which is always fun. (You can always count on Fresh Produce to hatch a truly “out of the box” solution to a design problem.)

If you could wake up and only check one website, what would it be?

behance.net, hourly, forever.

High point of your career/ favorite piece of work?

I’ve recently invented some prefab birdhouses that are pretty spectacular. (I saw those and forgot to inquire. Do let us know when the birdhouses are put into action in some way, shape or form.)

One thing you wish you would have done to prepare yourself for your career?

Learn more about invoices. I had no idea what invoices were before I started freelancing.  Still kind of foggy on them. (Perfect example of how the artist has to play by the rules of The Man.)

Advice for up and coming designers…

Some people will tell you not to fall in love with work you do for clients. I think that’s bullshit (can I swear?). I think you should fall in love with each and every idea you have. And then when the client tells you to ditch it, you should dump that old idea, get heartbroken, and then find a younger, sexier idea. You’ve got to fall in love with your work. (First of all, of course you can swear. You just did. Secondly, this is great advice. Throw yourself into your work. Don’t be afraid to fail. Learn to take criticism and use it.)

Interviewing Cassie Medema

Cassie Medema first came on my radar in college when I found out that she had been doing design work for a band that I really wanted to do design work for. Though her skills wildly outmatched mine, it was at that moment that I knew I would have to do one of two things. 1. Destroy her design empire and erase her memory from the history books so that I could design for that band or 2. Interview her for my blog someday. Well, I was right and here is that interview.

In case you are wondering, the band is Joey Ryan & the Inks and they rock. Take a peek.

Introducing Cassie Medema: partner, designer at Funky Fresh

Tell us about your path to this point.

Leading up to college, I had all sorts of design-y jobs: creating floral arrangements, processing photos and retail interior design. I also drove a school bus while attending college for extra cash (I am still a proud CDL holder, with endorsements for passengers and air breaks, thank you very much.)

Right out of school, I spent a year and a half at a local Sioux Falls agency and then jumped to full-time freelance in October of 2006. At that time, my husband Dave and I relocated to just outside of Minneapolis for the next year where I bounced in and out of half a dozen or so agencies as a freelancer to help catch up on their overflow design work. Those experiences helped me gain knowledge as to how I could plug in where needed. I learned how to quickly adapt to new situations and surroundings and met a ton of inspiring people along the way. In late 2007 we landed back in Sioux Falls and I was able to continue freelancing, keeping most of my clients while traveling back and forth from Sioux Falls to Minneapolis. Fast forward two more years to May 2009,when Dave and I launched our joint venture, Funky Fresh. Now we have the knowledge base and skill set for web design and development on top of print.

What sort of goals or ambitions do you have?

To be someone who makes new things. To live simply.

I love to think in terms of appreciating what you have instead of always wanting more stuff. A clutter free home makes for a clutter free mind. I typically can’t concentrate on design if there is a mess around me. I also can’t be in a messy room for more than 24 hours without cleaning it and organizing it to perfection.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A professional house cleaner (see above.) I would also offer furniture re-arranging, as that was something I mastered in my own bedroom sometime during my middle school years.

What or who has influenced you?

My husband Dave, former classmates now turned best friends, local art girls, live music in small venues, traveling and my everyday surroundings. I’ve been really inspired by the self-made artists on Etsy.com. There are some amazing shops with stories of how they quit their day jobs to do what they love out of the comfort of their home and are loving every minute of it. Not to mention, making a decent living doing so.

What is your favorite and least favorite typeface?

LTC Bodoni26 as seen on cassiemedemadesign.com

Least = Marker felt.

Best part about the industry thus far?

Being able to surround yourself with others who think like you. Fueling others to create. Finding opportunities to make people think. The new opportunities for small studios to succeed. The worst that can happen everyday is that we get to start over.

Worst part about the industry?

The discounted value the average person places on design services.

What is the coolest thing you’ve seen lately or work that you’ve liked?

Jason Munn of The Small Stakes has been a consistent inspiration for screen printing over the last four years. His Insound 20 series where he created 20 poster and t-shirt designs for 20 different bands will be one of my favorite projects of all time (http://www.insound.com/insound20/). I’m a huge fan of mixed media collage and I pretty much love everything Tiphanie Brooke does (http://www.antigirl.com/collections/index/id/3/hearts). Her latest series of hearts makes me happy.

High point of your career/ favorite piece of work?

Launching Funky Fresh, May 1st, 2009

Advice for up and coming designers…

Buy a laptop. Work on what you love. Work on stuff you don’t love to pay the bills in the mean time. Travel. Surround yourself with people that inspire you daily. Find a mentor. Drink coffee. Learn from your mistakes. Start something wonderful and real.

Interviewing Designer Mike Hay

For my next designer spotlight, the choice was a very obvious one. Mike Hay, now at ADwërks, can be called a designer, an illustrator, a copywriter, social media manager, lion tamer, fire eater, human cannonball. You name it, he does it all. To me though, he has been a mentor, taking great interest in my career. He has also been a sparkling example of how a designer should be personally and professionally. And let’s not forget the quality of his work.

Introducing Mike Hay.

Tell us about your path to this point.

I worked as an illustrator/designer, then art director, and eventually a department manager for 8 years in Mankato, MN. I liked the work and LOVED my co-workers, but the company was in trouble due to leadership’s cronyism and inability to see opportunities where they were pretty obvious.

I came to Sioux Falls after that. I worked for a brand shop for about a year and a half. Then the place crumbled and went bankrupt. What a comic that story will make someday.

After that, I spent a little over a year at an ad/marketing shop. I liked the work and loved the people, but the recession happened and they had to make cuts.

Then I came to ADwërks. Things are still relatively new for me here, but getting up in the morning to go to work is pretty easy when you’re having this much fun.

What sort of goals or ambitions do you have?

I try to keep an eye on the future of how people communicate. I’d love to keep helping businesses do more/new business by utilizing communication. I also love to help people find jobs in the industry. It’s tough now, but we have to reach out and keep trying.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A cowboy, or comedian, or a comic book illustrator. But, I’m too big of a wimp to be a cowboy and too hungry to be a comedian or a comic book artist.

What or who has influenced you?

Music, cd/album covers, comic books, font designers, nature, art history, co-workers, movies and a lot of local designers. I also have a close group of friends that are illustrators and designers, so a gentle sense of competition keeps my head in the game.

What is your favorite and least favorite typeface?

My favorite is Humanist. Clean and humble. I’m getting a little tired of Bleeding Cowboy.

Best part about the industry?

Watching the technological changes in how people communicate.

Worst part about the industry?

The instability.

What is the coolest thing you’ve seen lately or work that you’ve liked?

Design/illustration wise, there have been a lot of gorgeous posters coming out of Fresh Produce in the last few months. On a larger scale, I love to see the initiative, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that has come up in defiance of the economic downturn. Sheer optimism in the face of adversity is a sign of the best in human nature.

High point of your career/ favorite piece of work?

My high point is still yet to come. I know that sounds like a cop-out, but I have a good feeling about it.

My favorite piece of work so far is an installation piece I did for the Taylor Corporation/Carlson Craft corporate office in Minneapolis. Unfortunately, the corporate douche-bags that promised to take a lot of pictures of the finished installed project for me lied. I have no visual record of it.

One thing you wish you would have done to prepare yourself for your career?

I wish I would have learned to work with other creative people right away. I’m great with it now, but those first few years were tough. I was more worried about being understood than being understanding.

Advice for up and coming designers…

Network. Show potential employers that you are not only someone who can make things look good, but that you understand brand, big picture stuff and strategy. Also, try not to turn your nose up at too many little jobs. What some people call “crap work”, previous generations called opportunity. I respect ambition, but dues have to be paid. Some dues take years.

Always be looking for the next big thing and try to have fun. You can always tell when a designer stopped caring about keeping things exciting.

My Thoughts on the Movie, Typeface

I attended AIGA’s showing of Typeface and was hit with equal parts whimsy and sadness. On one hand, the history, the process and the people inspired me. At the same time, it hurts to see a dying art die.

The film centers on a print shop/museum struggling to stay alive both for the type industry and the struggling Wisconsin town around it. It made me sad to think that something so beautiful and once influential could fall by the wayside and dwindle into obscurity. I felt guilty as a modern designer, having never had to toil away typesetting every letter. Yet, I envy those who have had the privilege.

The movie sparked my love for silkscreen printing and laser engraving, two processes that share many of typesetting’s obstacles. Still, I couldn’t help but want to throw myself into type, carve a block of wood or whittle a kazoo at least.

My heart aches for one of the characters, Norb, a man who has been churning out wooden type for ages and considers himself the last expert still doing it. It was obvious that he was loyal to the trade, taking a purist approach to typography. He expressed a desire to pass his knowledge on to young people, ultimately giving in to the reality that the young person would need/want to be paid with money that the shop did not have.

A handful of young designers provided an encouraging story in the movie. Calling themselves the “Post Family”, they had begun collecting wooden type, used tools, and a battered press to begin there own artist collective. Their effort to acquaint themselves with these beautiful methods was for me, romantic. They provide hope that there is a future for the art of typesetting even if there isn’t.

I loved the movie. It didn’t seem as artistically done as Helvetica, for example, but Typeface’s narratives should blow you away. If it doesn’t conjure up some level of nostalgia, you’re dead to me.

I’d love to get some reactions from others who have seen the documentary. I’m just blowing bubbles…

Interviewing My Design Nemesis

I reached a realization right out of college that it would have been unspeakably beneficial to have known other designers in the area with whom I could have learned, networked, and interacted with. This post will be the first in a series of interviews with designers that I meet as I encounter them for the benefit of those who want to know what’s out there.

What better place to start than with my old friend and design nemesis, Andrew Osborn. I say nemesis not because he stole my lunch money or ruined my plot for world domination, but because we spent our entire art career up to this point walking side by side as the Andrews who are designers at Augustana College who screen print and work on Project A, B, and C, for Clients 1, 2, and 3 in Classes I, II, III. Competition breeds excellence.

Introducing, Andrew Osborn, freelance designer, illustrator, silkscreen printer.

Tell us about your path up to this point.

I graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD with a double major in Fine Art emphasizing in graphic design and Spanish Language and Culture. While in school I interned in the in-house shop at Sanford Health. At the end of my internship they offered me a full time position, but I had to turn them down in favor of an internship with Fresh Produce advertising agency. I saw an opportunity to break into the agency world and had to take it. The internship was paid for twenty hours a week. I put in closer to forty hours. Because we acted as a small autonomous agency within Fresh Produce, I learned so much and was actually paid! It wasn’t much, so lived in a trailer by the river. Really, that’s true.

I am now back freelancing. To put it simply, it is very stressful. I had too much work two weeks ago and not enough this week. I really like the variety that it brings, playing salesmen, account executive, art director, production artist, and accountant at the same time. Obviously I play art director much better than accountant but it gives me the opportunity for human interaction. Too often designers are seen as dark room people that only interact with their Mac and their kind. I like to get out and talk about my concept and how it was executed through the design.

What sort of goals or ambitions do you have?

Wow, what a loaded question. See every continent by the time I’m thirty. Live in central Africa for a spell. Learn Arabic and French. Learn HTML and CSS. Do something memorable.

On a professional level I aspire to be a creative, an artist. I would like to find or start a small creative agency and set up camp as the creative director. I would stress concept over turn-and-burn, generic work. Also, I hope to stay connected in the fine art scene in general no matter where I end up.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

The first thing I can remember is an Architect, then a Youth Pastor. In school I studied business for a semester. When I switched to design I was in-between Graphic Design and Astrophysics. I can’t imagine how poorly that would have gone.

What or who has influenced you?

What isn’t an influence? Big ones from art history are Caravaggio and Goya. I also like the looks from the Russian Constructionists and the kookiness of the Dadas. I also have always loved the gig poster scene. I am a screen printer as well so I love to look through old posters and retro typefaces. The whole gig poster scene and book cover design have always been big influences for me.

What is your favorite and least favorite typeface?

My first love is Futura but I’m having a fading love affair with Century Gothic. I’m interested to see what will come next.

Best part about the industry thus far?

The variety. I have gotten to work with a lot of great people on a number of fun projects. Also the learning, everyday I get to learn something. Sometimes it results in me looking like a fool, but that’s normal.

Worst part about the industry?

The job market. I feel like we are at a point where a lot of places have a lot of work but are hesitant to hire on a new artist because they are not sure how long they will stay busy. I have heard this a few times this summer. On the other hand some are turning around and contracting out that extra work, so I’m trying to find a niche there.

What is the coolest thing you’ve seen lately or work that you’ve liked?

It was a video of Milton Glaser talking about the industry. Very inspirational and applies to everything, not just design. I still think one of the coolest pieces I’ve seen was a SunChips billboard that used a structure so that the sun would cast a shadow that said the tagline. It was brilliant.

High point of your career/ favorite piece of work?

Another loaded question. My favorite piece in my ripe old age would be my Muse-ic campaign for Fresh Produce. The concept was: Muse-ic, when music inspires art. We took local musicians and gave their CDs to local artists. All of the artists picked a song from a local artist to inspire the work. The viewer listened to a cassette of the song while viewing the piece.

Advice for up and coming designers…

Work relentlessly. Focus on your ideas. Lots of people can run a computer, probably a lot better that you can. In the ad world, and art in general, it is the ideas and how you think, that sets you apart. And drink coffee. One space after a period.

Why constraints are a good thing in design

I could throw together the most random logo ever if you really wanted me to. I could make it eclectic, maybe even handle it blindfolded. But would you really want me to? I hope not.

Still, that’s the reaction I have every time a client (bless them for trying to make my life easier) says, “I don’t want to limit your creativity so I’m not going to give you any direction.” It sounds nice, but design, unfortunately, needs direction. That is what design is. Design, in all of its forms, is purposeful, never really random. Consult any dictionary and you’ll find that design happens according to a plan or purpose.

So, contrary to what you might initially think, limitations are necessary in the design world. If you adhere to the idea that a designer is a problem solver, then there must be a problem before a designer can design. Though it seems like a pain, and sometimes it is, it takes a great deal of ingenuity to navigate around a problem and ultimately arrive at a solution (not to mention a good solution.)

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that design is the SPORT of operating within constraints. If you really think about it, those times when constraints are most present are the times when creativity is most necessary.

It took awhile for me to really accept that I needed to flesh out the details of a project with clients. You’ll realize that asking those probing questions in the beginning can save a lot of headaches later on. Do yourself a favor and ask those questions and set yourself up for success. The client will forget about the hoops they had to jump through once they have a final product in hand.

Take a look at how in depth Graham Smith, of ImJustCreative, gets with his research process. And Brian Hoff of The Design Cubicle and Erik Peterson of Logo Critiques, do a good job of laying out questions to ask.

If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I’m just blowing bubbles…

Importance of Details in Design

How important are details?

Sometimes the world seems like nothing more to me than a collection of typographical errors, color theory blunders, and confusing symbolism. Consequently, everything I touch tends to come under scrutiny. Though usually unconscious and mostly internal, my critiques are not that well received by my friends and family.

The usual response: You’re the only one who notices that, and you’re the only one who cares.

My response: If designers don’t care about these important details, who will?

Putting it in perspective

Doctor. Your doctor notices that there may be a serious problem with your blood work. But the nurse tells the doctor not to worry about it because he/she is the only one who will notice that sort of thing…

Engineer. An engineer notices cracks in a bridge that seriously compromise its structural integrity. Assistant says that the engineer is the only one who will notice that sort of thing…

Car Salesman. The salesman finds that one of his vehicles is missing brakes. His coworker reminds him that the brakes are hidden from sight, so he’s the only one that would notice that sort of thing…

Get my drift?

I’ve come across many designers who produce highly creative, conceptual work. However, too often there seems to be a lack of attention to detail. Now, I’m all for creativity, after all it’s the name of the game, but it alone does not make an effective project. There is something to be said for the complete polish, and finality that elements like typography, scalability and simplicity, for example, can add to your work.

The way I see it

The ideal situation would allow creativity to take its course, producing that gem of an idea. But the key is to see that idea to finished product, and not stop short. Ignoring details that pull a work together will never do it justice. Though not always as sexy, details take on an equally important role in the design process. There is no excuse for neglecting the details, unless of course you’re lazy or incompetent.

If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I’m just blowing bubbles…