Our bubbly, blonde former Art Director helps shed some light on our Tribe-cheering, green-thumbed Executive Creative Director.
They say dogs are man’s best friend. What is one thing you have learned from your dog, Emmet, that you couldn’t have learned from a human?
Emmet says that in order to live to our fullest potential we must commit equally to both relaxation and excitement.
If you could only work with one artistic medium for the rest of your life, which would you choose and why?
Wow. Good question. Is Photoshop a medium? Evernote? I have recently had a complete about-face regarding gouache. In art school loathed it. Maybe it was because we were required to use it for many of our foundational studies projects. Maybe it was because I was not very deft with a paintbrush or possessing of patience at that point in life. But, having very recently taken a painting class at SAIC and working with large flat fields of color, my instructor suggested I try gouache. Semi-reluctantly I purchased just a few tubes. Almost immediately I was enamored with the way the medium worked. I love it. But is Photoshop a “medium”?
You were in a band back in the day… tell us about how/if the musical form of creative expression has informed your design work.
Absolutamente. Being in a band, most specifically the last one, informs so much of how I now deploy the process of creativity. The last group I played in was a three-piece instrumental outfit. While we had no misconceptions that we were a jazz trio in any way, the writing process was very diplomatic, often starting with improvisation. We each quickly developed a keen sense for when another member was taking the lead or venturing into uncharted waters. We would work up original compositions this way. We’d then layer in samples and overdubs that when performed live required some extra technology to be triggered on stage. The three of us handled every aspect of the performances as confident musicians playing our native instruments, and as neophyte technicians triggering loops and effects.
We knew we could count on each other. We knew we would push each other. And most importantly we recognized that credit for a recording or a performance was never due to one or two of us but rather our complete and collaborative effort.
What book would you recommend to young designers as they kick off their careers?
The Painted Word by Thomas Wolfe. It’s not about design. It’s about modern painting. It explores the interpolation of ideas and aesthetics in a way that’s as relevant to designers as it is to painters. And I always recommend that designers draw reference, historical and contemporary, from sources not specifically about design.
As the leader of our creative team here at 88, how would you describe your leadership style? What advice would you give to individuals entering into more of a creative management role?
I don’t really like to think/talk about my leadership style other than “by example.” And the example I try to set is simple. Be brave and be kind. Regarding what advice I would impart to anyone entering into a creative management role, it too is simple. Our greatest creative tool and our best management tool are in fact the same thing—listening. I could go on and on about philosophies on micromanaging and empowering people, and all of this is available via a Google search. But the most important thing is that you are aware of the fact that you don’t know what you don’t know. And that you should Google, or ask, or emulate what you admire. These are all just forms of listening. Listen and learn all you can. It will arm you well to be brave. That just leaves the kind part.
Tell us one thing you consider to be a benefit of new digital technologies in design and one reason why you wish we reverted back to the more manual tools of the good ol’ days.
The benefits are twofold. The first is the speed of iteration. The second is accidental discovery, which is often a result of the first. I don’t long for the tools of the good ol’ days, per se. But I do miss how the sketching/comping methods from an earlier era allowed us to focus on the merit of the idea in front of us rather than the particulars of the Photoshop file used to illustrate it.