One Minute With

Author Archives: Conor O'Driscoll

About Conor O'Driscoll

Conor O'Driscoll is a designer and writer, who writes for AppStorm.net. He also enjoys writing about himself in the third person.

One Minute With… James T. Edmondson
July 2, 2012 6:09 pm 2 Comments

Hi James, thanks for taking time to chat with One Minute With. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

No no no no no Conor. Thank YOU.

I’m almost a graduate of California College of the Arts, living in San Francisco, and I’m the youngest of six boys. I design typefaces and work on lettering projects. I’m a virgo.

Walk us through a typical day in the life of James T. Edmondson?

This summer I’m not doing any summer school, or working for anyone. Lately, I’ve been interning with Erik Marinovich, but Erik encourages me to spend a lot of time working on my own projects than a normal intern situation would allow. I’m really lucky at the moment to not have too many client projects on my plate, so I can focus on all these typefaces I have going.

A typical day probably consists of type design, lettering, client work, and some personal things too.

How did you get into design?

This video explains that:

How do you approach a new project? What’s your creative process like?

Of course it varies all the time, and it never goes the way I think it will. A simplified way of looking at it is, doodles, research, sketches, refinement. It’s never as linear as that. My typography I teacher Angie Wang (whom I adore) always told us design is not linear. That’s one thing I love about this job.

You’ve created some incredible fonts, namely Duke, Wisdom Script and Lavenderia, all of which you distribute on Lost Type. Is it a concern for typographers, especially when you’re allowing anybody to obtain the font for free, that your fonts may become overused, and eventually go the way of other overused fonts like Gotham and Bello (ie. still awesome fonts, but lost their edge due to oversaturation)?

Thank you! I suppose that yes, it is a concern, but it doesn’t really concern me. Does that makes sense? I’m just trying to put out a higher and higher quality product with each release, and I don’t think too much about how the font will be used and abused. One reason for that is I have no way of predicting what’s going to happen, and if I focus on quality, everything will work out in the end. When my fonts are criticized, I try not to beat myself up about it. Wisdom Script was the first font I released—of course it ain’t perfect, but I’m getting better all the time. Gotham and Bello are great because they are nearly flawless designs. H&FJ and Underware sure as hell aren’t beating themselves up for creating something so useful and beautiful that thousands of designers adopt it.

You run a local “Lettering Club”, in which folk get together and draw letters. Have you noticed a resurgence of lettering and calligraphy in recent years? What is it about lettering and typography that appeals to you so much?

Lettering Club might be defunct at this point, but I can say there is a growing number of kids in design school interested in lettering right now. Designers are once again aware of the shortcomings of fonts, and drawing is always going to be fun. Lettering Club was just a way of organizing a class that I wish my school offered.

In school I was looking for a way of approaching a project that worked every time. Graphic Design I and II were really tough, because I’d do well on one thing, then totally eat shit on something the next week. It was an emotional roller coaster, and like everyone else in art school, I was stressed out. Once I started approaching projects the way a lettering artist would, everything worked out way better. I heard God saying, “Do more lettering you dummy.”

If, in some Freaky Friday-like situation, you could live the life of another designer, illustrator or creative, for a day, who would it be, and why?

Jimmy Buffett. I’m such a parrot head.

What design tools could you not live without?

Moleskine notebooks. Faber Castell pens (all the widths, and the soft brush is my favorite). Clearprint design vellum. Soft lead. Scanner. KY. FontLab.

And finally, what tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in design or typography?

Draw letters everyday. Merge lettering with your other interests. Experiment with various writing tools. Wear nothing but jorts. Study classic typefaces. Look at calligraphy books, old lettering books, etc. Learn the correct way of building letterforms, so you know how to break the rules.

Make friends in the community. That has been my goal for the past year, and it has made things way more enjoyable. We are all truly lucky to be in this field with such encouraging and talented people to look up to.

Practice if you love it. If you don’t love it, you probably won’t want to practice, and that’s fine! Just find what you love to practice.

Thanks James!

Thanks a million to James for sharing his thoughts! I really enjoyed talking to him, and found his answers really interesting!

Why not check out James’s site, and follow him on Dribbble and Twitter?

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One Minute With… Simon Walker
June 28, 2012 7:01 pm Leave a Comment

Hi Simon, thanks for taking time to chat with One Minute With. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

It’s a pleasure! I’m a graphic designer currently working in the design department at GSD&M Advertising in Austin, Texas. I do a lot of freelance work in my free-time, which makes up most of what you see of my work online. I have a wife, one step-daughter, and a menagerie of animals in my apartment. I’ve been at GSD&M for 10 years now, but have also worked in San Antonio and Dallas.

Walk us through a typical day in the life of Simon Walker.

It varies, but in a nutshell: walk the dog, run, shower, tea, oatmeal, coffee, email, work, lunch, tea, work, dinner, TCM, coffee, walk the dog, bed. I’m English, so nearly every event in my life is punctuated with a hot drink.

How did you get into design? Was there a defining point in your career, and if so, how did it shape you as a designer?

I drew constantly as a kid, but had always been interested in letters, and would find a way to put type into a lot of my artwork. In the 80s, hip hop and breakdance culture came to England, and I developed an obsession with graffiti that I feel to this day informs what I do as a type designer. I gained more of an interest in English and science in my late teens, but I always sketched letterforms in and around my notes. An art teacher in college noticed my tendency to work type into my drawings and told me I was making graphic design, which was something I’d never heard of before. But it was a revelation to me because I was feeling a little directionless at the time, and he was telling me I could make money doing something I was already halfway decent at. He gave me a brochure to the University of North Texas and within a year I was enrolled.

How do you approach a new project? What’s your creative process like?

I hate to say it, but I don’t think I have a very structured or useful process at all. Generally speaking I put on music and sit and stare at my blank white screen for as long as it takes (feels like hours), slowly forming a sort of amorphous version of what I want to do in my mind before making the mental leap necessary to start clicking out some vectors. It’s a matter of slowly coming to terms with the idea of a logo, rather than what it should look like. I might do some very rough sketches within that time, depending on the style of lettering I’m doing, but I’m really a lot more comfortable with my mouse than with a pencil. Probably not a good thing.

Your lettering is most certainly your strong point – Would you ever consider creating a font? How different are the worlds of lettering and font creation, do you feel?

I have one official font in the works, and the beginnings of dozens of others. It’s hard to say how it happened for other designers, but for me, my love of custom type flowed naturally into a desire to try my hand at font design. I’d be working on a logo with custom type and somebody would say “You should turn that into a font”. Other times I’d end up trying the same custom type style for multiple projects, and end up with nearly an entire alphabet of letters when I was finished. At first I was creating basic type styles – geometrically consistent sans serifs, mainly – but I inevitably ended up making serif fonts. It’s an exhilarating thing to jump into when you’ve never done it before, because you feel kind of foolish, like this is something only other people do, and so how could you ever truly make a legitimate go of it? But I found that I really started to learn quickly just by trying and failing and trying and failing until, at last, I actually had some success. I still have a lot to learn, but it’s a really rewarding process – one that I find just as cathartic as working on a good logo.

As well as all them delightful words you draw, you also write the occasional article, and maintain a strong presence on both Dribbble and Twitter – How important is it, in your opinion, to be involved in and contribute back to the community that has fostered you?

I think it’s incredibly important – I owe everything to this community, and I take that pretty seriously. I’m actually kind of a shy person, and horribly afraid of public speaking of any kind, so it’s not likely you’ll see me doing any talks soon. But I do spend dozens of hours a week talking to people online, answering questions and emails and sharing resources. It’s humbling to know that there are so many people out there admiring and studying my work, so I think I have a responsibility to be as open and generous with those people as possible.

If, in some Freaky Friday-like situation, you could live the life of another designer, illustrator or creative, for a day, who would it be, and why?

Woody Allen. Granted, he’s kind of a miserable old guy with terrible fashion sense and a tendency to be inappropriately Freudian, but I love the way his mind works and would love to have access to that wit just for a day. Plus, he gets to make movies all the time and hang out with very cool people who all think he’s the cats PJ’s no matter what he does or says.

What design tools could you not live without?

Just my mouse. People try to convince me daily to give it up for the Wacom pad, but I’ve tried it and it does nothing for me. I’m sure there’ll be a cure for carpal tunnel by the time it becomes a problem for me.

And finally, what tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in design?

Go to school, for sure. I realize there are people who’ve made it without going to school for design, but there are specific circumstances behind why those people were able to make it in design that I wouldn’t gamble on. Also, be patient. Most of the truly great designers in the world took years to get where they’re at. I’ve been doing this for twelve years and I’m still trying to get there myself.

Thanks Simon!

Many thanks to Simon for talking to us. I really enjoyed his answers, and hopefully you did too!

Why not check out Simon’s site, and follow him on Dribbble and Twitter?

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One Minute With… Evan Huwa
June 25, 2012 3:15 pm Leave a Comment

Hi Evan, thanks for taking time to chat with One Minute With. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

Hey Conor, it’s a pleasure being here. It really is an honor to be alongside such great talent. So thank you for having me. Anyway, I grew up on a dairy farm in Northeastern Colorado, and spent countless hours doing random farm stuff: baling hay, shoveling you-know-what, driving trucks, feeding cows, etc. I guess I realized it wasn’t for me. That being said, I still love going home to spend time on the farm. I draw a lot of inspiration from vintage farm type, and logos. There is something so raw and honest about that work that speaks to me. I guess I would say that my work varies quite a bit, but you can find roots that tie it to the above inspiration. I love working with bold typography, fun color, and quirky illustration.

Walk us through a typical day in the life of Evan Huwa.

Right now my life is a little crazy. I am currently working at a screen print shop in Fort Collins, Colorado for my standard 9-5. It’s a great job with great people. We mainly handle merchandise for the big Colorado breweries, such as: New Belgium, Odell Brewing Co., Oskar Blues Brewery, Fort Collins Brewery, Left Hand Brewing Co., and a handful of other local breweries. Aside from that I have been trying to grow my freelance business as well. I have been waking up at 5:30-6:00am and work right up until I have to go to my day job at 9:00am. Then after I get off work at 5:00pm I come home and sit in front of my computer until it’s time for bed. So all that to say, I am at a transitional point in my life where I am days away from going freelance. I know life will remain crazy when I enter the world of freelance, but I am definitely ready for a change of pace.

How did you get into design? Was there a defining point in your career, and if so, how did it shape you as a designer?

I grew up in a single stoplight town of 2,000 people. My graduating class had 39 people in it. I always loved drawing, but the only exposure I had to graphic design came in college. Funny enough I started studying architecture because I didn’t even know what graphic design was. I quickly changed my major and the rest was history. I absolutely fell in love with design from my intro class. I guess my defining point would be from something one of my college professors said. He handed around a copy of Communication Arts, and said “If this doesn’t get you excited you should probably change majors right now.” I was hooked. I went out and bought a subscription that day. I’ve know this is what I was supposed to do ever since that day.

How do you approach a new project? What’s your creative process like?

You know, every job is a little different, but my process remains relatively the same for each project. I start by asking my client a few questions such as: what’s your target audience, who are your competitors, etc. You know, gain an understanding of who I’m working with. From there I do research. I then make a mood board, which is a simple sampling of things like type, colors, patterns, basically anything that represents the project I’m working on. I show that to my client for approval, then start sketching. From that point I move to the computer to refine until I end with something that both my clients and I love.

Your work has a crazy awesome retro feel to it, with perhaps something of a Midwest tang. Where do you get inspiration?

I touched on this above, but yeah, I would definitely say that my work has a Midwest feel to it. I darn near grew up in Nebraska and spent most of my years on or around old farm equipment. One thing I remember loving was this stash of old trucker hats my dad had piled up in his work closet. Really cool old seed corn hats and semen hats. Yes, you did read that correctly. In the dairy business you actually buy semen to artificially inseminate cows. Yeah really weird I know, but they had beautiful type. Seriously, the closet was full of stuff that Aaron Draplin would love. My mom collected old milk bottles, and butter churns that all had beautiful custom script lettering. That stuff seriously still makes me happy every time I’m home. Love that stuff.

Many people will know you from your font Ranger, which you distribute over at Lost Type. How different was this font creation process to your normal design workflow? What new challenges did it bring?

Ranger was an incredible process. Riley Cran and I chatted about what I had in mind for the font, and from that point I started sketching. Then I refined and refined until I was happy. I am by no means a type expert, but I really enjoy doing custom type. It makes for something so personal and unique. That’s what I was going for here. I wanted something that reminded me of the farm, and Colorado in general. Biggest challenge was working in FontLab. I know I could have done a better job with the kerning, but that was the first time I ever used the program. It was a huge learning curve. I am so thankful for the opportunity that Riley gave me by allowing me to have Ranger on his site. I hands-down wouldn’t be where I am today without it, or at least have the confidence that I have now from seeing it used across many mediums. Really cool experience.

If, in some Freaky Friday-like situation, you could live the life of another designer, illustrator or creative, for a day, who would it be, and why?

This is a really tough question. I guess I would have to go with one of my contemporaries, like Aaron Draplin. The guy just radiates cool! His design knowledge is incredible. His experience working with big clients would be very insightful at this point in my career. His storytelling ability would be a great skill set to have too. The list could go on and on, but it would be a pretty cool day to live in the life of Draplin.

What design tools could you not live without?

I would be screwed without Illustrator. Hands-down, that program is key to my success. Other than that I love my pencil and notepad.

And finally, what tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in design?

I would say work hard. I’d follow my professors lead and show them a design annual and if they didn’t get much from it, I would say try something else. It’s been really sad to see only a handful of my college classmates stick with design. I guess if I think back to those classes, I’m not that surprised, because only a handful of students actually cared. Hard work has carried me thus far, and I’m not gonna stop here. So keep your nose to the grindstone and you’ll be fine.

Thanks Evan!

Many thanks to Evan for taking some time to talk to One Minute With. I really enjoyed interviewing him, and hopefully you enjoyed reading it!

Why not check out Evan’s site, and follow him on Dribbble and Twitter?

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One Minute With… Ryan Hamrick
June 21, 2012 3:54 pm Leave a Comment

Hey Ryan, thanks for taking time to chat with One Minute With. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

Hey, thanks for considering me interesting enough to interview!

My name’s Ryan Hamrick, and I’m a designer, letterer, illustrator and writer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have a beautiful wife, two amazing kids and a brand new Shiba Inu puppy, who, if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you know about as well as I do.

My work has taken me on a kind of interesting path, actually. Throughout my career, there’s always been a lot of branding work in my mix, but early on, UI projects were typically what I spent most of my time with. At some point though, I really fell in love with custom type and lettering, and started spending all my free time with it. My first few personal experiments with it, like my Pittsburgh Sketch for instance, went over fairly well, and kind of kick-started me on a path to actually making a little money doing it. Which is awesome yet a bit inconceivable still to me.

With UI design, you’re designing what is ultimately a product, which seems a little easier to allocate value to, but with lettering, I sometimes still catch myself thinking like, “Wait, people will actually pay me to do this stuff?!” It’s pretty incredible.

Walk us through a typical day in the life of Ryan Hamrick.

Oh man, okay. So, I typically get up at 4:30 every morning, throw some clothes on and stumble downstairs to flip the switch on the coffee maker.

I know a lot of designers out there stay up all night burning the 3am oil, and I used to do the same thing. At some point, though, it was like a switch was flipped, and suddenly, I couldn’t stay up as late anymore, nor could I make myself sleep in. Like ever. So I decided to stop fighting it and start going to bed earlier with my wife (which is totally what I should have been doing all along, because guys, there’s an unfathomable amount of value there), and getting up earlier to get that work time in. When you have kids, quiet, alone time in the house is precious, so sometimes that means out-earlying them to get it.

Anyway, back on track, I get a couple hours of work in until it’s time to wake my wife up with coffee and breakfast (do this, your significant other is so worth it). We chat for a bit, and then it’s time for everyone to get ready. She gets herself to work, I get the kids off to school/preschool and then it’s work time again. The pup will pretty much sleep in his little bed in my office for the majority of the morning, which is awesome. I try to bust ass until the kids get home or need picked up in the afternoon, because after that, counting on getting quality work done is like expecting a storm cloud to produce whiskey.

Soon, it’s time for dinner, picking up, and catching up with my wife and talking about our days. Hers is always more interesting with talk of other adults and such, but mine is always more entertaining.

How did you get into design? Was there a defining point in your career, and if so, how did it shape you as a designer?

I’ve always been “designing” in one way or another. A friend and I were going to be comic book artists in grade school until we were certain our skateboarding careers were going to take off and put that on hold. Probably for the best, since those comics were so horrible.

From the age of about 16, I started playing with Photoshop when I could and really just messing around trying to teach myself the software. I’d do a logo here or there for friends and family, but nothing too serious. I think I always thought it would be really cool to use those programs for a living, but that never seemed very feasible. Out of high school, I went to a local college to study graphic design, but dropped out half-way through my second semester to work more — at Cracker Barrel. Yeah, I don’t know.

I slowly progressed from job to job and at one point I was even managing an entire eight-store district of Sprint stores. I’d design print collateral to keep in my stores, a few logos here and there, but didn’t really have a ton of time for anything else.

If I had to pinpoint one “defining moment” in my career, it would only have been a little over a year ago. I was working full time as Editor in Chief of knowyourcell.com as it were, and my wife had just accepted an amazing new position at the company she’s with now. Things had positioned themselves just perfectly, and we were in a good enough place financially for me to take the leap and begin designing full time as a freelancer.

The extra time and effort I’ve been able to put in since then has allowed me to learn so incredibly much. If I hadn’t had the time to force myself to learn the things I’ve learned or meet the people I’ve met, I’d still be designing shitty logos on the side.

How do you approach a new project? What’s your creative process like?

Well, my creative process varies quite a bit depending on the project. Plus, I’m constantly learning and trying new things. Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve approached any of my last five or so projects in the same way.

With lettering and branding work, there’s a lot of sketching at first, of course. Almost always with pencil, but then lately, I’ve been really trying to force myself into actually stroking things out with some sort of brush pen, which is super new to me. I find that I really get the most out of a project when I completely throw myself out of my comfort zone and try something fun and different.

With UI projects, I’m not much of a paper & pencil wire-framer. I tend to jump straight into pixel-perfect mockups after I get an idea in my head, just because this amazing software we have to work with these days makes it so easy to modify and iterate quickly.

I’ve also joked on Twitter before that my creative/iterative process goes a lot like: Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Perfect. Funny, but usually that’s totally the way it goes.

When you’re not designing awesome stuff, you write about design and your design processes on your blog – How important is it, do you feel, to contribute back to the community which fostered you as a designer?

I’m not sure how helpful I am to the community yet, but I’d really like to be. When I first started working on my lettering for example, I was pretty shocked at just how little was out there in the way of helpful resources for getting started. I wondered if there was some sort of secret pact among letterers to not share the secrets of the craft with outsiders or something, haha.

I’m at a spot right now where I feel like I’ve come up with some pretty solid formulas for making these things, but then at the same time, I don’t quite feel like I’m to a level of expertise yet where I should really be telling other people how they should do it, if that makes sense.

At the end of the day, though, I feel like it is really important to help and share any tips and tricks I’ve found or come up with. I’m not precious about any of these ideas or anything, and if someone else can benefit a bit from my trials and errors, then I just think that’s pretty dope.

You are, as you put it, a “stay-at-home dadsigner”. How do you balance work and family life?

That’s awesome that you picked that up, I think I’ve only said that like twice before, lol.

It’s really easy to do a terrible job separating your work and home lives when…you work from home. If you’re not careful, you can quickly find yourself working all the time, which is a very bad hole to get into.

I’ve found that having very separate spaces for where I work and where I spend time with my family is extremely helpful in mentally dividing the two. I’m fortunate enough to have room in my place for a studio that I can allow to just be a studio and not have to use it for anything else. So when it’s family time, I’m not in there.

If at all possible, have a place where you only do work, and stay the hell away from it when it’s time to “punch out” for the day.

If, in some Freaky Friday-like situation, you could live the life of another designer, illustrator or creative, for a day, who would it be, and why?

Wow, great question. So many talented people doing such incredible stuff right now.

As a guy with a family and a full house, I guess the the typical go-to response would be to trade places with one of these kids that are killin’ it out in the Bay Area, busting their asses and working day and night designing stunning products for the biggest names in Silicon Valley.

But honestly, I don’t think I’d give up even a day with these people I’m lucky enough to call mine. I guess I’ll just take the easy way out and say that it’d be particularly cool to spend a day as one of the many astoundingly talented designers living and working in beautiful Brooklyn. I love New York in general, and if it weren’t for the whole Winter thing it shares with my current climate, it would be at the very top of my list of places I’d love to finally settle into for the long haul.

What design tools could you not live without?

Of course, I’d be kidding myself if I didn’t give a ton of credit to the almighty Photoshop and Illustrator. As creative and innovative people, we’re often pretty hard on Adobe for its shortcomings, but dudes, imagine doing the things we do in a program as limited as Paint or something. We’re pretty fortunate to have these tools.

As far as non-digital stuff goes, a couple of fairly recent additions to the arsenal that are really making things tons of fun are the Dot Grid sketchbooks from Behance’s creativesoutfitter.com, and the amazing Tombow dual brush pens. Awesome for quickly roughing out lettering ideas and practicing my stroke work.

And finally, what tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in design?

Try everything. I had no idea how to draw letters a year ago (like, for real, at least). In fact, I even wrote on my Tumblr recently about how I used to absolutely despise handwriting in school, lol. But I just decided one day that I wanted to try it, so I did. It took me a while to get comfortable with it, but if I’d never tried, not only would I have missed out on what’s become a real passion in my life, but my branding and other design work would’ve struggled for it.

The only other thing would be to always keep learning. No matter how established or good you become, you can always still learn something from anyone. Keep an open mind and don’t be a dick to people. If you don’t respect what others bring to the table, the thing you might learn from them is that you’re not as big of a deal as you think you are. :)

Thanks Ryan!

Thanks so much to Ryan for giving us an insight into his world! I loved talking to him, and found his answers really interesting!

Why not check out Ryan’s site, and follow him on Dribbble and Twitter?

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One Minute With… Dan Gneiding
June 18, 2012 7:49 pm 1 Comment

Hi Dan, thanks for taking time to chat with One Minute With. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

No, no, no… Thank YOU Conor. Its an honor to be amongst such an exceptional group of designers here on OMW, thanks for having me. Well, my name is Dan Gneiding (The G is silent) and I live and work in Philadelphia with my wife and three year old daughter. My full time gig is designing for Urban Outfitters, and I also do a fair amount of freelance design and illustration on the side under the Grayhood banner. And when I’m not doing that, I design typefaces and other various things as part of the Lost Type Co-Op.

Walk us through a typical day in the life of Dan Gneiding.

I get up around 7:30, shower, dress, skip coffee and breakfast, and pack my daughter’s lunch for the day including a custom drawn cartoon character on her lunch bag. Then it is off to UO with a quick pit stop to drop off my daughter at nursery school. I roll in at UO around 9ish, do the typical email/job list checks, and then get to work. 12:30 lunch with coworker buddies. The UO Inc offices are a bit like a college campus, complete with a gym (I’ve never used), cafeteria, etc… so we don’t have to roam to far to get some grub. Continue working until 5:00, then split. Pick up my daughter, dinner at home, chill with the wife, then some freelance until bed. Unless its a Friday… On Fridays, my pals come over and drink beer and jam playing crappy punk covers in my basement. As musicians we pretty much suck, but nothing takes care of the work week stress like screaming Misfits lyrics at the top of your lungs. (My wife is very understanding/forgiving/tolerant of the commotion – Love you Babe!!!)

How did you get into design? Was there a defining point in your career, and if so, how did it shape you as a designer?

I was a compulsive doodler, to the extent that my studies in every non-art class were effected. I had a few moments in life that made me think this whole doodling thing might just work out. In 1st grade a bunch of kids gave me their lunch money to draw them pictures of Voltron, after seeing a sketch I tried to pass off as my math homework. I think that was my first official paying job. None of the pre college schools I went to had much in the way of art classes. At 16, I started going to night & weekend art classes at a place called Barnstone Studios. The founder of the school is amazing. He taught color theory, life drawing and foundation design using golden section grids. He opened my eyes to much of what I was missing as an artist and designer, and helped expand my perspective.

As far a career turning point goes I think it would be the Misfits Ramones pie chart print I made a while back. That was the first self initiated project I ever invested in, produced and sold as a product. The success of that print got the ball rolling for other Grayhood ventures, and gave me a boost in both my confidence and my pocket change.

How do you approach a new project? What’s your creative process like?

As soon as I get the project parameters, before doing any research, I like to purge as many ideas as I can onto paper. This helps me clear some of the more obvious ideas out of my mind. Once the ‘off the top of my head’ well runs dry, I will start some more rigorous research/brainstorming. I try to sketch until I can make my self laugh. I figure if I am not having any fun making something why should anyone else be delighted by it?

A sneak peek of an upcoming typeface from Dan.

Whilst a lot of your work is lettering, you also designed the fantastic Ribbon font for Lost Type – How did the process of designing a font compare to the lettering process? What new challenges did it bring?

Designing a typeface is waaaaaaaay more involved. You can think about it like cooking: both lettering and typeface design use similar ingredients (the alphabet, numbers, punctuation, etc…) but they are about as different as making your friend a sandwich and opening a restaurant chain.

If you make your friend a sandwich, you probably already have an idea what they will like, if not you can resort to asking them directly. With this information, you can usually trust they they will enjoy what you made for them and not do anything crazy like take the sandwich apart, put the bread on the inside, mayo on the outside, then wear it like a hat. But if you are opening a chain of restaurants, you will likely never meet the person ordering the sand-o. Heck, you probably will not even know the names of most of the employees taking the orders. So even though in the end it still all looks like bread and cheese, the restaurant owner has to deal with this whole other layer of thinking about how other people are going to use these ingredients. You are several steps away from the end use. Personally I would never put maple syrup on tunafish, but someone out there might, so now I have to make a maple/tuna kerning pair.

Does that makes any sense? It’s pretty late, and I’m hungry.

Your style is very much retro-influenced, but with a fun, organic twist. Where do you get inspiration?

I have been very lucky to be surrounded by extremely talented and entertaining friends, family and co-workers, I draw most of my inspiration from them. Nothing motivates me like a little friendly competition.

If, in some Freaky Friday-like situation, you could live the life of another designer, illustrator or creative, for a day, who would it be, and why?

As long as we are playing with the laws of the universe I want to be Johnny Cash, and I’d like it to be on one of the days he stomped out the lights of the stage, then when back to the hotel and partied with Elvis all night.

What design tools could you not live without?

Pencils/pens/markers/paint and paper, a black and white photocopier, beer, scanner, Illustrator, Photoshop, FontLab, beer.

And finally, what tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in design?

Self. Initiated. Projects.

Its been my experience that doing work for yourself is fun, helps you evolve your style, take risks, meet people, create new opportunities, keeps you balanced, makes you a better employee, keeps you sane, and improves ones overall quality of life.

58, 59, 60. Thanks for sharing my minute!

Thanks Dan!

Many thanks to Dan for sharing his thoughts with OMW. I had a lot of fun talking to him, and I hope you love the interview as much I do!

Check out Dan’s site, and follow him on Dribbble and Twitter?

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One Minute With… Bennie Kirksey Wells
June 14, 2012 6:04 pm Leave a Comment

Hi Kirk, thanks for taking time to chat with One Minute With. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

Thanks for having me. I am very honored.

Lets see, well my full name is Bennie Kirksey Wells but most people call me Kirk, with the exception of strangers and good friends who either call me Bennie or Kirksey. Occasionally I get “chicken” but that’s another story. I currently live on City Island in the Bronx but I’m originally from Riverdale, Georgia. I played football at the University of Florida where I graduated with a degree in graphic design in 2002. I brew beer in my basement and have the smallest closet on the eastern seaboard.

Walk us through a typical day in the life of Bennie Kirksey Wells.

Most mornings I try to wake up early, around 6 am. I make my first pot of coffee and read for a couple of hours, usually about one of the presidents (I’m currently on Franklin Pierce). Then I make a to do list, queue up some Twilight Zone episodes to listen to while I work and sign on to IM. I work remotely for a place in Atlanta, so I stay in touch with them throughout the day via email and IM. About noon I fire up the second pot of coffee and eat at my desk. When 5:30 rolls around I start to wind things down and close out for the day. Then, depending on the weather I try to go get in a pick-up basketball game or two at the park, or maybe go for a run. When I get back heat up the leftover coffee and get started on any freelance projects I might have to work on and usually get to bed sometime around 11 or so.

How did you get into design? Was there a defining point in your career, and if so, how did it shape you as a designer?

I liked to draw a lot as a kid, and my parents were very supportive of that interest. In middle school my drawings started moving away from still-life sneakers and ninja turtles to words and letters, especially lowercase “g” for some reason. I just thought it all fell under the label of ART. In high school I visited the University of Florida on a recruiting visit and talked with Maria Rogal, a professor for the graphic design program. I was sold. I wanted to be a designer.

Defining moment. That’s a tough one. Maybe moving to Austin in 2009 to try my hand at design in the Lone Star State and falling absolutely on my face. I don’t know what I expected to happen, but I was not prepared for the difficulty in trying to break into the Austin design market. There are some awesomely creative people down there combined with the fact that it’s a great place to live, so the job market was rough. Going jobless for 6 months was a sort of wake-up call for me. I got motivated and began cranking out projects. I re-worked my portfolio and adopted a new philosophy of not letting the absence of a client prevent me from making cool stuff.

How do you approach a new project? What’s your creative process like?

Research, sketch, re-sketch, start over, beer, sketch, freak out, push though, hate the result, more beer, slowly come to love it and finally resent myself for my own vanity.

You work in a variety of fields, from logo design, to print, to illustration, and so on. If you could only do one of these for the rest of your career, which would it be, and why?

Illustration. Definitely. I mean, it would break my heart to have to choose one, but I don’t think I’ve gone a week of my life since the age of 10 without doodling, drawing, sketching something. My style has really evolved over the years and I’d be very interested to see where it would go with 20 years of dedicated illustration focus.

Your work has a very retro feel, with lots of geometrical elements, and perhaps a dash of David Carson thrown in for good measure. Where do you get inspiration?

Ha ha. Well, if I’m at all honest, I was a bit of a Carson fan back in college. Then I moved away from that and became a little obsessed with Charles Spencer Anderson. I am mildly embarrassed about my affinity for David Carson’s work and I’m not sure why. But yeah, retro would accurately describe my aesthetic I’d say. The house in Georgia in which I grew up was a shrine to late 60s early 70s kitsch. A different color of shag carpeting in every room, hallways covered in half wood-panel and half peeling wallpaper with disturbing paintings of owls and deer in heavy wood frames lurking around every corner. What seems retro to others just feels like home to me.

If, in some Freaky Friday-like situation, you could live the life of another designer, illustrator or creative, for a day, who would it be, and why?

Chris Ware, if only to be in his workspace for 24 hours. I don’t understand how he creates the things he does, especially with the amount of detail and precision he’s known for, but I’d love to see where he works and how he comes up with stuff.

What design tools could you not live without?

Sketchbook. I take than thing to the bathroom with me. Uniball vision pens, mechanical pencil and fat erasers. And I guess Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. The typical designer tools.

And finally, what tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in design?

That’s a tough one. I honestly don’t think I’ve been designing long enough to qualify for passing on pearls of wisdom. Maybe the only advice I would give is to not be limited by the work you are able to get at first. I think a lot of talented young designers beat their heads against the wall trying to get the dream project or attempting to land a gig at the most amazing firm out there. Of all the design there is to do out there, most of it’s shit. It’d be nice to think that every other gig is going to be a show poster for a band called Titties and Dynamite or an awesome information graphic about Bill Murray’s personal grooming habits or a great interactive site for antibacterial fungal cream, but they’re not. It’s 50 Powerpoint slides, a banner ad and a couple dozen one-hour logos that you’ll hate. At least, that’s been my experience. So I guess the point is not to wait until Titties and Dynamite comes knocking, if you wanna make a poster featuring a Polar bear Lifeguard drinking lighter fluid; do it. Design that info-graphic for all the places you’ve vomited in the continental U.S. Those are the projects that you’ll try your hardest at, and that will ultimately make you better. You need clients to pay the rent, but you don’t necessarily need one to make good work.

Thanks Kirk!

Many thanks to Kirk for sharing his thoughts with OMW. I had a lot of fun talking to him, and I hope you love the interview as much I do!

Why not check out Kirk’s site, and follow him on Dribbble?

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One Minute With… Ryan Feerer
June 11, 2012 9:43 pm Leave a Comment

Hi Ryan, thanks for taking time to chat with One Minute With. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

I don’t often like to talk about myself or the work I do, but I guess I would say that I love attempting to create timeless work. I want what I do to be pleasing now, twenty years from now, and twenty years ago. I do believe that good design is good design and that it should last through time without seeming dated, exhausted, or trendy. I’m not sure if I do a good job at that, but it’s fun trying.

Walk us through a typical day in the life of Ryan Feerer.

My days as a designer used to sound much more interesting. Living in NYC I had the dream job. I would go to work late, and stay late. I would illustrate and design things all day and get paid well for doing it. Ever so often I’d see some of my work on the shirts of a passer-by or on a subway ad or wheat-pasted poster. The best of which was having my stuff plastered all over Radio City Music Hall for the Dark Was the Night live show. Now I live in Texas and teach at a small (but awesome) christian university named Abilene Christian University. I usually teach 8 o’clock classes, so I pick up my daughter after that and enjoy her while my wife is at work. When my wife comes home I work until I go to bed. Endless cycle and really not all that exciting. In the summer, it’s a little bit better. I wake up when I want, then walk into my living room, sit on my couch, and work. Best commute in the world.

How did you get into design?

My dad was a preacher growing up so I would always draw during church. That is a habit that I still have today. I never really thought I would do it for a living. After graduating high school I started studying 3D animation in Dallas, Texas. After a few months my father made me go to Abilene Christian University. They didn’t have an animation program so I settled with design. Soon after I realized I loved it and my passion for design grew from there. My old professor (and now colleague) Nil Santana is to blame for this. Overall, I tend to do what I do because of the people around me. I love creating with and for fun and positive people. It makes me happy and helps me create better work.

How do you approach a new project? What’s your creative process like?

I approach each project differently, depending on the client. Aside from all of the legal stuff I deal with from project to project, I usually start off with either sketches or lists, followed by rough comps, revisions, revisions, revisions, and then a final draft. Some clients react better with images, others with words. There is not one perfect approach that works for every client. Ideally, I would do one finished design, hand it off to the client and tell them to “take it or leave it”. But I have bills to pay, and sometimes that means creating mediocre work that pleases the client. That makes me sad. I much rather do work that I have ownership of. I often times dislike doing client work because it’s so exhausting. There is usually lot of educating the clients in what they need and why they need it. I’m fortunate to have a lot of great clients at the moment. Most, of which, “get” it. That makes me happy.

Your style is fantastically retro, with a geometric sting. Where do you get inspiration?

I love simple things. I tend to overcomplicate some of my work at times, but I love the beauty of the ordinary. Old packaging and logos seemed very ordinary to me growing up. I was young and didn’t realize the beauty of the simple logotypes and touches of illustrations. Now I admire the beautiful kerning within a logotype. I’m such a nerd. As for me and geometric shapes… I tend to start everything I do with basic shapes. It has almost become a rule of mine. Whether it be custom type, logos, illustrations, or whatever, I always seem to start with a circle, triangle, and square. You can make anything with those shapes (or parts of them).

In your career, you have been lucky enough to study under design legends such as Glaser and Sagmeister. How profound an effect did these experiences have on your career, and how important do you feel having a design mentor is?

Mentors are so very important to designers. The amount of knowledge that they’re able to pass down is (hopefully) invaluable. As a young designer you need someone to look up and aspire to. It gives you a reason to work hard and something tangible to work towards.

If, in some Freaky Friday-like situation, you could live the life of another designer, illustrator or creative, for a day, who would it be, and why?

Milton Glaser. When I was around him I felt like every word he spoke should’ve be written down. He is such a thoughtful and intelligent man. You can feel the awesomeness radiate from him while in his presence. If you think I’m over exaggerating, then you must have never met him. If not Milton, I’d probably say one of the Mast Chocolate brothers. Making wonderful chocolates in a cool atmosphere seems to really make them happy. I love how they are bringing such a traditional craft back, and making it their own. It looks like a beautiful way of life. Or possibly Bon Iver? I’m not musically inclined and don’t really have a good voice. That would be super exciting as well.

What design tools could you not live without?

Paper, pen, coffee, and good music.

And finally, what tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in design?

I started off as a real mediocre designer. In fact, I was pretty terrible. It’s sad to say I didn’t know it at the time. The moment I realized that I wasn’t good and was able to edit myself, my work improved and so did the thinking behind my work.To all you students (or others wanting to get into design): Go into the classroom (or learning environment) knowing that you aren’t good and don’t be discouraged about it. As an educator I’ve seen students be lost until well into their junior, sometimes senior year. That’s okay. It takes time to understand how a designer thinks, use the tools, and just as important, how to edit yourselves. Once you see what needs to change with your work, all you have to do is create and change. It’s a beautiful thing, really. Knowing what good design looks like and being able to incorporate that thinking into your work is invaluable. After that, you’re well on your way to being a decent, good, or even great designer! Have fun with it!

Thanks Ryan!

Thanks a million to Ryan for talking to me – I really enjoyed talking with him, and hopefully you love his answers as much as I do!

Why not check out Ryan’s site, and follow him on Dribbble and Twitter?

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One Minute With… Matt Thompson
June 7, 2012 7:08 pm Leave a Comment

Hi Matt, thanks for taking time to chat with One Minute With. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

Hey Conor, thanks for reaching out to me. I currently reside in Austin, TX where I am finishing up school and freelancing a bit. I’m currently working on a poster series that are experimental prints with various substances as inks. My design work revolves around branding and identity, typography/lettering, illustration and editorial/publication. I am not a stranger to the web/interactive side though.

Walk us through a typical day in the life of Matt Thompson.

Every day is different for me, usually. If I have a project I’m working on or an idea of something I want to make I’ll work on that. If it’s looking like a slower day I’ll take it easy and browse the web for a bit and try to get out of the house. Lately the weather here in Austin has been really nice in the earlier parts of the day so I try to take advantage of that before the heat starts to rise. When it’s a busy day I’ll start working around 10 or so and take a few breaks during the day. I’ll usually stop working, if I can, around 5 and step away from my work for a bit and get out of the house. At night my girlfriend and I usually make, or get, something to eat and watch something on TV or ride bikes around town.

How did you get into design? Was there a defining point in your career, and if so, how did it shape you as a designer?

I have always been fascinated with logos and really cool type treatments. When I was in middle school I use to spend a lot of time on the Internet downloading free fonts to the family computer and playing with them in MS Paint. In school I would always be drawing BMX logos all over my notes or folders instead of paying attention, which seemed more interesting to me. Eventually I found design from a few projects/teachers in high school while also being in bands and creating shirts, websites and posters for shows, then tried to start learning as much as I could about it.

A defining point for me as a designer I think has been making the choice to go to school for it. It has helped me make a ton of progress over the last 2 and half years. Great things have happened since, but it’s all rooted from that, and what I have made from it.

How do you approach a new project? What’s your creative process like?

I generally like to go about creating something somewhat slowly in the beginning. I prefer not to waste my time on ideas that will fall flat in the middle of working on them. So I let things sit for a little bit of time so I can think through them a bit before making anything. When I have come to a good point to where I can start making the idea I find that my workflow is very quick and fluid and I can apply new options or variations much quicker and easier without getting hung up on something. My decision-making is much more solid at this point as well. Ideally I like to treat my projects like cooking a steak, season and marinate it and let it sit for a bit, then slow cook it. Then I know exactly how I’m going to eat it when it’s in front of me ready to go with the proper sides and options to choose from with my meal.

Your style has distinct retro influences, and a focus on awesome typography. Where do you get inspiration?

I get told that often that I have a retro/vintage-y style but it’s just kind of how things come out, I guess. I really just try to apply a collaborative or necessary vision for what the project calls for. I get my inspiration from different places though. I’ve always been a huge baseball fan. In which I have always admired the aesthetic of the game down to the smallest details. Typography is one of the, if not my favorite aspect of design. I absolutely love it, so I try to make that stand out as best as I can for each project.

I also really love old things, I find myself photographing just about anything I find interesting and putting it in my inspiration folder. I’ve also been a hobbyist photographer about as long as I’ve been into Design. I’m a huge fan of 35mm/120mm film, alternative processes, film grains and textures. So I try to apply different aspects of that to my work when I can.

You’re currently doing a BFA at The Art Institute of Austin. With the design industry changing at such a fast rate, how important is a formal education in art & design, do you feel?

I think it’s important but not completely necessary. For me, going to school was a chance to focus on design. I needed the environment where I could meet people with common interest, learn more about a world that I was trying to figure out still, as I knew a bit about design but still knew very little about it looking back now — and I’ve gotten to do work and projects that I wouldn’t self initiate on my own. Before school I would only do things that I just wanted to make or for a band or something small. Going to school really broadened my perspective on design and showed me what all needs to be done and just how many different “genres” of design there is that I had no previous idea about. The things that have helped me grow the most are the peer-to-peer critique and feedback and doing projects that I am unfamiliar of and making them into something awesome. It’s definitely been a great experience of growth and progression for myself and my work.

If, in some Freaky Friday-like situation, you could live the life of another designer, illustrator or creative, for a day, who would it be, and why?

That’s an interesting question I look up to a lot of professionals for inspiration. I would probably choose someone that I hear the least about, but who creates work that blows me away every time. I think that would be Caleb Everitt. His work has always struck a heavy chord with me and I would really be interested to see his processes. It’s not so much his finish out style that I’m interested in as much as it is the processes up to that point is what intrigues me.

What design tools could you not live without?

I have a pretty good system working for me right now.
I use the following:
Micron pens
Prismacolor markers
Various sketchbooks/paper
Epson scanner
Photocopier
Macbook Pro
Magic Mouse
A vector trace program
Adobe software
My type collection

Although I could probably live without a few things, I feel like my workflow is at its most efficient and strongest with these various tools at this point.

And finally, what tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in design?

Research design and find out who and what is out there. Get an idea of all of the different things you can do with it.

Learn the programs for their intended use and understand why they’re being used and for what applications. Then learn how things work and don’t work. Understanding basic things and features early on will help incredibly.

Look at professional work, lots of it. See what’s going on in design. Read books.

Make work and keep making work. Try new things, try things that are uncomfortable and try things that you see but aren’t sure how to do.
Hell, try anything and make it your own.

The best way to learn something is to mess it up and fix it (within reason).

Find a community of designers or creative people to talk about design with and discuss process or ideas.

Go to events.

Network.

Be polite and respectful. Never burn bridges.

Be excited.

Be a little crazy.

Don’t stop learning.

Thanks Matt!

Many thanks to Matt for sharing his thoughts with OMW. I had a lot of fun talking to him, and I hope you love the interview as much I do!

Why not check out Matt’s site, and follow him on Dribbble and Twitter?

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One Minute With… Zach Graham
June 4, 2012 8:55 pm Leave a Comment

Hi Zach, thanks for taking time to chat with One Minute With. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.

No problem Conor. Thanks for wanting to speak with me. You’ve interviewed some heavy hitters, so it’s an honor. Well, my name is Zach Graham and I live in the beautifully disgusting city of Atlanta, GA. I’m currently working as a Senior Designer at Nebo.

Walk us through a typical day in the life of Zach Graham.

Well, it sorta depends on the day I guess. A typical weekday involves dragging myself out of bed around 8am and heading into the Nebo office to do some web design. After work I generally just veg out on the couch with my wife for a little while. We will usually watch whatever show we are currently hooked on (lately it’s been The Killing and Saved by the Bell) or a Braves game if they’re playing. She gets up a couple hours earlier than I do, so I usually stay up a little later working on any personal or side projects I have going on.

Weekends tend to involve a little less work. My wife and I will usually hit up a few thrift or antique stores in the early afternoon. I try to squeeze in a few hours to go skateboarding. I’ve been obsessed with skating since I was 13, but my body is beginning to revolt against me the older I get.

Zach's the guy on the left. Just so you know.

How did you get into design? Was there a defining point in your career, and if so, how did it shape you as a designer?

I honestly never even considered pursuing a career in design until mid way through my senior year in high school. At the time I was fully focused on skateboarding, so education or what I wanted to do for a living didn’t feel like a huge priority for me. I knew I didn’t really want to just be a normal working stiff, but I really had to clue what I actually did want to do. Some recruiters from the Art Institute came and talked to my art class one day. I had never really considered a creative path until then. I honestly think at the time, I really went for it because it seemed easier than going to a normal college. I probably thought I could just sorta wing it and continue to pursue skating.

It was sort of a happy accident that after I got there, I realized how much I actually did love design. I still skated a lot, but became increasingly interested in all things design. Over time that obsession has overshadowed my love for skateboarding. Which is good, my ankles and shins don’t get nearly as destroyed working on a poster as they did when I was trying to skate handrails.

How do you approach a new project? What’s your creative process like?

I’m generally all over the place. I think the only constant part of my process is stressing over miniscule details. In a perfect scenario, I would start by doing a little research on what I’m working on. Look into how others have succeeded in doing similar things and why they were successful. Getting inspiration for stuff is a slippery slope. With things like Dribbble and the countless design blogs, it’s easy to almost unintentionally rip someone else off. I try to blend a healthy amount of getting inspired by others actual design work, but also getting inspiration from things that are completely unrelated.

I don’t really do a whole lot of sketching, I generally just jump right into Illustrator.

I usually get my wife’s opinion on stuff I’m working on a lot. That woman doesn’t hold back, which is awesome. If something sucks, she will be pretty honest about it.

You’ve taken on quite a few personal projects, such as Love You Daily and Livin Sick. How important is it, in your opinion, to do work that makes you happy, rather than just the 9-5 stuff?

I think personal projects are super important for designers. Love You Daily has given me a opportunity to try out a lot of different things that I otherwise would have never tried. I feel like it has really helped me grow as a designer to do things that don’t involve a client. The 9-5 stuff is what pays the bills, but the stuff you have a passion for is what keeps you going. Ultimately I think that blending the two of those is every designer’s dream.

You’ve got a great, retro-based style, with a definite geometric twist. Where do you get inspiration?

Like most others, I get a lot of inspiration from my peers. I spend quite a bit of time combing design blogs or checking Dribbble, so that I can drool over other peoples work. Thrift and antique stores are also a great place for inspiration. I love looking at vintage packaging and typography. I’m sure the store owners aren’t super fond of me since I usually take more photos of stuff with my phone than make actual purchases. Skateboarding is another huge inspiration.

If, in some Freaky Friday-like situation, you could live the life of another designer, illustrator or creative, for a day, who would it be, and why?

Man, that’s a tough one. It’s a little scary to say anyone, cause what if their life actually sucks. I’m gonna take the lame route and just say I’d stay me. There are definitely a lot of dudes I’d like to be for a couple minutes just to know they’re tips and tricks. Overall, however, I’m super happy with being me.

What design tools could you not live without?

I’m probably pretty standard. Gotta have my MacBook loaded with Adobe software, pencils, pens, paper, and a scanner. I would probably cease to function if Google no longer existed. There are a ton of websites I check regularly, but without Google I’d be useless. It’s pretty much how I learn anything. Which is pretty scary now that I think of it.

And finally, what tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in design?

Experiment a lot and don’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t worry about what other people are doing, just do work that is true to you. You can spend all day matching another persons style, but it’s never going to look as good as it would if you just did your own thing.

Thanks Zach!

I’m really grateful to Zach for spending a few minutes with One Minute With. Hopefully you found his responses as interesting as I did!

Why not check out Zach’s site, and follow him on Dribbble and Twitter?

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