After five winters out in Oregon, and four summers in + and earned a monster degree from the Minneapolis College of Art + Design. I gave up the shred world, and moved back to the city. It was incredible, and I loved Minneapolis. Still sore about leaving the place, a decade later! I did two years there and got my first job, as the Art Director for Snowboarder magazine way the hell down in Perfectville, Southern California. I couldn’t pass up the gig, graduated and started in with Snowboarder in April of 2000. Southern California and I didn’t agree on too much. I loved the guys I worked with and the mag, but couldn’t stomach the fast pace, nose jobs and overpriced cost of living. I did two winters and got rescued up to Portland, Oregon to the Cinco Design Office. Such a cool design shop. Moved back to Oregon, and started working on Nixon and Gravis projects. Loved it! Was back in Oregon, working on cool stuff with talented folks. After a couple good years at Cinco, I went out on my own. I saved up some loot, paid off my credit cards and got to work. That would’ve been 2004, and shit’s been amazing ever since. I’ve been hard at work for damn near a decade on my own. So proud of the last eight years. What influences you? It’s quite a list. Function over fashion. Mom and dad. My nephew Oliver. Fall foliage. Old logos. Thick lines. Crappy promotional items. America. Freedom. Hard work. Roadtrips. Records. Martin guitars. Telecasters. 501 jeans. Taking my pants off. Documentaries. Carhartt jackets. Feed-n-seed memo books. Impko stickers. Spectrums. The Flaming Lips. American flags. Cold Cokes. Filson bags. Arrows. Old signs. Legos. Wiener dogs. Ugly stuff. Wood. Bullet pencils. Old patches. Farmer seed hats. But when I think about it, you what influences me the most? Not making the most of these years with my design. Now’s the time. Striking while the iron is hot. Doing as much work as I can, saving loot, traveling and telling my story and trying to pull it all off. Long hours? Of course. Why Helvetica? There’s a beautiful sense of order to Helvetica. Beautiful geometry and form. Europe’s decimation at the hands of World War II left so many cultures and lands lost and I’ve always thought Helvetica was another little way of bringing legibility and order to their society. It follows rules and is democratic. Everyone can use Helvetica. I remember how
it felt “special” to me when I was little. Felt modern, smart and elevated. I like the idea of the design of things not competing with the information at hand. Helvetica allows the forms to breathe. What’s your process in developing a logo or packaging? It all starts with sketching in my Field Notes. Notes on angles to take, sketches, mellow analysis on the best path to solving the thing. After some sketching separate the different versions in separate camps, which are refined into different directions. Then I organize those directions from mellow to wild, which acts as a volume knob of sorts for the first round presentation. Showing multiple directions allows the client to pick what they dig, and then we hone in on that. It’s pretty collaborative. I like the idea of offering stuff they can attach to, and help morph along the way. Instant ownership. In the end, the idea is that we both love it, and both helped it along. Sometimes I hit it right out of the gate, and other times, it takes some pretty serious battling. I’m down with both! How did Field Notes come about? What was the thought process? After years of collecting old dead memo books from junk drawers, antique malls and flea markets, I decided to make my very own. With my own type, language and bold, unapologetic type. This was 2004 or something. I screen printed my first 200 and gave ‘em to friends. Then I did 2000 of them for $2000 bucks, gave a stack to Jim Coudal and that man made the thing explode. Thank you, Coudal Partners. Forever. The idea was to make something that was completely mine. And now, completely ours. For me and you, with slow steps and simple materials. All the while, celebrating the beautiful, forgotten ways of “writing things down” and “sketching stuff” and “doodling.” We’re losing that stuff. iPhones and iPads are changing everything and of course, I love ‘em, but still want simple stuff to write on. I keep my Field Notes on me at all times. All times. Describe your sickness/passion for old shit - fonts, packaging, vintage Americana? I love what the old guys did with limited form, techniques and materials. There were limitations back then. Shit, we’ve got a million fonts these days, a million colors and shit’s spit out of some half-ass digital printer. Smarter? Sure. Warm? Nope. Design wasn’t such a “cake decoration” kind of thing like it is today. It was more functional. A trade. Pure communication, you know? I’m inspired by that straightforward-