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“WHAT’S THE MEANING BEHIND THE NAME GRAY?”
the gray way.
In my four and a half years with GRAY, that’s one of the questions I’ve been asked most frequently. For the record, the name was an early contender in a magazine-title brainstorming session held back in 2011 in founder-publisher Shawn Williams’s dining room. At one point, aiming to gauge raw reactions from the founding editors, Shawn literally pulled the word out of a hat, and it resonated for the team. It’s a tongue-in-cheek reference to both the Northwest’s prevalent weather and the sophisticated “color” palette popular in our region’s notoriously subdued interiors. Generally, whoever’s asking gets it right away, flashing a knowing grin. (Except once, when a sweet but dotty gentleman repeatedly pressed, “But is it a magazine for seniors?”) Over time, however, I’ve come to think of the name GRAY as a kind of in-joke, since our team is the brightest, most sparkly group of talent I’ve ever had the privilege to work with, and our approach to everything—from our events to the magazine you hold in your hands—is to be bold and stand out in a big way. Shawn’s recurring refrain is “How can GRAY do things differently?”—and it’s just that out-of-the-box, sometimes off-the-wall questioning that has been GRAY’s secret sauce since day one. “Not Neutral,” the theme of this issue, is a natural topic for GRAY editors to explore. Although every issue we publish highlights exciting design work, this time we dug deep to search out audacious projects that represent a true departure from the expected—whether through innovative use of color or, in the case of one Victorian-gone-goth house in Portland, through a tantalizing embrace of design’s dark side. The Northwest’s reputation for earthtoned interiors is well deserved—but when it comes to taking creative risks, our region is anything but neutral. Speaking of departures, soon I’ll be making my own. This is my 27th issue of GRAY—and my last. It’s been my honor to lead the GRAY editorial team and to be entrusted with surfacing the amazing work emerging from this dynamic region. Though I’m shifting my career’s focus, I will always be an advocate and supporter of the Pacific Northwest’s inimitable design community. I hope we’ll cross paths at GRAY’s anything-but-expected events this year. See you there! Jaime Gillin,
Director of Editorial + Content Strategy
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