I’ve long admired Fossil’s collateral and identity work. So, a few months ago when I read one of Grain Edit’s posts I was really excited to discover that Brent Couchman is one of the clever minds behind the design work at Fossil. The expressive illustrative style and the amount of detail and care that is present in his work is just such a pleasure to absorb.

I’m very delighted to bring you all this wonderful Q&A with the Senior Designer & Illustrator at Fossil, Mr. Brent Couchman. Enjoy!

Watchstation – Brand Development

There are so many websites, magazines, books, etc. that teach us how to design something. What are your thoughts on why we design, or why we should design?

Theres a couple reasons I keep coming back to, the first is simply my own selfish need to create. It’s just what I have to do, and I feel lucky to be part of an industry that fulfills this need on a fundamental level. I bet a lot of designers/illustrators/makers feel the same way and are hopefully in a position that they can use their natural talents all day long.

Fossil – Misc. Brand Posters

Illustration for an upcoming talk to Mr. Feerer’s Class (http:/www.ryanfeerer.com)

The other aspect that I’m always thinking about is the connection that’s made through our work. This can be as simple as hearing one persons interpretation of your work or seeing the larger impact of something you’ve designed out in the world. We put so much of our time and energy into the work and it’s incredibly rewarding to see it connecting with people, hopefully in a positive way.

Sometimes ideas just don’t show up to work with us. What do you do to inspire your creativity when you find yourself in a rut?

Stepping back and taking a break from the project is one way that helps me. If I can take a walk, or a trip to the bookstore, or hang out with my wife for a while I can usually jump back into the project with a renewed energy. And a lot of times I’ll see something that I missed before that I can then start exploring.

“Getting an outside perspective always seems to reveal things that I hadn’t thought of…”

Along that same line, if I can get away and look at some random visual imagery I find that helps inspire me. Especially going to a used book store where you can look at random old book covers about different subjects. I’m guilty of spending hours in there just to soaking up all the good design thats been done in the past. Even if it doesn’t relate at all to the project I’m working on, it’s helpful just to get my mind thinking creatively.

I also like to get feedback from other designers when I’m stuck. Getting an outside perspective always seems to reveal things that I hadn’t thought of and sometimes reinforces ideas that I thought may not have been strong in the first place.

Student work. 1st place Identity Design AIGA Student Competition. Featured in CMYK Magazine

Heading to Kauai this summer, getting pretty excited for it.

As a critical thinker, what is your process for solving problems? I.e. – What steps do you take when beginning a project?

For most projects I like to have the objectives laid out and clear from the very beginning. If I can get that information nailed down on the front end it makes the entire process smoother. From there I spend a good amount of time doing research. Maybe that’s looking at other companies in the same industry, or looking at old ephemera to pull type/image reference or jotting down word lists looking for visual associations I can make.

Fossil – International Motion Graphics

“I’m a big believer in doing tons of sketches, even if they’re bad ideas, they’re worth getting out.”

Then I’ll move to the sketchbook where I try to get out as many ideas as possible. I’m a big believer in doing tons of sketches, even if they’re bad ideas, they’re worth getting out. Those bad ideas can usually lead to something good, and if I get 20, 50, 100 ideas out then I know there will be some in there worth exploring. From here its usually the easy part, getting it into the computer and refining it until it feels right. I like to use the art board as an extension of the sketchbook and leave all the variations and versions in case I want to go back and try something else.

What are some areas you feel students neglect in their design work that really needs attention?

I think the number one issue that jumps out to me is basic typography skills. It really makes a big difference when a student has a good grasp on typography and a lot of times it goes hand in hand with the students attention to detail in other aspects of design. Another area that I think could be improved upon in general is presentation. A project that’s mocked up on nice paper, and shot with a good camera is always going to look better than a flat design mocked up in Illustrator. And I think going that extra step to make it look great also shows what you’re willing to do for a potential employer.

Personal Illustration

A million thanks to Brent for getting back to me as he juggled through working late at night. Seriously, what a nice guy! If you like what you see, check out his website and visit the links below for more of Brent’s work. Thanks for stopping by!

Extra Linkage:

Visit Brent’s flickr page

Go to Brent’s website

Brent Couchman on Grain Edit

Fossil Bloggage

I can’t recall exactly how I found out about Simon Walker’s work. I think a friend happened to say, “hey you might like this guy’s stuff” as he sent me over the link to Simon’s flickr page and I literally clicked through every piece he had. It’s filled with beautiful logos, illustration work, and custom typography – all clever work done for a wide range of clients.

There wasn’t a lot of information on him (he goes under the alias “super_furry”), but I found about two or three write ups about “this mystery man” on other blogs who were just as fond of Simon’s work as I was. A few email exchanges later I managed to get a brief question and answer with the incredibly nice, Simon Walker. Enjoy!

Can you tell me a little bit about your beginnings in design? Were you always interested in this field or was there a moment you can recall when you knew you wanted to do this for a living?

I was always interested in lettering, and it probably started with graffiti. I was heavily into the whole breaking/graffiti scene in the mid-80s, and I used to create my own designs on paper all the time. Calligraphy probably came next, although I didn’t spend a lot of time in that area.

My true love affair with type really began in a drawing class early on in my college years. All my drawings had some sort of type in them (since the subject matter was nearly always up to us), and my instructor finally looked at me and said “This is graphic deign.” I said “What’s that?” A few months later I was enrolled in design school.

You create a good number of logos and you create them extremely well. Can you give a little insight into your creative process? How do you get from the assignment to the finished line?

Thanks very much! I usually troll the design blogs to get the creative juices flowing. Once an idea is triggered, I sketch it out very quickly, then start clipping it out on the computer as soon as I feel comfortable that the design is worth the effort. Truth is I draw much better with a mouse these days than I do with a pencil, but the pencil phase is important in order to rough out the main idea. Then it’s a matter of tweaking the design until it’s perfect (or close to it).

As much as it sometimes irks me, the next step is to get some feedback from one or (at most) two trusted people to make sure what you’re doing is working, because it’s practically impossible at times to see your own work objectively. I’ll be the first to admit that taking criticism is hard, but you have to develop a thick skin in this business, because that first critique can be your biggest asset in creating a successful mark. Beyond that, flickr has been a great sounding board for me in terms of getting a general feel for what people are responding to and what they’re not.

One of the first things I noticed while looking through your work was the considerable amount of attention you’ve given to typography. How did you get started with handling type?

I think that goes all the way back to graffiti and the obsession with letterforms as art, and I’ve been trying to get back to that idea lately by creating my own type whenever it seems to make sense. Not in the classic sense of complete font design – I don’t think that’s my bag – but just the idea that I can create a handful of simple letterforms on my own and make them work for a logo in a way that lends them an ownable, modern feel that I wouldn’t get by choosing yet another font from a catalog.

Lastly, where do you receive inspiration from, and what is one good quality you look for in a designer?

Like a lot of people these days I get my inspiration online, which I think is an enormously valuable and ready resource for any designer. I’m convinced that the proliferation of fresh content online is causing a worldwide snowball effect in terms of people’s awareness and appreciation for – and contribution to – art of all kinds, and I’m loving it.

I think the one quality I look for in a designer is restraint. I love it when I see a book with range: where the designer obviously has a feel for a specific style, but doesn’t try to apply it to every design solution.

A big thank you to Simon for taking some time out of his day to answer some of my questions with great feedback. Be sure to visit the links just below here if you’d like to find out more about Simon and his fantastic work.

Extra Linkage

See the rest of Simon’s work over at his Flickr account

Read a brief interview with Simon at How Magazine

I’ve had more and more people ask me about the textures I use in my work and how they are generated, so I decided that a brief post discussing textures would help answer some questions.

Not too long ago, I used to believe textures were only to be used to elevate the appearance of background elements and/or serve as a complement in collages. The more I researched, the more I grasped how designers were handling textures within their own work and how/where they were applying them. Placing a crumpled paper texture and clicking the Multiply effect in Photoshop is fine for what it is, but anything worth appreciating should probably take you a little longer.

If you really want to learn how someone approaches a project, research them. Here’s the logic behind my thinking: If you admire someone’s work, odds are there’s more information somewhere on the internet where they have been interviewed a few times. Remember, Google is your friend. I know I might sound a bit sarcastic but this is actually how I learned how to implement texture into my designs. Alright, there was plenty of trial & error that came along as well.

Before I ramble on more about texture, I’d like to focus on a few of my favorite designers and their approach. Take a look at where the texture is applied, i.e. the background of the piece, the object itself, the shadow, roughness, opacity/subtlety, distribution, density, etc.

Remember, adding texture should only complement a piece. It should not become the focus. This coincides with the whole “design for design’s sake” hypothesis.

A Few Influences

Brent Couchman – Sweet Nectar of Life

Simon Walker – Anjou Bakery Logo

Frank Chimero – P&G CEO

Muttink – Seattle Metropolitan

Why I Use Texture

Remember the days before computers? Remember how people got their hands dirty and didn’t have to wait on a twirling beach ball? People have been busting their butts for quite a while and since we live in a world where we have to have things this exact moment, it’s nice to bring the human touch back into the digital world. Adding a bit of roughness and grain to a project really seems to add a bit of energy and uniqueness that no software can reproduce. Creating original texture is like adding a fingerprint on my own work. People may try to replicate it, but the execution is solely mine.

What I Use & Where I Get It

The great thing about the majority of the textures I use is that they’re easy to create. A trip to any art store or hardware store will likely be sufficient. I use a lot of ink and rough paper for my work and scan them in at a high resolution (600+ DPI). Really, you can choose any scannable object and experiment with the scan in Photoshop. I’ve used a mixture of elements that range from toilet paper, wood chips, and India ink mixed with acrylic paint to get some pretty interesting results.

Close up of the Frontier Greg character I created for my America’s Parks posters

Technique

I am a big fan of subtlety in design and I believe the textures I use should mimic that finesse as well. What I look for in a texture is the contrast it offers. A good contrast brings a nice range of flexibility so you’re not limited to one possible result. Options are good. Playing with masks and levels in Photoshop is usually where I start. Dry brushes and sponge brushes are a few of the many brushes I tend to apply onto my work. Finding a slightly darker and slightly lighter shade than the prime color I’m concentrating on makes for a great added subtlety. Here’s one last tip: Photoshop isn’t the only application that’s available to you. Illustrator has a few tricks up its sleeves as well. So, don’t be shy in exploring those filters.

Also, start collecting things you find at the store or online and create a folder you can store your textures in. The greater your collection, the more options you have available to you.

Now here’s the carrot dangling on a stick

If I get a decent response on this post I’ll do a mini tutorial on a few of the techniques I discussed above.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope this had opened a few eyes and stirred some inner creativity. The most important thing is to have fun with your work!

Extra Linkage:

Designers/Illustrators that use texture in their work…and use it well:

• Frank Chimero

• Superfurry

• Invisible Creature

• Christopher Lee

• Brent Couchman

I think most of us (designers/people) spend our weekends away from doing what we normally do Monday thru Friday not only because we need a recharge for the upcoming work week, but because it often leads to possible hobbies and/or interests that impact our design decisions further down our careers.

I’ve become somewhat obsessed with design the latter years of my college life and I often have to remind myself (and believe me, others are quick to remind me to “GET AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER!”) that there’s more to life than work. Thus, I’ve created a hopefully continuing segment on my blog titled, “The Weekender”, in which I’ll post design-related and at times random material that is inspired by people creating through their hobbies. AKA – creations executed outside of the individuals job, whatever that may be.

via Frank Chimero

I’ve long been an admirer of the humble, musically gifted foursome that is Thrice. Because of schoolwork, I’ve only been able to see them play in Austin a couple of times but I had the honor of meeting Dustin (lead vocals/guitar) once. They’re a really down to earth and quiet group and have subsequently put out blogs within the last year. Teppei Teranishi, lead guitar, keys, backup vocals, and all around utility man hold his own WordPress site titled, new grass.

The more I read through Teppei’s blog, the more similarities I discover we share and the more I learn how art is appreciated through other individuals.

I remember watching a DVD of Thrice a few years back titled, “If We Could Only See Us Now” that recorded the bands life on the road and gave a brief background of each individual. One thing I remember about Teppei was that he tended to dabble around with different instruments. I can see now that this carried over to his hobbies. On tour, he photographs his experiences in various cities using his iPhone.

What really caught my attention was that Teppei is a big DIY kinda guy. He appreciates the finer tools designed for every day use, i.e – buttons, knobs, vintage clothing, etc. For example, he handmade the hand-waxed cotton duck cloth w/leather strap Rollup Dopp Kit you see below.

Extra Linkage:

Riveted – A journal of vintage clothing

new grass – Teppei’s blog