I got 27 minutes I got to get going
okay everybody hello everybody good
morning my name is Aaron James Draplin when
I'm 44 years old I'm hoping to make it a
45 I'm a graphic designer
I'm making a letter come from a family
with a mom and a dad and sisters and
shit I have a girlfriend I have a
girlfriend
uh-huh I know what you're all thinking
him right that's okay it's natural to
think that I do ten years we've been
together lucky girl huh
I make logos that's what I'm known for
that's what I'm known for among other
sketchy things but I hope that you would
know that 90 out of a hundred of these
were made for my buddies one of them I
got paid 25 grand one of them I got paid
a burrito
okay so I've kept myself busy I hope you
know about that hope you know about
field notes I've been this is ten years
of field notes all the posters I've made
over the years you guys already ravaged
the table thank you so much
all the Mercs there's no business plan
here this was just because it was fun to
make this is number 369 or 370 and a
half-assed career of making a fool of
myself in front of lots of people when
you get to this page in the book this is
one of my favorites in the book because
it's its design where it wasn't for like
big things it was my little mouse finger
to help a buddy for a benefit or
someone's band or something but that
exists that's real and it's in that book
so it's there forever
why I'm fighting hard to live my life
creatively I want to enjoy the work
along the way provide for my mom and
sisters and better haffley and asshole
buddy day a little bit sure - and I want
to be free I want to be free I know
there's people here with big jobs but
doesn't necessarily mean that they're
better more meetings more emails more
time wasted you know I haven't had an
alarm clock waking me up since this
morning but it's a special occasion
chill out on the front there okay new
talk things I don't have a thing to do
with graphic design but first how we do
the things we do I draw in my field
notes at all times I mean this is where
I live my life on the plane ride down
you know last night this is where I make
my decisions make a list scratch it off
and that ends up as this as a logo but
that's kind of misleading because really
what my documents look like they look
like that and this is an incredible
privilege as a graphic designer to go
that far off into the ether right and to
tweak and turn you know when you're
making a lot vectors are free when
you're making a logo and you go through
all these pieces like this
that's something that one year before I
started in graphic design in 1990 I'm 91
in 1990 you couldn't do this now to zoom
in and zoom out took a week of photostat
cameras and all that sort of shit so
just respect that you know we've got it
pretty easy well we've got it pretty
easy that's what it looks like when I
make stuff I'm always looking at dead
things what do people do for fun in San
Francisco I got an idea
you know I got an idea they pay $5,000
one bedroom rent that's what's fun here
great but Portland Oregon they got a
little thing of wood with six little
beers that's cute right that's stupid
shit like that
I go Junkin I go Junkin I go the places
where no one goes you know where it's
nothing there's no app for this I go
looking for dead stuff hanging around
animals like this Michigan I'm from but
I've been rescuing stuff for years and
years and years and listen this is the
cool stuff this is stuff that's just
it's debris it's um it's
it's throwaways you know but for
everything I'll show you in a second
here I have thousands of photos for each
photo because I just been rescuing this
stuff from the underbelly of America
these people don't have a book written
about them this is stuff that's when you
go to Nebraska
there's graphic design in Omaha - you go
outside of that little town and you go
to that first cornfield and you're gonna
see a little seed sign right there
that's graphic design and the most
unpretentious form that's my favorite
stuff is it works and it works for 50
years so when you see this stuff out
there I don't want to go back to 1950
when my friends couldn't do the same
shit that I do no no no no no but I like
to look back graphically you know and to
see the decisions they were making with
one one-millionth of firepower it's
amazing because graphic designers learn
how to complain about graphic design I
don't complain about graphic design you
know I look at what where we came from I
try to use these moves and my stuff and
make a living ethically now you know I
don't want this stuff to go away because
if it goes away what are we gonna have
Kardashians fucking Star Wars posters
sorry about the language in the morning
bill me when you make a logo that goes
into metal that lasts forever and those
decisions were beautiful fifty years ago
and I I'm 44 when I was a little boy you
know this stuff was being you know porn
and still works when you see that little
chin connect right there you see the
line right illustrator you know what I
work in 99% of the time it'll make you
connect that line but you can see these
craftspeople
they did it with you know optical sort
of trickery and it's beautiful that
thing's the size of the top of a pencil
and today at 25 feet you could still see
at work that's the idea it's cool to me
how some dead stuff became a whole new
thing when I saw this from a mile away
what is that typeface I wouldn't looked
in my thing that and I couldn't find it
couldn't find it couldn't find it that
night pissed off
I built this because I went through all
the other typefaces choke and puke and
crunch and all that shit from 1995
couldn't find it built this used it for
about ten years hunt and peck and my
buddy Riley Krantz from lost type up in
Vancouver
he took it and built it into a proper
typeface and now we have this typeface
DDC hardware herself about a year and a
half now but it works for over a hundred
languages our little typeface all over
the world we got the Polish Agha neck in
there yeah but I acted on something that
was dead and made it new you know and
this is not meant to be cool at the
height of fashion it'll just say
something like fish fry tonight you know
like there's that polish organic go
check out DDC hardware it could have
been gone forever but it's scary to me
now cuz I love patriotic stuff I get
messed with cuz I have this on my leg
well you can't see that see because
that's my favorite logo of all time to
Bicentennial ago where I live in
Portland Oregon if you talk or show this
stuff I'm not gonna say it if some kind
of Trump supporter you know because what
it's been morphing that's not the
America that I bought into I bond to the
America that anyone can come here and
make it in this and that's what I was
told when I was five years old by my mom
and dad around stuff like this and when
I make this stuff now people come after
me you know
grad students come after me the grad ear
/ the angle the dangle the coefficient
of the hypotenuse divided by the big
loan from some stupid Yale degree equals
mean comments on my website I just like
the idea of freedom for everybody not
just those who can afford it okay well
and by the way for the record why I got
y'all sitting here for the record fuck
Don Trump well I mean really the worst
can't even tell the truth about the hair
okay pile of shit so sorry when I got to
work for my country my little mouse
finger and my country that I disagree
with a lot and I'm afraid of sometimes
I'm afraid of now but I got to see my
little logo in my hometown
I got to work for my country this isn't
just the blue and the Liberals Oh
everything this is all of America right
even the ones I don't agree with that's
how he days that's how these guys talk
when I got to work for them and do that
logo and there it was my buddy Chris
glass
you know I just want to say thank you if
they knew who I was I would have never
been able to work for the president no
way this is nine years but 2009 I want
to go meet him and then Lee I'm on the
road entertaining you people and he
comes to Portland and he's there and I'm
on the roadrunner team doing these
things I don't get to me she gets to me
and she gets in her car crying I met the
president she got to meet the president
and then I wanted to go meet the
president I've been jealous these last
two years and we got this little hole
shot they went up there and we get there
and we get up to SeaTac and I'm there
and I got my good Cabela's bargain cave
sweatshirt on or whatever he gets about
eight feet away from me I start to cry
because he's a decent person with
dignity
stupid aunt we thought he was from Kenya
you know what she was insured the last
eight years that guy helped her but more
importantly he helped little kids that
don't look like my friends little kids
man make America a little bit better in
it when he got to me all I could say in
my moment of moments was I'm gonna miss
you man that's what I said that's what I
said and if you see me there you look at
his face you know I got the hand clap I
got even hit me in the side but look at
the guy's face that's not the face of
security that's pity
see that's pity 800-pound gorilla crying
in front of the president I miss him but
you knew about this shit okay here we go
we got 15 minutes
oh my god do this with 50 men okay
things that don't have a thing to do
with graphic design incident see coming
but yet how being a designer surprising
the arm meet to deal with this stuff my
long dog Gary all he was cute a wiener
dog I would draw who make little logos
and little things and patches and
stickers hold he loved tennis balls
he loved ankles oh yeah you know this is
my most mmm my most ripped off graphic
right here you know but if you you know
fine we've raised so much money with all
these like AZ CA benefits and stuff and
if a kid wants to take and put on his
pumpkin no problem no problem but all
those years with little Gary his little
back finally went out about five six
years old and I couldn't put him down in
Portland and my mom and dad she just
bring them back to Michigan
we'll put it we'll put him down we'll
put him in the family plot with all the
gnats and goldfish and dogs and cats and
shit and then Gary and my dad we get I
can't do it my dad just says that's it
today we're doing it measure him we
measure am I going to illustrator I
build him a little casket in Illustrator
we build this thing like my dad why do
you need 11 screws on the end you know I
don't know but I carve his name in there
and we put him down as a family but that
day it wasn't about being the crab
sellers about being a human who misses
his little brother they use designed
that day to get me through this Gary is
in the cosmos right now
who here has a record collection who has
a hard time buying shelves right so I
got a big book push I got a book big
record collection and I went to the cool
place in Portland designed within
reached design how to reach I went to
that place and they did they did a quote
12,000 bucks to do this handle on my
records so I went and measured a piece
of plywood an illustrator I built it
right down to the damn cut I figured out
exactly what it needed to be and that
day I became a shelf designer
I didn't illustrator
that's how these things you know I can
climb on that thing it's so strong or
140 bucks three sheets of plywood that
day it's no different than building a
website you know but I forgot the key we
we're in a new era if you don't need
shelves you go to shelf dot app you know
or whatever right what's embarrassing I
my eye my eye my nephew's art director
okay I didn't ask for this before he's
even born there was a brief a mile along
with all this shit for the baby shower
and all the other things I knew all
these icons and colors and stuff and
then he was born a to go of aspects ten
fingers ten toes he was beautiful that
day I cried my eyes out when I got to
hold me was 11 minutes old little Oliver
and I cried so hard I almost stepped in
a bowl of afterbirth that morning yeah
very natural very natural
he had a hard go for the first two
months and then he was kind of like
wasn't taking the milk I remember in a
high you know he was just kind of my mom
used the word sickly the old-fashioned
word but he would come to the shop and I
would weigh him checking my little bear
shoot look at him and I would go do you
know he got healthy you know within a
couple months and you know I would go
watch him when he was a year old
splashing around his pool at you know 2
or whatever I would draw him and then a
day later someone would see that on my
Instagram and said what was that
is it a band yeah I said no it's my
little cousin I was you know my nephew I
was just watching him you know look how
cute he is but the little jacket and
look how cute however is that's a joke
that's a that's a quick okay every year
tax time April 15th no problem no
problem I got my taxes covered okay but
yeah that's three weeks before Oliver's
birthday on May 7th three weeks before
it and then the brief shows up and we're
doing a Star Wars theme this year Aaron
right right right
Yoda sodas we wrapping around the juice
box right right I did a little bit of
Photoshop to get the spirit right yeah
so when he turned seven he had a bowling
thing I did all that stuff for him Here
I am the grand retelling of the day my
nephew was born to all his little
buddies
it's a little bit of stagecraft whatever
but he'll come to the shop and I
entertain him with making little pieces
of pipe and then I'll say just sit still
let me get your shot and he'll come over
my shoulder he'll art direct yeah yeah
I'm just the instrument I'm just the
instrument here he is little buddy I
don't know the kid's name twig or bark
or birch your side on him I'm the kids I
don't care a little goofy little shit
but anyway they're on a baseball team
and they got to name themselves and they
named their baseball team they're seven
year olds the pizza kings the pizza
kings and they had some kind of shit
little Jersey and we he came to the shop
we sketched it out I made him a thing
you can buy this on my website right now
we sold a hundred shirts for that little
team the whole team gets the shirt now
the whole team gets the shirt the pizza
Kings this is coming for color okay
the new Portland Oregon this is my shop
I've been there 10 years with my older
brothers I'm the baby of the family
look at my two older brothers there's
goo and there's Dave that's John FEMEN
store Dave Nakamoto I'm the baby of the
family 44 49 and 48 we've been there 10
years you've been watching over each
other but we're breaking up the band
we're breaking up the band because the
new Portland lots of traffic people
honking fucking 40 minutes to get seven
miles that's embarrassing we're not Los
Angeles so in my backyard I'm building
this built this it's almost done how do
you tell when a contractors lying you
see if their lips are moving that works
for web developers too
Oh uh-oh the speaker bites back huh
I built it in Illustrator and I went
through and just figured it out I need a
third to work and sit and live and have
all my records and guitars and shit Lee
needs two thirds do all the ship and
lead us on the ship and since the two of
us
upstairs need a Widow's nuts for my mom
because when she comes out from Michigan
I need to build a crash and have our own
shower and her own shit her up there in
the whole deal but when you work with an
architect the architect
listened to all my knee I'm paying for
all this I gave him the drawings he
switched it around I had to go back and
say no I sit here my mom is upstairs
there as far apostle as you jump come on
man
that I had to pay for that change who is
the client you know but he got it right
and I measured everything on my shop in
Illustrator we figured out all these
little you know 3d renderings and this
thing's built my backyard right now but
what's been amazing that's my mom's wit
my mom's widows nests see this right
here all this plywood right here this is
my little one third
that's six sheets seven sheets of
plywood about two grand a hundred and
eighty record cubes was what we had
planned on here's where you look up it
took these guys about eight or nine
months I'm moving from my shop downtown
with my brothers to my backyard to make
my life as simple as possible my commute
will be 10 steps right this is happening
right now
we got drywall we got drywall but that's
what it looks like it's coming together
I've designed all the little nooks
become things like that this is gonna be
incredible now look at this
illustrator reality they just built this
when I was in London last week
twenty-five screws to put that thing
together right we thought this through I
have a hundred and forty-six record
cubes amazing peaceful resistance I hate
them
not gonna hate him out of office instead
be making a lot of stuff like this
downloadable giving it to kids this
instead of this this is gonna get him
out of office
that's what I was taught when I was a
little kid I know I'm talking tough up
here now cuz I'm scared
we raised a thousand bucks for the ACLU
on this poster I've been making a lot of
these my girlfriend and she this morning
when I got this call you know I can work
and go make fun of trauma or I can do
something for breast cancer I went with
the breast cancer man we raised a
thousand bucks just to battle something
even scarier than that guy
my little painting
but there here's northern Michigan man
middle of nowhere
you know how they vote back there but
that guy has my poster in his little
downtown that's amazing
my girlfriend she made her own little
project called notes to self my favorite
card she made is this one and you can
send that to your senator or
congresswoman or whoever the hell and
say what the fuck were you thinking
little patches and little goodies and
pins and stuff and she's you know
selling he's in stores you get him out
on the table out there but go check her
out underscore notes to stuff because
this is one person creatively fighting
back
she raised three grand for the ACLU with
her little project my league that's
amazing
Berni things real quick I got to work
for Bernie they said make a poster I was
so excited all that hair and teeth
I made three I made three and then I got
to go see him and about two years ago
and we got to go to this big art show
and I'm at the Art Show you can't see
nothing it's all you know elbows and
assholes and iPhones and shit and just
can't see another and then a little bit
of birdie right there just a little bit
of Bernie right there and he gets on the
put raw behind the podium on the artist
and I start to cry Mansur Bernie you
know what was that word that he had what
was the thing he exhibited for 58 years
integrity right
my buddy Louis see my buddy Louis
looking at me he's going why are you
crying and rappeling fuckin cuz he works
at Bernie I said that's Bernie he grew
up with him but they whisk him out of
there and I didn't get a chance to sell
fish they get my photo to show you guys
get him out of there there's nothing I
have no proof I was even there but I was
digging around in some photo banks and I
found this
okay
my dad was incredible I was my dad's art
director my dad was incredible
was is where's my dad mom we lost my dad
that's him meeting his little grandson
Oliver so beautiful brides look at all
that mass only known footage of my dad
doing his patented Moby Kowalski dive
that's the only that's like a missing
link Bigfoot shot look at all the people
in the back hitting the deck yeah
there's my dad hiding
he was crafty with straws so if your
iced tea wasn't working you might want
to check underneath it yeah my dad was
so cool and just so full of shit and so
full of life and so full of us and just
incredible and the guy he played Santa
Claus for little kids who he didn't like
to say poor kids he - Aaron their kids
don't have a good Christmas and he
helped him every year for 25 years he
would raise seven thousand five thousand
six thousand to help these kids I made
him all of his business cards and stuff
that's our famous fall portrait we were
in line with all the communion moms with
the little babies with all the little
ugly little ugly babies and shit you
know we're in line
and my dad are there and we're moving
along and the time we get to the thing
we sit down a little thinking she puts
the wooded scene behind us and we don't
fit in the vertical format so she had to
get an Allen wrench out and do this
she's all pissed off anyway that's it
now my dad had a big gnarly wallet now
in a lot of stupid shirts there's a
stupid shirt and that big wallet but the
story is he this was at the polka Fest
and every year you're supposed to my dad
would volunteer he's supposed to do $1 a
chip one year my dad gave out a thousand
chips that's the record it's against the
laws to do that but everyone who to go
to my dad you get a free beer token for
the polka festering
that night he's a little tipsy goes out
to the thing the honey bucket goes out
to the tikka piss and he's out there
he's got that big walk those big dumb
khaki shorts and that stupid watermelon
shirt he's out there he gets in the
honey bucket he tinkles he turns around
as he's turned around and here's his
wallet oh don't don't don't
sploosh a and my dad lost his wallet and
he went got his buddy Dan goldsmith and
in the moonlight they got the door
cracked over my dad's up to his arm and
the thing digging around in there and he
got his wallet out
tough crowd huh well trying to
illustrate my dad you know everyone else
would just cut their losses not my dad
and then he died
am I the greatest role I've ever had as
a graphic designer is not making money
not entertaining 900 people at this
thank you for having me
my dad designed me
to design his life to Anna's death
because we died he my dad collected
Mickey Mouse this is tattooed on any
number of sketchy aunts and uncles oh
yeah all my buddies in the web
developing community you know they came
to me and said we got you man they built
these comment sites because from my dad
I don't know how to do this stuff and
that's how we connected when we had our
funeral for my dad we had a budget for
300 people 500 came for my dad's deal
and we're in there at the Archdiocese
and there's Phyllis from 77 and she's
looking at me saying well I'll be
designing all the materials my mom kind
of steps up Aaron this is Jim's son he's
a graphic designer up in Portland Oregon
he'll be doing his dad's materials no
that's not how we do it in here and I'm
you know I'm lurching that feels she's
77 years old with her Tandy speaking
spell printout Epson bullshit and I got
no no no I did the materials I made all
of his hymnals all that stuff we didn't
make him some shitty Epson print I made
him a six page zine my dad 8 page name
they gave him out to all those people we
I printed a mountain of these things cuz
here's the deal it's not the death I
mean I don't know where my dad went I
miss him but I had him for 40 years and
we were I where'd he go but now
I'm so proud because when once the
summer when I'm home my mom has the
phone she goes hello oh hey Carl
and she's saying it's Carl asking for
your dad he doesn't know you're dead
because these old-timers who are 85 they
don't have phones and shit
my dad's name is on a piece of wood on a
door with a pencil
he's calling my daddy and she hands me
the phone and I go Carl he says Aaron
put your dad in the phone I say all
right we lost my dad and this guy is 85
years old he starts to cry in the phone
I mean that's a heavy call but a couple
days later when he came to our house and
sat with my mom and held her hand an old
fashioned thing until we told the story
from a couple summers ago
you know I loaded him up with pins and
patches and stickers and all the
materials and that guy is wearing one of
my shirts with my dad's face on it now
and that will help him to so I would
just say I don't mean any disrespect if
you've been through a funeral when he do
have to go through if you know it's
gonna be weird but what we do for a
living should not just be for what we do
use it and make it better for the family
oh you know I designed my dad's death to
hope that's not too weird I got 15
seconds well we might to make a book we
sold a mountain of the things they
turned out great
we want to look at her went on a big
fall tour and at last count look at that
I cried my eyes out when I saw that in
Barnes and Noble but anyway last count
we're in the seventh printing and look
at this shit 45,000 we sold those damn
things but you know what that's New York
City telling me Erin will sell 4,000 I
said as if it sold 4,000 only or 400 I'd
be cool with it
it should have never happened but when
it sells 45,000 then the book company
wants to do it again and the book
company says what do you want to do next
and I said self-published
anyway okay recent things a big Sun
patches get caught in the universe is
expanding in every direction right now
send me the frisbee suffer the
Trailblazers feinex cast iron Maron put
me on his podcast got all pissed off and
I made him sign them and then they put
me on this podcast matches I didn't want
the first LGBTA cards for Target big
bone pencils they're about that big
around cookware field notes new
watermelon patch you'll see I love
watermelon get a big thing from Safeway
I love that shit yeah new pretzel patch
coming in the works pretty soon all this
raises these raise money for kids around
Indianapolis Dinosaur Jr solve those and
I got to do a dinosaur jr. poster
Donna's John Hodgman saw the dinosaur
poster got to anyway I did hodgman's
latest book cover Illustrated him for
the back the back inside cover so cool
you're who are your hero you know
John's one right here is now cutting out
I am fourth Skillshare is out and raging
along got to work for Jill Soloway
Chris Stapleton a big bearded country
guy I didn't know how big he was and I
said would it be cool if we made you a
t-shirt with that new logo and that's
what it looks like on the t-shirt cuz
you know what if you guys had a big rig
they have 11 of these things cart and
all the shit around also
so that's real in America right now I'm
a patch Isbell went on to earth and I
got do a poster for Isbell except for
the Sleeping Bear Dunes I went to the
dark side work for Jerry Garcia's family
that was cool this is tattooed on all
sorts of people all over hell I don't
know where little thick lines things
have to work for Ryan Adams goes to 13 I
I don't fuck around with anything with
mustard with anything with twigs or bark
or honey or pebbles or in that shit I
like yellow mustard by the Pantone one
I've been working on a perfect
mathematical logo for our gallery this
is real right now don't forget that you
guys you're gonna hear value here I mean
there's a heavy proud today
heavy speakers but just remember man
this should real the rest of your life
long before you and long after you
that's real all right look at this I'll
leave you with this kid knocks on my
door people do
open the door it's this little family
and she's got her son and the kids
smiling and the mom goes designer Isaac
I go well hi and he comes in the shop
and this is his logo we became buddies
that day but he I said what's your
favorite logo you've made and I met this
kid to shop why am i doing this shit
because of that kid at 12 is making this
stuff you hear that that's your stock
price going down you hear it you can
just barely hear it's just there I can
hear it there it is
little Isaac who my new buddy I'll see
him up and see out off the dribble thing
on Tuesday he's coming alright I think
we're over tight well okay people I met
and I bought in the airports and whatnot
okay ready I'm Erin I'm at the catfish
dudes I met chip kid Hodgman Mascis
get from Napoleon Dynamite I meant okay
long story short I saw this piece of
shit in Minnie in Minneapolis and you
know what when we got off the plane in
Des Moines everyone was looking at him
everyone's looking at him and I walked
up to when I went Ted Nugent cuz you
know what fuck gene Simmons it's a bad
person you know why I met an airport
Richard Simmons all right okay couple
last things design shouldnt just be a
nine-to-five thing don't be afraid to
apply this stuff to every whatever your
design maker powder whatever market or
whatever buy it to your life not just
your job that's a privilege we have
here's the thing man all the stuff that
didn't have him to do with graphic
design that's the shit I still that used
for he's graphic design for
that's the shit I still hold the closest
to me and that is an incredible
privilege and an honor because you know
next time you get your insurance well
look at it real close and look at your
person who makes your insurance boat you
don't like their job we are lucky to be
alive we're lucky to do this for a
living
use the stuff thank you all you
incredible beautiful things thank you
for listening
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