Yes. Serendipity!
Tyler McKnight here with
Aaron Draplin from Portland Oregon
One of the most renowned graphic designers in the nation you can say whatever you want to that
We're here with AAF Lubbock and Aaron's gonna
be doing a...you want to call this a  symposium, keynote what do we call it?
A day with Lubbock. I do my talk and then we do a
workshop but we just sort of behind the
scenes it you know in a completely
transparent show how I work and how I
connect the same lines that they connect
you know and my little sprinkle of sort
of madness because I show how much I
work I show how I work they show
projects that I can't talk about and
then I also show stuff that people would
never know about right so that's the fun
part because I've gone to these things
when I was a kid and you pay for them
yeah and it's the same shit they have in
their website right or they're saying
what you think they're known for that
you know
so today isn't just about saying I'm
just like you guys
here it is so that's exciting for me it's
kind of odd and fun and you see people
go you know you see people sort of like
I've never seen him do that that's fun
to me because we are doing the same
stuff yeah it's a little twist so quick
question when you were our age you were
coming up as a graphic design did you
have anybody you looked up to it or yeah
well yeah I'm 44. how old are you? about 45. I'm kidding, 28. Let's just keep it straight here.
Okay so if you take
25 year-olds in twenty years to 33 year-olds
or something every year I had a
different set of people I looked up to
for different reasons if I was 24
when I was kinda jumping
into this stuff it would been
contemporary designers of course at the
time have been Chuck Anderson's House
Industries, T26, you know the guys that I
saw a little more pedestrian accessible
design stuff at the time it was the
raging 90s which is all this post post
post modern stuff you weren't even alive
yet but the idea that that morphed into
something a little less heroic when I
got into you know making magazines my
heroes were people old Swiss modernists
and stuff because it was all about just
how to make information at a time where
everything is going all over the place
my heroes were... you couldn't even find out
who made like it was like people who
made like immigration forms because
that's designed that everyone got to use
and and not just for those who can
afford it so you know I at 44 I could
give you you know 10 people that I look
up to right now and a lot of my younger
than me or for their girls that are just
redefining how this thing should go for
dudes I love that I love that girls are
shaken up and you can't out you know Jim
O'Brien Jim O'Brien you can't out
mary-kate McDevitt Mary you know you
can't these girls are making things so
special that's a game changer so those
that's heroic to me now there's always
something you know a lot of my you know
things I would think about the great man
who would you know really get me going
it's like Bernie Sanders it's not a
design designer oh it's gorgeous people
that are like sticking their neck out
there right because it's the same thing
that I try to apply that to what I do on
them I'm not solving healthcare with it
my craft is that but I can't put a drop
in the bucket sometimes and that
business it for a paycheck
long answer so you love your job I love
it
good that's good doesn't like a job
that's like though that's the fun part
it's like yes as well you for a living
but it's real blurry between when you
have to be on the job cuz I have a
studio and I am just there right now
sometimes I'm working for the clients
depends I'm just working for myself and
that's really between the two and I what
a great privilege and it is I was
prepared for just working and hating it
and getting pushed around I get that for
a while you know but it's crucial part
of it it's gonna be that way for
everyone but I was prepared for a life
of that and then I tasted a little bit
of that and then figure out a way out
you know and I was just kind of elbow
grease so how did you start were you
originally in graphic designers it you
know old sign on paper and I'm even out
of high school at 17 years old 1991 it
was just one year before was wax Breyers
and cutting out things and you know
rubbing transfers and stuff that's just
a couple years before and with the you
know the computer coming into play you
can type your name out and then print
that thing out and that changed
everything so I was on this cusp you
know of course you know I didn't have a
computer so I had to paint and draw and
do whatever it took just to be creative
but with just pen and ink but that talk
I had to make clean lines and basically
doing the same thing that they were
doing ten years before me and then I
would scan it in and do a computer but I
have one right so when I finally got my
computer in 95 96 96
that's where I had access and I really
accelerated because I had all the tools
but before that what it sucked not
having not before that would
the Machine yes I was held back but I
was still painting and drawing and doing
a lots of stuff that'd be making good
use of my time
I wasn't lamenting you know that you
know how we did it we would sneak into a
community college and just use their
machines my one buddy
Frankie below Francesco Paolo at
whatever the hell COCC edu was this
address emails my first email that we
gave up eight of us shared like this cuz
we just go signing with his thing and
you could use the machines and I would
draw and pagemaker right cuz it was just
about like architecture at that point so
you know I don't know I mean a lot of
the old school things that I look at now
I just have great appreciation for the
amount of restraint people had and how
hard it was to make the things when I
was a little boy you know 1979 six years
old it was harder to make the stuff and
yet some of the decisions with that much
more piled on the work was better in
some respects so like Lobos when you're
having to paint and draw a craft and cut
paper and whatever the hell you know to
make that mark you understand every
corner of it in the inter steel that
looks like a ten feet away and then 100
feet away right and then rate you frame
your face but now things look good on a
laptop kind of only sometimes and then
you see them break down when they're on
a highway so we've lost a little bit of
that so so people will say well you're
in the right direction there's no longer
retro I mean sure I'm into things that
work yeah that's a little different
that is an unmissable principle right so
I try to make my work the same way so do
you think said with all this new
technology and design tools and do you
think it's made designers a little
complacent or its make the job easier
and then almost anyone can do it now I
mean I can get on the computer and I get
a Photoshop
I don't look good but well I mean you
could just see the gap yeah and sure
anyone can kind of crack it open there's
a democratization of this stuff which is
you don't have to have a degree to go
play with it that's cool because I meet
kids who did not have whatever funny
little set of steps I attained or had
handed over they have none of that and
they're doing great work because they're
just scrapping for it right right that's
really cool because we go back to when I
start you had to have a degree you had
to understand how to you know there was
like some kind of an accreditation yeah
then get into these things I thought you
had to have our school degree act
turns out if you kind of don't it was
fun to go I would tell every kid in
school stay in school and just do it
it's awesome pay the loans all this you
learn as much as you can but it's more
like being see the gap between the
craftspeople and the people who are just
starting I don't know I just like the
idea of my club if you're into scrapping
that the person can go and like typeset
their little you know the caption and
cut that out of the print and it's just
a little better than their it maybe
crusty handwriting that's graphic
designer and if that makes that
experience of you know looking at your
last trip to Branson you know and you're
going through it that's cool to me
that's like my aunt
that's anyone that that's that's really
interesting it's not like didn't have to
hire someone to go figure that out for
you right but yet then you see like I
said a guy like last week lament to me
well we tried three logos from India for
$4.99 apiece and was like what do you
expect man of course it's rough you
bought him for five bucks but that's the
culture Maria you know the problem is
that the least they had a little bit of
shame to be like I can't live with this
thing on our side right a lot of people
done is five bucks put it on the thing
and then you're left with it for too
long and that's just you just become
more
just in the biggest problem that is the
in my vision is because the client has
no idea that this this isn't good work
they they want to get what's cheap up
and then they're paying you too stiff to
tell them what is so they get these
agencies or freelancers from Fiverr or
whatever to generate these logos I'm I
gotta choose they put it up I think
there's a gap between you know we used
to be these sort of like it's a house
it's harder to find us right you know
like these people can make this stuff
right for you now you can do one web
search like just the vocabulary is
easier to get to how do I make a logo
put that search in and these little
things come up right now and and I don't
think it's necessarily bad because if it
is someone who's a scrapbookers Club
with lovely can they eat a little
something that person can quickly for
five bucks get something fine but it's
gonna look like all the other stuff they
pumped out you know it's interesting is
just how people you know like you see it
like in weddings where you go to target
and target has some templates they're
really nice but then you see where
someone said I saw something on
Pinterest that's beautiful
and then they nautical hire designer
that's the process that's good because
they're paying for it they're getting
that incredible level of detail that's
interesting to me because they're
reacting to like they didn't just take
the low-hanging fruit Oh
Walmart only offers this in their
wedding section you know which get
railroaded into you know so I don't know
I mean hi how do people find me well
it's on the web you know when I get them
I teach them how fun this stuff is yeah
and then you give design a good name you
know and hopefully do a good job because
they'll go tell their friends and the
process keeps going but what a weird
time because you know if you think when
I started a computer made a whole
generation of like typesetters kind of
obsolete what's the next thing I wanted
to thank you for coming in and dropping
again
and you'll be speaking very soon and
visit visit their money screen one of
your handles that trapline you got a
website a trap trap on cop once year and
because me right to beat says you know
you've had rapid calm long enough no say
just until I die or you'll never get it
I told me as he wanted yeah of course it
never could never better in fact I went
and bought just and grab him just for
fun no well no he's business person I
get in as a survivor but I before he was
even alive I locked all that stuff in
but some no one will cough it up
someone's got trampling at Google male
duck or whatever it is Gmail yeah what
it is that's alright I'm doing my best
you can live with that domain you need
oh well yeah check them out he's amazing
man it was great to meet you buddy thank
you thank you
you
