This evening Abi and I went to hear Aaron Draplin (of Draplin Design Company) give a talk titled 'Tall Tales From A Large Man'...
He's not as grumpy as he looks here - in fact he was amazingly inspiring and gave an absolutely fantastic talk as part of the Type Directors Club Judge's talks.
The Draplin Design Company (which is pretty much just him) does beautifully simple and bold logos for all sorts of people, from hotdog companies, snowboard makers to The President! The talk was all about how he set up the company, the work he's been doing recently and some other ventures - like his Field Notes books...
I'd watched a couple of his other talks online and already admired him as a designer, but also admired him for setting up his own company and making a great success out of it. So it was really great to get to hear him talk in person - and even better to get to shake his hand and have a little chat.
After his talk I went to have a quick chat with him (I don't think I've really ever done that after these talks, but I felt compelled to after his talk) - we had a quick chat about Leeds, Led Zeppelin and starting up on your own after working in a bigger agency... his advice was to save my pennies and do what I loved to do.
I've been watching a few talks online about people who have left bigger agencies and set up on their own, it sounds both scary and inspiring in equal measures, but people like Draplin show that it's possible, and you can make a load of money producing something as beautifully simple and useful as a notebook.
After his talk I went to have a quick chat with him (I don't think I've really ever done that after these talks, but I felt compelled to after his talk) - we had a quick chat about Leeds, Led Zeppelin and starting up on your own after working in a bigger agency... his advice was to save my pennies and do what I loved to do.
I've been watching a few talks online about people who have left bigger agencies and set up on their own, it sounds both scary and inspiring in equal measures, but people like Draplin show that it's possible, and you can make a load of money producing something as beautifully simple and useful as a notebook.
We've been incredibly lucky to get to go to so many inspiring talks over the passed couple of years, with New York talks and things like Offset, we've been able to hear designers we really admire talk about work that's inspired us... it sounds silly but going to talks like tonight's fuels the soul.
I'm tempted to phone work and tell them I won't be in tomorrow as I'm starting my own company, but I think for now I'd better keep saving my pennies and carry on day dreaming... One day.
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