Info Set:

Name:
Dan Ibarra/Principal, Aesthetic Apparatus

Education Background (school / self taught, etc):
Design: Madison Area Technical College/Printmaking: Self-taught

Where you first worked and when (visual/graphic design job, etc):
In 1996 I was hired right out of school as a graphic designer for the software company Sonic Foundry. I think I was employee number 20. I was also 20 years old. I left a year and a half later.

Favorite book ever (design or non-design related):
Uncle Shelby’s ABZ book. Hands down best writing ever.

Recommended design / thinking / creativity / illustration book(s):
Every designer should read (that’s read, not just look at the pretty pictures) Tibor Kalman “Perverse Optimist” at least once but preferably twelve times.

The Introspective / Inspiration Set:

1. What made you decide to do what you do?
Initially I didn’t have any choice, I wanted to pursue art and the commercial art program at the technical school was the closest my GPA could get me. But within the first six months I realized that all the band logos that I had drawn on my assignment notebooks and the t-shirts that I had made in high-school were actually a creative category of their own.

2. What’s your process for conceiving new designs/projects?
Research as much as possible about the subject, attempt to know if front to back; sketch (by hand and digitally) horrible idea after horrible idea; see a glimmer of a good idea in one horrible idea; pursue that idea; over-think that initial good idea until it’s dead; repeat process until a good idea sticks.

3. What do you regret not learning while you were in school?
I received a really strong production-design education while in class. I spent all my free-time outside of class teaching myself everything else I wanted to know (type design, printmaking, design history, etc.) If you regret not learning something in school that you really wanted to know, it’s your fault for not pursuing it. Nobody is handcuffing your education. If you want to learn about it, then go learn about it.

4. What’s your most valuable ability? i.e. conceptualization, hand/computer skills, etc.
I guess my most valuable ability is a lot of patience and resolve to solve whatever problem is in front of me. It’s an overwhelming desire to really understand something. I think it stems from my constant self-education while in school.

5. What, in your opinion, is the most exciting aspect of the art/design world right now?
The most exciting thing for me is the fact that graphic design doesn’t know WHAT the fuck it is right now. How does graphic design exist amongst revolutionary contemporary ideas like sustainability, intellectual ownership, biomimicry, etc; all these issues that are being tackled by other art and design disciplines. Graphic design is trying to figure it’s shit out. I like not knowing what the future holds.

6. If you could move anywhere right now, in consideration of the art/design scene, where would you go?
I would move the city of Minneapolis 500 miles south.

7. What’s your daily routine?
6:55 – wake up to my six-month-old daughter waking up next to me, inadvertently slapping me in the face.
9:00 – Arrive at studio (via bike)
9:00-10:00 – coffee/internet/email
10:00-1:00 design or prep films/screens for printing
1:00 – lunch (today, vietnamese bahn-mi sandwich from the Seward Co-op)
2:00-4:00 Continue designing or print poster
4:00 – Drink a beer, continue designing/printing. Or if it’s a slow day, check out gigposters.com
5:30ish – Bike home.

8. What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you, regarding design or otherwise?
Our old boss at Planet Propaganda told us before we left; there are three criteria to assess a design job with: money, timeline and creativity. Make sure the job consists of at least two of these agreeable critieria. If only one of the criteria is agreeable, do not take the job. You will rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to work on a job that is agreeable on all three criteria

9. Who would you call a mentor / attribute as the inspiration in how you work / do things?
It’s our boilerplate reply, but it’s still the truth; our test prints are always the most inspiring thing in our design discipline. Here is a genuine piece of trash that, through a completely unconscious and organic process, becomes layered with some much imagery and color that it becomes it’s own beautiful work of art. What is the most humbling are our attempts to recreate test prints that look “okay” but seem to never successfully display the vibrance, inventiveness or surprise that comes with one of these prints. So, basically, our trash is the most beautiful thing we make.

10. If you had just one piece of advice for students / new grads, what would it be?
Don’t worry about getting a dream job right out of school. Get an easy job that you can learn from but isn’t too creatively taxing. Then take all your creative energy and newfound income and invest it all in whatever it is that really inspires you. Spend all your free-time doing that without any regard for profit or notoriety. Continue until you meet someone that shares your same vision. Partner with that person and work with them for as long as possible.

Check out more from Dan and Aesthetic Apparatus here.

Most schools teach you about how to kern and rag. Most schools teach you about color and form. But not all of them teach you the part that can be the gateway between being a student designer and a real world designer. This February through April, Good For Grasshopper in partnership with We Are 1976 will be offering our first workshop series—a group of classes put together to help you make that transition—from polishing your portfolio presentation to getting an interview and acing it. At the end of the series will be a mock interview speed-dating session so you can practice what you’ve learned with some local industry leaders.

The workshop schedule is as follows:

WS1: Look Good: Portfolio Presentation — Sunday, February 21, 2010
Add some polish to your portfolio. Get tips on how to present your work, from what to show and what order to show it to customized books and presenting a great portfolio on a tiny budget.

WS2: Look Good 2: Getting The Interview — Sunday, March 7, 2010
Some more portfolio polishing in the form of PDF previews, portfolio websites and snail mailers.

WS3: Talk Good 1: How To Interview — Sunday, March 21, 2010
Learn the fine points of interviewing and presenting yourself. Learn how to use the research you did in class to present yourself like seasoned professionals.

WS4: Talk Good 2: Mock Interviews — Sunday, April 11, 2010
Take everything you’ve learned and practice with industry leaders. Get tips and critique and maybe a call back! (time and date may change to allow for more students to participate)

Register early as spots will be limited. Register for one workshop or for all*. Workshops will last two hours each and will take place at We Are 1976 @ 1902 N. Henderson Avenue, Dallas, TX 75206. You can register for these workshops here: http://goodforgrasshopper-workshops.eventbrite.com/

*Make sure to register for the ones you can attend, and don’t just register for the ones you want to attend. Spots are limited, and we want to make sure that there are no accidental empty seats. More workshops will be added if the demand is high.

What kind of atmosphere to do you try to promote at your office?
Right now, it’s new and with only the 4 of us — it can be a bit stressful. When I was more of the “head honcho”, I actually took more ownership in trying to create “good atmosphere”. Playing music, ordering food once in a while. Organizing happy hours or whatever. Mainly, just making the rounds to talk to people about things other than their specific projects. It was loud and active at Squires —- good vibe. Now, we’re pretty stressed and working very hard. I’ve stepped back from the “lead role” to a partner role. Therefore, I don’t try to direct it as I did before. But I think I need to get that going again.
What would you like/expect from new designers to bring to your company to help it succeed and be profitable?
The basics of good concept and good execution. I can’t have someone who is too much of either and not enough of the other. If that makes sense.

What personality characteristics do you look for in a potential graphic designer?
Good worker. No complaints.
Give me a person who understands the value of a dollar and has had to earn what they have in life. That’s the kid I want.

In what order do you place work in your life?
Now, work is crucial to my life. If work does not succeed, I loose the house, the car —- it’s all on the success or failure of this venture.

Did it take you a while to work out the balance of life and work? Have you found it to be easier to compartmentalize- work at work, home at home, or do you let yourself think about work projects all the time?
When I first started, I had no ability to turn it off. Would always bring it home, scratch out ideas and never stop thinking on jobs. After about 15 years, I had gotten really good at a better balance (when I was just a CD at Squires) to where I was good at leaving it at the office. But now as a partner in Caliber, and we live or die by the next months’ billings —- I take more stress home than I used to. I’m not stressing about design, but billing and new business.

Describe your ideal employee.
Me. Ha, kidding. No really – me (but funnier, better illustrator, better at motion graphics)

How involved are you in the direction ideas flow in your office?
Equal. We all have our respective says about our respective areas of expertise. Team was put together because each person brought something to the table. We cross over in some areas —- but we know who “is boss” on other subjects.

Do you think of yourself as being your own boss, or is the client the boss in your eyes?
In this market — client is boss. We’ve taken jobs, direction and pay —- with far more “smiles” and less complaints — than in the past. Before, you knew that another job would be coming in or you could go get another. Or, at the least, the client would have difficulty “getting a better deal”. Now that everyone is cutting fees so low —- and clients are only caring about price —- there is going to be someone right there ready and desperate to beat your price and not complain about silly things like concept, style or communication. “oh, client you want a green chicken with a US flag around him? Sure, no problem — Rooster or hen?

How important is taking direction from the client to you, and how do you weigh the client’s input against your own?
Depends upon the client —– the money — and your history with them. Too many factors to list here.

Do you find yourself constantly battling compromising your design to the point that you are “selling out”?
There have been many times that we fight only to get told what to do —– and know that the product we are producing is sub-par and if anything, harmful to world by it’s very “crappiness” it contributes to the masses. But, as I said before “house, car, kid in daycare” — got to do what you got to do sometimes. However, we always try and do the extra idea the extra effort in the hopes they the client will see the worth of it. We don’t give in — not without a fight. The trick (especially now) is know how hard to fight and for how long. Also, we do a lot of pro-bono jobs to get the “better work” in the book. We show the good stuff —– hide the crappiness as best we can.

What do you do to keep your work from becoming just that- work- and to keep it fun and interesting?
Going after things of personal interest. Doing pro-bono.

Do you have any go-to solutions for inspiration that work every time?
Nope. Wish I did. Wish I had that “go to style” and could just whip out the work —– always been a labor for me. Hasn’t changed yet. Only thing, is that I don’t panic as much at the onset of a job like I used to. (fear of failure and all that). I’ve done enough to know that I’ll deliver something good —– and hopefully great if all things align in the right way.

What side of design have you found the most success in (both personal fulfillment and financially)- more “arty” or more commercial/corporate?
Had success in both arenas. I’ve done some arty stuff that I really got to do the kind of design I always wanted to do in school and others (peers) dug it. Whereas, I’ve had success within the confines of the corporate world and have gotten away with some great projects there (where peers dug it too). Sometimes. those wins (where boring is expected) are a little sweeter, because you know how difficult it is to get away with something good. I mean come on — if you can’t do a great pro-bono band poster —- then you better hang it up. But if you can pull off a conceptual project for an energy company or financial company in the red state of Texas —- that’s saying something.

In your opinion, what are the pros/cons of working free lance, and working for a design firm?
Freelance is hand to mouth unless you have a steady-eddy client base. But, the more you work, the more you make. Employee at a studio and hopefully you are guaranteed your job and a steady check —- but they can work the crap out of you with only a limited hope of raise each year. Pros and cons to both.

In your opinion, what are the pros/cons of working by yourself, and working with a partner or team?
Never done the by yourself thing. As a partner, I know they can count on me an I can count on them. We’re all pitching in together to pull this off. Con (for me) is that I have to learn to get along a little differently than I used to in my former position. But, some of the pressure of decision making is now split more ways.

In this internet age, do you really think it matters if you live in a design-savvy city, or can you find the cool jobs if you look hard enough and get your name out there?
We’re still seeing that some “being local” counts with clients. Same with even doing freelance for other larger agencies. They want to meet you, talk to you and shake your hand. However, we do work for clients that are out-of-state too —- so I don’t know. I think that if you are just starting out (either as individual or as a small start-up) your best chances for success is to immerse yourself right in the middle of the busiest whirl-wind you can. Clients, vendors, rumor mill, etc. Once you’ve established yourself, a reputation, a portfolio of business and clients —– then I think you can bounce out and move to that cabin in the woods with the T-1 line running to it. Because by that time, you know where they are and they know you. Can’t do that off the job — no one will know where to find you (the internet is great — but a good word of mouth will beat it every time).