Designer Dan Stiles responds to the ultra Q in which we ask Portland’s movers and makers a number of pressing questions
Not only did Dan Stiles make your favorite rock poster of the century, the one that almost makes you crash the car when you spot it in the window of the record store, he’s also been doing the kind of design work–from identity to interactive and everything in between–for both his own Stiles + Co. and sister company, Storyhat, that gets notice from mags like Print, Step, and How. Plus, he writes critically about design for Graphis, Emigre, How, Communication Arts and more which makes him all that much more our kind of guy. How did he find the time to answer the ultra Q? See his answer to the question about his secret superhero power.
design: Dan Stiles
Qualities you most admire in design:
You really have to have an idea. Concept is king. Style is nice, technique is good. But on their own they’re hollow. Style is just a trend that will come and go, but a concept will stick forever. Think of all the classics, stylistically they are rooted in their time, but conceptually they are as powerful as ever. From a Paul Rand logo to a Bauhaus desklamp.
Qualities you most despise in design:
Currently the trend in art and design is to mimic an established historical look and feel. Note that I didn’t say take inspiration from. I said mimic. Cars like the new bug, the PT Cruiser and the Mini are examples of this. Bands like Wolfmother, Interpol, The Rapture, and The Faint do it too. Simply re-doing something from 20 or 30 years ago is not creating, its just lazy. For a while people were assembling Duchampian ready-mades out of disparate pieces of our culture. That was interesting. Like sampling in hip-hop. Now its just a straight lift. How boring. Culturally we’re all looking backward. I guess its because the future looks so bleak.
Reading:
Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck. An aging Steinbeck travels across America in a pick up truck and delivers a somewhat scathing review of modern America, the year was 1960. Almost everything he identifies as a budding issue has come to pass. Consumerism, strip malls, loss of local identity, car culture, suburbia, angst and emptiness in the heart of Americans.
design: Dan Stiles
Listening to:
Tapes N Tapes. I just can’t put it down.
Dream project:
I don’t really have a dream project. I have a dream client. Most clients want good design, but very few want great design. Greatness involves the risky proposition of doing something new. Business people have enough risk in their lives. They view design as a tool to make more money, not as some avant garde art form they should support at their own expense. My dream client has the design savvy, the budget, the risk tolerance, and the schedule to do some work that really pushes out there into new territory.
design: Dan Stiles
Favorite virtue:
Of mine? I don’t know, ask my wife. In others? Kindness. We could use a lot more kindness in the world.
Favorite vice:
My answer to this question would have been much more titillating about 10 years ago. Anymore I consider just about anything that takes me away from my work to be very self-indulgent.
Tragic flaw:
I can’t take design direction from anyone who’s work I don’t respect. It makes me a pretty bad employee. Hence I work for myself.
Secret superhero power:
The ability to work myself to death
design: Dan Stiles
That which keeps your afterburners firing:
I love that crazy third wind you get at 2am. Nothing makes me happier than designing until the wee hours of the morning, until the next day, when I’m all blown out and weird.
What you’d like to be when you grow up:
When I grow up I’m only going to work on projects that are about design exploration. And I’m only going to do it part time. The rest of my time will be spent feeding my brain with literature and travel.
Portland’s best kept secret:
Summer: Everyone on earth thinks it rains here 365 days a year.
Portland heroes (sung or un-):
I stopped having heros about 10 years ago. They’re always so disappointing. Their work might be exceptional, but as people they always wind up being complete asses, or worse, totally boring. People I admire around town? Mike Quinn of Monqui Presents and the Doug Fir. Pete McCracken of Plazm. Kathryn Towers of Seaplane. Guy Burwell and Mike King.
Interesting on the horizon (PDX):
For me? I’m looking forward to the annual poster show at the Goodfoot. I’m also involved in a little side project spearheaded by Psilo Design called the Portland Funbook. A Portland inspired coloring book illustrated by various Portland artists. Hopefully we’ll have an opening with giant prints of the art that people can color in.
WHAT TO DO NOW?