Joe Futschik’s work illuminates spaces. The designer behind JEF Designs does modern lamps, wall graphics, and prints that subtly transform Portland spaces like clarklewis and Crema. We recently talked with Futschik making lamps on the floor upstairs at Hippo Hardware, art vs. craft, San Francisco, and JEF Designs.
What kind of difference did show2003 at Design Within Reach make for you? It was a launch point wasn’t it?
Well, for one thing, Michael Hebberoy was one of the judges on the panel. He said, “I love your lighting. I’m doing a new restaurant, and I’d like to use your lights.” On my card at the time there was an image that was similar to those on my wall panels. He asked if I did the piece in Opolis Design in the Gotham Building. I said, “Yes.” So then he wanted paintings too.
You kind of shout out a number of people in the PDX design community on your website.
Trisha Guido (Relish) was really great at supporting local artists, giving them a chance. Hippo made it possible to do this as a business. Tap Plastics has been amazing. I got my start at Hippo Hardware upstairs. Jimmy (Macdonald) would let me sit on the floor upstairs and put stuff together. I love junk shops.
Are you still hand-fabricating? Still a one-man band?
Yes.
Is that sustainable for you?
The lamp production has been perfected. Standardized. I would love to have a company take over production and still have my name on it.
I’m kind of all over the board, so it’s hard to put energy into new products, but I have lit tables, side tables I would love to get into production. I would need someone to help with that. Part of doing design work is that I realize I don�t have to personally fabricate 100% of everything I make.It’s one of the challenges of expanding. Letting that go.
I wish that I had more business training. At art school, there is no business training. We’re fine art; we exist outside the realm of the real world. But I wish we were taught how to market, budget, advertise a business.
So how did you get started?
I moved up here from San Francisco in 1995. At the time, I was painting. I’d started getting into furniture design the year before that. People throw away the coolest stuff in San Francisco�
I remember on this special trash day there would be heaps on the sidewalks, great stuff.
Yeah. So I’d just put pieces together and make something new. I was doing things with 50s magazine racks and wine racks and making paper lamps.
In Portland the importance of light became stronger and stronger for me.
I finally realized, this is what I love to do. I was avoiding my real art to make a lamp. I finally decided that this would be my real art. My stuff was one-offs made of found objects. I found designs I could reproduce.
I went to a PDX Design Collaborative workshop called something like, “So you want to be a designer” led by a guy who headed special projects at adidas, John Acevedo. At the time, I’d gotten into California College of Arts and Crafts to go back and get another Bachelors degree in furniture design. And this guy said, if you’re already making it and if people are responding to it, just keep on doing what you’re doing. And if it doesn�t work out, then go back and take out the loans and get the degree. Nobody cares where you went to school, they just want to see what you make.
And that’s what I did. And every day I’m so grateful he told me that.
Portland is so supportive of starting something, restaurant, shop, whatever. It is not, however, always the best place to sell your work.
What are the challenges?
Portland is still small. The movement toward Modern design growing. But mostly people are spending money on modern lofts, not putting money into furniture and design. 99% of my stuff is sold elsewhere.
99%?
The power of the web is phenomenal. I just got an email from this guy in Moldova about the lamps. I had to google to see if it was a real country, and there it is between Romania and the Ukraine. He found out about me by googling “wood lamps.”
And if you have a decently designed website, you can play with the best of them. I mean, I have a home studio. I make everything by scratch from my home, but nobody needs to know that.
My lamps were blogged by design*sponge three times in 2005. So many design stores and designers check that blog. It’s huge.
Why do you call your pieces wall graphics instead of paintings?
Good question. I like the sound of the words “wall graphic.” I don’t make a distinction any more between fine art, craft, and design. To me, when they’re done right, they’re all equal.
Do you still do what you would consider fine art outside of JEF Designs? Is that why you make the distinction? To take JEF a step away from the word art and keep things compartmentalized?
Well, I’m trying to finish a portrait I abandoned twenty years ago. I guess calling them wall graphics frees me up from my own limitations. Frees me from the figure, which I struggled with. It lets me just do the work.
What’s next?
I’ve been doing research on a new project of mine for a year now. You’ll see the results soon.
Crema has a show of my stuff in it right now. And the lights I designed that were installed when it was built out. It looks like my living room right now.
WHAT TO DO NOW?