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February 2007 | ||||||
 In Depth with Christopher Simmons Creative Director, MINE™ San Francisco, California, USA
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 Nagtag (Consumer Electronic Enclosure Design) |
Born: Halifax, Nova Scotia Current Residence: San Francisco, CA School: California College of Arts and Crafts Christopher Simmons design credentials are impeccable. He is a past president of San Francisco AIGA, a frequent award-winner and judge and was named a “Person to Watch” by Graphic Design:usa magazine. He is the founder of a multi-disciplinary design firm where his clients include such prestigious organizations as UCLA, Kaiser Permanente, Peachpit Press and Union Bank of California. It’s the kind of impressive resume and client list you might think would warrant a posh business address. But you’d be wrong. “I think a lot of people would be surprised to learn that we are a home office,” says Christopher. “The office is on a separate floor from the rest of the house, but its definitely not one of these places where the elevator opens to a reception desk and clients are entertained in a big glass conference room. We have a couple of cats that roam in and out. There's a huge orange beanbag in one corner for de-stressing. There's a big deck out back where we eat lunch sometimes (although we still eat lunch at our desks way too often).” It is, Christopher notes, a stylish, relatively small, exceptionally well-organized space. Yet it fits Christopher just right. “I definitely wouldn't trade this setup for a ‘traditional’ office,” he says. “There's something kind of funny and affirming about having the profile that we have and doing it all from home. In two years of business we've picked up several dozen awards, judged a half dozen competitions, written three books, and produced something like 100 projects. I think people expect us to be a much larger, much fancier operation. So far the only people that seem to mind are young designers who want to work here and realize that someone is going to have to die before a spot opens up for them.” Those working alongside Christopher in this home office are a full-time designer, an account manager and an intern. In this interview, Christopher talks about his sources of inspiration, starting over and his role as a teacher. When did you know you wanted to go into design? “Technically, I entered college as a painting major, but looking back I have been designing things since I was about seven. When my brother and I would play Star Wars (I was always Han Solo) I'd design ID cards and logos and the like. On a Saturday morning I might roll out six feet of butcher paper on the floor and design aerial views of cities—including rivers, schools, overpasses, etc. I took a lot of things apart to see how they worked; often I would try to change them into something different.” Who or what played a role in you choosing design as a career? “I had an amazing art teacher in grade school named Karla Silver. In the sixth grade she taught us to deconstruct Goya, design personal coats of arms in actual stained glass, and revealed the revolution of two-point perspective. I really developed a deep interest in and an attachment to art around then. Another early influence was the (Charles & Ray) Eames' film, Powers of Ten. My parents rented it on reel-to-reel for my birthday party and it just fascinated me. It was so simple and so clever. It took something that was very complex and potentially very difficult to comprehend and made it extremely accessible. I think I appreciated even then that there was a way to tell a story visually that could help people understand it, and that appealed to me.” How did your college experience influence you as a design professional? “I went to the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC), which has since been renamed CCA. There was (as there still is) a strong emphasis on taking a conceptual approach to design. We were encouraged to rigorously investigate and understand the totality of a problem, and then solve it in a unique and personal way. I remember getting A’s on two different type assignments that actually contained no type at all—in fact, one was just a pile of ashes. It wasn't that I was trying to be a smart ass or circumvent the assignment; we were encouraged to think far outside the traditional conventions of ‘design.’” |
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 Paradox Media Identity |
What was your first job out of college? Give a little background as to how it prepared you for your future path. “My first design job out of school was for Doug Akagi. He was actually my first design instructor as well. I interned for him while I was about half way through the design program, and ended up staying there 8 years, eventually becoming a principal in the firm (formerly Akagi Remington, now Alterpop). “He feels guilty about it to this day, since I never did go back to school (I still have the contract that he wanted me to sign, promising that I would go back to school.) But the fact is, I learned from him every single day in a way that is just impossible to describe. Not only did I learn about design, but I learned every conceivable aspect of running a successful design business. We are still in touch regularly, and over lunch the other day we agreed that although it was an unconventional path, it was probably the only path I could have taken to where I am today.” What personal trait or characteristic has helped differentiate you from other design professionals? “The best and most common compliment I receive from clients is that I am a good listener. I never go into any meeting, project or relationship with a preconceived creative agenda, other than to discover the best possible solution to help them achieve their goals.” Where do you find inspiration? “Usually in the shower. I have a hard time sleeping and shutting down at night. I have a ton of thoughts rustling around in my head, but no energy to really focus on or pursue any one of them. Those ideas can come from anywhere—a question one of my students asked, the transparency of some political statement, a visual observation (design or otherwise), whatever. When I shower in the morning they all seem to snap into place. I don't know if it’s the white noise of the shower, the quiet isolation, or just the primal, embryonic comfort of warm water, but things just seem to line up in those moments.” Tell us a little bit about your design firm, MINE™... “I started MINE in 2004. I was still working at Alterpop at the time, and the plan was for me to eventually take it over completely. As you might imagine, that's a pretty complicated process and in the end I decided that I'd rather just start from scratch. Around that time I was talking to (Minnesota designer) Sharon Werner, who described herself as starting her business with ‘no clients and no prospects.’ It seemed pretty romantic and I think it inspired me to take the plunge. It was scary, because I had just bought a house, just taken on the AIGA presidency in San Francisco, and my wife and I were about to take some time off to get married about a month after I quit. So, there was a lot of pressure, and a lot of faith.” What about your current position do you like and dislike? “Well, as you can gather from our name, the company is mine, so I like that. I get to do things my way. I can take pride in our successes and take responsibility for our missteps. I get to decide when and how much to risk, where to concentrate our energy, who to work with, etc. Those are all good things. The part I like least is the amount of time I spend managing the business as opposed to actually designing, but I knew that would be the case going into this. I'm still involved heavily in the design of every project, but there's rarely a day anymore where I just design all day long.” |
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 CES Fall Forum |
What project or projects are you most proud of and why? “We just completed a series of materials for an educational conference that I am really proud of. In the past, the conference was always identified by a logo, specific to that year's theme, which was then applied across all the materials. For the past two years that we've worked on it, we've challenged the notion that identity is built through repetition of a single image, and embraced a more gestalt approach to defining identity. “For this year's conference, the so-called logo is actually a series of diagrams and equations that illustrate the rather complex conference theme. The overall aesthetic is consistent, but each instance is completely unique. We even went so far as to break the identity down into its component parts and label each attendee so that he or she became a walking, talking piece of the identity experience. It's smart and it’s beautiful, and it had everyone really excited. “There are a couple of other projects that are so absurdly simple in their execution that I continue to have a soft spot for them—notably the web site for Star Trek producer Herb Solow, our AIGA F*in Design poster, and of course the Paradox logo.” What is the most important thing you stress to your students about identity design? "Why don't I let some of my past students answer that question directly:" "Get the idea right and then make it beautiful." Nadav Savio CCA / Giant Ant "Design, then simplify. Design some more, then simplify further." Trig Van der Heiden CCA / Goodby Silverstein Partners "I actually think about what you taught me in identity class all the time: the most important thing Christopher emphasized in identity design was that the symbol must clearly and concisely convey the essence of who the company is and what the company stands for.” Nancy Hsieh Academy of Art / Templin Brink Design "Christopher emphasizes the interpretation portion of the research/analysis phase. In other words, a designer cannot simply research or collect facts; s/he must synthesize the information gathered. It is the individual's interpretation that makes a mark interesting/unique and therefore memorable.” Hope Meng CCA / NOON "I remember an exercise where Christopher had us bring in objects to represent ourselves and then list qualities that we perceived by looking at others' objects. It illustrated the capacity for difference in intended and perceived meaning in symbolic representation. From this, I learned that effective identity design weaves layers of meaning while eliminating ambiguity (and that achieving this is not quick or easy!)" Alice Sladek CCA / Organic How would you like to be remembered? “As a teacher.” |
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