Feature Friday #020 — Bryanne Skolaski

Hey hey, it's Feature Friday! Today we chat with Brie Skolaski about noisy snacks, relaxed farm friends, and a career full of problem solving. Check Brie out on Twitter after perusing her Cotton Bureau Collection here.

Hi Brie! Welcome to our designer interview series. You're the mastermind behind a few of my personal favorites on the site so I'm thinking we should start there. So tell me, where did the inspiration for the chillest llama on the internet come from?

Oh, good question! I love a good pun, especially an animal pun, however, I can't take credit for the pun itself. The inspiration to create the "No Prob-Llama" shirt came from seeing a hat with an animal pun while shopping on vacation, and my spouse and I started riffing on other animal puns that would make good shirts.

Haha I love that, who doesn't appreciate a good animal pun.

Okay, let's move on to cheese. I just googled "cheese curds v cheese sticks". Do you know what I found? I'm not kidding when I tell you the first thing that popped up said "cheese curds are more rubbery, hence the squeaking". Is your Wisco food squeaking at you Brie? Tell me what's going on over there.

Well, that's a fun fact! I was always told that cheese curds only squeak when fresh, which has also been my personal observation. But you're right, Wisconsin and cheese go together like peanut butter and jelly. It's no myth that Wisconsinites love cheese, we put it on all sorts of things, eat it plain, and have entire festivals centered around it.

Cheese festivals sound pretty legit, not gonna lie. Now here's a question for you, admittedly this was asked in a previous interview but it's relevant and I still wonder who the people out there are that are doing this. It kind of sounds like Wisconsin may be responsible. How do you feel about cheddar cheese on apple pie? Supposedly there are people who love this combo and it's become my mission to track them down and ask why.

I have tried cheddar cheese on apple pie, and it's pretty good, but I prefer vanilla ice cream. However, this trend likely dates back to England in the 17th century when using dairy-based sauces in pies evolved to topping pies with cheese instead. Wisconsin can't take credit, but we won't shun you for it either. Especially if you use Hooks 7-year-old cheddar. MMM.

Oh wow, interesting! I'd give it a taste but only if someone else commits to the cheese on theirs and lets me taste it and I have my clean pie as a safe back up. As much as I'd love to talk about cheese all day, let's move on to what you're up to now. Where are you working these days? Still in the design world?

That seems like a very solid pie plan!

I am still in the design world! I'm currently working on apps that interface with physical products. Since starting my career in 2005, I've had many job titles: Web Designer, UI Designer, Front End Developer, Senior Product Designer, and Senior UI/UX designer. The design industry and all the titles are a bit like the Wild West sometimes, especially across different companies. In reality, my career in design boils down to problem-solving. I love to solve all types of problems, from the large and complex user experience to creating a t-shirt that folks see and say "I NEED that shirt!"

Designing for Cotton Bureau has been my "creative outlet" over the years and I appreciate you all. Most creatives have their "day jobs" and their "art" which don't often overlap. It's wonderful to have an opportunity to create for others and have such a wide potential audience. I even ran into someone (who I didn't know) wearing one of my t-shirts once. It took all my strength not to run up to them and say "I DESIGNED THAT SHIRT!". It was a pretty cool feeling.

Wait... you saw someone wearing one of your shirts and you didn't say anything!? I'm not sure I'd have that kind of self control. That's so fun. I'm always trying to scout Cotton Bureau shirts. I've seen a couple out in the wild but it's hard to keep track of everyone's designs.

I love that you're able to boil down those jobs into something that we all can wrap our heads around. The job titles sound pretty intense but it seems like you really enjoy your work and I imagine that plays a part in how successful you are. How did you get started in the design field? 

Yes, I did see someone in the wild but I thought it would be way too weird to say something! Especially if they received the shirt as a gift and were unaware of the designer/business model for CB.

I went to college for "Graphic Design" thinking that I'd get a print job somewhere doing wedding invites or magazines or posters, but quickly realized that print was dying, and that I'm a bit of a nerd. I love to build things and solve problems, so when it came to applying for jobs, I applied to a lot of software companies, thinking that might be a good fit. Turns out, it was!

Haha ok ok that makes sense. No prob-llama is indeed a great gift so that's plausible. 

That's awesome, I think it's neat to hear how peoples plans evolve with the times. That said, we hope not *all* print is dying. Things should just be printed on shirts and totes instead of paper ;)

Well hey, it was so nice catching up with you Brie! Thank you for being a part of our designer interview series. We can't wait to see what you come up with next!

I agree! I hope not all print is dying too haha.

Thanks for including me!