Feature Friday #022 — Ben Beaudoin
Welcome back to Feature Friday! Let's all give a warm welcome to Ben Beaudoin. Ben has been a friend of Cotton Bureau for a few years now and we couldn't be happier to have him. Read on to hear what happens behind the scenes at some of your favorite brands, fun New Mexico recs, and a bit of folklore that may keep you up at night.
Hey Ben! Thanks for letting me pick your brain for a bit. Let's jump right in. I was just looking through your portfolio and spotted some huge names in there. What's it like working for brands like Helly Hansen, Eddie Bauer, Puma, etc.? Is there anyone you've been particularly impressed with?
It's really fun to work on some of these brands that have a strong brand identity. The creative process is more collaborative than working on stuff for myself. I love getting new concept boards and seeing what they're looking for. It's like a first date where it's all fresh and new. At times, they might ask for something unexpected that's also pretty challenging to execute. I've learned to like this as my confidence grew, because it pushes you beyond your comfort zone and makes you grow as a designer. A lot of these bigger brands have been leaning toward more illustration based graphics these days, and that allows for much more creativity than the more text based graphics. It's interesting to see how these bigger names respond to a quick moving, trend based market place. Often they are designing a year ahead of when the product hits the market. So you see how a hot new viral trend ends up in the more mainstream market a year or two down the line.
I do have to have to say, I have been really impressed by Eddie Bauer. They are able to maintain the heritage of the brand while incorporating new trends. They always have a very clear vision of what they want. I have worked for them several seasons at this point, and it's always been fun stuff to work on. There's usually pretty minimal back and forth in regards to changes. That speaks volumes as to having a vision, and being able to communicate that to us designers.
The other brand that has made the biggest impression on me was 77 kids, which was a side project brand of America Eagle. It only lasted from 2009-2011, but I got to be very artsy and creative working for them. The Art director, Keith Fiori was way ahead of his time as far as graphics for a mainstream kids brand. He would combine the themes of surf, skate, and music culture with kids motifs like monsters, sports, and animals before other people were doing it much. He wanted us to come up with Layouts of the text and illustrations that were unexpected. Also, the director really wanted to push the limits of translating hand drawn and painted graphics into silkscreen graphics. All the way down to how we would set up the screen separations. It blew my mind at the time. It's hard to describe how different this brand was from anything out there at the time. You can still see some of the 77kids stuff on sites like Poshmark and Mercari. It's worth a peek because I think there's a correlation between Cotton Bureau and 77kids. A mix of attitude, fun, and emphasis on hight quality.
I'd say those two brands are some highlights. But one other honorable mention brand I work with now is J Crew Kids for their factory outlet product. I like how they try to be unique with their concepts and aesthetic.
I guess I'll end this answer by saying I feel fortunate to be able to work with some of these brands over the years. It's been a cool experience.
Wow that's pretty neat to think about. It's wild too how as a consumer I feel like these brands know what I want better than I do. I'm sure that's in large part due to them hiring the right designers to bring their visions to life (and a great marketing team).
Is it difficult working with brands that have specific visions and guidelines? I'm very much the type of person that appreciates clear directions but I wonder as an artist if it's more difficult to be kind of restricted as to what you can create.
Yeah, It's interesting to see the 'behind the scenes' process behind what these big brands release to market. In a way, they do seem to be trying to put their finger on the pulse of the collective unconscious. You have input from the design directors, the clothing designers, the marketing team with the numbers side of it, and last but not least, us designers that make the final art. The concepts and looks are super refined by having a lot of eyes on it, but definitely, having the right designers can make a difference whether a design will do well in the end. I think a good designer will try to understand a brands vision and how to make it stand out into the marketplace. For me, I started to understand this bigger picture only after a number of years working in this industry. I can remember when it clicked. It was the first time my design director asked me to sit down with her and go through a spreadsheet with the sales numbers for all of the tees that we made that season. I could see what the customers actually wanted. What the big sellers were. I could match that feedback back to the brands vision, as well as my own ideas I brought to the table. That was a great teaching moment to get a peek into the marketing side of things.
As a young designer i did find it more difficult to work with a brands guidelines. I thought part of my job was to try to push a brand to be 'cooler' than they were. I guess if you're young you naturally want to push the boundaries, but to be honest, I was probably just being a pain in the ass...ha ha! As I grew as a designer, I came to embrace the basic idea that a big part of my job is to understand the vision of the client. And then clearly communicating that vision of the brand to the customers. So nowadays, the more specific the vision and the guidelines, the easier they're making my job. When I'm designing, I can get kind of OCD at times. I feel like there are so many micro decisions to make with layout, type, color, art style, etc. I do like developing concepts for designs too, and I do that when it's needed. But I'm not attached to only designing for my own ideas. In the end I want to create as good of a design as I can. So the guidelines just help me with that. If I do have a design idea I want to create for myself, I have to say It's been awesome to have Cotton Bureau as an outlet for that.
I love hearing about how much consideration goes into launching new products. Even before you're involved I'm sure there are so many decisions made about materials, sizing, cuts, etc. I'm curious what the average time frame is to create one new product start to finish for a brand like Helly Hansen.
What else have you been up to? Any hobbies, trips, pets?
To be honest, I feel like such small part of the overall process. There are so many steps and people involved. There's very few steps that the graphic designer is actually involved in along the way for each product when it comes to these bigger brands. Before we even get a brief a lot of the decisions have already been made. For example, there's always a color palette that comes with a brief. And those are usually related to fabric colors. Interestingly, it's kind of like on Cotton bureau where you know ahead of time what body colors you have to work with. Timeframe for developing a product is usually a 2-3 month development time in total. And like most markets it's seasonal, so they're trying to get the product done way ahead of time so they can have time to market it at scale. Right now I am working on some stuff for Spring 26, which is the long end of the curve from development until the time it hits a store. A year used to be standard. But some companies are more streamlined these days. And I see some companies developing stuff that will be in stores in 6-9 months from the time a graphic gets approved. Especially less expensive items like t-shirts where they want to drip feed new product to keep up with current trends and keep stores looking fresh. That's pretty fast considering so much of our clothing is produced half way around the world in Asia these days.
What have I been up to? I had to laugh because my interests are such a hodgepodge of different things. Being creative is one of my hobbies still, even though it's what I do for work. I was able to do a silk screen print for an art project a couple months ago and that was super fun. Also, I try to get away from the desk and do a nice long hike at least once a week. I live near Mt. Monadnock in N.H. and it's my favorite area to explore trail wise these days. One of the t-shirts on my list for Cotton Bureau has been to do a Mt. Monadnock graphic. It's such an awesome place to hike that it at least deserves a t-shirt! Sports-wise, I love watching golf with my dad in the summer months. And also I'm really into following the parkour scene and seeing how hard they're pushing the limits of the sport. Some of what they're doing almost looks like action movie stunts. Before landing in New Hampshire I traveled all around the US, The UK, and Ecuador. One place in the US I love is New Mexico, and I'm planning on a trip back to Santa Fe this winter/spring. It's almost like a different country compared to the East Coast. I love the Native American art from that area too. I've started buying some of the woven blankets from that area. I don't know if it's a hobby, or just something necessary to save my body from all the time at the desk, and that's yoga. Good for the mind too. Like a weekly reset button. I used to have a dog but I don't now. I still love dogs and I will binge on YouTube shorts with dogs as a guilty pleasure from time to time. Can that can be considered a hobby, ha ha!
Oh my gosh! That's quite a list you got there. Sounds like hobbies are your hobby. Let's start with New Mexico. I've never been to Santa Fe (or anywhere in NM) but some of the Cotton Bureau team took a trip out there not long ago and loved it. Taos is on my list of ski resorts to visit as well so maybe I'll run into you this winter! Have you done much hiking in New Mexico? I'm curious, in your opinion what are the best things to do in New Mexico?
Ha ha! I think you have a great idea for a t-shirt there! 'Hobbies are my Hobby' would be great text for a humor graphic. I guess I'm compelled to always keep moving and feeling like I'm doing something. I was way more restless when I was younger, so I traveled a lot. Nowadays I'm more settled, and have more structure in my life. So all that energy mostly gets channeled into either being productive or having new experiences locally. I heard someone talking today about having a growth mindset. I was like, yeah, I can relate to that. It feels good to be actively engaging with life and have fun while challenging yourself. So whether it's work or a hobby, it all contributes to growth in some way.
Cool to hear that some you guys on the Cotton Bureau team have been to New Mexico. Yes! Definitely go to Taos! Cool to hear that's on your list too. The mountains are really beautiful up around Taos. A trip to the ski resort when there's snow on the mountains there would be so amazing. The town of Taos itself is really cool too. Fun and Funky mixed with traditional pueblo style is how i'd describe it. I did some great hikes in New Mexico. The place to hike I remember liking the most was Tent Rocks National Monument trail. It's only a couple of miles or so, but the view at the highest point let's you view the whole valley south of Santa Fe. For best things to do...I highly recommend Bandelier National Monument. There's a short trail there that goes through a canyon where there are lots of really old cave dwellings and Petroglyphs. They have ladders you can climb to go up into some of them. It's got to be one of the more unique National Parks you could go to. Art-wise, I'd say either visiting Canyon Road, which is the Art Gallery district in Santa Fe, or visiting the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum that's way out in the desert. Also, in Taos are the Ojo Caliente Hot Springs. I was there with some friends at night in winter while it was snowing which made it super memorable. And last but not least, eating. You will not be disappointed by the Mexican Food of New Mexico. I really miss the mole sauce from there! There's way more to explore in New Mexico than this, but these are some of the most memorable things I did in my time there. It's such a big state!
Hahah I love 'Hobbies are my Hobby' for a t-shirt design. I'm looking forward to seeing the Mt. Monadnock tee as well.
I just checked out Tent Rocks and it looks amazing. It reminds me of a less orange Bryce National Park with all the hoodoos. Bryce is one of the most unique National Parks I've been to so I think I'd really love Tent Rocks and the surrounding area. I was already pretty sold on Taos Ski Valley but with these new recs. I'm even more excited.
So let me ask you about Hot Springs. I noticed your Alaska design, have you been there as well? I'm curious how Ojo Caliente Hot Springs is compared to Chena Hot Springs in Fairbanks (if you've been).
When it comes to t-shirt designs, I have this constant feeling of too many ideas, and not enough time. But that's a good problem though and I'm sure one most of us creatives have.The Monadnock tee has been at the top of the list for a while now! And now that I've put it out there, I have to do it!
I totally agree. The Tent Rocks rock formations do look a lot like the hoodoos in Bryce National park. I haven't been there but it looks amazing! This is second-hand information, but a local told me the local tribe in the area call the tall rock formations in Tent Rocks 'The Abuelas', or the Grandmothers in English. They said The Abuelas and other rock formations like cliffs were beings that watched over and protected the area. I really liked that idea. It really adds another dimension to exploring the southwestern landscape. When I looked up the hoodoos in Bryce, they reminded me of the statues on Easter Island! Like these giant rock people frozen in time. I wonder if they have similar stories from the people native to that area.
I haven't been to Alaska, but definitely on the list of my places to visit! I can see how the idea of it being the last frontier appeals to so many people. It's still such a wild place, even with the cities like Fairbanks and Anchorage having been developed. I love the wild and free spirt of the people that venture to live there. I've gotten hooked on some YouTube channels about living and traveling in Alaska. One called 'Simple Living Alaska' has a lot of great footage of living and exploring the state. Another called 'Truck House Life' is a pretty fun one to check out too. There's no shortage of Alaska content these days...I wonder if it's an antidote for the busy lifestyles that we have in most of the lower 48. That's a good question about the comparison of Chena Hot Springs to Ojo Caliente. I can only speculate since I haven't been, but I imagine that kicking back in a hot spring when the Northern lights are on full display must be pretty cool! So I guess that's one thing that would differentiate Chena from Ojo Caliente. Throw in seeing a grizzly on the same trip and you'd have the makings of a peak experience in Alaska!
If you get the chance you have to visit Alaska, it's incredible. I've spent a fair amount of time checking out National Parks and Kenai Fjords is a clear front runner in my mind. The shows you mentioned sound fun, I'll have to see if I can find the them. I'm also a big fan of Outlast on Netflix. It's kind of like Alone meets Survivor. You get the Alaska scenery and challenges but some of the Survivor drama, the best of both worlds.
The story you mentioned about The Abuelas had me intrigued so I did a little searching and found a story about Bryce's Hoodoos. According to NPS.gov, Paiute Indians claim the hoodoos are ancient "Legend People" who were turned to stone as punishment for bad deeds. I kind of like the idea of cute little grannies keeping an eye out over bad guys but both are cool stories.
Anyways, it was great chatting with you, Ben! Can't wait to see what designs you come up with next. Keep in touch!
The Kenai Fjords looks like it would be an amazing place to visit! Sounds like you really explored some cool stuff in Alaska. Doing a quick search looks like there's a big glacier there? Wow. There are so many things about Alaska that can make you feel small...Glaciers, Grizzlies, Epic Mountains! And I'll have to check out 'Outlast' on Netflix. Thanks for the suggestion. That show sounds like it's going to be super entertaining.
That's so cool what you found out about the Paiute story about the Bryce Hoodoos! I love that they call them ancient "Legend People". I can imagine them telling kids that if they are bad they will be turned into a 'Legend Person'. ha ha! But yeah. Jokes aside, the commonality of the stories seem to suggest a shared relationship with the land. One that is super connected to the world around them. It's pretty cool.
Yes, great to chat with you too! And thanks for letting me share some of my creative background and other interests! It was fun to go back and forth on these topics. I'll definitely be in touch! I look forward to adding some new stuff to Cotton Bureau this year. And I hope Cotton Bureau has another successful year of expanding on what you all have been doing too!