Freshly Laundered 027 / Brent Schoepf

Designer, photographer, and musician Brent Schoepf hails from the land of lakes, Minnesota. Despite the bitter winters he finds plenty to keep him busy. Read on to see how this jack of all trades balances his roster of creative endeavours.

CB: You’re a graphic designer by day, a wedding and portrait photographer by night and weekend, and a t-shirt designer while you should be sleeping. Did we get that right? When do you eat?

BS: Ha! You hit the nail on the head, though I’d say “jack of all trades, master of none” sums it up quite nicely. And it’s silly, but I’ve actually been known to forget to eat when I’ve got a lot going on. That’s what post-midnight pizza is for though, right?

CB: Yes, that is exactly what pizza is for! Where do you think this seemingly endless supply of creativity comes from? What keeps you creating in all different mediums?

BS: I can tell you that the ‘supply of creativity’ stems from my previous desire to impress my two older siblings. They were both so talented at everything, and as a teenager I felt the need to prove myself worthy of any accolade I could get from them. Constantly working on artistic endeavors sort of became part of my identity, and now I can’t stop! Being able to switch from design to photography to music and back again has helped keep myself from getting creatively bored. The only problem with having so many projects to work on is that they all stay half finished!

CB: That’s awesome that you had someone to look up to in regards to art and creativity. For so many young people, that part of growing up ends up getting squashed to focus on “more important” things. You were lucky! Now wait, music? We didn’t know you were into music too! Are you in a band? What type of music do you make?

BS: Oh gosh! I make terrible music. Thankfully all I have on the internet are some home recordings from three years ago, which is too long ago for me to be embarrassed by. I’ve been making completely electronic music by myself over the past year that will probably never see the light of day, but occasionally my siblings will take something I’ve made and make it worth a listen or two. I’m far more self conscious about music I’ve made than any art I’ve produced, probably because I’ve got no clue what I’m actually doing. It’s a heck ton of fun though!

CB: Are you a person that listens to music while you work? Do you draw inspiration from music?

BS: I struggle to work without music. I’ve gotta have something playing or I lose focus. I’m not often finding design inspiration from music, but I’d say that music helps cultivate the atmosphere that I need to find inspiration.

I’ve been using designers.mx quite a bit, where designers around the globe make a mix and create the cover artwork for their album. It’s lots of fun to hear what designers I admire are listening to.

CB: If you could make music with anyone, who would it be? Why?

BS: I should probably name someone like James Blake, Sufjan Stevens, Peter Broderick or something like that, but I’d rather make an album with my siblings. I just know the music we’d make would be more special than with someone I don’t actually know. It certainly wouldn’t be as good, but I think it’d be something we would all cherish for a long time. We’ve played together just a few times over the past years, and those times are always my favorite.

CB: That is so true, thanks Brent!

To keep up with everything Brent has going on you can follow him on twitter, instagram, and dribbble.