Earlier this year (April to be precise) we officially announced our third on demand product category: embroidered hats. That announcement included a fairly important caveat. At the time, the on demand embroidery program was extremely limited. Every new on demand hat needed to be sampled and photographed before it was available to purchase on Cotton Bureau. We were well aware that process would limit the number of people who could participate.
In order to make embroidery available to everyone, we needed to create a tool to you all create your own products just like you do for t-shirts and phone cases. Over the last six months we identified and overcame each of the obstacles that prevented that from happening. Mockups needed to be generated instead of photos taken. We spent a fair amount of time dialing in the textures and warping to look as close to real life as possible. There’s still room for improvement there, but we couldn’t wait any longer to launch seeing as it’s now, uh, pretty much Thanksgiving.
Another challenge is ensuring that what you get is what you see. Embroidery is notoriously tricky. A multitude of decisions need to be made to translate artwork from pixels to threads including color matching, orientation, and stitch type. We explored a number of solutions that promised to handle all of that automatically. Frankly, they weren’t good enough. Maybe the technology to handle that will be ready in the future. For now, we rely on people to make those calls. When you upload your artwork, you can be confident that someone is reviewing and adjusting as necessary to make your hat the best that it can be.
With those problems licked, we are happily now able to expand access to our on demand embroidery program. If you have a track record of strong sales on Cotton Bureau, you can start selling hats today. Just head over to the submission tool to get started. For all intents and purposes, hats work just like t-shirts: you upload artwork, choose a size, add a few color bundles, and away you go. Naturally we take care of the rest, like always.
(Editor’s note: the nature of on demand embroidery means that the total number of thread colors available to us is limited. When you upload your design, if the colors look slightly weird, don’t panic. Check out our list of thread colors and edit your design to match as closely as possible. If it still isn’t working, get in touch so we can help.)
If you have been looking forward to on demand embroidery and don’t see the hat option, let us know. Given the manual steps still involved in the process we will be rolling out and expanding access gradually over the next several months, but we might be able to move you to the front of the line if you have a solid body of work on the site already.
Before we move on to additional holiday announcements, we just want to say thank you again for your patience and support. Adding new products, particularly ones with entirely new supply chains, is challenging but of course also exciting and deeply rewarding.
We’ve been very happy with the decisions we made for on demand embroidery in terms of thread colors, hat manufacturers, and embroidery partners (shoutout to our friends here in Pittsburgh who continue to do tremendous work). We’re thrilled with the quality and deliverability of the product. We can’t wait to see an explosion of hat designs on the site and look forward to promoting them with you over the coming months.
If you have questions about hats, we (might) have answers. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you are confused or just want to explore what is possible. We’ll be making new hats live as quickly as possible. Please be patient if we don’t reply immediately.
N.B. We also managed to more than double the total number of colors and styles available. The full list of styles now includes dad hats, trucker hats, snapbacks, baseball hats, and rope hats across a broad spectrum of colors (black, navy, charcoal, natural, white, red, light blue, and royal).
Feature Friday #010! Welcome to our series highlighting some of the incredible people on Cotton Bureau. This week we're getting to know Chiara Mensa and her fleet of furry and feathered friends. Check out her Etsy Shop, Instagram and also shop her collection on Cotton Bureau.
Heyo! So excited to get a chance to chat with you. How's everything going? I just took a peek at your instagram and noticed the stamps you've been making? So cool. How'd you get into that?
Hey Beth,
It's so lovely to have a chance to chat with you, thanks for having me :)
Things are going well at the moment, but also a bit hectic as the run-up to Christmas tends to be the busiest period of the year for me these days. A staple diet of three coffees a day is what currently helps to keep me on track.
Thanks for checking out my linocut stamps, I'm so pleased you like them. Printmaking is a fairly new chapter for me as I have had what some people would define as a "squiggly career". After studying Architecture at Uni, I taught myself graphic design and worked for 6+ years as a visual designer (i.e. branding, graphics, and web) in agencies across the UK and Australia.
Eventually, my design career became no longer sustainable and I started a journey to reconnect with my long-dormant creative side. Fast forward six months of boundless creative exploration and loads of failed experiments, I casually stumbled across linocut printmaking by taking a class at a local art center. It is fair to say I instantly connected with the medium, falling in love with the slow making that comes with carving and hand-printing linocut blocks.
So, yeah, these days I refer to myself as a full-time artist focusing on linocut printmaking, who very occasionally takes on design projects when they have a focus on sustainability, conservation, and animal welfare.
Hey, coffee is a major food group I'm pretty sure so no shame there. I'm not surprised Christmas is busy for you, your Lino prints sound like great gifts.
Squiggly careers are the most interesting in my opinion. Who actually knows what they want to do forever? Even if you do it probably takes some squiggles to get there. Plus it sounds like you had a lot of cool experiences along the way so more power to ya.
Let's talk about the animals for a minute (or 20). Your Penguin Calendar has taught me there are different species of penguins? Am I the only one who didn't know this? I'm almost embarrassed to commit to publishing this interview with this confession but I really thought there was just one kind of penguin out there just doing it's adorable waddle thang.
Yes, you're totally right! I don't really regret any of the stops I made along the way to becoming a printmaker. Each one has provided me with a chance to develop skills that feed into what I am doing now. Plus, I got to live in a bunch of cool places and meet many amazing humans along the way.
Glad you want to talk about animals: by far my most favourite topic out there 😁
No need to be embarrassed at all as I was the same: before doing the research for the calendar I thought there were 3-4 different penguin species tops! However, there is actually 18 different species (or 17 according to some experts who consider one to be a subspecies) and they all live in the southern hemisphere, except for the Galapagos penguin (the islands actually straddle the Equator, hence the slight distinction). I've also learnt that all penguin species are flightless and that a group of penguins is called a "colony".
It was super fun to get familiar with penguins and to illustrate the twelve different species to feature in the calendar. Fun fact: the illustrations started off as rough pencil sketches on paper which I drew during a road trip my husband and I took through Morocco back in July.
Wow 18!? That's bananas. I also just looked up fuzzy penguins after looking at your King Penguin Chick design and I'm obsessed. I didn't realize they were even cuter somehow as chicks.
How was Morocco!? It looks incredible. I imagine the penguin you drew was the only spotting lol any other cool critters worth mentioning?
Baby animals are absolutely adorable and penguin chicks are no exception :) Do you have a favorite baby animal? I would struggle to choose, to be honest.
Morocco was a very interesting trip: we did enjoy the sights in the bigger cities from Marrakesh to Fez and Rabat, but the road of a thousand kasbahs and the general area south of the Atlas mountains served as a very stark reminder of the impact of desertification driven by climate change. Also, it was quite heartbreaking to witness the extremely low levels of animal welfare for cats, dogs, and working animals (donkeys and horses). It truly shocked me and I have been planning to go back next year and volunteer through a local animal charity working towards improving things (if anyone is interested in learning more and/or helping, Morocco Animal Aid and SPANA are two great organizations doing meaningful work). Anyways, there were also many happy animal sightings ranging from storks (and their incredibly huge nests on top of most minarets and telecom towers) and very friendly berber apes in the cedar forests of the Atlas mountains. All in all, the trip was memorable and I've been toying around with the idea of making a series of linocut prints inspired by all that we saw and experienced... watch this space!
Oh my gosh, yeah choosing is very tough. Currently I think bear cubs are my favorite but I just love them all. This video of a cub playing with a balloon melted my soul a bit.
Planning a volunteer trip sounds like an amazing idea, helping all those sweet animals would be so rewarding. Thanks for the tip on where we can learn more! And we'll definitely keep an eye out for a new series of linocut prints.
The holidays coming uphave me thinking about your festive animal collection. Have any plans to add a festive penguin to the mix? The African Penguins are practically begging for a mistletoe. I realize you're probably too busy but hoping we can't blame a girl for trying lol. What do the holidays typically look like for you?
Awww, that bear cub is pure cuteness overload! My husband and I were lucky enough to see bears (including a mama and cub!) in Sequoia NP back in 2021 and it was the most exciting thing ever.
I love your idea about adding the mistletoe to the African penguins, it would look fab! I'll definitely try and make time for that once I'm done with all the stock delivery and prep for the Christmas market season. In the meantime, I've uploaded yet another illustration from my penguin calendar: a Little Blue penguin wearing a Christmas jumper and looking super cuddly :)
This year the holidays will be a bit different as I'll actually be traveling back to Italy to see family (I was born and grew up in Rome), which I don't often do. The plan is to also sneak in a cheeky 5-day-mini-road trip in Sicily before heading back home to Bristol at the beginning of January. I admit that being a self-employed artist is not super easy as a career choice, but having this kind of flexibility about taking time off makes it all worth it. Traveling is for me a wonderful source of inspiration and my favorite way to recharge as I am not a fan of routines and the familiar. What about you? What will your festive season look like this year?Aaaah that sounds incredible! I haven't made it to Sequoia yet but I've heard good things about Moro Rock. Hoping to make it there one day! Especially if I can get my eye on some little cubbies (from a safe and respectable distance of course).
TBH Little Blue Penguin might just earn a spot in my wardrobe soon. SO stinking cute. Something about animals wearing clothes just gets me. I've been plugging a marketing campaign for 'goat-tees' for about a year now but I'm struggling to get the CB leaders on board. Maybe when this interview takes off they'll approve ;)
Born and raised in Rome is such a fun fact! Is the food much different there than other Italian cities? I imagine it's all amazing but I've never been. Quite a big difference from Bristol I bet. I'm excited for your trip! It sounds incredible, definitely a perk that you're able to create your own schedule. As for me I'll be here in Pittsburgh *hopefully* enjoying some snow. If I'm lucky I plan to squeeze a snowboarding trip in January but we'll see if that pans out.
One final question for ya, mostly inspired by your trip. If you had to pick one favorite food dish from anywhere you've been, what would it be?
Glad you like the Little Blue :)
It was actually inspired by the Knits for Nature penguin jumper program by the Penguin Foundation. Basically, in the unfortunate event of an oil spill, when oiled penguins are rescued and admitted to the Phillip Island Wildlife Clinic, knitted jumpers are temporarily placed on the penguins, acting as a barrier to prevent them from reaching their oily feathers with their beaks, before rescue staff are able to wash their body clean.
The food scene in Italy is objectively wonderful and so, so varied. Each region has its own signature dishes and local products, despite all sharing the common traits of the Mediterranean diet. Growing up in Rome, my favourite thing was pasta carbonara which I still love today, but eat in a slightly modified version since becoming vegetarian around 9 years ago (I swap out the pancetta for tasty mushrooms and it works a treat). While I do not like cooking, I do enjoy good food and miss many Italian dishes, however, Bristol has been a pleasant surprise as it actually has an amazing food scene, unlike much of the rest of the UK.
Staying on the topic of food, I confess I find it very hard to answer your final question, there is simply too much to choose from! But, if I really had to pick one thing, it would possibly be kottu roti (well, its veggie version at least), a tasty Sri Lankan street food consisting of chopped roti, a curry dish of choice, along with scrambled egg, onions, and chillies. The ingredients are chopped together using special cleavers as they sautee on a hot griddle. YUM!
Honestly, it's been such a pleasure chatting with you Bethany, thank you so much for having me! I am so happy to be part of the Cotton Bureau fam :)
I hope you have the most wonderful festive break this winter with plenty of snowboarding time.
Just when you thought your Friday couldn't get any better, we go and do something like this… and release Feature Friday #009! Welcome to our series highlighting some of the incredible people on Cotton Bureau. You can find the always entertaining Josh '@yoyoha' Hara on Instagram and also shop his collection on Cotton Bureau.
Hey Josh. Gotta say, I have a ton of questions for you so I'm pretty excited about his one.
It seems like your journey to social media superstar status was kickstarted by your coffee cup sketches. It's been a minute since we've seen one though. Was there a particular reason you ended the series or was it just time to move on to new challenges?
I started the coffee cup series in March of 2014. Then, in 2018, I successfully crowdfunded a book using the publisher Unbound.com out of the UK. Eventually, the work that went into creating that book, writing it, designing it, and coming up with rewards for all the different support levels for the people who contributed to it wrung me out creatively. And having this anthology, this tangible complete thought as far as the coffee cups went, felt like the logical end to the series.
Plus, drawing on coffee cups was a massive pain in the ass. I was ready to return to nice, simple, traditional flat media.
Your work has a very unique tone. Let's call it… sarcastic. Do you feel your satire is more prevalent in your art than in your personal interactions?
Personal interactions? I've barely left my house over the last three years. The pandemic permitted me to fan the flames of my most reclusive tendencies, so most of my human-to-human interactions are limited to the barista working the window at Starbucks and the cashier who's forced to help me when I miss-scan something at the self-checkout at the grocery store.
So, yes, most of my sarcasm is dedicated to my creative work, save a small percentage I expend in self-defense as my grown children insist on making fun of me at every opportunity.
Everything feels so serious today, which is why I think your humorous takes are needed in our current environment. Have you found any other outlets that complement your disposition? Standup comedy, script writing, podcasting, etc…?
Everything is serious, and when the news cycle is like this, I find it hard to create cartoons or anything humorous. While I agree it's needed more than ever, the weight of the world also makes everything I do seem trite and pointless. I know that sounds depressing, but it reminds me of the scene from the movie Moneyball when Brad Pitt (playing Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane) comes into the clubhouse to find players joking around and dancing to "We Want the Funk" by Parliament Funkadelic after a loss. He smashes the radio with a baseball bat, stares them down, and asks, "Is losing fun? IS LOSING FUN?" The player who had been dancing on a table humbly admits, "No," to which Beane responds, "So, what are you having fun for?"
I hate to say it, but that's the way I feel when I think about posting some drawing out of my sketchbook or working on a silly comic. With all this hate and suffering, what am I having fun for? It's not a healthy attitude, I know – being a sensitive artist is stupid.
But to answer your question, I've returned to my roots over the last year, filling up sketchbooks with drawings and comic ideas. I hope to return to posting things that other people can enjoy, but for the time being, I'm focusing on just entertaining myself.
Your cartoon setup-to-punchline equation is dang near perfect in my mind. Do you have a cartoon influence? Either in artistic terms or delivery style…
I have so many influences, but Gary Larson of The Far Side is one of my all-time favorites and who I most tried to emulate when I was starting out. Most of all, I loved his ability to create one singular, timeless joke. And while I loved to draw, my ability to redraw the same characters repeatedly, like Bill Watterson of Calvin & Hobbes fame, was a non-starter. Thus, the single-panel comic was always my muse, which made the coffee cups a natural fit at the start.
You've worked on a few books at this point. Tell me how the process differs from individual illustrations to integration within a story. Is it difficult to create in linear terms?
I've worked on two books over the last five years. My All the Coffee Cups anthology and I illustrated a children's book about inclusion called Some People Do, written by Frank Lowe (a friend of mine from Twitter.) The coffee cup book was fun to write because it was me poring over the entire project, cup by cup, and featuring the best of the 500+ I created over the years. It wasn't an easy process, but it turned out just as I wanted, which still feels like a heck of an accomplishment.
As far as the children's book goes, that was hard for a different reason. It required so many different drawings, and it took me so much longer than I ever anticipated to complete. When you add my tendency to procrastinate almost everything, it required a mad scramble to finish by the final deadline.
While both experiences were mostly positive, I don't recommend it to others looking to get into the book game. It's expensive and time-consuming, and there is only a return for your effort if you're a celebrity with a massive audience or have an exceptional book agent. I'm not jaded.
OK, I'm a little jaded.
I think my favorite CB design of yours is the Carbs hat. So very important question: In or out on the Chick-Fil-A Pimento sandwich?
The "Carbs" design is the most popular thing I created on Cotton Bureau. As far as that Chick-fil-A pimento sandwich goes, I still can't believe the food stylist didn't throw up 1,000 red flags and encourage the powers that be to tank that from the menu as soon as they saw what they were working with. It looks like cat vomit on a chicken sandwich, and I want to know what kind of person in the world looks at those ads and is like, "Oh yeah, I'm all in on THAT." I'm nauseous even talking about it.
As a company HQ'd in a city with a minor identity crisis (is Pittsburgh Midwest? East coast? Appalachia?), I'm interested in how you view your hometown of Columbus. Do you feel like there's a supportive art community?
As far as Columbus goes, it has an amazingly supportive art community. When my cups initially went viral, I was featured in the local paper a few times and had invitations to be on the news (which I declined because no).
The Ohio State University also has the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum, which boasts one of the most significant archives of comic and cartoon art worldwide. Every October, the city hosts CXC: Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, a big convention featuring tons of artists from all over the country. I've never gone because I'm basically a shut-in at this point (like Maurice Sendak with far less talent), but it's nice to know it's there.
We've covered a variety of projects you've worked on in the past, but what comes next for you? Any interest in dabbling with AI art? I'm always interested to see what influential people in this space are expecting for the future.
Honestly, I'm not sure what's going to be next. While my social media production has stopped, I'm still churning out new ideas on the daily. Like most of us, I’ve poked around ChatGPT but I'm not into AI from a visual perspective. Art & technology have always been intertwined, but something about AI art kinda bums me out.
I guess I feel like most artists have already been robbed by social media platforms and AI generated art feels like an extension of that. Artists, comedians, and other content creators made all these platforms more fun to visit, and how did they get repaid? Their audiences were held hostage by the all-knowing algorithm.
Which is why I’ve always loved partnering with Cotton Bureau*. You guys saw the immense amount of creativity that was unlocked and found a way for artists to make money on their talent. We upload a fun design, and you do all the hard stuff – the printing, the shipping, the customer service and the keeping track of everything. And while I haven’t made a million bucks doing it, it’s definitely helped me keep cash loaded on my Starbucks app, and that alone is something to be thankful for.
* I just want to highlight I was not asked to say anything nice about Cotton Bureau before the interview – I just wanted to make sure to give them credit for being one of the good companies out there supporting artists and designers and helping them do more of what they do best..
Sure, we’ve found creative ways to use social media and some of us have been lucky enough to build big audiences. But in doing so we made Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and whatever fun to visit because audiences loved being able to get something funny, cute, awe-inspiring or interesting every single time they signed onto them.
Well, we couldn't love that response more (and it's not just because of the CB praise). You bring such a unique perspective and candidness. This definitely did not disappoint. Thanks so much Josh!
Hey there, and welcome to Feature Friday #008, our series highlighting some of the incredible people on Cotton Bureau. You can find Sheri on Instagram and around the web. You can also shop her collection on Cotton Bureau.
Hiiii, how's it going? Are you still located in Milwaukee? What's your work life looking like these days?
I am still in Milwaukee! I actually just moved to a new house in the area. It's a fixer upper, and I work from home for both my day job and my independent illustration/design work, so things are a little extra chaotic right now! I'm looking forward to getting a dedicated workspace set up again soon. Right now I need to be flexible with where I work, so I've been focusing on smaller ink drawings in my sketchbook and digital illustrations on my ipad, both of which are easy to take from room to room and outside! Once I have a dedicated creative space set up again, I want to start working on some larger concepts I have brewing in the back of my mind.
Oh that's so fun (and stressful)! Fixer uppers are the best. Do you ever incorporate your art into your living spaces? I'm imagining little Sheri 'easter eggs' all over your house now haha. Maybe a tiny drawn penguin dancing down the hallway? If it were my house, Mr. Bones the Flamingo would for sure be painted on the wall in the office.
I definitely incorporate my art into my living spaces! Since this house is a fixer upper, everything is in a temporary place right now, but my husband and I are still hanging up art wherever we can to make it feel like home. I have a series of large acrylic paintings I did several years ago that have moved with us many times and have become signature pieces for our walls, as well as some newer illustrations (like the penguin!), which have made their way into the rotation. I usually hang a combination of my favorite old and new work along with many artists I admire. It makes the environment feel more personal and creatively inspiring. Also, I love the idea of Mr. Bones the Flamingo earning a spot in your office!
Ah that's awesome. Sounds like you're really making the space work nicely for y'all.
I've noticed a lot of your art includes animals. Have any pets we should know about? I'd love to hear about the unimpressed giraffe roaming your back yard but if you have dogs or cats that's cool too.
Animals are definitely my favorite subject matter to illustrate. And I've always secretly wanted a miniature giraffe as a pet. Can you imagine a tiny one?! It would be amazing.
As for more standard pets, I love both dogs and cats. I grew up with some deeply loyal dogs and had an intense, but handsome cat for a while as an adult. Unfortunately, I've developed allergies to both cats and dogs. So now I just enjoy my friends' pets when I visit and make sure to take extra allergy meds. I tend to be the person who is playing on the floor with the dogs and cats. I can't help myself!
Wow, I never knew I needed a mini giraffe but now I'm pretty sure there's nothing I want more. Have you seen a giraffe fight though? I'm not sure if the mini guys go around whacking things with their long necks but maybe clear all lower shelves in your house just in case.
So what else are you up to these days? Any hobbies we should know about? Have you joined the pickleball craze?
I have seen giraffes fight! It's incredible and terrifying! Clearing off the lower shelves to accommodate your mini giraffe seems like a good call. :)
No pickleball for me! When I'm not drawing, I'm usually writing. I've been on a poetry kick lately. I share a lot of my writing and a behind the scenes look at my illustration and design practice in my Substack Newsletter. I also write, perform, and record music for fun. My most recent project is called Bring Us the Stars. My husband and I along with two of our closest friends collaborated on two EPs long-distance during COVID. I designed the album art and a bunch of merch because, as you know, I love designing t-shirts.
Dang, that's awesome! The Enemy is going to be stuck in my head all day now, so catchy. Really cool to see y'all made the best of COVID. Was the long distance a challenge with recording?
Recording long distance worked really well for building off of each other's ideas and getting song structures and arrangements in place. We all used the same recording program (Cakewalk) and shared files in Google Drive. We captured some of the final instrumental takes long distance, but for vocals, we converted our front closet into a vocal booth and did all the final takes in person once the vaccine was available and things were a little less scary!
Wow it's so neat to hear the stories of how people overcame the challenges that came with social distancing and all the uncertainty we were facing in the world. It's wild looking back, and inspiring really when you take the time to think about everything you accomplished despite the obstacles.
Well hey, it was so nice catching up with you Sheri. Good luck with the renovations and I can't wait to see what you're up to next!
Thanks! It was great chatting with you about creative pursuits, tiny giraffes, and all the rest! I have many more designs brewing that I can't wait to add here on Cotton Bureau. If you'd like to keep tabs on my creative work, subscribe to my Substack Newsletter or follow me on Instagram for the latest.
It's another designer interview! Welcome to Feature Friday #007, our series highlighting some of the incredible people on Cotton Bureau. This week we have space design extraordinaire Justin Van Genderen. You can find him on Instagram and around the web. You can also shop his collection on Cotton Bureau.
Your space tees are some of our favorite designs on the site. So let's jump right into things with a hard hitting question. You get one shot: Who is your first spaceflight with? Virgin, Blue Origin, or Space X?
Ha! Good Question. Truth be told I am not much of a thrill seeker, so I guess if Blue Origin can send up 90-year-old William Shatner without much issue that may be the ride for me.
To be fair, Bill Shatner is immortal but ok, let’s get serious. What is it that draws you to space themed designs? Is it something that you’re personally fascinated by or is it just a subject that allows for maximum imagination when creating?
I would say both those are very true, I am endlessly fascinated by space/exploration/engineering, and I love the sci-fi aesthetic that comes along with space design. But what really got me started down this path was a curiosity in life's "big questions". Where do we come from? How is truth defined? What can I do as an individual to point consciousness in a beneficial/helpful way towards the values I hold in high regard? It all started with physics and led me to applications put forth by space agencies/companies. You did say let's get serious, right?
Well I was thinking more along the lines of let's-talk-inspiration not let's-contemplate-existence but this is so much better. While we're here, can I ask what you've discovered through your examination of these big questions? Not to get too personal but how have any answers you've found impacted the way you approach your work?
I find it fascinating to explore people's professional direction when it's so strongly guided by their personal journey. And that seems to be much more common in this field than in others.
I don't know that I've really come up with any answers to these questions, or at least any good ones - It's usually the questions that drive me. However, one discovery that has impacted my visual approach is a parallel I found between the great modernist designers of the 50's & 60's and the work of theoretical science/physics. Both, in a sense, are attempting to find a stripped down, beautiful, way to solve a problem.
With physics it comes into play with the search for a unifying theory between the ultra big (black holes) and subatomic worlds. With the modernist movement it is a stripping away of all that is unnecessary to communicate clearly and beautifully. So with my designs I am hoping to find a simple, beautiful way to communicate some of the fundamental laws of the universe... and of course make some bomb-ass-cool space stuff.
Now that makes sense. I think. Honestly the physics stuff is a little above my pay grade but I can definitely say mission accomplished for the bomb-ass-cool space stuff.
Let's continue with the subject of physics and how time doesn't exist and whether or not we're really even here (see: pay grade). What does the future look like for your industry? The art and design world has changed so much in the last few years. From COVID limiting event opportunities, the social media landscape, uh, progressing, and now AI becoming more mainstream. Where is design headed? Sorry, but at this point we've moved past the cupcake questions like 'why are we here.'
Ha, fair enough. Yes, the design world always seems to be in flux. With a field that is so dependent on technology and with technology advancing at incredible speeds, us freelance creatives are always trying to keep up. All of it seems very much out of our control, so my approach is to concentrate on what I do have control over, and that is my work. If every day I try to create something that makes me a healthier, happier person, that is what I try to concentrate on. All the other stuff, AI, social media, technology... I attempt to keep tabs on, but always with a playful interest, not fearful anxiety.
That's a super grounded outlook. And really it's the only way to analyze design tech without losing your mind. At this point the trajectory seems to be that advancements work as tools, not replacements. So let's scale it down to the human level. Chicago is obviously big enough that it can support every community. But what is specifically great about the local design scene there? Does the size make it more difficult to stand out or easier to be seen?
To be perfectly honest with you it's such a big city with so many different artists it's very hard to lump them all together. If there is one common thread it may be the blue collar, midwestern mindset of putting in the work. In other words, don't tell me, show me. Show me the work is important to you. Hone your craft. Put in the hours.
With so many artists it can be hard to stand out, but even on a local level I think the internet plays a big role in the exposure you get. There are a lot of talented street artists and screen printers in the area and every one I talk to has plenty of work on their plate, so it feels like a great city to work in.
There might be enough work on everyones' plates, but is there any deep dish pizza on them? I sampled 3 different pizzerias while in Chicago recently. Can't say I had high praise for any of them. Is deep dish pizza the most overrated food in the country or did I just have a bad experience?
You didn't hear it from me, but I tend to agree. I grew up on the east coast, and still favor the east coast style of Pizza. The deep dish???? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh, at first you're like, wow this is so much cheese... I love cheese! But then you grow up and learn you should probably not mess with a good thing. Listen, Chicago has a lot going for it food-wise these days, but deep dish pizza??? Just not my thang, and apparently not yours either. Next time you're here let me know and I'll show you the good food places.
I'm absolutely going to hold you to that. And just so you know, next Chicago visit I'm really honing in on the Italian beef.
Alright you've been a great sport so we'll get you out of here on this one: What is next for you? Any cool projects you're working on now or maybe one coming up that you're excited about?
You're definitely in the right town for Italian Beef.
I've got a few projects going on right now that I am very excited about - I'm not sure if I can share details about them quite yet but they are all for JPL/NASA. I still have to pinch myself every time I get to work with actual NASA scientists on a project. Hopefully we will be done in the next few months and I can share all the good stuff we are working on. As always, I'll be creating new stuff surrounding any new scientific discoveries/news etc...
Thanks for talking with me about all this stuff, I had fun. Cotton Bureau is a great place to quickly get a tee up and available. The design of the website is bar-none the cleanest and most beautiful I have had the pleasure of using. Congrats on all the success.
Working with NASA definitely qualifies as a ✌️cool project✌️ in our book. We'll be paying close attention to your Voyager. And thank you so much for the kind words about CB! Designers like you make such a Deep Impact in this special community. Wishing you best of luck on your future Endeavors!
Ok that's all the space craft puns I can fit into one paragraph so we better end it there 😉
