How much creativity can be produced within one co-working space? Plenty, if you consider that this personality-packed workspace — courtesy of illustrator, art director, and artist Will Bryant — is within a stone’s throw of the desk of Kate Bingaman-Burt, an illustrator who gave us a look around her office digs just last month. Get a new perspective on their shared studio (also the headquarters for three other illustrators/designers) in this newest tour from Portland, Oregon.

Tell us a little about yourself and your background. I am an easygoing, light-hearted Southern gentleman with a knack for goofing around. I work as an independent illustrator, art director, and artist in Portland, Oregon. As an artist I work in sculpture, events, drawing, painting, and printmaking.

I grew up in a small town in East Texas playing sports, trying to charm my neighbors, and obsessing over Michael Jordan. My family is all from Mississippi, so I spent summers there and eventually attended Mississippi State University. I had no clue what graphic design was or that I was going to major in it. I am very fortunate that Kate Bingaman-Burt, long-time friend and mentor, was starting out her teaching career there. She, among other faculty members, had a huge impact on me. Being in a secluded Southern town with very few design agencies and resources, I developed the ability to display my personality on the internet. I made friends! (Not in real life, but was in dialogue with contemporary designers and illustrators.) I was making piles of work and trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

I began throwing themed dance parties under the persona “The Hooded Deer,” which brought together an amazing community. What started as a DIY house party quickly exploded into a collaborative production with a huge stage and professional lighting and sound. It was an over-stimulating, excessively visual bombardment of positive energy and healthy dancing. It was about sharing music, having a positive attitude, and creating the opportunity for people to have a good time, frat brothers and art students alike.

After graduating, I married my childhood sweetheart and we moved to Austin, Texas. There, I expanded my style and voice at Public School, a studio composed of designers, illustrators, and photographers. For almost three years I learned about the business side of freelancing and worked on numerous collaborative projects with some amazing folks.

In 2011, we moved to Portland so I could pursue an MFA in Contemporary Art Practice and teach alongside Kate at Portland State University. For two years I immersed myself in unfamiliar territory (Contemporary Art) and tried to once again find myself, but in a new way. I tried to experiment, absorb, and challenge myself in this new territory. What I discovered was that there isn’t much distinction between my work and me as a person. At first I thought of having a split studio practice of commercial work and exhibition work. But it’s not really split; it’s mashed together, blurring the lines between the two.

My work stems from Push Pin Studios, Space Jam, Memphis Group (especially Sottsass & Shire), Saul Steinberg, Pee Wee’s Playhouse, Geoff McFetridge, Andy Warhol, Talking Heads, and Hannah Barbera/Looney Tunes cartoons. Lately, I’ve been into the work of Matt Connors, Brian Bress, Julia Dault, Wendy White, Alex De Corte, Ben Medansky, and Anna Lomax.

I have just completed my MFA, so what’s next? I am easing back into full-time freelance work and will also continue teaching and working on personal projects (in and around the art world). I hope to do more installations, pattern-based projects, and sculptural work.

Tell us about your studio space. What’s the aesthetic? What do you like or dislike about it? My space, aka “Will’s World,” has beautiful light, high ceilings, and great energy from wonderful people. The aesthetic is a “controlled color blast hyper field”—think Pee Wee meets Jock Jams meets the trippy star gate scene from “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

In response to my space, my friend Nicole said, “I am looking inside your head, or your inbox, or your bookmarks folder: this is perfect!” There’s a lot happening on the walls, but my desk is relatively clean. Everything has a place. My wall is covered with inspiring things that other people have made and some things I have made. At Public School, I had it mostly tucked in flat files or in boxes. Now it exists above my head as constant hovering confetti. It makes me so very happy! What would I change? I am planning on investing in an even nicer task chair and would eventually like to replace the desk itself with a custom table with brightly powder-coated legs from my talented friend Eric Trine.

My secondary space is at my home — upstairs next to my wife’s office. I have a beautiful George Nelson Swag Leg Desk that I use for reading, correspondence, and drawing (no India ink!). There’s not as much personality going on up there, but I’ll likely make some changes since I am finished with school.

Give us a little info on your background. I make drawings and images for books, posters, packaging, advertising, animation, and magazines, which I’ve been doing for nearly 10 years. I stumbled upon illustration in a roundabout way. It started with a Graphic Design elective in the School of Mass Communication at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The instructor of that course, Michael Signorella, offered me a job on the last day of class. I went to work the very next day, skipping my graduation ceremony to go start designing and spent three years learning on the job the ins and outs of typography, visual communication, color, and composition. I entered school as a music major, playing drums, so it’s anyone’s guess that nearly 18 years later I would be a visual artist and designer. I moved to New York in 2002 and it’s there that I eventually quit working as a full-time designer and started my own one-man business as an artist, illustrator, and letterer.

Tell us about yourself and your work: what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. My work is a mix of drawings, and painted and inked shapes that are scanned into my Mac and then pieced together into a final illustration. I most often look back to mid-century designers, vintage children’s books, tattered record sleeves, and old-fashioned book jackets for inspiration. The goal is for my work to be truthful to what is happening in this moment — reflect contemporary culture — while holding on to some simplicity and innocence embodied by images used in commercial art of the past. Since I wasn’t formerly trained as an artist, a lot of what I do is rough around the edges, so to speak, and I think there’s something to be said for approaching art and design from an indirect or obtuse route — working around limitations and personal quirks to solve a visual problem. I’m currently illustrating and writing children’s books and hope to have kids of my own someday. If all goes to plan, my kids will have a library of books made by their dad. In addition to my books and other commercial work for print, I’ve been directing and designing animated videos and I’m excited to see where that goes.

Give us a little insight into your background. I am an artist by nature and a graphic designer by profession. I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember. My earliest memories are of my mother drawing words in bubble letters and me coloring them in. As a child, I was an avid comic book collector, often doodling my own comics mostly consisting of army ants and nuclear dinosaurs. After high school, I enrolled at the Art Institute of California’s San Diego campus. I knew I wanted to do something creative for a living and I liked working with computers, so it was an easy decision to major in graphic design. While in school, I worked part-time for a print shop near campus, learning the in-and-out’s of the print industry. The hands-on experience I was learning at the shop was more than I was learning at school, so I left college after two years and returned home to the Bay area. I put together a portfolio of school projects so I could look for a job. It turned out the print company who printed my portfolio was looking for a designer, so I began working for them. I bounced around different print shops for about eight years before starting my own business as a freelance graphic designer and print broker.

What year was your studio established? What led to that point? I began working in my current studio in 2004. While in college, I began experimenting on canvas. I was interested in showing art in galleries and began submitting my work to group shows in the area. The living room of my apartment quickly became my studio: art on one side, design on the other, somewhere in the middle was the couch, TV, and other clutter. It was obvious that I needed a dedicated creative space, but I didn’t have much money, as the print shop I worked for wasn’t paying much.

My grandfather, a retired general contractor, built a workshop in the early 1980s for his wood-working hobbies. The space was perfect — he had everything an artist needed: a light table, a projector, a large drafting table, and a wood-burning stove to keep warm on cold days. He loved working with his hands and his personal projects kept him young. We ended up sharing the studio for few years until he passed at the age of 92. Times working next to him, often on the same project, are some of my fondest memories with him. I’ve continued to work in the studio, transforming it to suit my needs, but still leaving room for his wood-working tools.

Tell us what you’re passionate about, what inspires you, and where you’re going. Art and design consume most of my time. When I’m not creating, I’m studying other artists work and technique, researching future pieces, and day-dreaming about what they might look like. I also love baseball. I find it most relaxing to work in the studio with a Giants baseball game on the radio. Though I wouldn’t consider myself a math brain, I’m fascinated by the statistics and percentages in sports.

What inspires me is always hard to answer. The world around me is inspiring. Daily experiences, my friends — most of whom are artists and designers. I’m inspired by books because I like to imagine what the story looks like. Dreams often find their way into my work. Architecture blows my mind, especially Victorian-era buildings.

I can’t tell you where I’m going because I don’t think I know myself. I love being creative. I’m fortunate to have the resources and space I have. Art has taken me on some incredible experiences. With every show and mural, I become more confident that art is where I need to be focusing my time. Not knowing what’s next inspires me to work harder. I have faith that everything will work out and that if you concentrate on something long enough, anything is obtainable.

Were there any special considerations that influenced the studio’s set-up? What would you change if you could? The studio space is special to me for the very fact that I’m carrying on something my grandfather started. The space itself isn’t very big. One room, about 400 square feet. No running water, but lucky for me, there’s a faucet nearby to wash brushes. The heater is a wood-burning stove, but the climate in California is pretty mild and I don’t build a lot of fires. The space is perfect for what I need it for. I have room to paint, shelves for supplies, and desk for my computer. Yogi, the sweetest 13-year-old dog ever, keeps me company every day, often laying at my feet while I work. I wish the space was a little larger and had more natural lighting, but I make it work.

You have an Embody Chair and your grandfather’s Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman in the studio. Tell us how these both came to be. I do design work for Trope Group in Santa Rosa, CA. On occasion, I go into the office to discuss design and marketing strategies. They have a showroom where I enjoy test-driving the chairs on display. I’m not one to splurge on office furniture. Most of what I have now are hand-me-downs or pieces donated from past employers. I liked to imagine how nice it would be to have a real office chair. And then I sat down in an Embody chair and fell in love. The relief it gave my back was instantly noticeable. So I bought one and use it every day. I’ve yet to regret the purchase for a second. I love the look on someone’s face when they sit in the chair for the first time.

The Eames Lounge is something that I’ve known my whole life. It’s been in the family longer than I have. As a child, I remember curling up and napping in it, waiting for the adults to finish talking about things I didn’t understand. I never knew anything about the chair until a few years ago. It was always just a comfortable leather chair that was great to sit in with a good book or listen to music. So out of curiosity, I asked my mother about chair. This is the story she told me.

“In the summer of 1963, we moved into a 1940′s stucco house in San Anselmo. It had a large, well-lit area — empty except for a dining table and three chairs at one end, a hi-fi at the other, four Parsons-style end tables, and a matching coffee table (made by my cabinetmaker grandfather). It was the heyday of Swedish modern, and my parents were both working and had saved enough money to have — for the first time in their lives — a living room that was in style.

So off we went one Saturday to buy furniture in San Francisco. It’s probable that from his former profession in architecture, my dad had cards that got him into high-quality showrooms.

I was 16, the decorating gene had skipped me. What I loved were books, so armed with a copy of ‘Betsy in Spite of Herself’ by Maud Hart Lovelace (Betsy and I were the same age), I planned to spend the day reading in comfortable chairs.

They bought, that day, a mustard and grey Swedish modern sofa, a black Swedish modern chair, and a 3″ x 5″ red Rya rug. I was underwhelmed: they were uncomfortable and, to my eyes, ugly; the mustard was a disgusting color and all three items were wool — to which I was allergic.

However, I’d had a splendid time with Betsy, curled up in a seriously comfortable chair. When they were ready to leave, they came to find me. ‘Do we have to leave?’ I asked, stretching in the Eames Lounge.

They looked, not at me, but at the chair. They knew what it was; they’d admired Charles and Ray Eames for years. And they needed one more chair.

The rest is history. If you look at the feet, you’ll see scratch marks from Jack, the Springer spaniel puppy who hated being left alone and took it out on the furniture: he gnawed the Eames Chair legs, jumped on the coffee table so often his claws gouged out long tracks, and tore up feather pillows on the Rya rug. So much for style.”

Photos: Ricky Watts

How long have you worked from home? I’ve been working from home in some form or another for the past 14 years. I’ve stolen hours where I can find them in between sleep and my various day jobs, so home has always been a continuous place of work.

Tell us a bit about your work? I wear a lot of hats around here including graphic designer, painter, boss lady, blogger and interiors consultant. By day I’m a Senior Lead Product Designer at Yahoo! and in all my in-between hours I’m running the studio here producing work for personal clients. Most of my fine art clients reside in New York, San Francisco, London and Sydney with work in both private and corporate collections. Graphic design clients include Taschen, GOOD Magazine and design shops like Rare Device and Renegade Handmade. I produce a wide range of products like interactive user interfaces, paintings, illustrations, logos, and infographics.

How big is your work space? The loft is 2200 square feet on the ground floor where most of the work occurs. Larger art pieces are transported in through the heavy double wooden doors. The living area upstairs has been deemed a no work zone.

Is there any form of technology that really inspires you? I’m a bit old school. Blank paper and canvas still get the best response out of me because that’s where all my ideas start. Technical drawing pencils also get me excited. But if I had to pick a newer item, I’d definitely say high-end audio headphones. I’m a bit of a collector and audiophile when it comes to them and the bigger the better. I love headphones where the modern components are hidden inside retro looking shells.

What desk accessory can’t you do without? My orange flip clock. I can hear the gears grinding and it keeps me on task. It’s a stunning bit of machinery and always gorgeous to look at. When the days and nights blur together as I obsess over another project, it reminds me where and when I am.

Do you have any tips for organizing a home work space? I live and work in basically a large rectangular box. If something is out of place or disorganized you notice it pretty quickly. To stay organized means knowing my limits when it comes to how much I can store. The loft has no built in storage so supplies are kept to the level of what’s necessary to complete the job. Paintings are often hung to maximize the immense wall space and serve as a gallery display when clients come over for viewings. I also tend to group and organize items by colour so that they give the appearance of being part of a related group. My biggest secret is that my vintage lunch box collection serves double duty as a filing system for important papers and business receipts. Finding creative ways to keep organized allows me to keep the space from getting too cluttered.

How long have you been working from home? I’ve been working here for two years now. Over the last fifteen years I’ve worked in a variety of  studios as well as home workspaces, and I’ve got to say this is the best situation yet. Berlin apartments are huge and this one used to be three apartments. So the “commute” from home to work is, if not actually long, at least noticeable… but I can still easily start at 5am or have a mid-day nap if the mood takes me. (Below is a billboard illustration Alexander did for Australia’s Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.)

What’s a typical day like for you? Drawing at my lightbox while consuming a steady stream of radio documentaries from NPR, ABC and BBC. I have just spent a week in Italy and am itching to assume my favourite position at the drawing table again. It’s an addiction. Of course once the drawings are done I need to scan them over on the “computer desk”. It doesn’t have the drawing table’s sunny window position – so I make a quick retreat as soon as possible.

What do you like most about your space and is there anything you would change? I love that it’s a space all to myself, but that I can go to the next room for feedback/input/conversation from my husband, who is currently converting his space into a painting/sculpture/music studio. Our dog, Mr Tom shares his time between us – usually switching studios depending on who has the most food. I also love being surrounded by books. The only thing I would love to have is a view to the beach, or a tropical rainforest. Moving from Australia to Berlin does has some downsides.

I notice on your desk you’ve got lots of interesting objects. Can you share some of your favorites with us? Above my desk you can see the edge of a poster for Jacques Tati’s Mon Uncle – which, like so many things from Europe, I actually bought in Japan. Tove Jansson’s Moomins, her books “Who will comfort Toffle” and “The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My” and the box set of stop-motion animations from Film Polski are always within reaching distance. She is one of my greatest inspirations. You can also see a Porcelain Elephant money-box (designed by Luigi Colani for the Dresdner bank) and a ceramic jar from Nymolle – a Danish company that Bjorn Wiinblad designed for before he began to work primarily with Rosenthal. The Nymolle pieces are my favourite examples of Bjorn Wiinblad’s work – I’ve always been drawn to mono-coloured design and illustration – and I love that his work which would probably now be dismissed as “for children” is for everyone.

Do you have any tips for organizing your home office space? Feeling comfortable and cosy is very important to me – and surrounding myself with furniture and objects that inspire and excite me, makes me want to be in my studio more than anywhere else. The more teak and porcelain, the more likely I’ll stay. If only I had teak desks…

1. An Accident of Hope Summer Pierre is an illustrator and author of The Artist in The Office: How to Creatively Survive and Thrive Seven Days a Week. Her blog is heartwarming, smart and packed with interesting interviews about people’s work lives. Where to start: The John Porcellino interview.

2. Contemporist Launched in 2007 this picture-driven site showcases great new design and contemporary architecture from around the globe. Where to start: Click on architecture for some great projects.

3. Blue Ant Studio If you like mid-century design you’ll love this blog. Where to start: The Art Studio. I love the Chair Exam poster.

4. The Office Stylist For everything you ever wanted to know about a home office. Where to start: A great post on hiding cables – the bane of every home office.

5. Arch Daily You will never need to buy another architecture magazine again. It’s all here. Where to start: Check out building of the year. There’s some incredible work here.

How long have you worked from home…and where is ‘home’? Home is in upstate New York, a little town between Ithaca and Binghamton. I’ve worked from here for just under one year.

What does an average work day involve? I have two kids under the age of three, so my day starts pretty early. I work between naps and late at night, whenever I can find a free moment to jump on the computer or sneak into the studio.

Is there any form of technology that really inspires you and helps in your work? I’m absolutely addicted to our MacBook Pro. I was reluctant to make such a big purchase (and argued with my husband about it), but it quickly became my favorite thing.

How do you organize your space? I’m thinking here of your physical space but also your virtual space (any particular software or program that helps keep things under control?) If my space isn’t organized I feel overwhelmed, so I‘m always trying to come up with new systems to help. This also applies to my desktop; it needs to be clutter-free or I freak out. The software programs that I use most are Bridge and Photoshop. I’m a visual person and Bridge is great for organizing images.

What item from your desktop can you not do without? Super sharp pencils and Pilot precise pens are must-haves.

What piece of office furniture would you most like to change? I’d like more storage, so I would probably change my desk. If I had time to sit at my desk for more than a fifteen-minute stretch, I’d definitely have to change my chair. For now everything seems to be okay though.

What inspires you? The little moments in life are what inspire me the most. Seeing my sleepy children in the morning; watching my husband play outside with our two-year-old; long games of Scrabble; red wine and good food; lingering visits from friends and family; those are the moments that I’m talking about.

Artist Mike Perry has taken a design classic – the Eames rocking chair – and given it a very interesting makeover. Grace posted a nice piece on the chair over at Design*Sponge. I contacted Mike and he’s going to give us an interview so keep an eye out for his wild workspace.

Here’s our Monday morning bulletin board. The coolest thing about this – besides its intrinsic beauty – is that you can go to Flickr and see how it has changed over time. I’m afraid I can’t give you a whole lot of information about the creator of this board. His profile on Flickr is spare and I haven’t heard back from him yet. I do know he is an artist and lives in Prague. I’ll keep you updated.

Artist Matte Stephens has worked with a variety of clients such as IBM, Disney, Boston Globe and American Express. His paintings have graced the spaces of Jonathan Adler, Rare Device and Velocity Art and Design.

Matte lives and works in a beautiful mid-century modern home in the southwest corner of Portland, Oregon.  His studio is warm and cozy, and filled with objects that tempt and tease the eye. I spoke to Matte about his inspiring workspace and it’s effect on his painting.

How long have you been working from home? Around 15 years. My first real space was a basement with no furniture and canvases on the floor. I’m very  happy with the way it is now.

What do you like most about your workspace? I like that it is small. I have had a large workroom and it was hard for me to keep up with everything I need. Now I have everything within arms reach.  I have really enjoyed the Eames Storage Units. I keep all of my art supplies in the one right of my desk and it really helps keep my room tidy and looks great. Organizing my workroom has always been a challenge. I work in a traditional medium, so there is a lot of stuff that goes along with it.

Looking around your studio it’s obvious you have a love for mid century design. How and when did you first become interested in the furniture of this time period? I was introduced by a librarian in my home town in Alabama when I was around 20. I had found a copy of The Herman Miller Collection published by Schiffer Books and I have loved everything mid century modern ever since. After that one of my first art dealer’s father was a Herman Miller representative during the 50′s 60′s and 70′s in northern Alabama. He had all sorts of mid century things in his home and office. He gave me my first Eames shell chair.

What are some of your favorite objects in your studio? I really love a pair of  wooden eggs that I have that are attributed to Alexander Girard, two 1960′s elves that I have had for years that bring me luck,  a few vintage Herman Miller ads signed by Irving Harper who has been very kind to me over the last few years with his time, advice and friendship. [Harper designed Herman Miller's logo]

Do you feel that your working environment has any influence over your painting? To me it’s the most important thing when working at home to have an inspiring workroom. I spend a lot of time in the room so I have tried to make it as inspiring  and comfortable as possible. As you can see I love mid century design and I feel its one of my main influences. Being able to live with and work with good design makes everything more efficient and it’s just great stuff.

Editors note: There is more about Matte on Dave Cuzner’s blog – Grain Edit. ]]> http://www.hermanmiller.com/lifework/graphic-inspiration/feed/ 15