For this month's Q&A we catch up with the Brooklyn-based graphic, interactive, and architecture multi-disciplinary design studio, WSDIA – WeShouldDoItAll. WSDIA is Jonathan Jackson, Jared Seavers, and Sarah Nelson. Their studio's name is simply a goal, they say. They think designers and all other professionals alike should not feel constrained to singular expertise. They design, develop and mediate interactive, print, motion and architecture projects for a diverse group of clients in a wide array of professions, such as the arts, architecture, advertising, fashion and media. The three twenty-somethings are ADC Young Guns and are currently designing the ADC Young Guns 6 identity. When they are not busy playing wiffleball, basketball, or watching The Wire, these three are using their multi-disciplinary skills and approaching design with an open-eyed perspective. Interviewed by Regan Murphy, regan@adcglobal.org.

Sarah: I studied Graphic Design and Art History at Boston University then came to New York three years ago, met Jonathan online on My Space. I liked his work, he liked mine, so we started working together and it took off from there.

Jared: I went to Kent State and so did Jonathan. I started studying fashion, then switched to English. I moved to New York three years ago and started working at a denim company called Earnest Sewn, and I still work for them as well as for WSDIA.

Jonathan: My degree is in architecture. I worked for two architecture firms (Archi-Tectonics & ROY) when I first arrived in New York. But I couldn't work for other people, so I had the idea of starting my own office and since Jared and I worked so well together in the past, we decided to try it once again. Then I met Sarah a year later.

Sarah: I intended to start out at a big advertising agency and I am glad I didn't do that. Working at a small studio means seeing every project through all steps. There's something so valuable in being hands-on with each client on a much more personal level. I don't think this would be the case at a larger company.

Jonathan: I had always thought I should've worked for a graphic design studio, but I decided to just learn on the fly. Plus I am a little hard-headed when it comes to authority so it has worked out for the better.

Jonathan: If an architecture project came in tomorrow I think Jared and Sarah would have just as much of a say of what goes into it because they experience architecture in a totally different way than I would, and that input is needed and valued. While one of us might lead, we definitely all have an opinion in the project. Each project does have a leader but the other two are deeply involved.

Jonathan: The whole idea of photographing real life objects started with a temporary holding page for the easterndevelopments.com website which was functioning until we finished the real website (just two artists to be displayed). With that stemmed the ADC Young Guns Live poster, in which we used real miniature objects again.
With the Kent State poster we wanted to push the idea of using 'real life' objects in our work a bit further by using 'real' scale objects. The objects we've selected represent the milieu of public lecture archetypes or quite possibly archaic-types, combining the past with the present. The bulk of typography is created in a non-digital way by using bespoke 3-dimensional letters that were mounted to a huge piece of plexi-glass, which hovers over the background objects. The 3D type was produced by Via Letter, in the UK. It was a long two day shoot and the project couldn't have been completed without the help of long time collaborators, photographers Mastromatteo+Steen. I think there is a joy in using real life objects. (See photos and more info on Kent State University project here).

Jared: I think that it is nice to be able to pick and choose projects and have control over the creative leadership, rather than working for someone else.

Jonathan: The best part is being able to call the shots and to have the say in what the final product will be.

Jared: My cliché answer would be dealing with tough clients.

Jonathan: My least favorite aspect is definitely handling the money side of the business. Making sure we get paid on time.

Sarah: That's tough. Personally the hardest aspect is balance. Making sure that we create the best possible work, while still making time for a normal life – sleep, food, getting outside!

Sarah: It was an awesome experience to be part of a group of emerging talents. To have earned that recognition when we are so young and such a small company is an honor.

Jonathan: To add to that, the ADC Young Guns award gave us a sense of arrival. We started this studio in 2004, out of the blue and with no help, and to be positively judged by our peers and others is very nice.

Jonathan: Hhhmmm....That is a tough question to answer, but I'd say submit only your best work, and have a very critical eye when judging your own work.

Jared: And it never hurts to have your friends or people you trust take a look.

Jonathan: Our inspiration for the site was the front entrance porcelain tile wall at the store on Greene Street. When we saw it, we quickly thought to break this wall up into a huge black 'never-ending' field of space and tile. The design expresses both the higher end products that only the Denim Gallery provides but also acts as a clean, luxurious showcase shell for displaying the artwork of shows and events that take place there.

Jonathan: We hope to keep it in the family; there are no intentions to have it grow into a very large company.

Sarah: Working collaboratively with other small (usually friends') companies is something we hope to continue doing. And yes, an intern would be helpful, but for now this is Jonathan's role. Haha.

Jonathan: Our next few projects include an exhibition design at the AIA Center for Architecture, called 'New Practices New York 2008.' It's an exhibition similar to Young Guns, highlighting 4-6 young architectural design studios. Other upcoming projects include two books for the Institute for Urban Design, a website for a musician and more work for the ADC Young Guns. We are in the running for a couple of projects as well, re-branding and a new website for a photography agency, and a couple of environmental graphic projects for a new Brooklyn park and a new building designed by a prominent architecture studio.

Sarah: We recently completed a new logo and site design for friends of ours, a photography studio called Kate and Camilla. The project was about creating a super sterile atmosphere and treating the imagery like little gems. The entire process was really smooth. Two versions were created, one version has the simple straightforward navigation and the other is a bit more playful in its approach.

(Laughter) Jonathan: Nope.

Jonathan: A big influence is any other studio trying to perform multiple types of design and doing each very well.

Sarah: Small companies that stay true to creating stellar work, and remain humble in the process.

Jared: I'd say Jonathan…he's the reason I'm in NY to begin with…

Places you've been
Jared: Japan, Phonecia (NY), Massillon (OH)
Jonathan: Germany, Italy, The Seattle Public Library (best contemporary building I have ever been in)
Sarah: Drews Lake (Maine), Tulum (Mexico), Venice (Italy)

Places you want to go
Jared: Europe, South America, Nigeria
Jonathan: back to Italy, The Netherlands, Los Angeles (never been)
Sarah: Iceland, Japan, and Copenhagen

Websites
Jared: The Style Press, The Sartorialist, weather.com
Jonathan: flickr.com, dezeen.com, archinect.com
Sarah: hopingforhappyaccidents.blogspot.com, epicurious.com, ffffound.com

TV Shows
Jared: Martin, Chappelle Show, The Wire
Jonathan: The Wire, The Wire, The Wire
Sarah: Weeds, The Wire, 30 Rock

Books
Jared: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, White Teeth, Nine Stories
Jonathan: To Kill a Mocking Bird - I mostly read mags
Sarah: The Hottest State, No one belongs here more than you, The Giving Tree

Concerts you have attended
Jared: Femi Kuti, The Roots, Slum Village
Jonathan: Feist, Common, Mos Def
Sarah: Battles, Erykah Badu, Sia

Replenish your paper samples and update your printing knowledge at the ADC Paper Expo - an evening that includes food, drinks, and friends.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008
5:30-8:30 pm
@ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

ADC Members Free
APC, SPD, TDC Members $5.00
Non-Members $10.00
For professionals only. Students are invited to pick up samples on Friday, March 28, 11:00 am-3:00 pm.

Participating Companies: Aldine, Appleton Coated, Crane & Co., Curious Paper, Earth Color, Enterprise, Finch Paper, International Paper, Litho-Art, Mohawk Fine Papers, Monadnock, Neenah Paper, Reich Paper, Sappi, Scheufelen, and Taylor Box.

RSVP online by going here.

PSFK presents a day of trends, inspiration and creative ideas on Thursday, March 27 at the Art Directors Club. Ideal for senior creatives, planners and strategists; PSFK has invited a select group of inspirational speakers to investigate the most pressing themes of 2008.

ADC will invite the audience to brainstorm for social causes, develop programming for Designism 3.0 and unveil Designism Social.

Thursday, March 27, 2008
8:30 am-6:30 pm
@ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

Questions and RSVP: http://www.psfk.com/psfk-conference-new-york

Do you want to join the ranks of Stefan Sagmeister, James Victore, Rei Inamoto, floto+warner, Christoph Niemann, Mike Mills, Bonnie Siegler, Emily Oberman, Todd St. John and the like? Prove it.

If you are age 30 or under and have been working for at least two years in graphic design, illustration, photography, film and video, packaging and environmental design, experimental fashion, interactive media, and/or advertising and publishing, you are eligible to enter ADC Young Guns 6.

Enter your best work April 3-June 2, 2008, through adcyoungguns.org (launching soon!).

Need more? Check out the work of past winners here. Questions? Email noemie@adcglobal.org.

27 Undiscovered Letter finalists. 50 Future ADC Young Guns. One little known fact. Come kick off the launch of ADC Young Guns 6 and see the work of the Undiscovered Letter's 27 finalists.

Guests are invited to disclose a little known fact about themselves - facts will be exhibited anonymously throughout the gallery during the party, and the coolest fact will win a stupendous Adobe prize! Fax anything long or short to 212.643.4266.

Thursday, April 3, 2008
7:30-11pm
@ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

Tickets $20.00
ADC members $14.00

Sponsored by Adobe.

RSVP online by going here.

Stefan Sagmeister was a member of the first ADC Young Guns class (awarded way back in 1996). Astonishingly, Sagmeister has only learned twenty things in his life so far. But he did manage to publish these personal maxims all over the world, in spaces normally occupied by advertisements and promotions: as billboards, projections light boxes, magazine spreads, annual report covers, fashion brochures, and, recently, as giant inflatable monkeys. In this design book for non-designers Sagmeister throws his diary, a lot of design, and a little art together with a pinch of psychology and a dash of happiness into a blender and pushes the button. It tastes surprisingly yummy. The book consists of 15 unbound signatures in a laser-cut slipcase. Shuffling the sequence of the signatures will produce 15 different covers. Essays by Steven Heller, Daniel Nettle, and Nancy Spector are included.

ADC will award six $2500 scholarships this year:

Veer Scholarship in Advertising
Walter Lurzer Scholarship in Design
Bernie Owett Scholarship in Graphic Design
Art Directors Club Member's Scholarship in Illustration
Henry Wolf Scholarship in Photography (2)

In addition to the award, scholarship recipients and their work will be featured in the Art Directors Annual, ADC newsletter, related press releases and on the ADC website. Full details and application are available at http://www.adcglobal.org/education/scholarships/.

Questions? Contact Isabel Johnson at isabel@adcglobal.org.

Tina Sweep, the 2007 ADC Illustration Scholarship Winner, was chosen to provide the artwork for the ADC National Scholarship Poster. Tina, an ADC student member, is an ambitious illustration major currently attending the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. She will graduate in May with a BFA, after which she will move to the New York Metropolitan region where she intends to work as a freelance illustrator for printed publications.

As the creative force behind Ogilvy & Mather's groundbreaking "B.I.G." (Brand Integration Group), Brian Collins has been a pioneer in elevating and expanding the role of design thinking in the marketing of major brands from Coca-Cola to Dove to Motorola. He has demonstrated the central role design can play in helping brands connect with people in new, far-reaching ways that transcend conventional advertising - from creating unique digital communications, to reinventing products, store design and customer service to bringing brands to life through events and architecture.

In his new company, Collins will take a more radical approach to finding solutions for brands looking for innovative ways to connect in a new landscape. "It's an open frontier, ready for revolutionary thinking," said Collins. "Unfortunately, traditional ad agencies relegate designers to the tail end of the creative process - if they're there at all. We will flip that equation on its head, placing design thinking - and the customer's real experience - at the beginning, the center and the end of everything we do.

"Apple and Starbucks have used design to distinguish themselves from the competition," said Collins. "In the future, design and media must be applied together in much bolder, more expansive ways - which is exactly what we intend to do for companies who want to lead." COLLINS is based in New York. It is being incubated, with support from The Martin Agency of Richmond, Virginia.

Environmental sustainability is a founding principle of his new company. In 1996 Collins produced "The Ecology of Design," an early handbook on creating ecologically responsible design. He partnered with The Martin Agency on their successful bid for The Alliance for Climate Protection, Al Gore's organization to stop global warming.

Collins has been a design consultant to Amazon.com, American Express, Jaguar, Goldman Sachs, Kodak, Levi-Strauss & Co., and Mattel. He teaches at the School of Visual Arts and speaks globally on design and innovation, including at the World Economic Forum in Davis, Switzerland. Mr. Collins currently sits on the ADC Board's Executive Committee as Vice President.

Do you have what it takes to show Adobe® what's possible with their own software? Rock out a 15-second or less animation or motion graphic video of the Photoshop brand logo that illustrates the theme of "See What's Possible." The winning work must incorporate and close with the Adobe Photoshop logo and will be used by Adobe as part of an upcoming Photoshop marketing campaigns.

Enter at swp.cutandpaste.com where your work will be shown off in front of fellow designers, fans, recruiters, and potential clients.

Grand Prize
$20,000 and Adobe Creative Suite® 3 Master Collection

Five Finalists
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection

People's Choice Prize (public online voting)
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Master Collection

Prizes announced at Photoshop World on April 4, 2008
Check the site for deadline details.

Scott Citron, an award-winning graphic designer and principal of Scott Citron Design, has recently released a new book, Professional Design Techniques with Adobe Creative Suite 3. A Certified Adobe Trainer, Scott leads Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium tutorials at the Art Directors Club during ADC Young Guns Live The Backstory. He has taught graphic design at Parsons School of Design, New School University, NYU, Fashion Institute of Technology, The Cooper Union, and the Type Directors Club. Scott is a member of the ADC, the Type Directors Club, and is a founding member and current chairman of the New York chapter of the InDesign Users' Group, the world's largest with nearly 2,000 members.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 brings together under one roof the tools that design professionals use on a daily basis. In his new book Scott leads designers of all kinds through the ins and outs of working with the components in the suite. With an easy, engaging style, Scott takes a designer's approach to address the complexities of using multiple tools to perform a variety of tasks, and focuses on important principles that can be applied to working in all the programs. Whether an aspiring designer or a practicing professional, anyone who is interested in learning to use good design techniques with Adobe Creative Suite 3 will come away with a solid foundation in this extraordinary suite of creativity tools. The book is available from Adobe Press.

100 Days of Monsters documents the first 100 days of an ongoing online drawing and story-telling experiment by former ADC Young Gun Stefan G. Bucher. Designer and illustrator Bucher is responsible for CD packages for everyone from indie artists to Whitney Houston and Sting. In 2004 he was selected as one of 35 outstanding creatives, age 30 and under, for ADC Young Guns 4. He speaks frequently and passionately about graphic design at schools and design associations around the country and has been a judge for a number of national design competitions.

Bucher loves drawing monsters, so he filmed himself drawing an ink-blot monster every day for 100 days and posted the videos online. The result was an overwhelming response from all corners of the globe as fans submitted stories about the trials and triumphs of each unique monster. A companion DVD contains movies of each of the monsters being drawn, as well as additional monster stories. In addition, there is a foreword from Ze Frank. The book is being released by HOW books and is available on Amazon.com. To see a daily monster video on Bucher's website go here.

ADC members are invited to join HOW magazine in Boston May 18-21 for the 2008 HOW Design Conference. Packed with expert advice from some of the brightest minds in the design industry, the Conference provides everything you need to: get your creative juices flowing, become an expert in the design software you use every day, and get your career on track, whether you freelance, work in-house or in a studio, or run your own firm.

Best of all, you're eligible for a discounted rate. As a member of ADC, you can register at a special Organization Rate - just $955 for your single full-Conference registration when you register by the March 28 Early-Bird deadline ($1035 after March 28). That's a savings of up to $120 off the regular rate!* Just enter Coupon Code ADC8 when you register online to apply your discount.

This is one Conference you won't want to miss. You'll hear from Robynne Raye and Michael Strassburger on poster design, Allan Haley on type, Ilise Benun and Peleg Top on pricing your work, and more.

For complete session descriptions, speaker info, and the quick and easy registration form, go here here.

*Organization rate may not be used in combination with any other discount offers, including student rates, combo rates and past attendee coupons.

Sara Bafundo: University of IL at Chicago, IL
Stuart Braun: Hewlett NY
Clayton Callihan: Ashburn VA
Richard Carbone: NYC College of Technology, NY
James Coulson: NY NY
Sally-Ann Dale: NY NY
Venus Dennison: NY NY
Per Gustafson: Hallstahammer Sweden
Nuhad Haffar: Oakville Canada
Raymond Hom: NY NY
Eric Hu: Art Center College of Design, CA
Garry Ince: NY NY
Johnson & Johnson Global Strategic Design Office
Beom Seok Kim: Palisades Park NJ
Oliver Krippahl: Hamburg Germany
William Lee: NY NY
Leo Burnett USA: Chicago IL
Jennifer L'Insalata: Astoria NY
Emily Lonigro: Brooklyn NY
Duncan Marshall: NY NY
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston MA
Edgardo Moreno: NY NY
Cullen Nance: Herron School of Art and Design
Andrew Nudelman: Skokie IL
Wooseob Oh: Pratt Institute
Arlene O'Reilly: Nantucket MA
Hyomoon Park: Pratt Institute, NY NY
Catherine Parker: NY NY
Craig Paull: NY NY
John Rankins: Bowling Green OH
Sam Robinson: London UK
Theodore Royer: NY NY
Savannah College of Art and Design, Illustration Department
Balind Sieber: Santa Monica CA
Julie Sorkin: Alexandria VA
Geng Yuan: Kariskrona Sweden
Mat Zucker: NY NY

We regretfully note the passing of Jeffrey Metzner. Award-winning artist, painter and designer, Mr. Metzner worked in the creative field since age 16. Honing his skills working as an art director at some of the best ad agencies, he eventually landed at New York agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, where he achieved recognition as one of advertising's top creatives. For the next 20 years Metzner directed television commercials for his own award-winning Metzner Productions.

Mr. Metzner was head of the highly experimental motion graphics department at The School of Visual Arts, and for the past 10 years taught a series of internationally acclaimed "alternative advertising portfolio" classes at SVA. Mr. Metzner joined the ADC as a professional member in 1994 and had been an affiliate member with SVA since 2003. His wife is ADC Hall of Fame laureate Sheila Metzner. Mr. Metzner passed away on February 15, 2008 and was 67.

ADC members - this is your space to share news of events, projects and comments. The newsletter is published monthly. Send news to regan@adcglobal.org with the subject line Newsletter.

The ADC is the premier organization for integrated media and the first international creative collective of its kind. Founded in New York in 1920, the ADC is a self-funding, not-for-profit membership organization that celebrates and inspires creative excellence, connecting creative visual communications professionals from around the world.

To promote the highest standards of excellence and integrity in visual communications for the industry and to encourage students and young professionals entering the field. In short, to provide "visual fuel."

To provide a forum for creative leaders in Advertising, Design, Interactive Media and Communications to meet, learn, participate, and explore the direction for these rapidly evolving industries.

Not Yet A Member? Join Now.
The Art Directors Club 106 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 212.643.1440 www.adcglobal.org