Back once again with another interview? Believe it! This time round we have the pleasure of introducing you to a talented creative from the USA who just happens to also be the winner of our very first Skillshow. In that contest, his design for the ‘Dapper Dog’ collection got many compliments and votes, for a well-deserved concept and excellent execution. Ladies and gents, please put your hands together for Adam Rogers! SL: Welcome to Springleap, Adam - and congratulations for winning our very first Skillshow! For the sake of our readers and design fans, please introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself. AR: Thank you very much! And thanks again for putting on such unique contests. It’s really incredible to be able to showcase personal work and projects AND to be able to compete in a contest with said projects without having to compromise the work or rights in any way. I really appreciate it. So, my name is Adam Rogers and I’m originally from a tiny little town in upstate South Carolina named Easley. Like most of us, I’ve always been drawn to the arts - spent my childhood drawing, creating, building (sometimes destroying, then rebuilding) - and my transition into communication arts was fairly seamless and inevitable. I remember playing around with Microsoft FrontPage when I was 10 and creating little “websites” for different things, including my first personal website. I dabbled in music with some friends a few years later and I would create all of our promotional collateral: posters, flyers, cd inserts, etc. It wasn’t until my sister was in school for web development that I learned there was an entire career devoted to the things I had spent my entire life doing for fun. SL: So Adam, over the past few years you’ve received quite a lot of favourable attention on account of your sharp execution in graphic design and packaging - and now you’re freelancing full-time in Savannah, GA. Tell us how your work has progressed over the last few years and how you see it developing in future. AR: Over the last year alone I’ve definitely grown leaps and bounds as a designer, so to measure myself over the last few years seems impossible - I’m a completely different designer. I used to try to complete a project as quickly as I could so that I could move on to the next thing and rush through that one. Now I feel like no project is ever completely finished! I can definitely see a personal style developing within my work now, where a few years ago I was obviously still imitating what I felt like people wanted to see - which meant that my work seemed schizophrenic, there was no personal touch from project to project. In the future I have no idea how my work will develop. I just hope that I continue to be around people who are better than me and smarter than me so that I can continue learning. I never want to stop learning. SL: Here at Springleap we’re familiar with your fantastic work on Dapper Dog - could you tell us about some other favourite projects of yours? AR: One of the projects that I really love is the branding I did for Wet Clay, an upcoming company that specializes in laser cut accessories created from reclaimed and up-cycled leathers. I worked closely with founder/owner Bre Walters to create something that truly reflected her company and products. The branding for Wet Clay started with the juxtaposition of hand-crafted and machine manufactured qualities in mind. I also wanted to highlight the fact that these accessories are born from reclaimed materials. All materials needed to be simple yet high in quality, and all collateral needed to be relatively inexpensive and easily reproduced and packaged. This project is one of my favorites because it was one of my first collaborations. Working side-by-side with the client was a great experience. Most of us would rather clients let us run free and stay clear of the creative process, save for the periodic presentations and approvals, but as a fellow creator Bre was a strong resource and completely open to all avenues of design. You can see that project here.
I did just complete a project, however, that’s a bit outside of my norm. I branded a local hair salon called “W” completely inspired by Pop Art, specifically Andy Warhol. It was definitely a lot of fun and I love the affect it’s having on my other projects that are under way. It’s good to rock your own boat sometimes. You can view that work here.
A great interview from a great guy! If you’d like to read more of these, take a scroll down - have loads of insightful interviews from some of the world’s most talented creatives in all design fields. Enjoy!
