Odds are high that you've seen Chuck "No Pattern" Anderson's work before. He's illustrated everything from the Windows 7 home screen to album covers to magazine art. Chuck's latest project: making Gizmodo posts look better than ever.
Mr. Anderson's client list is impressive, including Atlantic Records, Nike, Sony, Warner Brothers Records, Pepsi, Google, and Adidas. But we wanted to hear more about the man who'll be working directly with us to add some awesome art to our posts, so we had a brief chat with Anderson to determine if he'll fit in with our crazy bunch. (Spoiler: Yes, he will.)
Before we talk about anything else, it's obvious that we'll need to know where you fall in the great pie vs cake debate.
Cake is weird to me. I can do it, but sparingly. It's too much. I'm all about apple crumble pie.
What is your usual work environment? Home office? Coffee shop? Neighbor's rooftop?
99% of the time I'm working in my office here. I have a home office too but don't use it much anymore since getting a great space downtown (Grand Rapids, MI). I really love it in here. We have no direct neighbors, so loud music is never a problem. Plus I designed and put up a Norwegian-black metal looking vinyl graphic on the door that I think weirds the other businesses on the floor out (community planning organization, marketing firm, CPA group, law firm). It's wonderful. We're on the 4th floor and there's a coffee shop downstairs. Double rainbow level excitement.
We've established that you're a Mac user, but what sort of geeky gear do you use (hardware, software, comfort objects)? Do you have any low-tech trinkets that are crucial to your work process?
My Wacom 9x12 tablet is the most essential tool I have, outside of the computer & display, but those don't really count.
Photoshop CS5, Illustrator, Canon 5D Mark II + various lenses, Epson 3800 printer, Staedtler or Micron pens, and a good sketchbook are really all I need.
Other things in my studio I couldn't live without are all my books, small yet budding art collection (KAWS, Si Scott, Thomas Hooper, Dave Kinsey), a beautiful Haworth Brazo light (thanks to Nicolai for that!), Aeron chair (quite literally saved my back), coffee, raspberry iced tea, chocolate power bars, Goldfish crackers, and last but definitely not least, Spotify. Oh my goodness, Spotify. Wait until it officially hits the US. Nobody will ever use iTunes again. I haven't.
Can you share a few professional projects or pieces that you particularly enjoyed working on? We understand that you probably enjoy just about every project, but we're curious about the ones that left you up for three days straight without even so much as a tight deadline pushing you. What was it about those projects that kept you so mesmerized?
The Chicago Marathon 2009 project I did with BBDO West for Bank of America is probably the most ideal example of a project I enjoyed start to finish. It had every aspect of creating in it that I could ask for in a project, client or personal.
You can see the project here. It was fun, challenging, a combination of getting my hands dirty (literally) and working on the computer, and I really enjoy when I get to combine those two aspects of creation. I had to go out and buy a bunch of shoes, and make prints of the soles with 'crayon rubbings' and ink-essentially turning the shoe into a stamp. Then I scanned them... It was intense.
I discovered some interesting things during that project. Like, did you know that the sole of a shoe is nearly identical to the shape of an ear. Fascinating right?! (Right?)
If you just can't get enough of Chuck, be sure to check out his site, No Pattern, or follow him on Twitter. If you want to know more about the charitable projects he supports, take a look at Word Made Flesh, Invisible Children, charity:water and To Write Love On Her Arms.