Eric and I recently attended the Design Madison event featuring Todd St. John. Design Madison is a group of Madison designers who come together to amplify the way design impacts our life. It’s a chance for designers to broaden their design scope. They bring in nationally known designers to share their thoughts and their work.
Designers often say that their design is “out of the box”, that they don’t do the expected or the common. (I think even I have said that!) But when it comes to the recent speaker at Design Madison – the quote fits. Todd St. John, of HunterGatherer has been designing, illustrating, and animating for many years. He has worked for the likes of MTV as well as the New York Times. But the thing that sets him apart is the way he approaches his design. He will often bring his design out of 2D and into 3, then back into 2. And after that he will turn it into an animation. He does this each time creating a new twist on the original design.
He created the company HunterGatherer in 2000 and has been doing commercial work, that has garnered plenty of awards. An Emmy nomination for an animated short, and a Webby are among his accomplishments but he has been published by almost every major design organization.
Mr. St. John’s work reminds us that it’s important to think beyond the obvious. If you think about what draws your eye to a page, a poster or an ad, it’s the things we don’t see everyday. Think of the Prius ads with the people creating the images dressed as grass, the sun and the trees. I would always have to stop whatever I was doing to watch that whole ad. Anything that uses art or hand-drawn graphics or lettering is always more eye-catching than some generic font used in a slogan or title for the millionth time. Think about that the next time you are looking for something to get noticed and go for something “out of the box”.
Check out his work both with HunterGatherer and his personal site, Todd St. John.
by KT Arnesen