ADC

ADC Young Gun: Ryan Waller
Posted on 2007-Oct-9 at 11:35
ADC Young Gun Ryan Waller immediately came to mind when we decided to introduce an adcQ&A. He represents the best qualities of the multi-faceted ADC membership in one individual. His eclectic body of work reflects a continuous creator. He is at once a collaborator on the City of New York's ubiquitous Green NYC campaign and creator of the beautifully designed, self-published zine: The New College Beat. Ryan is also beginning his MFA at Yale this Fall. We encountered Ryan again when he generously volunteered to design the ADC's Illustration Portfolio Review communication. Since then, we have learned that he is a pretty hilarious fellow who loves his Budweiser. His designs are imbued with his characteristic thoughtful, ironic simplicity. Interviewed by Danielle Epstein danielle@adcglobal.org

ADC: Tell me about the New College Beat.

Ryan Waller: The New College Beat is a zine I started a couple years ago. At first I didn�t know exactly what it would be about so I just started making supplements--pieces that deal with a random subject, such as the Kirsten Dunst fan zine (Supplement #2) or the black flag logo zine (Supplement #3). The most recent issue of The New College Beat is the first time with contributors. It's not really a magazine, not really a book, and it isn't even a zine. I'm not sure what it is.

ADC: You once told me it was about going back to school. Is that true?

RW: Not really. It's named after a diner on 4th Avenue called the New College Diner. The Beat part is from the magazine called The Beat, which was a magazine for teenagers. It had words but they were secondary. It was about having each page work as a poster that you could pull out and put on your wall. I liked calling this thing the Beat because I could just do a page as if it were a poster and I didn't have to worry about it working in the greater context of a magazine.

ADC: Why did you decide to pursue your MFA?

RW: The one reason that Yale doesn't want to know is because I want to teach. I chose Yale because I went to RISD for undergrad and it seems like the only place you can go after RISD, if you�re going to continue in graphic design. It�s a continuation of theory based design.

ADC: You were named an ADC Young Gun, selected as one of Print magazine's "20 Brightest Stars Under 30," and are frequently blogged about. What do these achievements mean to you? Are they markers of success?

RW: I think every little step along the way is a mark of success. When you finish one project and you're on to the next it�s a success. I don't necessarily think that getting recognition is a mark of success. At this point because I'm a young designer and I�m not someone who's applying for Creative Director jobs, having recognition might help me get a job or a project I want.

ADC: I saw that you are included in Wikipedia did you put that entry in?

RW: No.

ADC: Do you know who did?

RW: I think I might.

ADC: I read that you are color blind. How does that affect your work? Have you ever viewed it as a drawback? Or an advantage?

RW: When I was in school, a lot of my work was silk-screened. I did almost all of my graphic design projects in the printmaking studio and I think that affected my color sense more than being color blind. It was about minimizing the amount of color. However, I was just on press and realized I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for so maybe that's a drawback. I think its an advantage in some way because it makes me more sensitive to what I do use in terms of color.

ADC: You were a teaching assistant at SVA with Michael Ian Kaye and then taught Visual Communications at Pratt. How did it feel to be the one holding the chalk?

RW: It was definitely weird to be a teacher. The first class I taught had only four students. They were sophomores and only four years younger than me. I remember the first day of class a girl came in cursing and mad about something. She borrowed my pen without asking and when I said "Lets just start the class" she had no clue that I was the teacher. At that point she started apologizing.

ADC: What do you do when you aren't working? What are your hobbies?

RW: I like riding my bike and I surf a lot. (We're pretty sure Ryan was lying about this. He warned us before our interview that he�d lie about something.)

ADC: You recently worked on the Green NYC campaign with HunterGatherer. Is designing for social causes something you've pursued intentionally?

RW: Doing civic minded work is definitely a preference for me. That project was ideal because I worked with Todd St. John at HunterGatherer and I just lucked out to be able to work on something like that. I make a zine and it is just putting another thing out there that some people want but they definitely don't need. Getting to do something like the Green NYC project felt good. It felt more right to use whatever skills I have for a greater cause.

ADC: If you were not a designer what would you choose to be?

RW: Maybe an artist.

ADC: You worked as an art director at Mother. What are the advantages or disadvantages of working for someone else?

RW: I was really lucky because Paul and Linus at Mother are really good creative directors. They have a lot of trust in their creatives. You're always going to be working for someone else but the disadvantage of working at a place is having to show up and work on someone else's time. Working freelance you are free to come up with your ideas whenever, not at certain hours. You also don't have to change anything even if your boss doesn't like it.

ADC: Finally, name your three favorite...