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A Design Guru’s Work Lair
Disorderly Conduct
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Aaron James Draplin
Age 41
Occupation Graphic designer, co-creator of Field Notes stationery
Location Portland, Ore.
His Favorite Room The cluttered warehouse office of Draplin Design Co., his firm. This is where he keeps what he calls “all my fun stuff, all my creative tools.”
What do you love about this space? There are no rules. My pants were off before you got here. It’s about if you want to be comfortable, be comfortable. Really, it’s a clubhouse. This is not an office that you go to because you’re just trying to get a paycheck. This is where I get to get away with it. That’s the truth.
It’s also where you get to amass old junk. Like these metal nameplates that look pulled from the back of an air compressor from 1962. When I worked out of my home, the reason I left was I ran out of space. I go out and grab stuff from the dead world and hoard it. The language they used on these nameplates was really cool. The type is so beautiful. There’s no cake-decorating going on because it’s better work. I’ve made business cards like this for people. The beauty of some of this stuff — weird patches from over the years, old office supplies, whatever. Now when I do a patch for somebody, I know where to go.
Show me something else that inspires you. See this sign right here? That’s one of my favorite logos of all time. It’s some national park thing. I don’t know what those little rings are. Someone was like, “It’s the National Ribbon Dancers Association.” So that was 10 bucks in some antique mall or whatever. I couldn’t say no. That’s the sickness. Records are the same — I have two or three-thousand records at home. Home is super clean and crisp and modern. Here, it gets a little dirtier.
Do you have to pry yourself out of here at night? My girlfriend is always on my case. She’ll cook at 6:30 like human people do. I’ll have to warm it up when I get home. It’s the battle we have. This is where I hang. This is my respite.
You have a fever for your work. When I got out of school, around ’99 or 2000, we met these guys who looked at our portfolios. One student brings in 11 pieces. One brings in nine. That’s what’s appropriate. I had 100 things. So the guy goes, “You’ll lose that.” I’ve never lost it. And I’ve built this world where it keeps getting funner and funner.
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