Page 6 - The Visual Thinker Magazine

4 The Visual Thinker
Did you always want to be an
artist and designer?
Like most kids, I grew up draw-
ing and painting. My parents
really embraced that and pushed
me further into it. When I hit
high school, I realized that I
liked drawing and painting so
much that I didn’t want to stop.
After college, you dove into
design work and started
National Forest with your
friend, Justin. How did that
come about?
I met Justin at Art Center and
the two of us had a mutual
passion for art, design, and
drawing. At the end of college
we both thought, “Whoa, we’re
either going to split up right
now and go work for different
companies or we can do this
together and try to figure
something out.” It was a really
March 2019 5
Where did you attend college? What was the first big gig “What do you find What advice can you offer to someone who wants to start a
National Forest did that made yourself doing? I’m business?
I went to Art Center College of you realize you were making it
Design in California. In high happen? not talking about For the first year, focus on bringing work in. Bring projects in,
school, I was lucky enough to something you execute them as best as you can, get them out the door, and
have a teacher who was really Right after we graduated, we got wistfully daydream move on to the next one. Focus on completing the work and
devoted to art. He taught me a pretty big illustration job for about. There’s a big billing for it. Make sure you spend time on executing the work,
about Art Center, and I took Rolling Stone. It wasn’t the cover, because you’re only going to get paid for what comes in and goes
college-level Art Center courses but it might as well have been. It difference between out. After your first year of work, then you can start to consider
while still in high school. was like, “Holy shit!” what you actually the taxes, trademarking, and all of the bullshit it takes to run a
enjoy doing and the business. If you make it past that first year and you’re still into
“I grew up daydream of what you it, then do it. If you’re not, then there’s no real loss. At least you
know that it’s not your passion.
hearing want your identity to
encapsulate.”
interviews with
people who said,
‘Oh, I love telling
stories.’…what
about when you
don’t want a
story? What if
you just want to
feel something?”
Steven partnered
big decision. We chose to put illustrative, even though a lot with Roshe One
our portfolios together, create of the work is not necessarily designer, Dylan
a business, and try to get jobs. illustrating in a traditional sense, Raasch, to design a
We literally put our illustration like what Saul Sternberg did for Nike Sportswear pack,
portfolios together and hustled the New Yorker. It’s more vague which includes the
our work around. and surreal. Roshe One and a Nike
slide, now at select
Very cool. In addition to your stockists worldwide.
agency, National Forest, you
do personal work under the
moniker, You & I, right?
Yeah. A lot of people consider
it illustration, but it goes back
and forth between illustration
and art. My work tends to feel