I’ve been working closely with Dylan on a project for the passed couple of weeks. He’s truly an inspiring person to work around and converse with. His passion for what he does really shines through his commitment and dedication in completing a project from A to Z. I just felt it was necessary to present him to my readers. Give this a read, it was definitely one of the better Q&A’s I’ve had the privilege to concoct.
01. Ok, let’s start this off with a brief introduction: who you are, what you do, what brought you to do what you do?
My name is Dylan Adair and I was born, raised and currently live in Montreal, Canada. I’m a freelance graphic designer and my work deals primarily with logo design and brand identity development.
02. When exactly, did you know you wanted to go into design?
My mom is a painter and there was always art, photography and music around the house. At the end of the day, when it came time to decide what to do, it was pretty clear that I would end up in a creative field of some kind. I ended up in Fine Arts at Dawson and I knew right away that it was for me. I settled on graphic design while I was completing my Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Michigan and I haven’t looked back since.
03. Why did you come back to Montreal? why not stay in the States, in a bigger city like NY or LA where there is a stronger market for designers, especially forward thinking ones like yourself.
Good question, I often wonder the same thing. Let’s chalk it up to a combination of timing, logistics, politics and money. The three years I spent in Los Angeles were important ones and I had a blast while I was there. It was in LA that I got into the apparel industry and that ended up being my career path for the better part of 10 years. I think I followed the work because I felt that I had more to learn and it subsequently led me back here. I often wonder what would have happened had I stayed in LA; I guess second guessing is sometimes second nature. I think my friend Kris has the right philosophy: “Rip out the rearview mirror. What’s behind you is behind you and the road is up front”. He’s in finance though, so don’t trust him.
04. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like graphic design doesn’t even have steady a place in our quickly maturing industry, it’s like if anyone can be a designer by just putting a serif typeface and a few lines here & there…how does someone who’s been doing it for years like yourself, cope with the current situation?
Wow. I think there’s a greater cultural issue here than simply who can do what and how well they can do it. In college they didn’t let us near the computers for the first two years. We were still key-lining and drafting and drawing letters by hand. They wanted us to understand the mechanics behind the art form before we laid ourselves prostrate before the kingdom of Adobe. However, even given how valuable that experience was and despite my formal design education, I have still met people who are phenomenally talented who are 100% self-taught. I think the internet and massive advancements in design software have helped make that an easier thing to do, but I also don’t think that following the hottest 10 design blogs in your RSS feed constitutes an education in design. The bottom line is that we are still a good 200 years behind Europe in our aesthetics and our attitude toward good design and we need to catch up. The argument can be made that every person trying to make our lives better and more beautiful through design is helping move us forward. What doesn’t help is having the potential “value” of hiring a designer questioned by the guy whose nephew knows his way around Illustrator (and will do the work for free). I’m holding out for the possibility that every person that looks a little harder or takes a second longer to appreciate the time taken to make something better and more beautiful will benefit us all in the end.
05. What is SOMETIMES?
Sometimes™ is an ongoing project that I’m working on with Paul Labonté. It’s a vehicle to make things that we feel strongly about that otherwise wouldn’t see the light of day. Imagine having the ability to purge and then produce a great idea within days of it coming to you as opposed to relegating it to the back pages of a Moleskine for months or – worse – forgetting it altogether. It’s incredibly liberating and a lot of fun.
06. I know you might be sick of talking about the Joy Division Nike‘s & NB‘s, but I’m still gonna ask; did you work directly with them or was it a personal project? What did they think and were there any plans of actually producing a minimum?
It’s amazing to think that it’s been 5 years since I made those fucking shoes. The (Nike) Blazers were a custom thing that I did for Sneaker Pimps when the show came through Montreal in 2005. It was purely an art project and an exercise in making a theme/tribute shoe. I love Joy Division, and I love those shoes. They are starting to yellow and discolour but I still love them. The New Balance versions were allegedly going to release in England through RAN UK who have a number of stores in the north. It would have been extremely limited I am sure, but honestly I have no clue why the project fell through. There could have been a hundred reasons at the time to not do it. I’m just sad New Order broke up.
07. Let’s talk a bit about menswear, I like to think you’re a pretty fashion forward guy. I myself am in love with 2 very specific things: outerwear & layers. What are your fall & winter jackets of CHOICE?
I love jackets. My go-to’s for Fall/Winter are a Barbour Beaufort in OD green and a grey wool Aquascutum Duffle for colder weather. I’m also trying to find a replacement for my vintage Swedish naval peacoat that I bought at a surplus store 7 years ago; It’s starting to look pretty thin in spots.
08. A brand that’s killing it right now? and why.
WP Lavori Group and their work in creating the Woolen Mills and John Rich & Bros ranges for Woolrich. I’m very happy about the return to heritage brands that is at the fore of menswear right now, but few are doing it as well as Woolrich. Although I think Daiki Suzuki did amazing things from jump, I am really excited about the potential that Mark Mcnairy could bring to the Woolrich experience. Hopefully the price points will be digestible enough for someone to bring it to the Montreal menswear market.
Honorable mention (and I stress the honour) goes to Benny Gold. I’m personally past the tee and fitted look at this point, but watching what BG has done in the past two years with his own brand is both exciting and inspirational. Young designers would do well to look long and hard at the way Benny works, starting with the humility and gratitude that proceeds his talent. The guy goes out of his way to thank the people that give him opportunities as well as the people that rock his gear. I think that’s classy as hell and – sadly – increasingly rare in this business.
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