If you went to a diner, and saw Aaron Draplin, you'd probably think "trucker". He's got the Carharts, the sweatshirt, the baseball cap. He's a big guy, he's got a big mouth, and he swears up a storm. But if you sat across from Aaron, you'd notice that his cap reads DDC, for Draplin Design Company. And as for what he's swearing about, it's probably his love stickets, or his disgust for Blippo bold. Draplin lives in Portland, Oregon and runs his own design company. His work has the clean aesthetics of heavy industry, the prankster sensibility of snowboarding culture, and the attention to detail that comes from hours and hours at the workbench. You can see that sensibility in his work for Burton snowboards, Wired magazine, and the Obama administration. You can also see it in his popular brand of notebooks, Field Notes.
On this archival episode, Debbie talks for Aaron Draplin about setting up his own shop, and about making money as a designer.
Download a PDF of the logos Aaron designed for Design Matters.
For more information about Design Matters or to subscribe to the show newsletter, go to DebbieMillman.com. If you love this podcast, please consider contributing to Debbie's Drip Kickstarter community. Members get transcripts of every interview, invitations to live episodes, Q&A sessions with guests, and a brand new annual magazine. You can learn more about this at https://d.rip/debbie-millman. And if you like this podcast, please write a review on iTunes and link to the podcast on social media. Design Matters is produced by Curtis Fox Productions. The show is published exclusively by DesignObserver.com.
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