There are so many good vibes in our interview with Parker Creative Director and Owner Tyler Eide. We chat about the studio re-launch (previously Flint Design), the importance of presenting your work well, and how humility, an eagerness to learn, and a good attitude will take you places.
Give us the elevator pitch on what you do.
I’m creative director and co-owner at Parker. We specialize in developing brands for small businesses across a wide range of industries. What’s unique to our studio however, is our ability to combine brand development, with interior / environmental design. We love the types of projects that this combination of disciplines brings us. Some key projects for our studio that incorporate both of these disciplines are Mr. Holmes Bakehouse in San Francisco, and Los Angeles, as well as Company 251 just outside of Chicago, Illinois, and the Moorea Seal store in Seattle.
The elevator pitch is that we help businesses grow their brand voice, position, visual language, and customer experience from beginning to end.
Who are your top five design crushes right now?
Maurice Masson out of Hamburg, Perky Bros out of Nashville, Motherbird Studio out of Australia. I also love what Neon Saltwater is doing in experimenting with 3d rendering mixed with environmental spaces in Seattle. Also Anagrama from Mexico is the best in the world for our size.
What do you look for in a great portfolio?
While I always say “It’s all about the work”, it’s even more importantly about how it’s presented. You can either have really great work and present it terribly, or weak work and present it very well. I tend to lean towards people who know how to present their work well, as long as that weaker work shows promise and strength in the fundamentals. If you are an incredible designer, but have no clue how to present or talk about your work, it’s a lot harder to fit into a small agency model, or grow beyond being strictly a designer. Of course, if you can do both, that’s the best. But never discredit the presentation of your work, or how you articulate it in writing. Keep those descriptions very short, to the point, reviewers will never have time to read a lengthy few paragraphs of text.
What qualities and skills to you look for in a graduate?
Humility, an eagerness to learn, and a good attitude. Those three things (with some natural talent) will take you places. Nothing will stunt your growth faster as a designer, than an ego.
When coming out of school, your talent can’t carry your career on it’s own. You need to learn to work well with others, give helpful feedback, keep the clients ‘needs’ in mind, and stay organized.
What advice would you give students starting out?
Stay humble, and learn from your peers. Even if you think you’re the best designer in the world, soak in positive tendencies and good work habits from those around you. When coming out of school, your talent can’t carry your career on it’s own. You need to learn to work well with others, give helpful feedback, keep the clients ‘needs’ in mind, and stay organized. It’s typically best to keep your head down, and focus on doing the best work possible regardless of the task or deliverable your assigned. Doing everything with excellence is the quickest way forward, you aren’t above the work you are given when you first graduate.
Whats on the cards professionally and personally in the next 12 months?
With the re-launch of our studio, we’re eager to get our hands dirty both abroad, and also in our local area. In the past, most of our work has remained domestic, but it’s hardly been in our local area. We want to change that and help push better design in our community. Big things ahead, can’t wait to see where this takes us.
