Peck & Company

When did you fall in love with design and how did you get started?

I loved art throughout my childhood, but my high school didn’t have an art program at all, so I was without much direction. When it came time for college, I was looking for scholarships, and one that was available was for the Advertising/Design School at Oklahoma Christian University. I submitted 5 pencil drawings and got the scholarship. I had zero idea of what Design was, but I signed up for it anyway. At the time the school had a strong focus on advertising and design was very much secondary. But what I learned in those first 2 years of school was the importance of concept. Our professors were adamant about strong conceptual thinking on every project. At the same time, coming out of my Sophomore year, I was still unsure about where my passions truly lay, much less my future career path.

The next semester I studied abroad in Vienna, Austria. In the three months I was there, my best friend and fellow design major and I travelled to almost every country in Western Europe. The experience completely changed my perception, and solidified my love of design and communication. Seemingly everywhere I looked, art and design were ingrained in the fabric of these cities, playing significant roles in their cultures. I was hooked. I came back with a new focus and took a job the following semester at a web design studio in OKC, working part time after school at a design studio called Visual Inventor, designing websites.

Where did you study and what were some of your first jobs?

After graduation, my part-time job at Visual Inventor turned into a full-time position where I stayed until moving to Nashville to work at EMI designing album artwork. My two greatest loves were music and design and the opportunity to combine these two things seemed like a dream come true. And for the time I was there, it was great. I was getting great experience art directing photoshoots, learning to work with the clients, communicating with artists, and getting to design album artwork.

What are your three must-read design books and why?

There are a few staples that every designer should have on their shelf like Start with Why, Made to Stick and anything Seth Godin writes (Tribes is a good place to start).

That said, if there’s one thing I think designers (myself included) need to do more of, it’s read. Hardback, e-book, audiobook, whatever works. There are a few books I’ve read recently that deserve a mention. Some are design-related, some are not, but any/all of them have helped me adjust my perspective, and encourage me to be a better designer, thinker and person.

What qualities and skills to you look for in a graduate?

In 2016, we interviewed over 20 designers for one design position. I think the interviews told me a lot about how we were viewed by others, and the expectations that came along with those perceptions. Of our core values, none is more important to me than “People first.” You can teach skills, it’s a lot more difficult to teach character. What a person says in an interview reveals a lot about what they value, how they view themselves, and what drives them.

But back to those skills. When I interview someone, I am listening for their process, their ability to communicate, strong conceptual thinking, solid reasoning for their use of type, and a desire to continually learn and grow.

If concept is king in our shop, process is queen. It seems people like to think of design and creativity as some kind of magic–like if you mess around for long enough something cool happens and that’s design. While we have all been the recipient of happy accidents, solid processes trump magic every time.

Lastly, the ability to listen and adapt to your audience. A perceptive prospect will always listen for cues throughout the interview and understand their audience.