Informational Interview

Yesterday I had an informational interview with the director of the design studio at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, J. Zachary Keenan. I saw a little article about him in How magazine and learned that he did The Hotel Minneapolis logo, which I love, especially the color scheme. So on a whim, I emailed him and asked if I could interview him, which he kindly agreed to. I only found out he is at MCAD afterwards. How fun!

I got a lot of great information in a relatively short amount of time. Here's some of my favorite pieces of advice:

• Life experience is a big part of being a good designer.
• Being curious is very important.
• Skills for success: socially/politically adept, good listener, able to balance different needs/wants.
• Don't take for granted how special it is that you get to express yourself creatively for a living.

I also was grateful for some great information/advice about portfolios, business cards and leave-behinds. I feel a lot of pressure to come up with some amazingly creative (yet inexpensive!) little piece of design goodness that I can, you know, leave behind at an interview. It seems like I have a million ideas and none at the same time.