JOE MARIANEK

Joe Marianek is an Ohio-born designer based in New York City and Providence, Rhode Island. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, he has worked with Pentagram, Landor Associates and other firms on a variety of interdisciplinary projects ranging from institutional identity to book design. His work has been recognized by the AIGA, Art Directors Club, Type Directors Club, the Society of Publication Designers Communication Arts and ID; he was recently honored with Print Magazine's "30 under 30" award. In addition, he is a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts where he teaches typography and senior thesis. Marianek is a contributing writer for the blogs of Creativity Magazine, and UnderConsideration.

Where were you born, where do you live, did this effect your design style or sensibilities? I grew up in Ohio in suburbs slammed between farmland and highways. We were always on the road it seemed, so I obsessively drew what I saw from the backseat of our grey Pontiac: pastoral post-modern landscapes with barns, factories, and towering billboards that glowed with messages offering things like Fireworks, Home Cooking, and Gasoline. Eventually I began to draw only the letters and logos—a formal obsession which was encouraged by my immediate family, many of whom happened to be local commercial artists. I never particularly ""liked" what I was recording in these drawings, but I was intrigued by all the shapes and colors ... it seemed like a language that could be decoded. I wondered why, for instance, a cowboy hat and blocky (slab serif) letters meant roast beef sandwiches? When I was about nine my mom got me a copy of Hal Morgan's book, Symbols of America from the Cleveland Public library, and I started trying to figure it all out... I still am.

If you were not a designer, what would you be? I would be an architect or surgeon. Besides the engineering and design of buildings, the human body is the most incredibly designed thing.

What is your design process, do you sketch first, go to the computer, take days off to get inspired? I know some designers pretend to work with an adrenaline fueled/Jackson Pollock- like creative rage, but, I'm more boring. I like getting up early in the morning and going to bed at a reasonable time and trying to be on time. Since I split my week between New York and Providence, my design process involves a lot of careful planning. I start by thinking through each thing I have to do during my morning shower. Immediately after, I drink coffee and start making something; I sketch, diagram or write. Aside from meetings during the day, I prefer to focus on one project at a time, and allow myself to get distracted in small doses as needed. In the evenings, I teach seniors at the School of Visual Arts whose energy and talent is an immense source of inspiration. I usually end the day with a late-night run...where I cross check everything I thought about in the shower.

What is your greatest strength and weakness as a designer? My greatest strength is that I'm able to be passionate about other people's problems. I can enthrall myself in whatever the student or client's issue is. My greatest weakness is that I tend to be dismissive or uninspired by bad briefs, fuzzy ideas and lousy content where there is little design value to add.