Our Story:
I’ve been waiting to do a feature on my dear friend and his amazing blog ( A Design Mafia ) for a while now. Even though we aren’t necessarily working on the same blog anymore, we still talk on a daily basis. Our friendship started in college where we literally had all but one design class together over the 4-year period. We laughed a lot, made fun of each other’s work a lot, made lots of paper cranes, and spent countless hours in the design studio. Such great time. Now we are hundreds of miles apart and connect through the blog land. Good times.
Design is the foundation upon which I build my house. Waking up to a Pantone DS 1-8 C sunrise, I eat typography for breakfast and well…you get the idea. – John @ A Design Mafia
Recently A Design Mafia went under a little site redesign and personally I think it looks lovely. Maybe I’m a little bias, but I think A Design Mafia has to be one of the best blogs for design type inspiration. I know for a fact John lives and breaths design and strives to only share the best content.
I had the chance to ask A Design Mafia a few questions that I thought you’d enjoy knowing the answers to. Let me know if there is something else you’d like to know and I’ll dig the answer out of him. (He’ll do whatever I want. haha. Just kidding)
When did you decide you wanted to start a blog and how has it evolved over the years. I hear adesignmafia.com is going on 3 years?
ADM: The fact that I’ve maintained the blog for three years is actually mind boggling to me, to be completely honest. I’ve tried blogging in the past, but never really had anything interesting to show, so they just faded away into the void that the internet. The blog name started off as a joke between a fellow designer friend (Dante delos Angeles) and myself about how to get people to pay for spec work and it just snowballed from there. It really hasn’t evolved too much (yet). It has always been a place where I can log different things that are interesting in the design sphere.
John & Dante in one of our many design classes.
The look has changed several times, most recently about a week or so ago. I’m trying to get people into the content that seems most relevant or interesting to them, quickly and at a glance. I’ve toyed with a lot of different ideas such as advertising or sponsorships, but I’m not there yet personally. It’s not that we don’t have the readership, but I just don’t want that yet.
Do you use your blog as part of a business or is it used for fun and personal blogging?
ADM: A Design Mafia is all about fun. I’m not going to be a pretentious design snob, I’m not going to sit there and plug my own work constantly (although I may throw a personal project in here or there), and for the most part I keep my personal stuff low key unless it’s a gallery show or a concert or something big. These things may change and evolve over time, but for me it’s all about inspiration. What kind of things do I see out there in the blogosphere that inspire me and push me to learn and create. That’s the content that I want to get out there.
John & I in our glory years at Purdue University.
Since blogging isn’t your actual business, how do you spend your days as a designer? Working on anything we should know about?
ADM: Right now blogging is totally a side thing that I do when I’ve got some time or if I see something that really is like “Wow!” to me. I work as an in-house designer in southern Georgia and take on a few side projects if they’re interesting. Right now I’m working on two side projects for some very close friends of mine. One is for my buddy Ben Hagood, who is recording an acoustic album titled “Losers Ballads and Other Laments.” Uplifting right? It’s an traditional Irish number that he’s doing while his punk band, The Enders, are on hiatus (I did their identity as well). The other is for an future small business that I’m, unfortunately, not able to talk about at this time. Sorry.
I know you can be pretty crafty at time and you can even cook! What kind of personal projects are you currently doing or hope to do? Any favorite things to cook?
ADM: Personal projects include a skateboard art piece that has been years in the making, screenprinting, and polaroids. I’m sure those projects will pop up on the blog at some point. I’m also planning on doing some other wood/lino cuts too. Favorite things to cook? Oh man…that’s tough. That’s like asking me to choose a favorite child (luckily I have just one). I totally love Jamie Oliver’s style of cooking. The simplicity of some of his meals is astounding, but the flavors really stand out. If there is one person I steal recipes from on the daily, it’s him. The only problem is sometimes some of the ingredients are difficult to find in my neck of the woods, so I’m always looking for substitutions. Another problem is that I’m only cooking for one and well prepared meals are really more enjoyable with friends or family.
So the more people around, the more I’m inclined to go all out with the food. In any case, I found a recipe for Indian-style steak, spinach & paneer salad with naan breads and mango dessert. It looks ridiculously delicious. I’m also inclined to try my hand at making Pho, a traditional Vietnamese soup that is A-mazing when done properly. Damn. Now I’m hungry.
The current control center of A Design Mafia (what a mess John!)
As A Design Mafia goes into it’s 3rd year, do you have any fun things planned for this year that we should look out for?
ADM: Like I said…year 3? craaaaaazy. Look for more featured artists. Look for more personal content. A lot is going to happen in the design sphere in 2011…so just keep looking for some more really rad stories to pop up.
John doing his thing.
Lastly and most importantly, What’s in your playlist today?
ADM: Today? Oh man…you know I’m always all over the music map, but I’ll give you an 8 track sample of stuff I listened to today alone:
Side A: In the Morning
1. Creedence Clearwater Revival
2. Tom Petty
3. Steppenwolf
4. Johnny Cash
Side B: The Afternoon Shift
5. Notorious B.I.G.
6. Tupac
7. Luniz
8. Jay-Z
Final words?
ADM: Victoria aut Mors
Thanks John for sharing your story with my readers. Stop by A Design Mafia for your daily fix of great design. You can also follow John on Twitter @adesignmafia and don’t forget to stop by his online design portfolio!
Have a lovely Monday!