Can you give us some background about yourself?

My name is Aaron James Draplin. I am 48 years old and I live and work in Portland, Oregon out of a backyard shop behind my house. We've been in here since 2018, so we kind of dodged the pandemic a little bit. We've been able to hide out in the backyard here. I am originally from Michigan and came out west in 1993 at 19 years old. Snowboarded and skateboarded all over the west. Started going to Alaska in the summer up to about 1998. Went back to Minneapolis and went to school at MCAD in Minneapolis. Did that for two years. Went down to Southern California in 2000 and worked at Snowboarder Magazine for a couple of years and they introduced me to the whole snowboarding industry again. But this time I was able to work within it. So I did that for two years and got back to Portland, Oregon in 2002 where I worked for Cinco Design office as a graphic designer. My first professional graphic design job in a studio that lasted just a quick two years. And I went on my own in 2004 and have been on my own ever since. That is 18 years on my own, which I am super proud of. I had paid all my debt off by about 2010 or 11 and I've been debt-free since then, which is the whole goal of this thing. I make everything these days from logos, posters, merch, to Skillshare videos.

Can you talk a little bit about your recent goggle collaborations with Smith?

I grew up using Smith goggles and they were premium items to me. I remember one time, going end over end and yard sale-ing in a big field of powder and waking myself up and having to find my goggles, find my beanie and clean all the snow out of my goggles. And those were Smith goggles. So I have a pedigree with these things that goes back to the mid-nineties. I trust them. I think their new logo is beautiful. I just wanted to mess with that a little bit and inject my style, which is kind of big and bold and unapologetic. That’s really what the spirit of it was. How do we celebrate a brand that we all know so well, and break out of how we know them just a little bit?

Can you talk a little bit about your recent collaboration with Arbor?

I remember all the way back in the day and who was cool, who wasn't cool. I remember guys picking on Arbor, and one time I took my dad to a snowboard trade show, and this would have been somewhere around 2003 or 2004. And my dad liked Arbor because he met the guy Bob, and Bob was nice to him, and my dad liked the wood and he liked the story. And by the way, those guys are still in business all these years later. So whoever was giving them a hard time, they're probably long gone and forgotten about. And Arbor is still going. So it was an honor for me to work with those guys. And really, there isn't a story behind the graphics other than the things that I get celebrated for or things that have longevity. If it can work for me in a poster or something, it'll definitely work as a snowboard graphic. So it's been exciting because for me, because when you go back, I did a lot of snowboard graphics back in the day, but it was for LibTech or something for Burton or something for GNU. And I was sort of guided by an art director to some extent. When Arbor comes to me, they're kind of like, hey, what do you want to do? And we'll try a couple of graphics, see how they fit. If it fits in their line, then we just sort of go for it, which I'm still a little uncomfortable about. I'm used to getting a brief, trying to solve a problem, making it fit, and then celebrating that. So what's cool about this, is they're still doing it, and they're still out there. They're making incredible products at fair prices, and I'm proud to be a part of that. I worked in the industry for a long time - up until about 2012 and 2013. I jumped out of Coal Headwear, I jumped out of Union Binding Company. I jumped out of Snowboard Magazine and went after my own pursuits. And I still missed all the dudes from that. I went on my own and so many other ways. So to come back to snowboarding and see this stuff exploding like it is - that's been a great privilege and honor.

In your opinion, what are the ingredients to a successful collab?

Well, first things first. It has to be good product. I'm lucky to be a little cake decorator and slather my stuff on it. A bunch of Smith helmets just showed up for the mountain bike side. And these things are beautiful. Yes, I got to make a couple of color choices and a couple of quick thick line decisions on there. But they are beautiful pieces of equipment. And I think to go and just elevate these already incredible pieces of equipment with just a little bit of an ironic graphic or my little twist just makes them a little bit weirder and a little bit cooler. So it has to start with good product. And I really try to ferret out good opportunities that help me elevate my brand and then, of course, help Smith try some new things. And just for one little breather, that's all, and they can go back to what they do. But I think it's the idea that the substrate, the thing, the product, can hold my graphics and still deliver a hell of a punch on a value level and a performance level. That's really cool to me. You don't want to work with things that are kind of sketchy, right? That's not the deal with Smith. I really trust their stuff, and it's been fun to work with it.

Can you tell us a little bit about your process?

Think of it like a funnel. You put a bunch of stuff in at the top, and then these things bang around and the client comes back and hits you back with feedback and things and stuff. And the idea is as those things bang around inside that funnel, and then one little thing pops up. The idea is there was ownership there on every level for the client. We're going back and forth. I'm reacting to their comments. They're reacting to mine. I'm delivering them new twists and turns, and we're coming up with something together. So, yeah, think of it like a funnel. A bunch of stuff goes in, one little thing pops out and usually takes somewhere around three to four weeks for a logo or whatever. But it's very collaborative because the idea is if I'm only making something I like, then that's just ego. And if I'm only making something for my portfolio well, that just certainly isn't appropriate. The main thing is this: They put me on the clock. They hired me. It is my job first and foremost to deliver them something that they love and aspire to and it's the next phase in their lives. Now, if that looks good in my portfolio, then I did my job. But if it works for what the problem was and what they needed, then that's the very best sort of solution to this stuff. So yeah, it's collaborative. That's my process.

What are some of your most memorable projects?

Well, as of late it would definitely be a stamp for the USPS. I got to do the star ribbon stamp a couple of years back. The first printing was 400 million of the things but more importantly it was a democratization of design. So many times in graphic design it's a very elite thing and graphic design is only for those who are lucky enough to afford it. That's not the deal with a stamp. Everyone gets to use a stamp, everyone gets to enjoy the art - and as a stamp nerd I got to work for my country. And that's really the coolest thing going for someone like me. So, that was a graphic design dream that I realized working for the USPS. And that would be the star ribbon stamp from 2018 or 19. So go check that out and use them.

Can you tell us about your artistic influences?

What I would say for influences are sort of modernist corporate communications. I know it doesn't sound very fun, but I love to see how Delta looked today and then what it looked like 50 years ago, because the story is how they hold onto that DNA, and any good brand is all about simplicity and clarity of communication. And I studied these large, large things: Bell Telephone, Saul Bass and his classic logos and stuff. Those things worked 60 years ago, and they still work today. And there's just something about that. So my artistic influences, they're people that were kind of “no bullshit”, and they put it out there and they just communicated clearly and effectively. Now, do I have a list of that stuff? I don't know. I mean, it could just be a stop sign. Who designed the stop sign? It's more like when you go across customs into Canada or back into the States and you see good forms going into Canada and shitty forms coming back into the USA, imagine that. That's the kind of stuff that influences me. It’s like Canada understands that good design goes a long way in some of the scariest moments of someone's life - trying to emigrate - or whatever you want to call it coming into a new country. Good design affects common people all the time. That would be my biggest influence. How does design get to regular people, not just those who can afford it?

Can you tell us how your background has influenced your work?

Well, I guess what I would say about my background is I come from a little town in Michigan, and there wasn't a lot going on. And what you learned to do pretty quick as a kid, a skateboarder, growing up is you learn to be scrappy and kind of look over your shoulder. I know that that still applies to the way I make things today, because big budgets, sure, they're great, but what if you have no budget? Well, we can still work with that. And that's something that's very interesting to me. When you come from little, you know how to make a lot out of little, and that still applies today. So there was some kind of like a governor put on some of those years. It still is. And I wasn't able to go full speed. When I finally was able to pick up into some jobs, I knew how to make good use of my time and good use of resources and be creative. And that comes from how I grew up.

What are your main sources of inspiration right now?

Oh, man. Staying alive. That's the biggest one. As I come into my middle age here, 48 years old, I'm freaking out about what it means to get older. This morning I'm waking up with my girl and I said, well, shit, I'm 48 years old. I'm two thirds of the way. But if I'm only halfway there or what if I die next week? The idea is what inspires me is that I've lived a creative life. I took care of my mom and my dad, my sisters, my girlfriend, and those around me, and that's really what matters. So what am I inspired by? My nephew. He's twelve and the apple of our eye. What am I inspired by? Inspired by my girlfriend and seeing how she navigates life. Inspired by taking care of my mom. Beyond that, I don't know. Bands inspire me, and documentaries inspire me.

Where do you see your work headed in the future?

Well, it's probably going to be a little bit less work. I mean, I've kept up a pretty good pace over the years and kind of gone crazy because it was a fight or flight kind of thing. When you live in fear that you're not going to be able to make rent that's kind of a scary thing. And frankly, where is my work headed in the future? It's probably less. It's like slowing down and being able to instead of doing six things a month, I'm only doing a couple things a month. The next step here is about just being able to sustain and do good things with what little resources I need to use. That's where I want to see it going. So it's going to be more thick lines and more posters, of course, but hopefully less and less stuff that requires clients and more and more stuff that just involves me making things for myself. There's not a lot of money in that stuff, but I don't really care. I've got a lot of my things paid off, and that's what's important.

How has the outdoors influenced your work?

Well, I think there's sort of like these iconic visions that I have in my head of what it was like to move west as a kid. Mountain peaks, geometry, the sun, the sky meeting the mountains, the infinite quality of going west and having your whole life ahead of you. I live there, and it shows up in my work. I like to idealize these Western situations. I know that some of these mountains don't tower up above like they do in some of my graphics, but there is just something to standing at the base of Mount Hood and being blown away. There's a magic at St. Helens. There's a magic anywhere in the west. I think it's just appreciating the nature, the geometry, the improbability, our short time on Earth, whatever that means. It's been a long life already for me for 48 years. I hope I have another 48. But the idea that you stop yourself, take a look up these beautiful mountains or just the streams in the forest and the city and wherever the hell you're at and just stop yourself and go, “Damn, we are lucky to be here.” We are lucky to be alive. We are lucky to be productive and fruitful and hopefully healthy. And that comes from this sort of weird Western optimism. You leave where you're from and you go somewhere better. There have been many trajectories in America and many different ways that works. But I was one of those kids that had to leave the Midwest to come west, and in some respects, I'm still doing that, at least in my mind. I'm always pushing to get somewhere better.