ThisIsInspired Magazine

ThisIsInspired sits down and chats every once in a while with artists and designers – finding out how they got started and what gets them inspired. Each interview will give you the designer’s perspective and angle on their work – and on creativity in general.

Who Is Wesley Yendrys?

Wes Yendrys (Twitter.com/wyendrys) is an art student and design major at Vanier College in Montreal, Canada – and he’s also a tea lover and photographer. If you read even a few of his tweets you’ll know he keeps himself very (very!) busy with design, art studies, and daily life. His personal blog, DoubleYouWhy.com, is a cool publication in it’s own right where he shares art and artists he finds interesting.

The Interview

ThisIsInspired
You’re a design student. You’re a tea lover. It’s obvious you have a few things you’re passionate about and that spark a great deal of personal interest. What initially made you love design and graphics so much?

Wes Yendrys
I started getting into art at a very young age, asking for paints and art supplies for my birthday and christmas. As I grew older, I became interested in photography and graphic design – when I was around 14 to be exact. At the time, my actual appreciation for design was minimal if not completely absent. As I matured and surrounded myself with what I loved – design – I began to get a grasp of the good and the bad. I can’t say I had an initial love for design, but like I said, as I gained more knowledge and experience with it, I began to understand and relate to it more, thus enhancing my relationship with it. 

ThisIsInspired
What is it, would you say, that keeps you passionate about design?

Wes Yendrys
Talent. When I see the work of young, talented designers, it pushes me to do more and try new things. I’d consider myself to be relatively inexperienced when it comes to design, so I really do look to the various efforts made around the web and around the world when it comes to innovation in design. 

ThisIsInspired
Anyone who checks your Twitterstream on a regular basis knows how you forgo sleep for academics. You’re kept pretty busy with a “student’s schedule”, as well as fitting in personal interests on the side. Do you choose to keep so busy with design-related stuff?

Wes Yendrys
Of course! It’s what I love. I’m so grateful that I’ve been given the chance to actually study something that interests me, and I look forward to seeing what life in the design world has to offer me. I mean, although my lack of sleep is a result of heavy school work, most of the work is either design or art oriented. Some people like to go to raves and take drugs to have a good time, I stay up late into the night with a beer and some music and hammer through some true and honest design projects. 

ThisIsInspired
So, if you do make a choice to keep busy, why?

Wes Yendrys
Like I said, it’s what I love. I mean, who doesn’t like to create and be creative? I’d rather spend 8 hours on a creative piece then 3 hours on a history or business paper. 

ThisIsInspired
As opposed to someone who’s been in the industry for a while, how do you – still as a student – feel about the future of design? (for example, How do you think the internet will influence design, how will software change the way designs are created, etc)

Wes Yendrys
Personally, I feel like the internet as narrowed the word design into a single category, that being web design. There are so many young kids and adults getting interesting in design, but all they’re really exploring is the gradient and reflection tools found in Photoshop or “35 awesome uses of Helvetica” (whose uses are rather terrible I might add). I can rant all day as to how the internet and web design is crushing the word design for everyone else, but because that wasn’t really the question, I’ll move on. 

I’m just getting over my phase of thinking computers are the only way to go and beginning to realize that more classical methods have an unmatchable beauty and elegance. I’m hoping in the future, everyone will keep true to the “getting down and dirty” side of design, using a pencil and paper, hand mixing inks, using various forms of manual printing, etc. I think if we lose that, the future of design is doomed. So, in regards to software, I say we need less of it. Photoshop does enough to blow my mind already, there’s absolutely no need for future generations (aside from Adobe needing to make more money). 

ThisIsInspired
How has design changed, in your view, in your lifetime or in your experience? (eg: A shift in trends you’ve you noticed, etc)

Wes Yendrys
That’s a tough question to answer. I mean, I’m still young, and I think when I started to actually notice and appreciate design, it was way after I began playing around and experimenting with it. So really, I’d only be able to speak in regards to the last 2 and a half years or so, and in that time, Helvetica has continued to be the go-to typeface for those not creative enough to explore the other typographical beauties (and yes, I admit to having gone through that phase, but thankfully, it’s out of my system) and a rising trend in Apple-inspired gradients and bubbly icons have taken over. I really can’t say that I’ve seen much change, as the period in which I’ve been conscious of the design around me has been way to short. 

ThisIsInspired
Imagine ten years from now: Where do you want to be? If you could picture your perfect future, design-wise, how would it look?

Wes Yendrys
I have tons of big dreams in life. In ten years from now, I’d love to be able to have opened my own design studio in a city heavily saturated with design. But to be honest, as of late, I’ve really been gearing my mind towards architecture or industrial design, but I’m a little scared of exploring something I’m completely foreign to. My ultimate dream is to hand-build and retire in my own Japanese inspired cabin/mini home located in the middle of nowhere whose infrastructure is completely sustainable. Elegance, luxury and nature, there’s nothing more that I could ask for in life. 

ThisIsInspired
For someone with a lifetime of experience under their belt, they’ve learned to deal with the doldrums and times when it seems creativity runs dry. Just getting into design, what do you do to stay creative and inspired?

Wes Yendrys
The internet. We’re rather fortunate to have so much information and so much content available at our fingertips. Heck, I can search for inspiration on my cell phone! If I’m running low on creativity, I’ll turn to an art or design blow/aggregator. Although they generally fill me with jealousy, as I can never believe just how talented people are, I walk away with motivation to work and to create. Of course I look back at the classic and the iconic work out there, but I feel that seeing something that was possibly made just hours before laying my eyes on them, creates a more tangible understanding and appreciation. I don’t know, I’m just always wowed at some of the stuff I see, and like I said, that’s really what gets my creative juices flowing – the ‘wow factor’, you could call it. 

ThisIsInspired
Let’s say hypothetically you have a big class project coming up, and it will mean a world of difference for your graduation and have an impact on where you’ll go when you leave college. How do start the creative day?

Wes Yendrys
I start the day completely wasting my time on on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and my RSS feeds. I work best at night, and for some reason, when there’s light out, I just can’t seem to focus. When I eventually reach the point of “if I don’t start now, I won’t manage to finish”, I begin to research. Whether it’s a paper or a creative piece, I’ll research whatever there is to know about that particular topic, so that when it comes to the canvas, I can possibly make historical or cultural references, use interesting quotes – I don’t know why, but I love having quotes in my work. From there, I’ll start piecing things together. A lot of people will plan things out, make outlines, sketch, etc. I don’t work like that. I let the piece build as it goes along. Now that I think of it, that might be the cause of my work always taking so long to complete… Anyway, I work in this way because I feel an outline or something pre-planned is limiting when it comes to something creative. I’m all for minor guidelines, key words, but when things are so planned out, there tends to be a lot of focus geared towards creating a final product that’s replicative to its outline.

“The way I work – like I said – is to really just play and let things piece themselves together. Some of my best work is drastically different then what the original concept in my head looked like.”

So really, this playful, structureless approach allows for more freedom – I do warn you however, my process does require more time, as I often find my self sitting in front of the screen, scratching my head, wondering what to do next. Once I think I’m finished with the work, I’ll take a look at it 30 or so minutes later and see if I notice anything that shouldn’t be there or that should be changed. That’s generally how I go from nothing to something.

ThisIsInspired
Hypothetically again, you’ve a day off – for rejuvenation, for relaxation, for whatever – and it’s pouring rain outside. What type of tea would make and how would you refuel your inspiration on a day off?

Wes Yendrys
I’d make myself a cup of Ito En’s Min Bei Shui Xian Oolong tea, as it’s without a doubt the best tea I’ve come across yet (and I’ve come across a lot of teas in my short life). As for inspiration, like I mentioned, I’d hit the internet hard and just go through all of my favorite sites, see what’s new and upcoming. 

It’s interesting that you mention rain, since it’s my favorite type of weather. I love to just sit and listen to the drops reflect off of the various surfaces our urbanized society has placed in its path.

…

Wes is very busy and often goes without sleep. I’d like thank him for taking time from his projects and classes to do this interview. Wes, thanks so much for your time!