Meet Susan Thompson
Susan Thompson
Photo by Khalid Ibrahim
We want you to meet Susan Thompson. She’s a graphic designer in west Michigan with over a decade of experience specializing in strategic brand design and art direction. We recently caught up with her and wanted to share some of that conversation…
Susan, tell us your origin story. How did we get here?
Gosh, that’s a good question. My design story actually begins with photography.
When my parents bought their first point-and-shoot digital camera I brought it everywhere. By 2005 I had a very small business taking photos at local horse shows (I grew up riding). Doing this also gave me a wild idea: maybe I could make a living doing something creative.
At about the same time my high school started offering a class called “Industrial Design”, and while it wasn’t a graphic design course per se, I did get an introduction into design thinking and the Adobe suite. I spent the next two years learning “Communication Arts” at a vocational center and dual-enrolling in film photography classes.
I started at Kendall College of Art and Design in the fall of 2007 and while I would end up switching my major to graphic design, photography was absolutely the catalyst to my career and still one of my favorite creative outlets.
How do your personal interests and ideas affect your creative and professional ones?
Well, my house is full of books and my head is always full of questions. I’m personally very curious and I can endlessly rabbit-hole on a topic, design-related or otherwise. And all that curiosity gets drawn into my process. It absolutely shapes and informs how I bring ideas to life. It puts me in a position to always be learning about something new or trying a new lens or way of thinking.
A good example of this was on a recent client rebrand. I was working to define a color palette for this business and just finished reading The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Claire. I knew one of the brand’s goals was to appear elevated and exclusive and this rich and impossibly deep color of Tyrian Purple came to mind. It was literally worth its weight in gold during the 16th century due to an intensive process of creating it and scarcity of resources. Even some emperors couldn’t afford to have robes of this color.
And when it came to sharing this rationale during our pitch, the client lit up. We were not only giving them a really thoughtful color palette, but I was able to give a “why” (beyond “it looks good”) that had a story and something to connect to.
Can you share some of your work with us?
Yes!
This first piece is for a brand called Wolfe Custom Works, and they’re a Veteran owned conservation-focused custom fly and sport-rod fishing company located in Kodiak, Alaska. This is absolutely a passion project for me, as I’m also very interested in hunting, fishing, and conservation. It’s hands down my favorite body of work.
The second piece is an abstract exploration called entopic graphomania, which involves marking imperfections in fiber formation on a blank sheet of paper and then connecting those points. It’s very meditative and I’ve started exploring digitizing them.
This stuff is beautiful. How do you stay motivated and inspired?
Thanks! I’m always collecting “swipe.” I have a flat file at home for example, that’s filled with interesting (to me) pieces. From old Mohawk Maker’s quarterly journals, to pages ripped out of magazines, pieces of product packaging, old publications…it’s this strange catchall of found-design that feel timeless. I’m also almost always writing, concept sketching ideas, or mind mapping a stream of consciousness. I usually have a Rhodia or Moleskin journal with me.
On the flip side, how do you deal with creative block? How did you pull yourself out of that rut?
When I’m stuck, I like to step back or step away.
It’s important to understand that putting something down and coming back later with a fresh head isn’t failure or giving up. You can’t force a square peg in a round hole, and everything will be there when you come back. The outcome will be better for it, too.
I also like to reach out to my community. I’m naturally an introvert so while being gregarious can be a challenge for me, it’s also so incredibly important when that rut feels big, deep, or daunting.
Susan, thank you for giving us some of your time and insights. Before you go, what advice would you give to a young brand designer just starting out?
Yes, absolutely! Thanks for the opportunity to share! And dang, if I had to pick just a few they’d be:
Process and craft are really important and it takes time to develop and refine them. It defines how you find flow, your way of creating, and your style. That’s what makes you stand out in a sea of many, so don’t skimp here. Your audience and clients will seek you out for it.
We’re a reflection of the people we surround ourselves with, so curating a network whose energy and ambitions encourage you to keep moving forward or challenge you to do something difficult or different is key (i.e. not an echo chamber or a silo).
It might sound crass but fuck being serious all the time! Creativity is highly influenced by play, and according to Belgian-American psychotherapist Esther Perel, play is defined as “the pleasure of being inventive, mischievous, imaginative, and trying something new.” So, remember to make time for play.
