Howard Rooks, Graphic Designer
Background: Graduate of the University of Oregon Art School in art with a minor in art education. After working for a printing company in Eugene, Oregon in pre-press and as the art director for many years, I built up a freelance clientele doing design and illustration. I went from working in traditional illustration and printing to the assimilation of computers in every phase of the process. Since 1997, I have been fully self-employed working from a home office. My clients have been from small start-ups to large national and international clients. I have worked with clients from a vast range of industries, including sports marketers, agricultural businesses, software developers (Broderbund Software and others), forest products (Willamette Industries, Weyerhaeuser, many national companies) and other smaller companies. One of my most rewarding clients (where I was a primary graphic designer) was Willamette Industries, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Portland, Oregon with 15,000 employees. From my home office I worked with their sales and management people for operations throughout America, Canada, Great Britain, France and Ireland. Most of my client base is business to business, with little retail.
My design process is pretty straight forward and that tends to be the reason my clients hire me. They employ my work and what I have to offer instead of an agency approach where the project goes through teams. My creative process is an initial meeting to gather as much information about the company or product and to understand their culture and style. I seldom brainstorm a project. I find I get the best results if I put it on the back burner and think about it for a few days. This works to the client's advantage also, since I am not necessarily "on the clock" while I let ideas develop. I also research to see what else is being creatively done in that area to avoid duplicating a concept. What I research may also spark a new idea of my own.
Background: Graduate of the University of Oregon Art School in art with a minor in art education. After working for a printing company in Eugene, Oregon in pre-press and as the art director for many years, I built up a freelance clientele doing design and illustration. I went from working in traditional illustration and printing to the assimilation of computers in every phase of the process. Since 1997, I have been fully self-employed working from a home office. My clients have been from small start-ups to large national and international clients. I have worked with clients from a vast range of industries, including sports marketers, agricultural businesses, software developers (Broderbund Software and others), forest products (Willamette Industries, Weyerhaeuser, many national companies) and other smaller companies. One of my most rewarding clients (where I was a primary graphic designer) was Willamette Industries, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Portland, Oregon with 15,000 employees. From my home office I worked with their sales and management people for operations throughout America, Canada, Great Britain, France and Ireland. Most of my client base is business to business, with little retail.
My design process is pretty straight forward and that tends to be the reason my clients hire me. They employ my work and what I have to offer instead of an agency approach where the project goes through teams. My creative process is an initial meeting to gather as much information about the company or product and to understand their culture and style. I seldom brainstorm a project. I find I get the best results if I put it on the back burner and think about it for a few days. This works to the client's advantage also, since I am not necessarily "on the clock" while I let ideas develop. I also research to see what else is being creatively done in that area to avoid duplicating a concept. What I research may also spark a new idea of my own.
I go back to the client with 2 or 3 concepts and this often introduces more of a brainstorming approach. I may collaborate with them or collaborate with the only other person in my home office, Lisa Rooks, who has a degree in marketing from the University of Oregon Business School. She also focuses on editing, which helps develop copy writing. I then finalize with a proof for final approval.
Although self-employed, I collaborate with many professionals, including printers, technology people, photographers, graphics & display producers (tradeshow booths, signs, banners, etc.), and videographers. I often hear that for most self-employed designers, time management is the biggest challenge, especially in a home office. I like it because I am not constrained to an environment or a schedule ("9 to 5"). There are times when I am the most productive in the evening, so I don't necessarily have to "have this done by 5." My home office is an environment that is conducive to creativity. An advantage is that when I need a break, it is not at the water cooler or coffee area, but in a space that is on my terms. I can ponder projects while walking in the forest on my property, or researching from my library of journals, books, etc.
Being a "mature" designer, I have worked in almost every traditional illustration medium (watercolor, oil, pen & ink, air brush, etc.), and went from printing preparation that was very hands-on and technical to being all done with computer programs. One thing I have concluded is that the creative process is still taking your imagination (the mind's eye) and trying to communicate that to somebody else in an effective way. Computers have opened up incredible possibilities, but computers have also put graphics in forms that may diminish the final product. When I first went into printing, I used to "drool over" beautiful printing on fantastic papers. I don't see that so much anymore. "You can print it on your office printer on cheap paper. Heck, save paper and don't even print it. Just look at the pdf." The ultimate insult as a graphics person (I am kidding) came a few years ago when a large printer that I was using in Little Rock, Arkansas for a couple of clients I had in Arkansas, e-mailed me a pdf Christmas card that I could print on my office printer, if I wanted. Wow, Merry Christmas!
Being a "mature" designer, I have worked in almost every traditional illustration medium (watercolor, oil, pen & ink, air brush, etc.), and went from printing preparation that was very hands-on and technical to being all done with computer programs. One thing I have concluded is that the creative process is still taking your imagination (the mind's eye) and trying to communicate that to somebody else in an effective way. Computers have opened up incredible possibilities, but computers have also put graphics in forms that may diminish the final product. When I first went into printing, I used to "drool over" beautiful printing on fantastic papers. I don't see that so much anymore. "You can print it on your office printer on cheap paper. Heck, save paper and don't even print it. Just look at the pdf." The ultimate insult as a graphics person (I am kidding) came a few years ago when a large printer that I was using in Little Rock, Arkansas for a couple of clients I had in Arkansas, e-mailed me a pdf Christmas card that I could print on my office printer, if I wanted. Wow, Merry Christmas!
I live in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains near Eugene, Oregon with Lisa, my wife of 35 years. We are very passionate about our faith, our family, our friends, the woods and, oh yes, graphic design! We have adult children--a son, Todd, and a daughter and son-in-law, Ellen and Michael Wright.
