For the latest Grain Edit interview, we head to the beautiful Pacific Northwest city of Portland, Oregon. While Portland is known for it’s drizzly rain, recent influx of people, and amazing food cart scene, it is also the home of many talented designers. We here at Grain Edit had the chance to visit PDX and catch up with one of it’s very accomplished residents, Dan Stiles.

Dan is a long time designer and contributor to the contemporary gig poster scene. His work is always very fresh, energetic, engaging and fun. Dan is very successful at creating dramatic work while using minimal colors and patterns. In this interview we chat with Dan about his history as a designer, his thoughts on running a solo studio, working in Portland, and much more.

Enjoy!

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The latest installment to the Grain Edit interview series takes us to Seattle, birthplace of grunge music and home to illustrator and designer, Sasha Barr. I was first introduced to Sasha’s work a few years ago when I stumbled upon his website, positively titled “This is the New Year.” His work often employs rough textures, intricately drawn patterns featuring elements from nature and little creatures, and cool color palettes.

In this interview, Sasha discusses how he made the trek from Tennessee to Seattle, his influences and creative process, how he landed an awesome gig working at Sub Pop Records, and also shares incredible views of his awesome home.

Let’s dive on in!

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This Grain Edit interview takes us to New York’s largest burough—Brooklyn—and to the office of Mike Perry! I’m sure most here are quite familiar with his work. The style is very specific; you definitely know it when you see it. With the help of the fancy-shmancy Internet, Mike’s work seems often imitated, but never duplicated. There is only one Mike Perry, folks.

I became most familiar with Mike’s work with the publication of his first book, Hand Job: A Catalog of Type. While still in school I preordered it, as did many of my classmates. But I had my first real hands-on looks at it over at the studio where I was interning — they had an advance copy. I remember the smell, especially, as well as the general office ogling.

One of the things that strikes me the most about Mike’s work is that he can be making a zine or an object, putting on a show, or designing a typeface, or just doodling—all of his work feels consistent. With whatever he’s doing, you’re always entering the world of Mike Perry.

After the jump, Mike talks about various aspects of his work, his work history, and his favorite Brooklyn restaurant. Let’s get into it!

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Noma Bar is a man of few strokes. But don’t let the simplicity fool you. His talent lies in his efficiency in depicting characters and social issues. With bold colors, shapes and one or two icons he captures the spirit of a person. Other times he communicates a message on a social issue with amazing clarity while adding a bit of humor to everything. Whether the message is about violence or equality, his straight-forward visual approach is refreshing.

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Chronicle Books has just released Ramayana: Divine Loophole the latest book from Pixar animator and illustrator Sanjay Patel. As one of the core legends of Hindu mythology, Ramayana recounts a tale of Rama, a god-turned-prince, and his quest to rescue his wife Sita after she was kidnapped by a demon king. Sanjay is able to breath new life into this 2500-year-old epic tale with over 150 pages of lush, detailed illustrations.

In this interview, he gives us a glimpse into the making of the book and some of the challenges he faced along the way.

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In the fall, we featured Portland, Maine based artist and designer Josh Brill’s Flora Fauna series. The series included a colorful collection of bird illustrations, and was well received on grain edit as well other sites across the blogosphere. So, what’s Josh been up to lately? I traveled to Portland over the Christmas break and had the chance to catch up with Josh. We talked about living in Portland, his awesome collection of records from the Blue Note label as well as projects he’s currently working on.

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The latest addition to our interview series takes us to the lush green mountainsides of Portland, OR, home to Powell’s Books, incredibly delicious food carts, and one of my favorite illustrators,  S.britt. I originally found his work in 2002, and it piqued my interest in the illustration we feature on Grain Edit today.

Inspired by artists such as Ed Emberley and Richard Scarry, S.britt’s work employs playful images, bright colors, and a sense of humor (aka FUN). In today’s interview, S.britt discusses some of his favorite things about Portland, his education, and reveals his interesting creative process. This is one interview you don’t want to miss!

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During a recent trip to New York, I had the pleasure of visiting the illustrious designer, Jessica Hische. In addition to creating wonderfully precise type, such as her Daily Drop Cap series, Jess carefully curates her incredible studio / home that I’m proud to feature on the site today. In today’s studio visit, she gives us advice on collecting furniture, and has a pretty awesome surprise at the end! Take a peep…

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2009 International Year of Astronomy Poster designed by Simon C Page

Simon Page is a self-taught graphic design whiz with a mathematics background. He takes shapes and morphs them into cerebral abstractions. His style shifts around futuristic digital designs and 1960s minimalism, trotting the delicate line between simplicity and detail.  His International Year of Astronomy 2009 poster designs caught the eyes of discerning design writers, including the New York Times and Creative Review. It may be the year for Astronomy but its equally a big year for Page, his posters got a boost in sales from all the acknowledgment he’s been getting in print and on the web.

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For this exciting addition to the Grain Edit interview series, we kept it local — seeking out one of San Francisco’s finest, Scott Hansen, aka ISO50. My first acquaintance with Scott came in the spring of 2005. The pre-Grain Edit crew had headed up to a lecture in Sacramento featuring Scott discussing his work and process.

I love the work of ISO50 just as much now as I did way back in ’05. It has a great historical reference, while still remaining contemporary. Scott does a nice job of combining clean, graphic forms alongside texture and pattern.

In this interview Scott talks about his entrance into graphic design, his creative process, his interest and involvement in music and photography, and, among many other things, his top 5 favorite albums.

So, pull up a chair in one of your favorite Dolores Park cafes (or imagine yourself there), and take look:

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