A self-taught DJ-turned-designer from Sweden, Jakob Trollbäck is the founder and creative director of New York-based visual and conceptual creative studio Trollbäck + Company. He creates seminal and award-winning designs and is an acknowledged leader in network branding and motion graphic design.
08.27.08
Look Around. Great Ideas Are Everywhere.
If you have a degree in what field is it? No degree. I was just too busy. I was a DJ for a long time before I became a designer.
Which designer (or design studio), other than yours, do you most admire? There are many good designers. Anyone who’s not primarily in it for the money and really cares about meaningful and beautiful communication is fine with me. Still, there could be a lot more designers with a purpose.
What’s the strangest request you've received from a client? “Come up to my room.” I sensibly declined. That didn’t go over so well.
If you weren’t working as a designer what would you be doing? I’d probably be making music, or maybe write something or open a bar.
What well-known identity is most desperately in need of a redesign? America. The whole message is wrong. The creative brief—The Constitution—is great, but the execution is horrible. Today, its reputation is almost beyond repair (we may even need a new name and flag). Hopefully we’ll be getting a new managing team in soon.
From where do your best ideas originate? From discussions with others. Our brains are huge containers for information and expressions. Once you start to prod, and get insight from others, wonderful and unexpected juxtapositions happen.
How do you overcome a creative block? I look around. Magazines, books, movies, objects, music. There are great ideas everywhere.
What’s your dream project (not client, but project)? I think it’s time for a really fantastic title sequence. It’s been awhile. On a larger scale, I would love to see a coalition of creatives fight the tide of the media industry and start telling the truth. I’m so tired of lies and half-truths.
Do you have creative outlets other than graphic design? I have some guitars; I play them. And I fix things that are broken.
What’s your approach to balancing work and life? Once you’ve proven yourself, work becomes much more interesting. You collaborate with others and learn to delegate. At that point you can regain some control of your life. Dust off that old address book and see if people still remember you from before you started working. Be forewarned: They may resent you for those calls you didn’t return and the parties you forgot. Oh, and once you have children there really is no choice—unless, of course, you want to suck as a parent.
What product/gadget can you not live without? I guess my MacBook Pro. Maybe my iPhone. However, I dream of a life without e-mail, text messages and voicemail.
What’s your favorite quote? “Information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, wisdom is not truth, truth is not beauty, beauty is not love, love is not music, music is THE BEST.’ —Frank Zappa
Do you have any advice for people just entering the profession? Don’t do it unless you have true passion. The only way to get really good is to work extremely hard. I’m talking long stretches of 80- and 90-hour work weeks, which just are not possible unless you are truly passionate about your goals and what you do. I meet so many young people who meander in, slump down and ask for advice. My advice to them is to do something else.
What’s one thing you wish you knew when you started your career? How to look at my design from the outside. To see it as the clients do. To not get too hooked on one idea. There are always so many more options. Your first design is like your first love: You may fight for it and mourn it, but there are better things ahead.