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10 Questions With Roby Fitzhenry from Always Creative

Designer, Entrepreneur, Music Festival Organizer and avid Twitter-er: Roby Fitzhenry is a busy guy! I managed to track him down to ask him some questions and snag a video tour of his workspace in Bryan, Texas.

1 First off…do you like bananas? Why or why not?

Ha! Bananas have to be my favorite fruit. This may sound weird but I actually prefer them more on the green side than the mushy yellow. “Mush” is a texture I’ve grown to dislike.

2 How did you get your start in design? Education? Past jobs?

My grandmother taught me how to paint when I was around 8-10. This was my first introduction to art and color theory. Additionally, my father has been in the offset printing business since before I was born. Some of my childhood summers were spent in a print shop shooting rubber bands at the pressmen. From there, BMX was a huge influence for me which I did from age 12-18. It introduced branding and design although I didn’t really know what they were or why it intrigued me so much. All of these experiences began to bubble to the surface and eventually led me to designing show flyers for my friends’ bands. Those I will count as legitimate projects and my first was at age 17 or so. From there, it all made sense that graphic design was my true passion and I ended up attending a community college and nabbed an Associates in Visual Communications. While going to school I was also a headwaiter at a restaurant and made some pretty sweet cash. Screw money though. I found a local sign shop that seemed interesting, quit my restaurant job and worked for him for free for a month to show him that he needed help and I was his guy. That stint lasted for about a year while my freelance career began gearing up. After leaving, freelanced paid the bills for my last year of college and I eventually moved to College Station to be with my girlfriend. I lost all my freelance clients somehow within a month of the big move, got desperate and ended up being offered a position at Texas A&M University. The rest is history. haha

3 What prompted you to start Always Creative?

As mentioned above, I ended up taking a job at Texas A&M. The opportunity was great but having 4 bosses definitely wasn’t. Travis Ward (co-founder) started a week before me as a web developer and we quickly became office buddies. Ironically, we both had the same car and always daydreamed of decking them out with fancy rims and overly obnoxious exhaust systems. So one day we came up with the most kickass idea ever: he needed help designing websites and if we worked together, we could buy all these fancy toys for our cars. That was in November of 2006. By March of 2007 we both gave our two weeks notice and launched our company full-time with only $500 in the bank. I’m proud to say we started out of a spare bedroom in his house. What prompted us to start was the response we recieved from our collaborating. It was either time to take the leap or get rid of all the freelance work.

4 What are some of the pros/cons of working for yourself/starting your own company?

The biggest plus is that you take pride in watching your company succeed. If it fails, you have no one to blame but yourself and/or situations that prompted failure. Another plus is the control you have in your processes, the clients your work with and the types of projects you do. Some downfalls include high levels of stress, unstable banks accounts (haha) and a few client situations. Although you think you can just tell a crazy client how it’s going to be, you usually suck it up, finish the job and get paid. We’re all design whores anyway or so says Art Chancery.

5 Favorite project you have worked on?

Damn good question. I love projects that help grow Downtown Bryan, the area that our office is located. Our city has a ton of potential and seeing things happen is very rewarding. On that note, I’ll say that DesignCamp has been one of my favorites. It was my baby and any failures or successes were on me. Besides those types of projects, I really really enjoy Desired Hearts which is the small fashion label I co-own. Talk about building a brand … fashion is a LOT of work and I’m loving it! Expect some massive changes to DH in the next month or so.

6 What has inspired you recently?

How about a list: bills, my girlfriend, all of my talented friends that kick ass but don’t talk about it, sneakers and streetwear fashion, Benny Gold (who is my favorite designer right now) and The Creative Space/Downtown Bryan. Beyond that, I’m driven to do things I can’t do or shouldn’t do. Who’s to say I can’t run a design firm, a small fashion label, host a music festival and a free design event simoultaneously? Sure as hell not me.

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7 Favorite Typeface?

This is going to sound trite but it has to be Helvetica. Not because I use it a lot but because of what it has done and continues to do with visual communication. I probably use Trade Gothic more though.

8 Favorite hex or pantone color?

Can’t really think of a pantone color or a hex. Anything bright or grey works for me!

9 Favorite designer or designers you look up to? why?

Benny Gold – This dude designs for top brands around while running his own signature brand, Benny Gold. I recently had the chance to work with him and I can’t explain how awesome it was. If you don’t know about him, Google away.

A few of my other favorites include Stefan Sagmeister, Stefan Bucher of 344, and pretty much everyone who is a part of The KDU. I have to take a moment and thank Paul Rand for being my biggest design inspiration ever.

10 Mind giving us a video tour of your studio?

Not a problem!

Any suggestions of who we should interview next?

Eric Downs of Downs Design. Funny as hell, just opened up his own studio full-time and he’s a GREAT friend. This dude is going places!

Want To Know More?

Check out Roby’s personal blog and website, follow him on twitter @robyfitzhenry or check out his company’s website: Always Creative.

3357[11] Commentshttp://www.nikibrown.com/designoblog/2009/07/20/10-questions-with-roby-fitzhenry-from-always-creative/10+Questions+With+Roby+Fitzhenry+from+Always+Creative2009-07-20+09%3A30%3A24Niki+Brown
Posted in design, Graphic Design, Interviews, Web Design

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