thedecoderring.com | Surprisingly, I discovered these guys through a Design*Sponge Guest Blog post about affordable artwork. Geoff Peveto, Paul Fucik and Christian Helms make up the Decoder Ring, which is based in Austin, TX. Besides the gorgeous posters (”simple, smart and pretty” to borrow a quote from their approach to design), I was really fascinated by the Fine Art prints that they’ve done in collaboration with other poster artists. They’ve posted pictures while they’re in the process of printing and it’s one of the most addicting things to look at. I couldn’t find a whole lot of extra info on the Decoder Ring, but it’s okay because Geoff Peveto was so kind as to answer some of my questions. Scroll down to see the interview. Thanks Geoff! Here’s what I did find: blurb on the Portfolio Center website about Christian Helms, blurb on AIGA Austin. Also of note: the American Poster Institute (of which Geoff is the president), Coronado Studio (where Paul Fucik is a master printer), & Flatstock Poster Convention (which is magical).

When you were in college, what did you think your career was going to be?
Ha! Excellent question. My short answer is I had no idea. Long answer is my High School counselor pointed me towards medical school and the Navy bugged me for about two years to join their Nuclear Physics program since I guess I had pretty high science scores on tests. I thought that was retarded but I went ahead and started out in Pre Med. Did that for a year and hated all the math so I switched to Advertising which was pretty cool. I also hated getting out of bed and going to class so I chose a one semester on, two off plan. When I came back for what would be my Junior year I started in Graphic Design. Had some lousy instructors so I moved over to studio art where I really got into the curriculum and settled with a ceramics “focus”. So I had a really reverse progressive career path. Doctor to ashtray maker.

At the end of it all my girlfriend graduated with a Graphic Design degree and I went “What the crap am I going to do with a ceramics degree? Let’s get the hell outta here” We moved to Austin and I did nothing related to art for about three or four years then I started making posters and screen printing. So I guess that’s when I finally figured it out…

Describe a typical workday (week).
It’s a balance of designing and printing plus a pretty steady amount of e-mail and actual business management. I run the Print Project we do now where we bring artists in to work in our studio for a week. There’s a lot of scheduling and booking flights and hotels and working with the artists to get them here. Then the external stuff I do as President of The American Poster Institute. Organizing Flatstock is pretty much a year round job at this point. We do four with one being in Europe and then there are additional smaller shows we are involved with. So I guess the typical day is busy.

What are the highs and lows in a typical workday (week)?
Highs: Landing a really great client, Finishing a job you and the client are happy with, getting a nice e-mail from someone who you inspire when you are just trying to make good work. Creating…

Lows: Setting up to print and having something fail miserably. That really sucks. Getting stumped on a concept isn’t too hot either…

What are the toughest problems with which you have had to deal with in this job?
We are really critical of our own work and push ourselves to always do better and better design. That can sometimes wear you out but ultimately it keeps us on our toes. Sometimes client management is a challenge. You have to respect their needs and wants but at the same time it’s our job to guide them to the best end result to represent them. Sometimes that is a delicate balance.

What do you find most rewarding about the work?
Putting together a solid concept, executing it and having the client really respond positively to the final. Sometimes it’s easy to have a great idea but getting it down on paper and making it work can be tough. Getting it to all come together is a great feeling.

If you could give me some advice on entering this field, what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to work. It’s going to be hard more than easy. And don’t ever stop learning and looking for inspiration.

How did you get started screenprinting?
I started designing posters around 1999 and the first poster I helped print I met Paul Fucik. Paul and I hit it off and started a company. Paul taught me pretty much everything I know about printing.

How do you come up with the imagery for your posters?
We really study the band and their aesthetic plus a lot of our work is based on lyrics. We use a lot of our own photography and illustrations and have a pretty huge library of images. Ideas come from all around. But if we aren’t designing something relevant to the band and their fans we are pretty much failing.

Has screenprinting changed your process at all? How?
Yeah and I recommend anyone who wants to design posters learn how to screen print them. It really makes you think about the design when you limit your self to two or three spot colours. It’s a good exercise to scale it back and still try to make a successful design.