Friend of the site Bryan Butler is an Austin-based graphic designer who has already done amazing work for us. If you’ve been with Cinapse for a few years, you might remember our NYC Is Effed 35mm double feature screening of The Warriors and Escape From New York, which Bryan did the original artwork for and subsequently sold-out a limited edition screen printed poster for it (which I personally loved so much I had it framed for my home).
And so, when the time came for a Cinapse re-branding, we knew Bryan was the right person for the job. You can see the results of that rebranding process all across the Cinapse-verse, on our new Medium-hosted site, on all our social media accounts, and right here at the top of this post. We’re thrilled with the end result of our re-branding and much of that is due specifically to Bryan’s ability to completely Don Draper me and inspire me to believe. This new logo isn’t just a cool image, it’s a process and a story all its own. It tells the Cinapse story, so we thought we’d return the favor and tell a little of Bryan’s story and the creative process he went through to get us where we are. Enjoy!
What are some of your core guiding principles as an artist and designer that make your work uniquely yours?
Do the work. Trust your process. Weirdness is okay. I don’t think these are unique principles, especially being that I’m a designer trying to solve a specific visual problem and not an artist exploring a question. But the way my unique process filters through my unique brain hopefully produces not only something that solves the problem, but is also something no one else could have made.
Can you talk a little bit about what it takes to be a successful designer here in Austin in 2017?
Austin is a great town for designers who don’t see design employment as a ladder to climb, but rather as a calling to a craft. Austin has more small shops and freelancers than it does big agencies, which is why it feels like there’s no real rat race here. If you can make friends, you can make it in Austin. You still have to earn respect by doing good work, but people here love collaborating and sharing work.
How does your approach to designing a logo or ushering along a re-branding differ from, say, designing a poster or a flyer or any number of other projects?
All design is generally about telling a story, but branding is the most directly linked to that. Specifically I do a lot more research with a brand, a lot more sketching, and a lot more idea-condensation. Trying to communicate several ideas through a small handful of visual cues is my favorite part of design.
What are a couple favorite movies of yours, and how do you think pop culture influences your professional work?
Movies I’ve seen the greatest number of times: Transformers (the cartoon from 1986 with the hair metal soundtrack, not the recent abomination), The Royal Tenenbaums, and Young Frankenstein. Pop culture influences my work through visual trends most obviously. You can definitely see Terrence Malick and the Coen Brothers in just about all the “coolest” brand work out today, including mine. But sometimes I use a movie, or a band, or a book as a reference point for how a brand should feel. I might find that something needs a “Jazzercize-on-VHS” sort of feeling or a “John-Wayne-in-a-prayer-meeting“ thing. Brands are part of culture, so they should use the language of the culture they’re in.
What were some of the initial sparks of inspiration you had when coming up with Cinapse’s new logo?
If you look at scientific representations of a brain synapse, they’re usually these rounded triangle nodes. Finding a shape like that really helps the sketching process because you’ve got something to grab onto. I knew I wanted to also show Cinapse as a gathering place, or a place where ideas and people meet. I started overlapping the triangle shapes, and noticed that when they come together an eye shape was formed. Eyes being the main sense involved in consuming movies, this seemed like a perfect idea to pursue and refine.
Where can people find you and your work on the internet?
You can check my woefully outdated site whatbryan.com, or follow me on Twitter @whatbryan.
Big thanks to Bryan for not only designing a kickass new logo for Cinapse, but also for taking the time to share some of his process with us and sharing the story of how he told our story.
And I’m Out.