[You're reading part 1 (of 3). Read Joe's. Read Adam's.]

I recently received an e-mail from design student Suzanne Schmidt at the University of Utah. The core of the message read as follows:

One of our semester assignments is to give a presentation on a current design firm that we admire and think others should be noticing. And that would be you guys. I love your work. Your designs have caught my eye, and I love looking at the latest projects by Oxide Design. I appreciated Joe’s recent post… reinforcing the reality that design is about creative problem solving. Would you be kind enough to answer some questions that would enlighten us student designers with some words of wisdom?

While preparing responses to her questions, it occurred us here at Oxide that perhaps others might find interest in the answers from each of the three of us. So we decided to post them publicly on the Oxide News site.

Drew Davies. Photo by Adam Nielsen

How has your job/position changed since you first entered the professional field (if it has)? Are you where you imagined yourself?

I have to say that I am very blessed to be exactly where I imagined myself. I come from a very entrepreneurial family, so when I started in design I always figured I’d start my own firm one day. I’d worked in a couple of small design firms after college and then — more than eight years ago now — took the leap of faith and opened Oxide Design Co.

What’s your fallback career; what would you be doing if not this?

My lifelong dream has always been to be a USPS postal carrier — working in an older neighborhood, where you’d still go door-to-door. If not that, I’d be installing landscapes for Greenlife Gardens.

Who are some of your influences?

In design: Haley Johnson (Minneapolis), Concrete (Toronto), Jonathan Ive (Cupertino), and the incomparable Edward Tufte.

In art: Ed Paschke, Erol Otus, Chris Ware, and Andy Goldsworthy.

In creativity and treating others properly: my grandfather Duane Phillips (who owned a pottery shop called Gray Turtle at 50th & Underwood here in Omaha) and Bob Kocher (my art professor and mentor at Coe College).

What inspires you?

The otherworldly vista of watching fascinating sea creatures going about their day a hundred feet underwater. Encountering brilliantly simple design solutions in the course of everyday life. The wild-eyed stare and unintentional (but always comical) facial expressions of my new baby boy Miles.

What’s unique to your workflow? Are there any “rituals” to your process?

The primary thing I do which I never thought would end up being considered “unique” is that I start every design process with a lot of pencil sketching. To me, putting a pencil to paper still activates the perfect part of my brain for problem solving.

What’s the biggest challenge you face when starting a new project?

Taking the time to step back and figure out what the true challenge is. It’s always such a temptation to just dive in and make something pretty, but all of us at Oxide pride ourselves on using design to solve the core problem, rather than just covering it up with empty decoration.

What is your favorite tool(s) that you use?

Lately, the new Sharpie “Pen” — fantastic writing implement.

Do you have any “go to” typefaces? If so, what are they and why?

The fraternal twins of Avenir and Gotham. Perfect, precise, clean, legible, geometric, brilliant.

In your opinion, what is one of the most abused design gimmicks popular right now?

At its core, it’s the same as it’s always been: adding bells and whistles to a piece of design to distract from the fact that you didn’t solve the true problem. Lately that’s taken the form of a lot of faux-reflected logos, and simulated three-dimensional bevels where none are necessary.

Outside of design/illustration/your work, what are some of your other interests?

Scuba diving. Creating things with Sculpey. And in the coming year I plan to spend more time gardening, cooking, and learning to sew stuffed plush creatures.

What was one of your most rewarding projects? Most disappointing?

One of the most rewarding was definitely working on condom wrappers for the MPower division of Nebraska AIDS Project. It’s a great feeling to find a perfect design solution and know that it’s also helping to make the world a better place. The least rewarding projects are all of the ones I’ve poured my heart and soul into and never end up getting produced; we’ve had a couple of great retail packaging projects that got shelved right before they were supposed to launch.

What one piece of advice would you give to design students?

Get an internship at a design firm. Even part time, for just a semester. It’ll teach you ten times more than everything you learned in class put together.